Once Upon A Devil: A Dark Academy Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Everafter Academy Book 3)

by Scarlett Snow

  We watch him fly off into the trees, and for a moment my body trembles as if realization is finally dawning on me, and I want to fall to the ground and weep. Or scream from the top of my lungs. This is all just too much to comprehend. Last night, I went to bed thinking my sister had been slaughtered by witch hunters. Now she’s standing before me, smiling as though nothing ever happened. I don’t know what I should be feeling. Relieved, yes, but I’m also pissed that Lucifer kept this from me.

  I’m pissed ‘Aaliyah’ went along with it while I spent every waking moment blaming myself for her death—hating that I wasn’t the one hanging from that tree.

  “I know this is a lot to take in,” Redera whispers, “but can I just say something, Ravyn? I love you and you will always, always be my best friend and soulmate. Even if you can’t find it in yourself to forgive me for lying, that will never change.”

  The lump in my throat threatens to explode. “It’s not that I don’t forgive you,” I choke out, finally letting the dam burst inside, releasing my flood of tears. “It’s that I don’t deserve your forgiveness. I saw what they did to you and Grandma. How could you possibly forgive me after the torture I put you both through?”

  She steps forward, grabbing my hands once more to break down my defensive pose. “Because like I just said, I would have done the same thing had it meant we’d be together. We didn’t know what would happen. Nobody told us. You were just trying to help me.”

  “H-help you?” I croak out.

  “I know you didn’t go into the woods to just leave our coven. You wanted to come to Everafter to… well, to protect me like you’ve always done.”

  And yet look at what I caused, I want to reply, but I just manage to hold the words back.

  “You’re the yin to my yang,” I tell her, trying my best to put on a brave face despite my quivering lip giving me away. “I couldn’t bear the thought of you alone in this school with all these good-doers.”

  She squeezes my hands reassuringly. “I know. That’s why there is nothing to forgive. Hemlocks stick together.”

  “Yeah,” I agree quietly, my vision turning glassy again with tears. “We do.”

  Crying is considered weak in the Darkblood world.

  Always has been and always will be.

  But I don't feel the slightest bit ashamed about crying in my sister's arms for Satan knows how long.

  “Do you feel a little better?” Redera whispers, gently rocking me in her arms.

  I wipe the last of my tears away and nod, my breath stuttering in the back of my throat. “It’s just a lot to take in, you know, and truth be told, I never fully accepted what happened to you. It was like something inside me always knew you and Grandma weren’t gone and that you’d come back.”

  Redera lets me go. Tucking my hair behind my ears, she looks into my eyes, saying softly, “And you were right, Little Red. You’re always right.”

  I step back, smiling at her weakly, and take a moment to pull myself together. The sun has started to slink toward the auburn horizon, meaning we’ve been here for much longer than I anticipated. And the whole time I wept in my sister’s arms, she never once let a single tear escape.

  This isn’t Redera.

  She used to burst out crying at adverts on her stupid little radio.

  Now she’s… well, she’s like how I used to be before Lucifer gave me white magic. The strangest thing of all is that I’m not sure I’d give the magic back. It’s sort of made me feel normal for once. More powerful.

  “We should head back,” I say, looking up at the darkening sky. “Last thing we need is Professor Lockwood catching us out past curfew.”

  My sister grins at me. “As if you’ve ever cared about breaking the rules.”

  I laugh at that. “Well, let’s just say things are different with him. More complicated.”

  She watches me walk over to where she dropped the apple. “What is the deal with you and Lockwood, anyway? I saw you dancing together at the ball. You were the talk of the school.”

  “I was probably the talk of the school because someone else impersonated Lockwood,” I counter, bending over to pick the apple up and wipe it on my coat. “Do you think the others knew who he was?”

  I don’t have to say who I’m referring to. Redera’s grin says it all.

  “No. I don’t think anyone knew you were dancing with Lucifer,” she answers, quirking a thin eyebrow at me. “And I know you did more than dancing.”

  Despite my efforts to hide it, a blush rises to my cheeks as I walk back over to her side. “We were just—”

  “Oh, please. You were not making a deal the Satanic way. I saw the way you looked after he removed his spell, all doey-eyed and fucked senseless. You could barely stand afterward.”

  My blush deepens, and I bring the apple to my lips. “Since when did you become so…upfront?”

  “I’m a full-blooded dark witch now, remember? Go big or go home.”

  She watches me take a bite of the apple. The second my teeth pierce the skin, a wave of magic cascades down her body, removing the truth spell.

  Redera sighs with relief. “I’m still a little pissed you tricked me with that.”

  She laughs, the sound filling me with an unexpected warmth. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of hearing my sister laugh. She could read potion ingredients for all I care and I’ll still be grateful.

  “You might want to restore your glamor, though, as much as I love the new look.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Redera motions her hand, casting the glamor again, changing into Aaliyah from her feet up. “How do I look?”

  “Like a princess,” I say, rolling my eyes.

  As we leave the clearing, I remember my deal with Aladdin and how he got beaten up by Penny Royal just to help me. There must be something my sister can tell me about the genies.

  I turn to her, asking, “Are you the real Aaliyah or just an apparition?”

  “An apparition. The real Princess Aaliyah goes to school in Wysteria, though she hasn’t been sighted in months.”

  “Do you think it could be something to do with a genie? The one hiding in the Red Rose Inn?”

  Redera shrugs. “Heaven if I know, sis. The whole genie in a basement thing really is just a rumor. I do know that her father used to trade genies in Aira before the High Council criminalized it.”

  Interesting. As far as I knew, the market for supernatural slaves had gone long ago. The High Council had terminated it along with all other forms of slavery. I’ve always sort of suspected that it’s still continuing. This is my first real proof.

  “Who is her father?” I ask.

  There’s a rustling noise in the shadows behind us. A dark figure shoots out from the trees. It’s Broin, who flies over and lands on my shoulder.

  —Your friends are waiting for you in the cafeteria. They got hungry.—

  I stroke his wing, looking at my sister for an answer.

  She smiles at Broin before answering quietly, “The Sultan. He traded genies throughout the six realms for over three decades. But the only place you’ll find a genie nowadays is in—”

  “—the Dark Market,” I finish for her, knowing full well what sort of trading goes on in Draoich’s most corrupt underground society. I can’t believe I never thought about the Dark Market until now. “Well, I wish Aladdin all the luck in the world.”

  “Yeah,” my sister agrees with a nod. “Nobody enters the market without selling their soul.”

  By all accounts, she’s right. But what if one doesn’t have a soul to begin with? What if they’ve already sold it…what happens then?

  I add this to my list of questions for when I summon my Dark Lord tonight. That’s if he lets me talk this time. Lucifer has a tendency to take on a more…physical approach when it comes to communication. This time I have too many questions to ask him, and with Satan himself as my witness, I will be getting answers. My Dark Lord has a lot of explaining to do.

  When we reach the main courtyard, I�
�m not surprised to find the area empty. It’s dark and cold outside, and my breath streams out in white puffs toward the sky. We hurry into the academy to escape the cold. Broin flies off my shoulder and heads toward the dormitories while Redera and I step into the cafeteria tower for dinner. Just as we climb the second flight of stairs, we stumble upon Sirena and…

  “Ew. Erik.”

  Redera nudges me playfully. “Hey, Sirena. Have you eaten yet?”

  She turns around, her complexion paler than normal and her eyes bloodshot, holding back barely contained tears.

  Prince Erik sneers. “Yes, Sirena. Go along now and have tea with your little camel jockey.”

  Before I can react, Redera grabs my arm and barges past him. “He’s only butthurt ‘cause I turned his ugly ass down,” she says, her sneer just as venomous as his. “And of course I did. I would never look twice at a snivelling, spoiled, pretentious, weak-minded little prince whose nose is bigger than his dick. Good day, now.”

  I just manage to seize Sirena’s arm before Redera drags me up the stairs. When we reach the top, Redera lets me go, and I turn to my friend.

  “Seriously. I don’t know why you bother with that jerk.”

  Sirena’s face is gaunt. “I don’t have a choice.”

  I blink at her sharp tone, wondering if perhaps my sister offended her. Usually, Sirena would laugh at us standing up to Erik. Now she looks almost…livid.

  “I’m sorry if that was too much,” I whisper quickly, letting go of her hand.

  Redera senses the tension and fortunately offers her own version of an apology. “You just deserve better than that pathetic excuse for a prince. He’s got the mannerisms of a brick.”

  “More like a prick,” I giggle, smiling at Sirena.

  She doesn’t even look at me. “I’ve got to go,” she mumbles, turning away toward the stairs leading up to the library.

  I step forward to chase after her, but Redera holds me back. “I think she needs some space.”

  “I’ve never seen Sirena like that,” I tell her, trying my hardest not to acknowledge the way my heart throbs and sinks to my stomach at the thought of upsetting her. “Maybe we stepped out of line.”

  At that moment, Alice skips out of the cafeteria, nodding at us. “Yup, you did. But Sirena’s got the memory of a goldfish. She’ll forgive you by the time she goes to bed. She never sleeps on an argument.”

  I don’t know why, but those words aren’t all that comforting.

  “I’m really sorry I upset your friend,” my sister says to Alice, who smiles thoughtfully. “I saw how Redera often protects you both, and I guess I just tried to help.”

  “I understand, and so does Sirena. I think it’s just difficult sometimes, because even though we don’t like Erik… even though Sirena hardly likes him… she’s still betrothed to him. I think she’s learning to pick her battles when it comes to him.”

  “There’s something I’d certainly like to pick out of Erik. His brains,” I grumble.

  Alice tilts her head at me, her large eyes unmoving. “He has to have one first.”

  The three of us burst into laughter.

  “Good point,” my sister says, and to my delight, Alice takes both of our arms and steps back toward the cafeteria.

  With a glance over my shoulder to where Sirena went, I follow them into the hall. We decide to grab our food to go, which is good timing, because the moment we enter, we find Aurora sitting on one of the tables with her Poser Posse around her. Christopher is absent, but Gideon, I notice, is playing close attention to the way she’s crossed her legs to display ample amounts of flesh.

  Aurora catches me looking. With a derisive curve of her lips, she throws her long blonde hair over her petite shoulders and grabs Gideon’s collar, pulling him forward to whisper something in his ear. His hand falls onto her thigh for apparent support, and Aurora’s eyes never leave mine as I walk over to the counter.

  A stab of jealousy surges through me, tightening the air in my lungs.

  I’m very tempted to curse her just for the heaven of it.

  But while the thought of being punished by Lockwood is appealing, I have other things to be doing tonight.

  I unclench my hands and focus on grabbing some food, furious at my thoughts betraying me like that. It’s so pathetic to be feeling jealous over a boy I don’t even want, a prince who I quite literally had on his knees for me not two days ago.

  Gideon isn’t part of my life because I want him to be.

  He’s just a toy, something to break apart and play with until I grow bored. Nothing more. Nothing less. His existence is meaningless to me.

  As I grab my dinner to go and walk back through the hall, I can’t help but watch the way he touches Aurora, and the way that bitch throws herself all over him.

  I can’t help the anger that creeps into me, making my thoughts even darker than they are already.

  Outside the cafeteria, it suddenly occurs to me why I’m feeling like this. It’s not the events of today or the punishments of tomorrow. It’s the pent-up frustration burning inside of me, desperate to be set free, to feel pain, to writhe, and to bathe in my own blood.

  I need to be punished. Right here, right now. It’s the only way I’ll be able to rid myself of such pointless feelings.

  A Darkblood feeling possessive over a prince such as Gideon Kingsley?

  Now I’ve heard and seen it all.

  Fuck.

  It’s just before curfew when Sirena finally rejoins us. Her eyes aren’t puffy for once, and now she just looks angry. I’m sitting on my bed pretending to study when she comes in, and Alice is holding Jasper and brushing his fur. Sirena comes into the room and goes immediately into the bathroom. The shower starts up, and I look at Alice.

  “I wonder if she’s forgiven us.”

  Alice shrugs. “We’ll find out.”

  Sirena takes her sweet time in the shower, just like always, but she finally comes back out. Her hair is wrapped in a towel and she’s in her bathrobe. She takes Augustus from her necklace and puts him on her pillow.

  “Sirena,” I say. “About today…”

  Her jaw sets. “Yeah. About today. You girls have all kinds of fun picking on Erik and pissing him off, but you don’t think about what happens because of that. The more you make him angry, the more he takes it out on me, and this already screwed-up situation gets that much worse. I’m getting really tired of him getting mean to me because you can’t keep your comments to yourselves.”

  She’s really mad. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her so angry, and hearing what she has to say, I don’t blame her.

  “I’m sorry,” I say, feeling like shit. “I don’t mean to make things so hard for you. It just makes me so mad when he cheats on you and treats you so badly… you deserve better.”

  “Yeah, I do,” she agrees. “But I can’t have better. I have to have him if our kingdoms are to remain in one piece. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

  Jasper jumps down, and Alice goes to sit beside Sirena. She takes Sirena’s hand in hers and tells her, “We won’t tease him anymore. I can’t have him being meaner to you than he already is.”

  Sirena hugs her. “Thank you. I’m not saying you can never give him a taste of his own medicine, just…”

  “Pick our battles,” I finish for her, sitting on her other side and leaning my head on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, too. And I’ll stop harassing him. I mean, something might slip out if I’m mad, and I’ll try to stop it, but I won’t intentionally dig at him.”

  She smiles gratefully. “That’s all I can ask.”

  We have a group hug, and Augustus scuttles over to climb onto her lap and get in on the action. I’ve never seen an affectionate crab before, but there’s a first time for everything, I suppose.

  “I wish you could get out of that betrothal,” I sigh.

  “I’ve been wishing for that since the day it happened.” She smiles ruefully. “No dice.”

  Alice stares at her with
her wide eyes, and even though she looks vacant, I know she’s thinking hard. “Maybe we can find a way to make him a better person.”

  Sirena snorts. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”

  “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s magic, there’s more than will,” Alice answers as firmly as she can with her whispery voice.

  I smirk. “Maybe I can curse him.”

  —That would be a waste of good power,—Broin opines from his perch on my headboard.—But I’ll see if I can think of anything that might be helpful.—

  —Thank you, Daddy.—

  Sirena laughs. “Yeah, I don’t think that would go over very well with the treaty between our kingdoms, but sure. Go for it.”

  Alice runs a finger over Augustus’s carapace, and his eye stalks quiver. She laughs. “Is he ticklish?”

  “A little.” Sirena picks him up and kisses him, and then he returns to the necklace that she wears. “I’m tired, girls. Time for bed.”

  I kiss her on the cheek, and then we all get ready for lights out.

  “And that’s just one of the things I can do with my tongue,” Aurora adds, her lips grazing the upper side of my right ear.

  My eyes land on Redera and her gang herding through the cafeteria. There’s a new member that catches my attention only briefly because I’m drawn back to Redera as if by instinct. But when I lock eyes with her again, her gaze flashes crimson in the light.

  I push Aurora off, widening the space between us. My pulse quickens as I watch the way Redera’s gaze narrows into icy shards. My body heats up under her cold scrutiny, recalling the way she fucked me by the school’s wall, and how she’d looked at me with such utter disdain I could barely stand the excitement.

  I sit back in my chair, feigning a sense of calmness I really don’t possess inside. I’ve tried to ignore how I feel about her. I’ve tried to pretend that she’s just scum like all the other Darkbloods. But when I saw her at the Samhain Masque Ball, and the way the entire event seemed wrapped around her finger, I could no longer run from reality.