Magic Gambit (Hidden World Academy Book 3)

by Sadie Moss

  He runs his hands over the curve of my ass for a moment, seeming to enjoy the view, then he gives one cheek a gentle slap.

  “Cross needs you, love.”

  Good. Because I need him.

  The two other men move forward to help lift me off Theo, and the second I’m disentangled from him, the world becomes a blur around me as Cross tosses me onto the mattress. His large body drapes over mine, and I can feel the hot press of his cock at my entrance.

  “Can you take me, cupcake? Can you take more?”

  His voice sounds almost tortured, and I know if I say no he would find the strength inside himself to pull away. But there’s not a single thing in the world that could make me utter that word right now.

  “Yes,” I gasp. “Please.”

  And that’s all it takes.

  My words end on a moan as Cross plunges inside me, his hips colliding with mine. He fucks me hard and deep, his breath coming in low grunts as he thrusts over and over. Theo was putting on a show, but Cross definitely isn’t.

  That doesn’t mean he’s not giving one though.

  I can hear the other two men responding as they watch us, and it sends a thrill of arousal through me. Our bodies move across the mattress a little with every thrust, and even with the weight of Theo and Kasian beside us, the whole bed shakes a little with the force of Cross’s movements.

  He drops his head, licking and nipping at my skin, and then he bites down hard on the junction of my neck and shoulder as he grinds against me circling his hips with a muffled groan. Pleasure explodes through me too, my third orgasm taking me by surprise as I wrap my arms and legs around him, holding on tight.

  Cross doesn’t move for a long time. His lips brush over the teeth marks he’s left on my neck, and I can feel his heart thudding heavily in his chest. The other two men gather around us, one on each side, and when Cross finally pulls out of me, Kasian cleans me up with a warm, wet cloth he must’ve grabbed while the copper-haired man and I were recovering.

  Then Theo tugs the blankets back up, recreating our little nest.

  Only it’s even better now. It smells like sex and desire and the distinct scents of each of my boyfriends, and we all worked up enough of a sweat that our bodies instantly warm the little pocket under the blankets.

  It’s still not quite light outside.

  Still too early to take on the world.

  So our limbs tangle together as they hold me close, and my eyelids drift shut.

  Chapter 27

  When we wake up again, I do crawl over Kasian to see what time it is, and I realize that it’s after three o’clock. Damn. We really did sleep through the day.

  We needed it though. I feel like I can think properly again, and my body feels refreshed and energized.

  I wake the guys, and with only a bit of grumbling, we all get up and start to prepare. Our plan is to find and scope out the cult headquarters, then come back here and have a war meeting with Bianca and Roxie to build a solid plan of attack. I’m still kicking myself for not taking Hawksmith out when I fought with him at Roxie’s parents’ house—but I didn’t know then that he’s the mastermind who raised the Cult of Singularity from a joke to a major threat.

  Now that we know, we have to stop him.

  As we’re heading out, I open my door to find that there’s a note stuck to it. From Professor Harris.

  Ah, crap.

  It looks like I got a zero on the field analysis assignment since we didn’t show up to actually analyze anything that we gathered, rendering our contribution nil.

  Shit. I feel bad, because I’m supposed to be keeping up Roxie’s perfect grades for her, but not nearly so bad as I would’ve when I first got here and was terrified of messing up and making anyone suspicious. I have my own magic now, so there’s literally no way anyone could prove I’m not Roxie, and I have bigger things to worry about than one zero on an assignment. My grades—Roxie’s grades—are a distant second to saving the world.

  There is, however, a note on Theo’s door that we see as we walk by, informing him of the same thing: a zero on the assignment. And I do feel bad about that.

  “I’m sorry,” I tell him. “It’s my fault.”

  “No, love, it’s my fault. It was my idea that we use this trip to find the interpreter, so really it’s on me.” Theo gives me a reassuring smile. “And, hey, it was just for extra credit. Harris will be pissed, but we’re not going to flunk the class because of this. We’ve got bigger things to worry about anyway.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Cross mutters.

  Theo takes my hand, squeezing it, and I try to relax. He’s right, and if I’m allowed to not feel bad about my own assignment score, then Theo’s allowed to not feel bad about his assignment score either.

  “I think it’s a bit more important to save the world from destruction than figure out what kind of magical microbes are in the water of the Aeriglades,” Kasian notes.

  “Look at you, getting the hang of sarcasm!” Cross says with a devilish grin. He holds his hand up for a high-five. “Kas, I’m so proud.”

  Kasian gives him a deadpan look that would melt a wall of concrete.

  “Oh, come on. Don’t leave me hanging.” Cross waggles his hand. Theo high-fives him instead, and he chuckles.

  As we step out of the dorm building, Theo throws his arm around my shoulders, pulling me in to his side. “Seriously, minx. Don’t give it another thought. We want to take care of you and make sure you’re okay. Even if this wasn’t something world threatening, if it was important to you, it would be important to me. You’re my priority. Our priority.”

  “He’s right,” Cross agrees.

  “We’re by your side no matter what,” Kasian confirms.

  My heart swells with warmth. “I love you guys.”

  “We love you too, cupcake.” Cross smirks at the other two. “Enough to tolerate each other, even.”

  The other two chuckle as the three of them share a look, and tears unexpectedly sting my eyes.

  Because the expression on each of their faces is so much more than tolerance.

  It’s respect.

  Understanding.

  Love.

  These men have become unshakeable fixtures in each other’s lives, and though I’m the point in the center that they all gather around, they have their own relationships with each other beyond me. They’ve become something more than friends, even.

  They’ve become family.

  A fierce surge of protectiveness rises up in me, and determination makes me stand up straighter, lengthening my stride.

  “All right,” I say. “Then let’s go kick some cultist ass.”

  As we head off campus, I try to get into contact with Bianca, but she doesn’t pick up when I call her cell. Could she still be in the fae realm? I trust her implicitly by now. I know she wouldn’t just abandon us, at least not for a hot guy—even if he is a fae.

  “Any answer?” Theo asks.

  I shake my head. “I hope everything’s okay,” I say, pocketing my phone. “Anzac’s a good guy, but he’s still fae, and Bianca’s… well, Bianca. Who knows how things are going.”

  The cult leader’s hideout is in Ravendark, a hidden neighborhood that Roxie had to explain in detail to me because I sure as fuck hadn’t heard of it. Neither had the other guys, actually. Not even Cross, which is saying something. I text Bianca our plans, then put my phone away again. Fingers crossed she’ll make it out of the fae realm in time to meet up with us.

  Ravendark, according to Roxie, is a special area of the city that’s concealed from law enforcement. I’ve been to some shady parts of Valencia, but Ravendark makes those neighborhoods look like the ritzy part of town. This is the kind of place where truly bad shit goes down—which is why it’s so well-hidden. To get there, we have to make it through a series of small magical obstacles, password protected kind of shit, so that only the people who’ve been screened can, theoretically, get in.

  I have to hand it to Roxie. Ev
en when I was pissed as hell at her for bringing me here, I could never deny that she’s smart as a whip. When the cult captured her at the end of last semester, they kept her locked up at their headquarters while they prepared to use her to sever the connection between the Dull World and the Hidden World. She never figured out exactly how they planned to do that, but she played up her disorientation and injuries, and was able to get them to drop their guard around her a bit. That’s how she picked up everything she knows about Ravendark.

  We follow the directions Roxie gave us, careful to keep our heads down. There aren’t a lot of people out, and the ones who are have a faux-casual air about them, the kind you have when you’re purposefully minding your own business to show everyone else that you won’t pry into their shit if they don’t pry into yours. The people who frequent Ravendark don’t want anyone watching them too closely.

  “It’s this way,” Cross whispers.

  “Roxie said there would be some obstacles,” I remind him as we turn down a narrow alley.

  Almost as soon as I say it, Theo yanks Cross back and we all stumble to a halt as Theo’s other arm shoots out in front of us, his fingers extended.

  “There’s some kind of enchantment here,” he mutters.

  Sure enough, when I squint, I can just see the shimmer of magic in the air, like a rippling wall.

  “You’re right,” I say. “What do we do to get through it?”

  Theo frowns. “I think it’s going to want some kind of password.”

  “Fuck. Roxie didn’t mention any passwords.”

  Kasian runs a hand over his short black hair, a line appearing between his brows. “I could try to pick the lock, so to speak, but it might take me a moment.”

  “Be my guest,” Theo says, gesturing.

  Kasian steps forward, moving his fingers like he’s playing a piano, muttering under his breath. Spells are reliant on your hand movements, which is why it’s so important to be precise about them, but words can help to strengthen some spells.

  It takes a couple of minutes as the other two men and I nervously stand guard, but nobody comes along as we wait, and at last Kasian nods with satisfaction and we hear a faint click.

  The shimmering wall of magic comes into more stark view, then vanishes. Theo steps through experimentally, his eyes squeezed shut like he’s expecting to burst into flames, but nothing happens.

  “I think we’re good,” he calls back softly over his shoulder.

  We all follow him and head further down the alley. As we do, I notice that the end of the alley, which was once a dead end, now seems to be some kind of optical illusion. The closer we get to it, the more I realize that it actually curves around, and that you can follow it out to the right down another alley.

  As we start to round the corner, I remember something else Roxie said and reach out to stop the guys. “There’s a tripwire of some kind around here, I think.”

  Theo immediately does that little magic trick he employs when we want to visit the fae, so that we can see the portal without any illusions blocking it. To reveal the fae portal, all three guys have to be doing a different spell simultaneously, because of the layers of magic. But this isn’t a portal to another realm, this is just a tripwire trap, and just the one layer of spells is enough to reveal it.

  And it’s not just a single wire, I realize, as it glows like a strand of Christmas lights. It’s a spiderweb, or an approximation of one, various wires that crisscross all over, leaving just enough space for a person to stoop under or step over, but only if they know where the threads are.

  All four of us work our way through painstakingly slowly, calling out directions and guidance to each other as our limbs come within millimeters of the red strands. By the time we’re all safely on the other side, my body is covered in a light sheen of sweat. Fuck. Whoever operates in this place is serious about no outsiders getting in.

  “Anything else?” Kasian asks as we walk further down the alley. Now that we’re through the spider web, I can see that it curves one more time, this time to the left.

  “I don’t know,” I murmur. “Roxie was only able to pick up bits and pieces. So keep your eyes peeled.”

  “You mean, for something like that?” Cross mutters, nodding up ahead at what looks like some kind of layer of jelly that’s standing in between us and the rest of the alley.

  We all come to a stop ahead of it.

  “What the hell is that?” I ask.

  “I’ve heard of these.” Kasian takes a step to the side, keeping his gaze locked on the weird layer of jelly. He looks fascinated. “I believe it’s some kind of spell that reads your thoughts. So, in theory, all we have to do is focus our intentions on something that’s not the destruction of Ravendark. That’s what the spell does, it’s meant to deter any police or spies who intend to dismantle any of the criminal activities going on in there.”

  “So think really hard about what we want, and if it’s the destruction of the cult, we have to think about it in a way that doesn’t sound like that,” Cross says.

  “Basically.”

  Cross narrows his eyes at the jelly like he’s worrying it’ll get on his clothes, then nods and steps through.

  For a moment, I’m terrified that Kasian was wrong. The jelly holds Cross in suspension for a second and flashes with a soft green glow, but then it releases him and he finishes stepping through.

  “Looks like we’re good.” He turns back to speak to us, his voice slightly muffled by the jelly.

  I step through next, and I think about how I want to save my family. I want them to be safe. I want my family to be safe. I don’t want anyone hurt.

  The jelly seizes around me the moment I enter. It’s literally like I’ve plunged my entire body into Jell-O, except it’s slightly warm and seems to pulse slightly around me. It’s the weirdest, most uncomfortable sensation I’ve ever felt, and I have to work hard not to panic. I have a very strong feeling that if I don’t pass this test, the jelly won’t ever release me. Either I’ll just suffocate inside it, or someone from Ravendark will arrive to pull me out, and I won’t like what they’ll do after they get their hands on me.

  I keep focusing on how I want to save my family, blocking out any thoughts of prophecies or cults, and at last, I feel the jelly around me glow green and relax, and I’m able to sort of step out. It’s difficult, given how thick the jelly is, but Cross grabs my hands and helps me to finish getting through.

  Kasian is next, and then Theo, the jelly flashing green for all of us. I check to make sure we’re all really okay, and then I hear Cross say, “Okay, this is pretty damn cool.”

  I turn around to look toward the end of the alley.

  Only it’s not the end of the alley. It broadens out into a proper street, wide and cobbled, a bit old-fashioned, looking almost Victorian but in a steampunk kind of way.

  The buildings don’t have any names listed on them, and a lot of them don’t even have windows, just a street number elegantly carved above the door. Ravens are sitting at various points along the street, on the buildings and the standing lanterns, looking around like guards. I’m pretty damn sure by now that, given the name of this place, the ravens actually do keep guard in some way.

  “Roxie said the owl is an important symbol to the cult, so look for any signs or carvings with owls,” I say as we attempt to walk nonchalantly along the street. We’re the only ones out here right now, which is pretty disconcerting. There’s not even a single person loitering outside a building to take a smoke break.

  As we make our way cautiously down the street, I keep an eye out for anyone spying on us or following us. I don’t see anyone, but that honestly just makes me more paranoid. We’re four random people who just showed up, and not one person around here is suspicious about that? It makes me wonder if we are being watched, just in ways that I can’t see. Ugh. I can feel shivers crawling up and down my spine, and I just want to go home.

  Being a hero definitely isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.r />
  We make our way down the eerily deserted street, scanning the buildings without making it look like we’re casing the place.

  God, as terrifying as it would be to be surrounded by the worst criminals Valencia has to offer, I actually wish the street was packed. We’d have an easier time blending in if there was a crowd.

  My heart pounds so hard I’m sure the sound alone has to be drawing the attention of everyone on the block, but we keep searching silently until Cross hisses, “There!”

  We all follow his gaze to a building across the street. It’s quietly elegant, like the kind of building you’d expect to find if you were on your way to a very nice Christmas party in Victorian times, but not too ostentatious. It’s painted a dark green. On the front door there’s the barely detectable symbol of an owl, which you can only see if you step from side to side, causing the paint to catch the light.

  We don’t approach the building—instead, we quickly back up into the shadows. We’re not trying to go after the cult right now. Before we attack, we want to spy on them. We need to see them arriving or leaving, scope the place out and find a way inside.

  Or at least, that’s the plan.

  But as we fade back into the shadows of a small alley nearby, someone grabs me from behind.

  Arms wrap around my waist, and I scream in surprise and whirl around, firing off a blast of fire as fast as I can.

  My fireball lights up the alley, and I see a dozen cultists gathered around us, all wearing owl masks.

  Oh, fuck. Maybe we tripped some alarm Roxie didn’t know about. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

  The cultists lunge at us, and we fight back as best we can, the guys yelling and the ravens cawing obnoxiously as the street explodes with noise and light. From some of the doors and upper windows of other buildings, I can see a few people poking their heads out. But no one here is gonna call the cops, and no one is going to help us.

  Another cultist grabs me, and I yank myself back, sending us both stumbling.

  “They must have set up extra security!” Kasian yells.

  “Yeah, no shit!” Cross shouts back.