I laugh. “He’s just a boy I’m playing with. Nobody special.”
Alice narrows her eyes. “You’re lying.”
“Fine,” Sirena says. “Keep your secrets. From the look on your face, I’m going to guess that he was good, at least?”
I wiggle my eyebrows. “Oh, yes.” I take a bite of my ham and cheddar on brioche. “So… what did I miss?”
While they fill me in on class and the next assignment I should probably do, I see Aurora sit down next to Gideon. He glances at me, just a flicker of a gaze, and then he puts some space between them. Aurora glares at him and I see her mouth moving, probably giving him Heaven about denying her. He says something to her and moves even farther away.
Good boy.
Sirena follows my gaze toward the table, and she sees Erik putting his arm around Aurora’s shoulders, probably offering to take Gideon’s place. She tosses her napkin onto her plate.
“Well, there went my appetite.” She stands up, glowering. “I’ll see you later, girls.”
Without another word, she walks away. She goes past her cheating fiance and gives him a hard look, and he literally laughs in her face. A hex burns on my fingertips, but I dismiss it.
Not today, Storyteller.
Christopher stands from their table and leaves, his nose buried in a book. Everyone moves aside for the handsome prince, deferring to him. He might not be an asshole like some of his companions—totally referring to Erik, in particular—but the rest of the student body got the memo that he’s still to be treated like something special. I’m not entirely sure I trust him, but I don’t dislike him as much as I used to.
Alice mutters, “He’s betrothed to Aurora. I wonder if he’s heard anything about the spinning wheel.”
I scoff down the last of my food, and we follow Christopher out to the main courtyard. I’m pretty sure he sensed us following him all the way from the cafeteria yet he never let on. He ducks under the tree, leans against the trunk, and dives back into whatever book he’s reading.
“Must be a good book,” I tell him when we get closer.
He looks up and smiles. “It is. It’s actually really fascinating. It’s about.. .” He sees the dead look in my eyes and trails off. “You’re not actually interested in what I’m reading, are you?”
“No, but I am interested in something that you might know.” I sit down beside him, and Alice sits on his other side.
He closes the book and looks from one of us to the other, smiling nervously. “Okay. I’ll help if I can.”
See, that attitude right there? That’s why I’m starting to like this guy in spite of myself. He prefers to use his brains instead of his dick.
“You’re betrothed to Aurora, right?” I start off.
Christopher frowns at the question. “Yes.”
Alice joins in. “Have you ever been to Talia?”
“A few times. The most recent was a two-week stay last summer when the betrothal was formalized.” He tilts his head like a quizzical puppy, his long blond hair cascading over one shoulder. “Why do you ask?”
“Do they really have a cursed spinning wheel?”
He looks surprised, but he says, “Well, actually, yes. They do.”
I wish Redera was here for this. I need to tell her everything once we catch up later. “Where do they keep it? I assume it’s under guard or something.”
“It’s in a locked room at the top of a locked tower. Aurora took me to see it when I was visiting.”
Alice pulls a blade of grass out of the dirt and runs it between her fingers. “What’s the curse?”
He shrugs. “Apparently the spindle will kill anyone who comes in contact with the point.”
I used to watch my grandmother spin, and she stuck herself plenty of times with her spindle. “Must be inconvenient.”
“I’m sure. Must be why they have it locked away,” he smiles, rolling his eyes.
He has such a pretty smile.
I inwardly shake my head. What’s the matter with me? Why am I noticing something like that now?
Alice leans forward. “Redera needs to see it.”
Christopher frowns. “Why?”
“It’s for an independent study thing,” I lie, pleased by how legit it sounds. “Can you take me to it, if we go to Talia?”
“Well… probably. But we’d have to sneak, because me showing up unannounced would be sort of a diplomatic incident between our kingdoms. We’d also have to get a skeleton key or something to open the locks.”
Alice stares at him with wide eyes. “We’re students at a magical academy.”
He blushes. “Oh, wow. You’re right. Spells.”
“Wow is right,” I say, shaking my head. “That blond goes all the way through, doesn’t it?”
Christopher looks away, his blue eyes turning to the ground. “Sometimes.”
I think I must have struck a nerve or something, because for a minute, he looks like I just kicked him in the stomach. It shouldn’t bother me, but for some reason, it does.
Alice puts a hand on his shoulder. “She was just kidding.”
I frown at her. “Don’t apologize for me.”
“Well, were you going to do it?”
“No.”
She sighs and tells Christopher, “Honestly, she was just playing. She just plays rough.”
“That’s okay,” he says, in a tone of voice that tells me it’s not okay at all.
I feel a twinge of remorse and I blame the white magic. Since when do I care if some pampered little princeling gets his feelings hurt?
“If I can get us to Talia, will you take us to the spinning wheel?” I ask him.
He considers his options for a moment, then nods. “Yes. I’ll do that.”
Alice lets go of the grass and it floats away. “So, when you get married, is she supposed to come to your kingdom, or are you supposed to go to hers?”
I raise an eyebrow at her, impressed. It never even occurred to me to wonder about that.
“I’m supposed to go there,” he answers, his voice soft and sad. There’s got to be one Heaven of a story behind it. “My mother intends for Rapunzel to inherit at home.”
“But she’s younger, isn’t she?”
“By a year.” He shrugs and picks up his book again. “It is what it is.”
Having seen Queen Laurette and her attitude toward her children during the Festival of Light, it’s very clear she loves Cuntzi and doesn’t have the time of day for Chris. It seems to me like she’s made the wrong choice. Royalty always seems to be acting on the side of cruelty.
There really is a shortage of princes in the Six Realms. All of the kingdoms have princesses as heirs except for Fantasia, which has Christopher, and Aira, which has Erik and his little brother Tristan. It suddenly occurs to me that I don’t know what kingdom Gideon is supposed to be from.
Alice is indignant on Christopher’s behalf. “It’s unfair, is what it is!”
He shrugs. “There’s a lot about being royal that’s unfair. Be glad you don’t have to deal with it.”
“Oh, right. Poor things, having to live off the hard work of other people,” I drawl, crossing my arms.
“Being forced to marry someone you don’t even like, like Sirena and Erik,” he points out, his face darkening. “Having to worship who and what you’re told to, being told what you can and can’t eat or wear, and who you can and can’t talk to, and what you can and can’t do with your life…” He clamps his mouth shut and stands. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
We watch him as he makes his way rapidly across the courtyard, heading back into the academy.
“Yikes. Now I actually feel a little bad for him,” I tell Alice.
“Me, too.” She straightens off the grass and offers me her hand. “Come on. You can’t skip all of your classes today.”
“I’d certainly like to try.”
“Nope. You’re coming with me.”
She hauls me to my feet, and with a quiet grumble on my part,
we head to class. I know that I might as well skip, because my head isn’t in it today, too busy thinking about spinning wheels, but Professor Mulan’s class isn’t one I’m brave enough to miss. She wants us to set up the Flick Pitch for this evening, and she’ll have my guts for garters if she was found to be one man short. Sigh. Maybe it’ll help me blow off some steam.
I leave Everafter while my girl is in her last afternoon class. I’m feeling irritated and spiteful, and I need to fly for a while to get it out of my system. It’s not the kind of energy I want my girl or Redera to be around. They’ve suffered enough as of late.
The wind ruffles my feathers as I soar over the treetops. I really don’t know what Ravyn sees in this Gideon Kingsley. It annoys me that she’s spending time with someone that should be beneath her notice. He’s what we’ve always hated in our coven: royalty, spoiled and entitled, living high on the hog when other people, honest people, work and slave in the dirt. They take the best of everything and give nothing back. Why should she care about someone like that? If she was just playing with the boy, I’d have no problem, but she’s getting jealous of the attention he pays to Aurora, and that’s not right.
She can’t be getting attached to him.
He’ll bring her and her family nothing but grief. It will also be something else Maleficis Invictus will be delighted to penalize her for.
As I fly over the forest between Everafter and Lake Annan, I see that Gideon isn’t the only prince on Aurora’s dance card. I swoop down into the willow tree by the riverbank. Hidden under its dying foliage, Prince Erik is going to town between Aurora’s thighs. This is the same Erik who’s betrothed to Ravyn’s other oddball friend, Sirena.
Queen Isabelle should have swallowed the day she chose to conceive him.
Disgusted by his behaviour, I take to the skies again. It’s about time someone gives this spoiled prince a taste of his own medicine. And since I can’t do the same thing to Gideon, this one will have to suffice.
I was asked to look into a way to make him into a good person using my magic. Maybe I’ll just have to settle for making him less of an asshole…or less of a functioning one.
My return to the academy is swift and eager. I catch Ravyn as she’s just entering the cafeteria tower. She senses my anger and waves goodbye to her friends. I fly onto her shoulder, shuffling my wings.
—What’s wrong, Daddy?—
That title alone quickly soothes my anger.—I thought you might like to help me with something. It involves a certain Prince of Aira who I caught fucking Aurora in the woods just now.—
Ravyn’s eyes widen. “That motherfucking snake!” Covering her mouth, she adds through our bond,—I knew he was cheating on Sirena with her! He doesn’t even try to hide it!—
—No, he doesn’t,—I agree.—But there is something we can do to make sure it doesn’t happen again.—
She grins, stroking the side of my beak.—It already sounds wicked, Daddy. Count me in.—
Broin tells me all about the curse he has in mind, and we spend the rest of the day gathering the deceptively simple ingredients. It’s a very old spell, one that predates a lot of the flourishes that late spellcastsers are so fond of. In fact, Broin says it’s not a formal spell at all and not something that would ever appear in any wizarding library. It’s an ancient home remedy, one prepared by witches since the beginning of magical time.
I get all of my co-conspirators—Sirena, Redera and Alice—and swear them to secrecy about what they’re going to see.
Sirena crosses her arms. “Believe me, I’m not going to breathe a word about this. I understand you being nervous about finally letting us see your Darkblood ways, but you’re doing this for me. I’d be a really rotten friend if I told your secrets.”
I hug her. “And you’re a great friend. If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be telling you about this.” I step back. “Link hands and follow me.”
I cast the invisibility glamor over all of us and I lead them out of our room, past Thornhart standing like a malignant shadow, and out through the secret door. When we reach the bushes at the base of the tower, I dismiss the spell, and Sirena is so excited it’s adorable.
“Oh, wow! That’s so cool! Secret tunnels! I always knew that there were more secret tunnels in this place! I know the one we use to get to the roof over the Flick pitch, but I knew there were more! Do you know other ones?”
Alice nods. “Lots of them and I haven’t even found them all. I haven’t started exploring the basement yet.”
Sirena shakes her head. “Wow. I want in on that.”
“Careful what you wish for,” Alice warns her. “Sometimes dark things hide in basements.”
Sirena grins. “I think I’m up for a little excitement.”
Well, I guess we’ll see. I walk a few paces toward the woods and they follow me. When we get to the edge of the forest, I turn around and look at them again.
“So here’s the next secret I’ve been keeping.” I take a deep breath, nervous about what I’m about to do. But I trust them, and things are different now. “Girls, meet Broin.”
Sirena laughs. “I already know your fa…”
Her voice trails off as Broin steps out of the shadows, a sexy smirk on his face. Her jaw falls open, and Alice is staring, too, her eyes somehow even bigger than usual. I understand. Broin in his man shape has a powerful effect on women, and probably some men. His long, dark hair spills over his shoulder and he’s wearing his white lace-up linen shirt and tight black leather trousers with knee-high boots. A cloak hangs around his neck, secured by a fibula in the shape of an upside-down pentagram. He looks like the sexiest warlock in the world.
Redera is grinning from ear to ear, enjoying their reaction. Broin gives a polite little bow and says in his deep voice, “Good evening, ladies.”
Sirena turns her saucered eyes to me. “Wow.”
He chuckles. “I’m flattered, Your Highness.”
He’s on his best behavior, and when he’s formal and courtly, he’s sexy as heaven.
I take his hand. “Broin is a druid. He was cursed to be a raven during the day. He isn’t really my familiar.” I smile up at him. “He’s my protector, my lover and my friend… and a whole lot more.”
He kisses me, and Alice asks, “So under the feathers, he’s a grown man?”
“Yes, I am,” he answers.
Sirena frowns. “Do you watch us when we’re changing?”
“No.” He grins wickedly. “Besides, you both change clothes in the bathroom.”
Redera laughs. “Don’t worry. I think he’s more interested in watching Ravyn. He’s not a peeping Tom.”
I can understand her dismay to find out that she’s been sharing her room with a devastatingly sexy man all these weeks, and I give her a moment to adjust to the idea. I look at Alice.
“Are you okay with this?”
“Does it matter?” she asks, shrugging. “It’s fine. Besides, I have Jasper.”
Sirena looks at her, aghast. “Is Jasper really a man under the fur?”
“Not anymore.” She waves her hand. “A story for another time.”
“Broin is here to help cast the curse,” I tell them.
He squeezes my hand. “Let’s go. The moon is ripe.”
We make our way through the woods until we reach the clearing with its pathetic little altar. Sirena rushes forward and walks around, staring at it in frightened fascination.
“Is this what I think it is? A real, honest-to-goodness Satanic altar?” she asks.
Broin answers her. “Honest to goodness isn’t quite the right term, but, yes. It’s a genuine Satanic altar… albeit a miserable one.”
“It’s not very nice,” Redera understates.
“Nice or not, it’ll do the trick.” I kneel beside the altar, and Broin kneels across from me. Redera takes up position on my right, and Alice fills in the fourth side of the square, automatically assuming the right position. This is clearly not her first time at an altar like this.
Curiosier and curioser.
Broin takes the sack I brought and unpacks the centerpiece of the curse: a cucumber and a piece of red licorice. He adds different herbs he’s gathered in the forest—damiana, dill, galangal and hawthorn. I hold out my hand to Sirena and she kneels skittishly beside me. Broin touches the cucumber and whispers druidic magic, and it starts to rot, turning soft and watery.
“Okay, Daddy. Explain what this is.”
Sirena chokes, “Daddy?”
Broin smiles at the love name, and partly at her cluelessness. “This is a curse on Erik, Crown Prince of Aira.” He looks into Sirena’s face. “Are you ready to begin?”
“This affects you most, so if you’re not fully invested in this, it’ll never work,” I tell her.
Her jaw sets. “I’m one hundred percent in.”
Broin nods. “Then let’s get started.” He takes a deep breath, then intones, “I curse you, Erik of Aira. When you are in the arms of any woman but Sirena of Poseida, this curse will find you.”
With his black-handled knife, he sculpts the cucumber into a decent, if squishy, dick. He strips the licorice into long strings and lays it along the cucumber like the veins in a cock, tucking the herbs underneath it. He takes the long dressmaker pins out of the sack I brought, and as he continues to chant, he sticks the licorice to the cucumber with the pins, piecing the entire length of the rotting vegetable as he does, starting at the base.
He motions for Sirena to put the last pin into the cucumber, right at the very tip where the slit would be on a real cock. She stabs it in with enthusiasm and I grin at her. Broin nods.
“In the name of Lucifer the Fallen, I curse you. Water will not cleanse you. Air will not cool you. Fire will not warm you. Earth will not mend you.”
He attaches the cucumber to a black leather bag and hands the bag to me. I add two rounded stones to the jury-rigged scrotum and tie it tightly shut, adding the power of my own intention to the knots.
“I bind you, Erik of Aira, from doing harm,” I say clearly, tying a knot in the bag’s laces.
“So mote it be,” Broin echoes.
Once Upon A Devil: A Dark Academy Reverse Harem Bully Romance (Everafter Academy Book 3) Page 12
