Corviticus University: Void

by J. E. Cluney

  Lucas stepped away, his hands glowing purple as the earth trembled beneath my joggers.

  I flinched as earthy walls burst from the ground, and a sudden fear swept over me as they curved and arched overhead, forming a shelter.

  Except that the walls were on all sides, trapping us in an earthly tomb.

  Strange blue lights lit up along the walls, and I frowned as I stepped nearer to the wall to inspect it.

  A glowing blue stone it seemed, and they lined the walls, lighting the cave-like structure I was now in.

  “Soundproof,” Lucas explained when I gave him a questioning look. His white shirt under his navy suit glowed a little in the lighting, almost like they were true blue-lights.

  I looked down at my pajama top and pants, finding the hearts were glowing faintly on my pants.

  “You ready to try this?” Lucas asked, his voice a whisper inside the earthy walls.

  It was cool in here too, and I rubbed my arms as I nodded.

  Lucas waved his hand again, and the earth between us began to shift and move, snaking up and morphing into something. I took a few steps back as the earthy man-like creation came into being.

  “Reach inside, Allison. Find your banshee, and protect yourself,” Lucas instructed.

  I groaned as the dirt man moved towards me.

  I dodged its attack as it swiped at me, sliding a few steps back.

  I had a feeling a blow from this thing was going to hurt more than the rag-doll dummies from earlier.

  I focused, reaching deep inside me as the darkness swirled, beckoning me inside.

  The floating sensation washed over me, and I found myself once again in the void, surrounded by darkness.

  I glanced around expectantly, and the mirror lit up a few yards from me.

  This time, I could see my reflection from here, and I shuddered as she reached out for me.

  I drew in a sharp breath, forcing my feet to move.

  I could do this. After all, she was just me, right?

  I clenched my hands into fists as my reflection leaned forward as I closed the distance between us. She was still reaching out, but a brief moment of horror overwhelmed me as I realized she was stepping out of the mirror.

  This was some true ‘Ring’ bullshit right here.

  And I’d hated that horror movie, it had been the one to turn me off all horror movies.

  I came to an abrupt stop as my reflection straightened, cocking her head at me.

  We were both wearing the same red dress, but it was like she was still submerged in water, her hair floating around her head as the dress fluttered silently around her, rippling with unseen waves.

  Those eyes were what made my heart speed up. Black and soulless. The very essence of death.

  I thought back to Lucas’ words. Of how I had to accept her.

  Every part of me wanted me to pull back, too terrified of what this was. Of what I was.

  “Why are you afraid?”

  I stiffened, gaping at her as she frowned sadly at me.

  I was talking to myself.

  “How can I not be?” I answered. This thing before me was not a reflection, but it’s own being. It had to be. Why else would it be talking to me?

  “Because we are one. Yet you fight me, resist me,” my mirror image sighed as she glanced down at her feet.

  A strange feeling washed over me at that. She was almost… childlike. Saddened by my denial of her.

  “I don’t know what will happen if I accept you,” I whispered, and her eyes slowly dragged back up to my own.

  “You will become greater. You will not change in yourself, but your powers and abilities will. You need to have faith that everything will work out the way it is meant to,” she said, giving me a reassuring smile.

  Well, this ‘Ring’ thing had completely flipped on me.

  “What about my…mates?” I said, still finding it strange to say the term out loud.

  “They will become stronger as well. And your bonds will become true,” she said.

  Our bonds would become true. What did that even mean? I doubted I’d get much from her, she was quite vague. At least she seemed to have some knowledge.

  “I’m a reflection of you, I share the same knowledge as you, but because I am true, I also hold the knowledge of my bloodlines,” she said, as if she was reading my thoughts.

  Because she was true? What did that even mean?

  “I cannot give you all the answers, you need to find them for yourself,” she said, and she slowly held out her hand to me.

  I stared at her hand, my heart pounding as I chewed my lip.

  Just do it. I had to. This was me.

  “Do you accept me?” she asked, and I locked eyes with her, staring into those dark pools.

  “Yes.”

  As soon as I took her hand, power surged through me like nothing I’d ever felt before. I could feel my soul igniting as my true self came to life, as all that was missing within me suddenly came into being.

  I felt whole and complete, and I could feel all of my guys, just as stunned as I was, as power surged through them too. The connection I felt with them was immense, like we were bound by our souls, our very essence linked. I could feel their passions and joys, more-so than what I’d felt with Marcus.

  And I knew in that moment, that I knew everything about the three of them. Just like with Marcus, I knew everything about Ollie and Lucas, and it took my breath away to be loaded with that much knowledge.

  And as quickly as the power engulfed me, it faded back, coiling up inside me as I found myself back in the earthly room.

  Lucas was just staring at me in utter shock, but his creation was still lashing at me.

  And I instantly knew what to do.

  I didn’t hold back as I screamed, feeling the power push forth from me as the walls shook.

  The dirt man hurtled backwards, crumbling into pieces as Lucas instinctively covered his ears.

  I just stared, stunned that I’d actually done it.

  I’d accepted who I was.

  This was me. All of me.

  The banshee me.

  I headed inside with Lucas beside me, one arm wrapped around my waist as I smiled, pleased after a few more successful sonic screams.

  “You got it,” Ollie beamed as I sat down on the lounge next to him, Lucas joining me.

  Skip was watching us carefully, clearly aware that something had changed.

  “Ollie said you accepted your banshee side. You should’ve seen him light up, his eyes glowed white,” Skip stated instantly.

  “What?” I frowned.

  “Yeah, it happened to me too,” Lucas said, leaning his head back against the cushions.

  “I think it was our power becoming stronger, since you’d accepted your banshee side,” Ollie said with a soft furrow of his brow.

  ‘He’s right, one of the guys in my study group at the library said mine glowed too,’ Marcus murmured into my mind.

  Lucas got up, leaving me to sit and dwell on this new tidbit of information. I’d known it would happen, as my banshee side had said so, and so had Sasha. Still, to think that their eyes had glowed when I’d accepted her was intriguing.

  “How do you feel?” Skip asked, and I finally focused on him fully.

  “Alive, like I’m all here, no more missing pieces,” I smiled. No, not quite, there was a missing piece still.

  I could feel the pull towards Skip, and the way he was staring at me, those normally bright blue eyes shadowed, I knew he could sense it too.

  “It’s good that you accepted it, now you can defend yourself,” Skip said, giving me that charming smile.

  “Yeah,” I murmured, unable to stop my eyes from wandering down his bare chest.

  The sound of the kettle boiling rose up from the kitchen, and I dragged my eyes back up to Skip’s, who was smirking knowingly at me.

  “Do you know of any other powers?” Ollie asked eagerly.

  “No, I thought that since my banshee side
said she was true or whatever, that I’d suddenly just know things. I don’t,” I sighed. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. I’d known how to do my sonic scream.

  “Are you seeing your banshee instructor again soon then?” Skip asked.

  I wanted to, quite badly. I wanted to know what I could truly do now. I had her number to organize another session.

  “Why not Wednesday morning? We don’t have prac then,” Ollie suggested.

  That was true, I could do that. I was definitely excited to learn now.

  All the doubts and uncertainty I’d had were gone now, completely erased as soon as I’d accepted my banshee side.

  I could feel it, no longer a swirling darkness inside me, but a part of me, a protective piece. A part that made me feel truly confident in my ability to take care of myself no matter what.

  I was no longer the halfling with crazy mischief magic.

  I was the banshee with badass powers.

  “Damn right,” Lucas grinned as he strode in, holding a hot milo in each hand.

  He offered one to me, and I softened at the sweet gesture. How’d he know I’d been wanting one?

  “Just knew,” he murmured.

  “This mental bonding thing is pissing me off,” Skip growled in annoyance.

  “Don’t worry, you can join in on a threesome and get your own bond soon enough,” Lucas joked, and I nearly inhaled my milo.

  I hid myself behind my mug of hot milo, slurping it as Lucas gave Skip a nonchalant shrug.

  “You guys had a threesome?” Skip gaped, his textbook now forgotten on his lap, giving me an unblocked view of his naked torso.

  I didn’t know what to say as I stared down at my mug, feeling Skip’s heated gaze on me.

  “Well, I need to study, what about you?” Ollie said as he stood, obviously not wanting to see how this would turn.

  I was curious, but I also needed to study. We had an assessment coming up, and I’d been too preoccupied with this wendigo thing and my family stuff.

  I just gave Skip a sheepish smile as Ollie led me out of the living room, and I heard him start grumbling to Lucas.

  Honestly, since he seemed to be my final mate, he’d get his moment. I just needed to pace myself, otherwise I’d never pass my studies if I was too tempted by the four guys.

  “Don’t worry, I promise we’ll only study,” Ollie said, giving me a bright smile over his shoulder.

  Somehow, I doubted there would be absolutely nothing else.

  I wasn’t wrong.

  “Will you do stuff with Skip?” Ollie asked, after having yet another make-out session before I pushed him away to focus on my books. No sex. That was the unspoken agreement until we got a fair chunk of our assessments done.

  “I don’t know,” I mumbled, and he just grinned knowingly, sensing everything in my mind.

  “You will, and you shouldn’t feel like you can’t tell us too,” Ollie said as he forced his eyes back down to his book as he lay on his stomach beside me on my bed.

  “Marcus is still a bit funny about it,” I noted, feeling Marcus’ feelings about the whole thing. I also knew that he believed Skip really did care for me, but he couldn’t help his uncertainty either. Skip had been the biggest player, although, to be honest, Lucas was quite the flirt and player too, but for some reason the guys were letting it slide. Something to do with Lucy I think, because they’d all slept with her at some point.

  “When was the last time you spoke to anyone in your family?” I asked, changing the subject as I caught a glimpse of a memory from Ollie, studying in the same position with his older sister in primary school. She was helping him with his Math homework.

  “Over a year ago,” he shrugged.

  As soon as he said the words, the memory was in my own mind.

  Lucas and Skip had talked him into going to a charity event at a local farm. A big farm show that had been put on to raise funds for the supe high school.

  He’d run into his older sister and mother.

  “Oliver. I didn’t expect to see you here,” his mother said, displeased at his presence quite clearly. She was wearing an expensive looking blouse and pants, while his sister was wearing a high-end summer dress. They both had his brown hair, but his mother’s was done up in a fancy braided bun, while his sister had hers up in a high ponytail.

  “The whole town is welcome,” Lucas stated from his position beside Ollie. Skip had already disappeared into the crowd earlier to find food and drinks for them.

  “Only real supes should come,” his sister, Rebecca, sneered.

  “A curse doesn’t make him any less of a supe, just like your fancy attire and money doesn’t make you any less of a bitch,” Lucas beamed, and I felt the wash of guilt crawl over Ollie as his sister gaped, and his mother scowled.

  “That is no way to speak to a lady,” his mother snapped, anger flashing in her pale green eyes.

  “I’d be much more polite if she was actually a lady and not a snob,” Lucas retorted instantly, and I knew Ollie was desperate to withdraw and flee, hating the confrontation.

  “Well, you’re just a freak too, so you two go hand in hand,” Bec smirked, those hazel eyes glinting with pride at her quick response.

  “Oh, you say that like it’s a bad thing,” Lucas shook his head. “But I’ll bid you farewell, don’t get lost in the pig pen. I know it’ll be hard to tell you all apart.”

  With that, Lucas turned and strode away, making sure to hook his arm through Ollie’s to pull him away.

  It didn’t stop him from casting a glance back at his family, seeing their disappointed and flustered expressions.

  And the pain he felt at the disgust in their eyes, directed at him, made his stomach knot.

  “Bastards,” I growled, noting that Ollie was frowning. He’d felt me inside his memory, and those amber eyes were saddened.

  “Your whole family cast you out,” I murmured, reining in my frustration and dislike for his family. It still pained him, even after so much time had passed.

  “I wasn’t a true shifter,” he shrugged.

  “Bullshit, like Lucas said, a curse doesn’t change what you are deep down. It’ll lift too. Why was that such a big issue for them?” I growled, fury boiling inside me for him. They’d hurt him, massively. They’d started by shunning him, not taking him to family events anymore, saying that there would be shifts, something true shifters did during celebrations. And then they’d begun to cast him out, eventually asking him to leave. Well, telling him to.

  His father suggested he leave, but his mother and sister made it clear he had to, that he was unwelcome there.

  “It doesn’t matter anymore,” he said, frowning as he looked down at his textbook once more.

  “Of course it matters, because it still hurts you,” I murmured as I reached over to touch his arm gently.

  He gave me a small smile at this.

  “Let’s just study. I don’t want to think about them,” he said, and I could see the pleading in his eyes.

  He couldn’t slam up his barriers anymore, not now that we were bonded. But he didn’t want to talk about.

  I nodded, sighing as I turned the page in my own textbook.

  I moved to sprawl out beside him again, sneaking him a kiss on the cheek before jotting down some notes for my assessment.

  We lay side by side in comfortable silence, and by the time we fell asleep in each other’s arms, we’d successfully gotten some of our assessments done.

  11

  Skip.

  “You and Ollie, seriously?” I grumbled, shifting on the lounge as my cock twinged at the thought. She’d shared them, clearly, and the thought of having her, even if I had to share, was one hell of a turn on.

  “It just happened,” Lucas shrugged, but the smile tugging at his lips told me it wasn’t just random.

  I wanted to ask what it had been like, but I bit my tongue. I wanted to be surprised when I finally had my chance.

  “You really think this whole mate thing is true
?” I asked. I’d heard about it in many shifters, mostly ‘wolves and the predatory types. Not us though, us kangaroos didn’t get true mates.

  “Tell me, did you feel different when Ollie’s eyes lit up?” Lucas asked, leaning forward on the opposite lounge as he clasped his hands.

  I thought back to that moment, knowing that I had felt something.

  “Like a spark, I guess. And when I saw Bee Sting again, I was drawn to her, more-so than usual,” I stated.

  “Then I dare say you are one,” Lucas smiled as he picked up his hot milo from the coffee table and sipped it.

  “How do you feel, after she accepted it?” I asked, my curiosity winning out. What did this true bond do?

  “Stronger. It’s strange, I feel like my magic is more powerful. But I also can feel that it’s not complete. The bonding is stronger, unbreakable, but not yet fully complete,” Lucas mused as he leaned back against the cushions. “I think it’ll be complete with you.”

  I mulled over this.

  The thought of being bonded to Ally was something I’d thought about since her grandmother had said we were mates.

  A part of me wondered if I’d be happy with it, but the other part told me there was no fighting it anyway.

  Besides, Bee Sting was perfect. She made us all laugh and have fun. She was the perfect fit here, and despite knowing she’d been with the other guys, I wasn’t the least bit bothered. They were like my family, my brothers.

  But I was kinda bummed they’d all had her. I wanted to talk to her about it, but I knew there was so much going on lately, I couldn’t blame her for being busy. I’d find my way to become one with her, when she was ready.

  Bee Sting was different. Ever since Selena, I’d had a string of flings, girls that I’d been with for short periods of time, nothing more than a sexual relationship. They’d all been understanding of that. After all, I didn’t even think I could fall for someone again after Selena.

  Until now.

  I knew Marcus was still funny, he’d seen my long line of flings, saw how quickly I moved from one to the next. There were a few who’d gotten too attached, and I’d ended things early.

  He deemed me a player still, but I couldn’t do that to Allison.