Wicked Blood

by Emma Dean

  He’d been training to become an assassin since before he could walk after all.

  “Did you know that my family came to America with companions?” Mika asked, changing the subject completely.

  Corbin frowned. “And?”

  “And they were raven shifters.”

  He shrugged and downed the rest of his water before motioning for her to hurry up. “So?”

  “That doesn’t strike you as odd?” she asked, following him back into their makeshift training circle.

  “Why would it? Being a morrigan is in your blood. Serving them is in ours.” Corbin struck, so fast he blurred.

  Mika took the hit but turned, deflecting most of the force as she dodged the next strike and then the next.

  These training sessions weren’t as much about learning how to fight as she thought they’d be. Corbin always focused on her speed and improving it. He wanted her to dodge everything he threw at her.

  No matter how annoying it was, she knew why.

  She wasn’t a born hunter, or a shifter. Mika couldn’t use a speed charm without it burning up a ton of her own energy. Well, not a normal speed charm. She’d been looking for something she could use in the blood magic books that wouldn’t take power and energy directly from herself.

  Wind whipped by as she barely dodged the kick to her face. Corbin didn’t want her blocking either, not when he used full force strikes without mercy. Mika had enough bruises to have learned from that mistake quickly enough.

  But if she could anticipate and move before the damage was done, that was when she could throw her spells. Corbin was convinced she hadn’t hit her max speed yet. While she wasn’t a shifter, she was still a paranormal and therefore far faster than any human could ever wish to be.

  Checks and balances.

  It made Mika wonder about so many things.

  Then Corbin struck her right in the chest and she flew back. Mika was tired and flagging. All it took was a half-distracted thought and hesitation for her to end up with the air knocked from her lungs.

  The raven was by her side instantly. “Just breathe,” he murmured, checking the mark on her chest. “Focus and get through the pain.”

  Kenzie had said something similar once when Mika and Audrey had been hanging out at her house, watching the void spar with the foxes like a pro. Kenzie had some wicked training she’d spent her whole life earning though.

  But one tip had stuck with Mika – fold away the pain.

  It wasn’t easy. She had to focus even though her body was panicking that she couldn’t inhale and get oxygen. But Corbin was there, and his calm surety helped. Mika gasped and air filled her lungs.

  “I need a break,” she managed, dropping her head to the ground and looking up at the moon.

  Mika didn’t care that there might be ants or bugs possibly crawling all over her and into her hair. She was so tired she could barely think. Corbin chuckled and took her hand, heaving her up.

  “You’re much faster than you think you are,” he reassured, picking leaves out of her messy bun. “We’ll add in battle magic next time.”

  She nodded, trying not to think too much about Ethan’s question. Did she want to have sex with Corbin?

  “Dove?”

  Mika looked up into his vibrant green eyes and tried to tell herself her heart was pounding because of all the exercise, not the way he was looking at her – like he cared.

  “Yes?”

  “You okay?”

  She licked her lips, trying to get her thoughts back in order. “I’m okay.”

  Corbin still didn’t look sure. He bit his thumb hard enough she smelled the blood.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded. He stuck his thumb in her mouth before she could finish speaking and Mika tasted that familiar tang. She swallowed on reflex and then shoved his hand away. “Next time ask,” she snapped.

  It did exactly what he wanted it to though. Mika could feel the aches and pain washing away as her body took his strength and molded it into what it needed. That part of her power would never not creep her out.

  “Would you ever take it if I offered?” Corbin asked, tilting his head as he focused on her lips. Then he reached out as if in a trance.

  Mika didn’t know what to do or say, but her entire being wanted to reach out to him as well.

  Then he smeared the remaining blood across her lips, and she gasped. Somehow it was sensual as he rubbed her full bottom lip. Her tongue flicked out as if it had a mind of its own to wipe his skin clean.

  Both of them stared at each other in shock – as if neither of them had really been in control of themselves.

  Mika was breathing hard. Her hands shook and every part of her wanted to take the next step, but she felt…unsure, and so young compared to Corbin’s age and experience despite the raven shifter only being a few years older.

  But she didn’t have to make the first move. Corbin took a step forward and that same thumb traced her chin, and then the line of her jaw before he cupped her face. He tilted her head up and Mika licked her lips again, tasting his blood.

  Corbin’s eyes were blazing red again and she couldn’t look away, couldn’t even blink, she was so entranced.

  “Would you take it if I offered?” he repeated; voice deeper than she’d ever heard it before.

  Mika didn’t know what to say. She could hardly think, let alone form words. “Why would you offer?” she managed, voice barely more than a whisper as she looked down at his lips and then back to those gorgeous ruby eyes.

  “I live to serve you,” he murmured, taking another step forward so his bare chest was against hers.

  It was the most contact they’d ever had without sparring.

  “You don’t live to serve me,” Mika told him, closing her eyes when he pulled out the elastic keeping her hair up. “You can make your own choices.”

  They’d both avoided the conversation the Morrigan had started like pros. Mika didn’t like the way it felt as though she were taking something away from Corbin that he could never get back.

  She didn’t want him enslaved to her.

  The sensation of his hand running through her hair was exquisite and somehow so personal. Mika couldn’t resist anymore. She gently placed her hands on Corbin’s bare skin.

  It was just as warm and silky as she’d thought it would be.

  “I choose to serve you,” Corbin insisted, tugging slightly on her hair.

  Mika gasped, opening her eyes to see his face. He was looking at her like she was some sort of specimen he was trying to understand – a precious specimen he couldn’t live without.

  “Why?” she breathed.

  “Because I want to.” Then he bent down and kissed her. “Because you’re mine.”

  Mika’s heart pounded when his lips touched hers. Her hands clutched onto him and she pressed her body against his before she could think twice about what they were doing – before she could think too hard about the full meaning of his words.

  His kiss was gentler than she thought it would be. Corbin held her like he might just crush her if he wasn’t careful. His massive body seemed to wrap around hers completely, protecting her against the world.

  One arm went around her waist while his other hand was buried in her hair. Corbin flexed and she was lifted off her feet. Mika wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed him in, opening her mouth for him.

  The groan that came out of him would have made her knees weak had he not been holding her up. Mika breathed the sound in like it was air – like it could keep her alive if necessary.

  She slipped her tongue into his mouth and caressed his, playful and gentle, wondering if this was his first kiss or just one of hundreds. Mika didn’t know very much about ravens, but she wanted to know everything.

  The way she kissed him back triggered something.

  Corbin’s grip on her tightened and he kissed her harder, his tongue undulating against hers in a way that told her this was definitely not his first time. The feel of his silk
y tongue sent a white-hot streak to her clit and it pulsed as she pressed harder against him.

  Fucking hell, she was soaking wet just from a kiss.

  Mika pulled back, breathing hard and still in his arms with her feet completely off the ground. She studied his eyes, the blazing red rubies that somehow made her feel safe instead of terrified despite the entire paranormal world being utterly panicked at the sight of a raven.

  “I’m not yours,” she told him, lips bruised and body still aching for him, screaming at her for ending the kiss before things escalated.

  Corbin smiled at her. “You are.”

  “Ravens don’t mate, that’s what you told me.”

  “We don’t.” He kissed her top lip softly and then her bottom, essentially short-circuiting any other protestations. “But I can still choose you.”

  “You barely know me.” She wriggled against him, trying to get free.

  That was a mistake. It only made her want him more when his arm tightened to keep her in place.

  “I know enough,” he countered, still smiling as he rubbed his nose against hers. “Do you not want me?”

  Mika glared at him. “You know I do.”

  He chuckled again and kissed her neck. “I do know, because I can smell it on you. I was just curious if you’d try to lie to me.”

  He bit her neck gently and then licked the tender skin. Mika dug her nails into his shoulders, annoyed that her body was so desperate for him when she just wanted a moment to figure shit out.

  “Then what’s the problem?” Corbin asked, moving to the other side of her neck.

  Mika smacked his shoulder. “Put me down you brute so I can answer you.”

  This time he bit down harder and she groaned, turning into jelly. Fates, that felt too good.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Since when do you like so much contact?”

  Corbin set her down, but he was still smiling like this was all some game. “Choice is everything. I want to touch you, every part of you.” He looked her up and down and Mika almost wished he was holding her again with the way her knees nearly buckled at the heat in that gaze. “It’s becoming hard to resist.”

  “The problem is this whole thing isn’t as simple as you make it out to be,” Mika reminded him.

  Corbin shrugged as he stared at her. “Have you forgotten I’ve been your shadow for a while now?”

  “No, but…” Mika trailed off and rubbed the back of her neck as she tried to figure out what to say.

  How had this all gotten so complicated? Some shifters had more than one mate, but this was not the same thing. These males weren’t forced to share her. Mika didn’t really understand why it was just…fine.

  “Why don’t ravens mate?” she asked instead.

  Corbin reached out. This time he held her neck, thumb caressing the column of her throat. It made her want to step forward again, but Mika kept an arm’s length between them so she could watch his face as he answered.

  “We just don’t,” Corbin said. “I don’t know why, but even with our emotions turned on; we don’t mate. There are theories it’s because we were created by the Morrigan, a race apart from the other shifters. We choose partners like the humans do. But since we don’t have the mate bond to force our choices, we have freedom in those we love. I can choose to be with you, to share you like some males in my flock do. Or I can choose one partner, or two…but if I’m being honest, I never thought I’d find anyone I could possibly care about.”

  The ravens and their patron goddess along with their symbiotic relationship to witches – or rather blood witches made the most sense.

  It was a lot to take in.

  Corbin pulled her forward then and Mika let him, unable to resist any longer. “Is the fox your mate?” He lifted her chin, exposing her throat to him.

  And Mika relaxed her entire body, practically collapsing in his arms. The only thing holding her up was the hand on her throat. A realization had hit her hard enough she couldn’t even stand.

  She trusted this assassin with her life. He could kill her with one small twist. Corbin could probably carry her in his raven form to the clouds high above them and drop her to her death if he wanted.

  But Mika felt safe with him – she knew in her bones he would never hurt her.

  “We don’t know,” she confessed, enjoying the shocked look on Corbin’s face. “All he smells is blood and magic.”

  “What are you doing?” Corbin demanded as she leaned into him, her weight forcing his grip on her neck to tighten as he grabbed her with his other arm.

  “I trust you.”

  For a moment she thought he was going to drop her. Corbin hesitated and then he seemed to come to some kind of decision. His hands went to her hips and he lifted her up again.

  Mika’s legs wrapped around his waist and she buried her face in his neck, enjoying his scent even if she couldn’t place it – it was unlike anything she’d ever smelled before.

  “Ravens may have been made to serve witches,” Corbin murmured into her hair. “But you have never asked me to. You are the one I thought couldn’t possibly exist. Of course, I’m going to choose you.”

  There was going to be a lot of work to do, Mika knew that even as she hugged him tighter. Ethan already seemed fine with the raven, but integrating him into her life…

  It didn’t seem like it could work out. He had his flock – he was an assassin.

  And she was just a witch going to university.

  Their lives were worlds apart.

  “How is this going to work?” she asked, sliding down his body until her feet touched the ground once more.

  It wasn’t just Ethan and Lucien. It was everything.

  Corbin eyed her, like he was trying to decide what to say. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

  16

  Mika stepped back from Corbin, feeling her heart leap into her throat. She didn’t know what he had to tell her, but it didn’t sound good.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  Corbin ran his hand over the top of his head, skimming the braids, which she’d noticed he only did when he was nervous. “I’ve been doing a lot of my own research at the eyrie which is why I was able to find that book for you on the blood crystals.”

  She wasn’t even breathing. Mika had known Corbin knew more about blood witches than she did, but she’d never pushed him for information. Until very recently she hadn’t thought he was one hundred percent on her side, or that she would ever see him again.

  But he’d come back, and he kept coming back just as he’d promised her in the forest on Morgana Island.

  “You call them librarians, but in the eyrie, they are catalogers,” Corbin explained. “They are sworn to secrecy. So, I explained to him I found a blood witch and he had everything I could possibly need to help you.”

  There was a ringing in her ears as she realized someone else knew what she was. Mika grabbed her shirt and put it back on despite how soaked with sweat it was. She walked through Audrey’s spell and toward the greenhouse.

  She needed to think.

  Putting in her code she looked back and realized Corbin was where she’d left him. The look on his face was something close to devastation. Mika jerked her chin toward the greenhouse, and he was next to her in the blink of an eye.

  Mika let Corbin in first and then she walked through the dark greenhouse, only lit by the moon, until she keyed in the code for the tropical plants. Inside this room was so humid it felt like she was swimming through the air, but it was also lush and covered in plants with exotic blossoms.

  “Tell me everything,” Mika instructed as she started working. She needed something to do with her hands so she didn’t lose control and the plants always calmed her. The humidity and warmth made her sleepy and hot.

  This was the safest place to tell her something she probably wasn’t going to like.

  Corbin cleared his throat and slipped on his black shirt. “I’m sorry I had to tell him, but he’s
the only one. Armad, the cataloger, has actually been pushing me to bring you to the eyrie.”

  Her hands paused at that. Mika would give anything to see Corbin’s eyrie, but why did the ravens want her, an outsider, there?

  “You’re the only blood witch,” Corbin tried to explain. “We have sworn to the goddess long ago that we would always protect the blood witches. Armad told me that blood witches used to come to a special ball at our eyries to pair up with ravens. After a trial year they could ask for someone else, or the raven would become blood bound to the witch – completely consensual on both sides.”

  The cutters were heavy in her hand. Not even the West Indian Jasmine and its vibrant red petals could tear her gaze away from the raven.

  A ball sounded so weirdly romantic.

  He reached out to trace the stem of one of the more delicate orchids and shrugged. “But clearly we don’t do that anymore. After the purge we pulled back from the witches, keeping an eye out for morrigans, but it’s been a long time.”

  “So, what does that mean?” Mika demanded. “What aren’t you telling me?”

  Corbin winced. “You still choose one raven, but that raven isn’t the only one who will pledge themselves to you.”

  The ringing in her ears grew louder.

  “Once you decide you’re ready to let the flock know you exist, all of them will be pledged to you.”

  An entire flock?

  The cutters clattered against the stone floor. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re the only blood witch,” Corbin said again with that slightly awkward shrug. “I’m sorry.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know shit about ravens, Corbin, but what exactly is a flock?”

  The sprinklers turned on, spraying a fine mist of water over everything, soaking Mika even more, but she didn’t even blink as she tried to understand exactly what the assassin was saying.

  Corbin crossed his arms over his chest, clearly annoyed about the water, but he didn’t move either. “Flocks are like packs. There are multiple groups of ravens, or flocks. We’re all over. But all of us are ruled by the Enclave – something a lot like the Council, but it is made up of all the Commanders of each flock.”