My body was still shuddering when he slid his fingers out and replaced them with his cock.
I moaned in time with him as his hard thrusts quickly got me to the edge of orgasm again. As I cried out in pleasure, I felt him thicken. He groaned as he came. Folding on top of me, Ben slid his arms around me. He kissed my shoulders. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” I said.
17
Ben
Raven’s scent lingered on me as I walked into the Spellcasting room. I knew the others would know exactly why we were a few minutes late. We had an unusual bond, the five of us. Raven’s other mates wanted her to be happy just as much as I did. And I knew they’d protect her with their lives. So for that reason alone, I did my best to deal with sharing her.
Sharing wasn’t exactly in my nature. But I found that the more time I spent with the others, the easier it got. Our arrangement felt less forced and more natural. Part of me wanted to fight that, but as we spent more time together doing normal things like eating lunch, it was harder to do.
We were getting used to each other. Starting to rely on each other. In a way, we were our own strange little pack.
“Sorry we’re late,” Raven said as she took a seat next to the others. I crossed the room and sat down next to one of the twins, Matt, I think. Surprisingly, I was making the effort to get to know who they were. Though I had no clue when they weren’t next to each other.
A lithe, silver haired fae woman stood in the center of the room. Her shrewd eyes passed over our group. I hadn’t yet met Professor Flora, but I’d heard enough about her to be weary of her. She seemed to make Raven and the twins a little uncomfortable and I could see why.
There wasn’t even a touch of anything friendly in her expression. She looked cold and hard and stern. Like a grandmother who didn’t approve of your life choices.
We just got here and I was already itching to leave.
This was going to be a long session.
“I don’t know what Professor Halifax allowed you to do, but you will be on time from now on,” Professor Flora said.
“Sorry,” Raven said.
“The other faculty informed me about the typical nature of these trials. It is my job to ensure that the five of you are prepared,” she said.
“We’re prepared already,” Luka said. “We’re good to go.”
“Are you?” Professor Flora said.
I wanted to elbow Luka to tell him to shut up but I couldn’t get to him from where I was sitting.
“Your mate here has been without full use of her powers for weeks after her second trip to confinement,” she said. “And none of you have done anything to help her recover.”
“I didn’t ask them to help me,” Raven said. “But they would if I needed them to.”
“You always need to be at full strength,” Professor Flora said. “We can’t even begin our independent study until your magic returns. And that’s just academic. Suppose there was an attack or a situation where Raven needed to defend herself?”
“The school is safe,” Matt said.
“That’s what they said before,” I grumbled. I had been prepared to dislike Professor Flora, but she was speaking my language. If Raven’s magic wasn’t what it was supposed to be, which she hadn’t told me about, it needed fixed. And if we could help her, I was in.
“Alright, I’m guessing you want us to do something to help Raven’s magic,” Luka said. “Are you talking a magic meld or using our bond or what?”
“You’re the smartass of the group, aren’t you?” Professor Flora said.
Normally, I’d agree with her, but Luka was just trying to move us along. Besides, out of the three other mates, I was actually starting to think of Luka as a friend. “Hey, we’re all supposed to be on the same side, right?”
Professor Flora frowned.
“Can we start over?” Raven asked, jumping up from her seat. “Professor Flora, I’d like to introduce you to my other two mates, Ben and Luka. They are both very talented and wonderful people. Ben and Luka, this is Professor Flora, our new Spellcasting teacher. She’ll be helping me learn how to better understand my fae magic.”
“That was unprofessional of me,” Professor Flora said. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to work with a mated group like this. At the academy in Faerie, it’s rare to see. Mating bonds are usually formed when we are much older.”
“It’s okay,” Raven said. “Just let us know what you want us to do. We want to pass the trials and graduate, right?” Raven looked at each of us in turn.
“Sure do,” Matt said.
“Of course,” Zach said.
“Since we have to do it again,” Luka said.
Raven looked at me. I nodded. She turned back to Professor Flora. “We’re ready to learn.”
“Alright,” she said. “Our first step is to heal your magic. You five should be using that bond in your favor. You have an advantage over anyone else in this academy but if one of you is broken, you will all feel it.”
“How do we help her?” I asked.
“Each of you will need to transfer a little bit of your magic to Raven. You’ll be weakened for a few hours, but yours should recover quickly. As if you used too much in a spell or as if you just shifted.” She nodded to me.
I straightened. “That sounds easy enough. What are we waiting for?”
“Do we just hold hands?” Matt asked.
“Ben, get over here, I want to hold your hand,” Luka said with a wink.
I shook my head but cracked a smile at his joke. “You’re too much sometimes, you know that?”
“Are you looking at this like a healing spell?” Zach asked, returning the focus back to the task at hand.
“Well that is an interesting approach to it, Mr. Obscura,” Professor Flora said. “How would you suggest going about it?”
Zach looked a little flushed now that all of us were looking at him. He glanced over at Raven, then looked back at the professor. “I’d probably go one at a time. Starting with the mages as our magic is more similar to hers. Then if needed, Luka and Ben could transfer some of their magic as well. But it might not be needed. And in a real-life situation, I’d rather keep some members of the group at full strength.”
“That is an intelligent strategy,” she said.
“Good work, Zach,” Raven said, grinning.
“Mage magic will transfer most easily to Raven, as would fae,” Professor Flora said. “Most often, healing magic works best when like magic is used. So it won’t be as beneficial to get magic from another kind of magic user. However, I think your bond would allow for it. What are your next steps?”
“I think we should go with Zach’s plan,” I said.
Zach looked surprised.
“It’s a good plan,” I said. “A solid strategy like the professor said.”
“Alright,” Luka said. “You two get her fixed up. What do you need from me and Ben?”
“I guess just hang out till we know if she’ll need any extra magic,” Zach said.
I didn’t like feeling useless, but I reminded myself that they were going to be draining some of their own magic. Which meant that Luka and I would have to step up if something bad happened.
Normally, that shouldn’t be a threat outside of the trials, but given Raven’s history, who knew what could happen. Especially with that shadow fae still waiting to make his return.
“I’ve never actually done this spell,” Raven said. “I read about it in our textbook, though.”
“Don’t worry,” Zach said. “We’ve done it a few times.”
“You have?” she asked.
“Good way to get out of trouble when you end up breaking a bone doing something you’re not supposed to do,” Matt said.
“Your childhood was so different than mine,” she said.
I stood and moved out of the way, Luka joining me near the door to the classroom. I felt like an outsider as I watched Matt and Zach sit down on either side of Raven.
Each of them took hold of her hand and they all closed their eyes. Zach said something at a whisper I couldn’t make out and Raven nodded. Whatever they were doing, it was mage magic and I wasn’t part of that.
“This is much more typical,” Professor Flora said.
I hadn’t even noticed her approach us. Were all fae so damn sneaky? “What do you mean?”
“I’ve seen cases of multiple mates in Faerie, but usually only two or three. And never with other creatures. Fae usually stay with fae. But Raven is also a mage. I was surprised she’d formed a mating bond with a shifter and a demon,” she said.
“Well, she did,” I said, protectively.
She shrugged, then walked away.
I glared after her. In my few minutes with the professor, she had done nothing to endear herself to me.
“That’s enough,” Professor Flora called to Raven and the twins.
The twins let go of Raven’s hands and all three of them opened their eyes. They did look like a matched set. Three elite mages from good families with exceptionally strong magic. Out of the five of us, Luka and I were the outcasts.
I’d never felt like that before, but that was probably because the twins joined as Raven’s mates last. But now that they were here, would they take over? Would she rather spend more time with them because they could relate to her better?
Professor Flora set her hands on either side of Raven’s head. “You feel like you’re back at full strength. We can resume our independent study on Monday.” She lowered her hands then looked at the twins. “Well done, gentlemen.”
I frowned, back to feeling useless. Raven had been hurt and I never stopped to think about how to help her. I didn’t even notice that she was so low on magic. And if it happened again, I wasn’t going to be able to help her the same way the twins could. It was an uncomfortable sensation. I prided myself on being able to take care of my friends and family. And Raven was the most important person in my life.
“Good thing she’s got them,” Luka said. “Now we know how to help her if she goes down again.”
“Yeah.” I wished I could be like Luka sometimes. He was so laid back about all of this. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” he asked.
“Go along with all of this,” I said.
He shrugged. “Raven’s happy, so I’m happy.”
I took a deep breath and held on to that thought. It went so far against how I’d been raised. Growing up, it was take what you can get and hold on to it. Don’t share. Don’t give any ground. Fight for your territory. This was different. And for the first time, I realized it wasn’t really a bad thing. It was a struggle to see how we could all fit together, but we really could.
Raven looked up at me and smiled. “Don’t worry about me so much, Ben. I’m okay.”
I shook my head. Here I was, worrying that she’d leave me behind and even while sitting between two other mates, she was picking up on how I was feeling.
“You’re right, Luka,” I said, slapping him on the back. “We keep Raven happy and we all win.”
18
Zach
Magic has always come easy to me. I remember watching Matt struggle with simple spells when we were younger. He would get so frustrated. He’s got it now and he’s easily as good as I am. But it didn’t start that way. Our mom used to say I was a natural mage, whatever the hell that meant. We were both full mages, but I guess it’s like anything. I was the faster to learn magic and reading, but he was riding a bike weeks before I was ready to remove the training wheels.
The difference was that we always did it together. We appreciated our alone time, but when it came to the hard things, we had each other. This didn’t feel like that. This felt like dividing us on purpose.
I glared at Matt and Raven, unsure of what we had in store for today’s class. All we knew was that it was one on one with Professor Flora and honestly, that scared the shit out of me. After a few weeks in her class, it was obvious that she knew her stuff. But we’d done basic magic, researched our independent topic we’d drawn from the hat, and listened to lectures.
All of that had been normal. But there were signs of her power. Signs of her slightly different ways of doing things that made me wonder what to expect.
She lifted the hat again. “Your individual test times are in here. Random selection. On your test time you will come alone and wait outside the door until I call you in. If you are not scheduled to test, I expect that you’re in the library preparing for your test or using your time wisely for your other studies. One of you will go today. Every other day, we’ll have 3 per period.”
Raven’s fingers brushed my hand and she causally wrapped her hand around mine for a heartbeat before letting go. She was trying to comfort me. Or comfort herself. Either way, I could feel how nervous she was.
While Professor Flora had assured us that our tests were all illusions, that none of it was real, it was still a lot. Raven was going to have to face down the idea of a portal for the first time since that night with Professor Halifax. It wasn’t right to put her in that situation again.
“Your turn.” Professor Flora held the hat in front of the three of us. “Ladies first.”
Raven dipped her hand in and pulled out a slip of paper. “Next week. Thursday.”
I grabbed a paper and looked at it. Suddenly, I felt like I had a rock in my stomach. Today. I got to be the lucky one who went first. “Looks like I get to get it over with.”
Matt took one and held it out to show the rest of us. “I’m on Monday. But you’re first, figures.”
I laughed. When we were kids, I liked to tell him I was the older brother. It was only a few minutes difference, but technically I was older.
“It’ll be fine,” Raven said. “How bad can it be? Some pretend situation we have to react to?”
“I’m sure it’s exactly like the tests in our Italian classes in high school. You know, meet with the teacher and answer questions,” Matt said.
“Right,” I said. “I’m sure it’s exactly like that.”
Conversation filled the room as more and more students got their assigned times. Everyone sounded on edge and nervous. At least we were in good company. This wasn’t something we usually did. Practical tests were still done in front of the whole class in other classes. I suppose in a way, this was kind of nice. If we failed spectacularly, we did it in private.
“Hey, you okay?” Raven asked.
I nodded. “I’m fine. Might as well just do it, right?”
“I kind of wish I was going today,” she said. “I don’t want to worry about it for two weeks.”
“Well, I guess it’s good that I’m going today. I’ll be able to tell you what to expect.”
Raven didn’t look convinced. “Come find me when you’re done, okay?”
I nodded. “You got it.”
“Who is the lucky one who gets to go today?” Professor Flora asked as she walked back to her desk.
I held up my hand. The class was full of conversation and I could feel their eyes on me. I’m sure they were speculating what was about to happen to me.
“Alright, Mr. Obscura, you remain here. Everyone else, you’re dismissed.”
Raven and Matt stood and both of them faced me. Their expressions were sympathy mixed with fear. “Don’t look at me like that.” I stood and set a hand on each of their shoulders. “It’s a test. Not death row.”
Raven sighed. “Yeah, but I still worry about you.”
I laughed. “Professor Flora is not Professor Halifax. I’ll be fine.”
“Alright,” she said. “Good luck.”
“Or should it be break a leg since it is a performance?” Matt asked with a grin.
“Let’s stick to good luck,” I said.
“See you soon,” Raven said.
I waved to them as they left the class and watched as all of my classmates filed out. It wasn’t long before the Spellcasting amphitheater was empty. And quiet. Far too quiet.
“
Mr. Obscura, do you have any final questions before we begin your test?” Professor Flora asked.
“I’m either ready or I’m not,” I said.
She smirked. “That’s true.” She crossed the room to the door and then locked it.
My pulse raced and I tried to tell myself that she wasn’t trying to harm me. This was just a test. She was tough, but she was helping us learn. Besides, Dr. Green trusted her. Though, he had trusted Professor Halifax too.
Fuck. I really hoped she wasn’t going to go all crazy fae on me.
“Mr. Obscura, your topic is shifters. I hope you prepared thoroughly. There are a variety of shifters across all the realms. In fact, some mages can even use magic to shift into other creatures,” she said.
“I spent a lot of time looking into that,” I said. “I even considered trying some of the spells.”
“What kept you from going that route?” she asked.
“The number of poor outcomes I read about,” I said. “I wasn’t willing to be stuck as an animal if I couldn’t pull it off.”
She pursed her lips and stared at me for a few long seconds. “I have a feeling you could pull it off, but I understand not wanting to take the risk.”
“Right, living the rest of my life as a snake or a raven sounds pretty terrible,” I said.
“What about a wolf?” she asked.
“I guess that wouldn’t be as bad, but still not ideal,” I said.
Growling sounded from behind me and I turned to see a huge black wolf baring its teeth at me. I jumped and looked back to Professor Flora, but she was gone.
Shit. Apparently the test had started and I was on my own. With a wolf the size of a small horse.
I took a few steps back, sizing up the creature for possible weakness. It moved toward me with slow, graceful steps. Yellow eyes were locked on me and I knew I was in trouble.
If the beast charged me, I’d have to defend myself and I didn’t want to hurt anyone. But then again, she’d said this was going to be an illusion.
Academy of the Elites: Unbound Magic Page 9
