—I miss them, too. Big Red would want you to enjoy this experience, though. She’d want you to learn everything you can, make friends… and you know Grandma El would want you to avenge her.— He looks at me with his dark, intelligent eyes. —And you can’t do that if you get expelled.—
—I promise I’ll start blending in better.— I sigh, knowing he’s completely right. I never have been able to control my temper. That’s got to change from now on. The last thing I want to do is get kicked out. Everything depends on me staying here.
I look out the window. The shadows are lengthening, and the sky is painted orange and pink like rainbow sherbet. Even the sky is prettier in this part of the forest. It’s jarring.
Turning to Broin again, I say, —I want to start hunting as soon as possible. Tonight, even. I think I should start where the wolves attacked at the Black Ravine and then track them from there.—
—See where they came from, or see where they went afterwards?— Broin asks.
—Both, if there’s time. And you wouldn’t believe what I saw today.— I nod at Jasper, who is apparently focused on eating his bowl of carrots. —I was chasing after his fuzzy little ass. And I found a portrait of Esmeralda—in a greenhouse. There was a man there and he told me it was made only ten years ago. How can that be possible? Grandma said Esmeralda was taken after giving birth to her son. How could she still be alive when I was nine years old?—
Broin’s silence speaks volumes.
—You know something, don’t you?—I press him.
—I know there was a rumour Esmeralda was still alive. That’s why your grandfather left the coven. He went to find her, but he was never heard from again. Neither his nor Esmeralda’s bodies were found.—
I worry my bottom lip, chewing on his words. —We need to find out more. If she really was a professor here, I’m sure other members of the staff will remember her.—
There’s a reason Jasper took me into the courtyard today. I just need to figure out what.
The door opens, interrupting our conversation. Sirena and Alice come in and Alice is carrying a wicker picnic basket. She holds it up.
“Look! I found it in the library. Shouldn’t Red Riding Hood have a basket?”
She puts it on the ground at my feet and I stare at it. “What am I supposed to carry in there?”
“Broin, maybe?” Sirena jokes. Broin doesn’t think it’s funny and gives her a tongue lashing, which to her is just a bunch of squawks.
Alice laughs, shrugging. “Books. Or herbs.”
The look she gives me is pointed.
Sirena giggles and wiggles her eyebrows mischievously. “Or whiskey.”
“Yeah, I don’t think there’s any of that around here,” I say, smiling.
I pick up the basket. It’s surprisingly sturdy, and it’s got a false bottom lined with black cloth. I look up at Alice, who just smiles.
“You might think there’s no booze around,” Sirena says, winking at me, “but you’d be wrong.”
I raise an eyebrow. “How so?”
They look at each other, then Alice says, “Follow us.”
They take me on a circuitous path, first down one corridor, then another and finally into a maintenance closet.
I balk at the door. “I don’t want to go back into the broom closet. I mean, I’m Out, you know?”
Sirena laughs, grabbing a candle from a wall sconce. “Just get in there.”
We go in. Alice shoves aside a stack of cleaning supplies and exposes a stone wall. The mortar is discolored around a fairly large section of bricks and she shimmies those bricks out of the way. Once they start to move, I realize that it’s really a door painted to look like bricks and englamoured to keep anyone from thinking twice. That’s the thing about glamours—they only last until something breaks the illusion.
She opens the door and steps through, and I follow. Sirena brings up the rear, her flickering candle offering the only light. I remember wondering where Daddy Broin and I could get some alone time. I think I just found the spot.
The false door leads into a hallway that’s about as long as a coach, but narrower. At the other end, I can see another door which Alice pushes open. Fresh air rushes in, blowing out Sirena’s candle, but we don’t really need it anymore. I can see the light from numerous torches burning in iron holders set into the building’s stone crenellations.
“This is a maintenance access route,” Alice tells me. “They come up here to do roof repairs when necessary and when simple magic from the ground doesn’t fix whatever’s broken.”
“Which means,” Sirena alludes, “that they hardly ever come up here. Alice dreamed about it and that’s how we found it. And because I’m awesome, that’s how we found this.”
She opens another false door in the wall and reveals a wooden box filled with ice. Magic shimmers around the box, traces of an elemental cold spell. In the box is a six pack of local ale.
“You’ve got booze?”
Sirena shrugs nonchalantly. “What kind of girls would we be if we didn’t break the rules?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Students of the year?” I offer, laughing. Sirena hands me a frosted beer. “I’m beginning to think you guys belong in Nevermore.”
“I have a cousin who goes there,” Alice chimes in, her expression vacant as if she’s getting a vision of some kind. “She says it’s wonderful.”
“Pssht, yeah, whatever,” Sirena snorts. “I heard at least three students die every year of natural causes. Please. We all know that school’s a cesspit.”
Her words sting more than they should. It’s not like I’m at that school or I’m even associated with it…anymore. But it’s the judginess that gripes me. People are always quick to assume the worst of those they don’t understand.
“I think there’s two sides to every story,” I counter, taking a swig of beer. The slightly bitter taste cools the back of my throat. I’m not a big drinker, but this tastes surprisingly good.
Alice nods slowly. “I do, too. You’re too cynical.”
Sirena guffaws and leans forward. “Me, cynical? That’s rich coming from Miss Alice Underland who…” A quick glance at me suddenly stops whatever she was about to say. “Anyway, I just feel sorry for them sometimes. It’s not their fault they were born into that kingdom.”
“Here, here.” I lift my beer and smile at them. “To the students at Nevermore Academy.”
“Those unlucky bastards,” Sirena adds and we clink bottles.
We settle down with our drinks and I look out over the view. This is the perfect vantage point to watch everything in this place. I can see the courtyard, the stable, the library and cafeteria. There are thick walls all around Everafter and multiple gates that give access in all four cardinal directions. One of the gates is right outside the dormitory and it conveniently opens into the forest. The school is surprisingly small and self-contained on the outside yet huge on the inside; the architecture on the inside doesn’t seem to match the building that you see from the gate. Also, the school looks different from the west gate than it does from the forest gate and the whole thing seems like an entirely different complex from the front.
Magic.
I’m about to mention this when a group of male students burst into view in the field beyond the wall, playing a spirited game of Flick. The game seems pretty stupid to me, but it involves a ball that’s propelled around the field using specially-enchanted wands. There are nets on opposite sides of the field and the idea is to get the ball into the net using this magical propulsion. When one team is pushing toward the net, the other team is trying to push the ball away with their own wands. Sometimes the guys shoot each other, which is the only fun part of watching this game. They’re laughing their asses off, which is sort of a shame, because there is some prime meat out there. They’re all wearing tight white shorts and t-shirts.
Sirena smiles. “I’ll be the first to say it. You can’t deny they’re snooties with voluptuous booties.”
I gawp at her. “Did
you just…?”
“Yes. Yes I did.” She nods proudly, dusting off her shoulders. “And I’m not the only one. Everyone here calls them the Prince Charmings.”
“Okay, but I’ll remind you that Gideon is also a jerk,” Alice points out. She adds in a mumble, “Not to mention Erik.”
Sirena glares at her. “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we can’t admire what the Storyteller gave them. As for Erik…” She sighs dreamily, watching him run in his tight white shorts. ”It’s complicated.”
Alice rolls her eyes and whispers at me behind her hand. “Complicated? You mean it’s catastrophic.”
I have to agree with her. There’s not a single person in this school, apart from Broin, who I plan on getting to know intimately. I’m only here to find the Big Bad Wolf and his pack of Witch Hunters. I don’t have time to date guys, or princes, or whatever the heaven Lucifer wants to throw my way.
For now, watching will be enough. I drink my beer and watch the princes play their game. Some day, I’m going to punch that Gideon in the throat.
The wind blows through my feathers as I soar over the treetops. The forest is blanketed in darkness, with only periodic candlelight bleeding through leaves. It’s a beautiful Witching Hour and as much as I love my girl, I’m fucking relieved to be out of that castle.
How in the name of Lilith I’m going to survive being a familiar all day is beyond me. The thought of being trapped in a cage is enough to send me flying for the hills. But if spending most of my time cooped up is the only way to protect Ravyn, I’ll do it and it will be the most beautiful cage in existence. It’s the least I can do for her.
In four years’ time, she’ll be taken from me. I’m not even sure if I’ll be able to go with her. I need to cherish every single moment until then. Her heart may belong to me, but her soul has been claimed by the Dark Lord and no fire on earth will erase that fact.
I was there last night, watching, waiting, hoping for an alternative solution. But there was none. While a barrier had been placed around the altar, I was still able to keep in contact through my bond with Ravyn. I felt her pain, just like I felt her pleasure and I knew that she was being saved as well as taken from me.
The Dark Lord has staked claim to her. He’ll return once Ravyn graduates, seeking his payment in full and there’s nothing I can do about that. The sigil carved into her flesh is eternal proof of that.
‘Is it beautiful?’
It’s fucking heartwrenching, I wanted to say, but she was so deliriously happy that I didn’t want to take that away from her. She just lost her family, and possibly her coven for trying to leave. The last thing my girl needed was another disappointment.
My girl? Is she even my girl anymore? With so many potential mates at this academy, I’m not sure how much longer she’ll allow me to be her Daddy, or even her protector.
A tinge of resentment creeps into me. I swoop through the trees, the smell of wildflowers invading my senses. I’m close to Lake Annan. The floral scents, burning my eyes, are a means of protection against evil spirits like me, but I have no choice but to fly through the trees and over the water to reach the other side. What looks like an ordinary pier stretching onto the surface is actually a hidden entrance to Poseida.
When I fly over the lake, the Citadel shines like a beacon in the distance. The High Council gathers there to create bullshit laws, and most of the time, a war doesn’t break out in the meantime. I’ve never cared much for the five members. I suppose my dislike grew when they tried to hang me for not dying the first time around.
The day Maxim Hemlock saved my life, I vowed to protect his family, down to the last one. I never thought that day would actually come—when only one Hemlock would be alive.
My mood sours at the thought. I was a piss-poor soldier, brother, and son. Now I’m a failure at being a knight for those I love.
Well, hopefully tonight I can redeem that a little.
After two hours of endless rivers and trees, the Black Ravine swells into sight. The exact location of Rosso Lupa is unknown but the caves here have become a popular hideout for them over recent years. Fortunately, the ground seems to be spared of them for now. I’m almost tempted to shift and hunt these fuckers down on foot, but a raven is less conspicuous.
I hop and fly between the trees, looking for tracks. The tree where Ravyn had been cornered and stabbed remains smeared in her blood. In my raven form, blood glows, and Ravyn’s is green like our lord’s flame. The large patches of gold are from the hunters and one of the blood trails leads toward the cave.
There’s nothing inside apart from bats, who aren’t happy about me disturbing them. Going by the amount of blood that’s in here, the hunters must have dragged their dead into the cave to hide them from predators.
I scour the surrounding area for more blood. Praise Satan, I find droplets that lead me out of the ravine. The hunters were badly injured when they left here. Fucking serves them right. I’m heading east now, toward Ravyn’s home, and I really hope I’m about to find the hunters’ bodies along the way.
I don’t. Their blood and scents lead me past Ravyn’s home, but then they disappear. All I have to track now are their scents, which are mixed with the rest of the pack that killed El and Redera.
Fury surges through me when I fly over the decimated remains of Hemlock Cottage. To have gone like that at the hands of Rosso Lupa mutts… It’s incomprehensible. They were already hanging from the tree by the time I arrived the first time. When Ravyn let me take down their bodies, I used magic to remove the nails from their hands and feet. I didn’t want Ravyn to suffer more than she had already.
If only I hadn’t gone hunting that night. Maybe they would still be alive. Maybe I could have convinced Ravyn not to go to the altar. It’s not her fault this happened. If anyone’s to blame, it’s me. I had avoided talking about the subject, hoping she’d drop it; instead it only made things worse. How I fucking wish I’d known Lucifer would have no choice but to revoke his protection. None of this might ever have happened.
I’m lost in my bitter thoughts and following the scent on autopilot. When I find a safe place to land and look up, I’m back at Everafter Academy.
This can only mean one thing.
The Witch Hunters are hiding at the academy.
Ravyn was right.
I fly up to her bedroom window on the fourth level. It’s still slightly open, and when I hop inside, Ravyn is asleep on top of the blankets. She’s still wearing her school uniform.
Don’t tell me you were waiting up for me, Little Red?
Smiling for the first time today, I jump onto the floor and shift into my human form. I know it’s risky, but I can’t help myself and the other girls are asleep too; the ale I left for Alice to find in the maintenance closet made sure of that.
I press my lips to Ravyn’s forehead. She stirs but doesn’t wake, so I trail my lips down to her mouth and kiss her, my hand itching to caress her beautiful face. It’s been so long since I’ve had fun with her, I almost want to keep kissing her and touching her body.
With tremendous effort, I choose to ease her under the covers and shift back into a raven. I nestle into her neck and drape my wing protectively over her shoulder. If I could take your pain away, Little Red, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
In the morning, my roomies and I go to the cafeteria to get some breakfast. I’m not terribly enthused about the food here, so my expectations are low.
Yup. Just like I thought. The breakfast options aren’t any better than lunch and dinner had been. At least they didn’t boil everything this time.
I pick a croissant and a bowl of fresh fruit, the one thing the cooks couldn’t ruin, and I join Alice and Sirena at the table. I pass the Princess Posse and they glare daggers at me, hoping I’ll burst into flames. I smile and flip them off, receiving a trio of horrified gasps. Erik and Gideon are hanging out with them again, so at least all the assholes are in one place. I give them an extra finger and flip them off, too, but they just la
ugh.
I sit down beside Alice and across from Sirena. “Looks like I’m officially the school outcast.”
“Take it as a compliment,” Alice shrugs. “People who can see and do things other people can’t always get ostracized.”
Sirena nods in agreement. “It’s their loss. Keep letting your freak flag fly and ignore those catty bitches.”
“I can do that.” I grin at them. “It’s easy to ignore things that don’t matter.”
We’re almost done with our meal when Aurora and her three toadies get up to leave the cafeteria. They walk directly past our table and accidentally-but-totally-on-purpose bump into my back. The still-healing mark from Lucifer reminds me that it’s there, despite my magic trying to heal it. I hiss in surprise at the sudden pain and Alice looks at me in concern. I glare over my shoulder at Gideon, the one who ran into me. One day, I’m going to beat him to death, I swear to Satan, and I’m going to laugh the whole fucking time.
“Oops,” he says, grinning at me.
“Fuck you,” I snarl back.
He clicks his tongue at me like a disappointed nanny and continues on his way out of the cafeteria with the rest of the asshole patrol.
“What a dick,” Sirena grumbles, staring at Erik in particular.
“Yeah.”
“Did he hurt you?” Alice asks, an almost sinister note in her usually soft voice.
I smile at them. “No. I was just surprised, that’s all.” It’s mostly true, so I don’t feel like I’m lying.
The bell rings and Sirena stands up. “Time for class, girls.”
I pop the last grape into my mouth and follow her. Today’s morning class is Enchantments with Professor Martha Huckleberry. As the name implies, she’s fey, some kind of nymph or other. I’m not too good at identifying Seelie fey. I’ve got a lot more experience with the Unseelie Court.
I sit down in one of the chair-desk combination seats and look around. Aurora and Gideon are already here and there are a bunch of students I don’t recognize. Christopher walks in and sits down in the desk beside mine.
Once Upon A Wolf: A Dark Academy Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Everafter Academy Book 1) Page 9
