by Callie Rose
I didn’t know how long we fucked like that, but it didn’t matter. If I had my way, I would do this forever, so I was in no hurry.
He worshipped every part of me as we rocked together, kissing my breasts, my neck, my jawline. When my eyelids drooped closed, he kissed those too, and the soft press of his lips felt like a benediction.
When we couldn’t hold back the pleasure any longer, he lifted me in his arms as he sat back on his heels. We came together, wrapped as tightly as possible around each other, our breaths melding into one as our souls reunited.
My heart thudded heavily against my ribs, matching the beat of his as I rested my head on his shoulder, hugging him tightly.
“You’re back,” I whispered, tears stinging my eyes as a single droplet spilled over my lower lid and fell on his shoulder.
“I am now.”
There was such sweet conviction in his voice that I almost couldn’t bear it. I closed my eyes, smiling and crying at the same time as I held onto my bond-mate for all I was worth.
Finally, he lay me back gently on the bed and slid out of me, stretching out on the mattress beside me and pulling me into him. Our legs tangled together and our chests brushed as I gazed into his eyes, his face so close to mine that my eyes had to bounce back and forth to meet his.
Those beautiful sparks in his irises shone bright and steady, like embers in a fire that had never quite gone out.
“I love you, Xero,” I whispered.
“I love you more than anything.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest, and I leaned closer, soothed by the vibrations. “I knew you’d come for me.”
“I always will. Promise.”
He palmed the back of my head and kissed me again, and as my tongue met his, I felt a ping in my chest—an awareness.
My other bond-mates.
I broke away from Xero’s kiss just as a knock came at the door, and when he saw my grin, he grinned too. He lifted his head slightly, not even bothering to cover us up, not even worried about the fact that we both looked freshly fucked.
“Come in.”
The door opened a crack as Jayce peeked inside. He didn’t look at all surprised at what he saw, and he quickly opened the door wider, allowing all three of my other mates to pile into the room.
If I had to guess, my succubus bond had drawn them to us. Given what’d just happened between Xero and me, I had probably been putting out strong enough signals without even meaning to that I’d basically become a beacon for my three other bond-mates.
There was a soft thud as the door closed behind them, and desire filled their expressions as they took in the two of us wrapped up together on the bed.
But underneath the heat, there was something else in their eyes as they looked at us. The same thing I’d felt when I’d seen the sparks still glittering in Xero’s irises.
Relief.
He was back. And it wasn’t just me he’d come back to. It was all of us.
Turning back to Xero, I cupped his cheek and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Then I glanced over my shoulder at my other three men, arching a brow in a silent invitation for them to join us.
The five of us.
Together.
The way it was always meant to be.
Chapter Ten
“Combat first thing in the morning. I thought he wasn’t trying to punish us.” Kingston pouted as we walked down to the gym the following day.
We were all still a little beat up from our time in the underworld, but we didn’t want to miss any more school than we already had.
“He put all of us in classes together,” I pointed out. “He’s definitely not trying to punish us. He’s trying to prepare us.”
As we walked inside the large training gym, Beedle greeted us with a grim nod. “Welcome back. You’re going to be learning group combat. Coordinated efforts.”
I glanced around at the other students, who were all working on solitary moves. “Something special just for us?”
Beedle’s mouth stretched into a flat smile. “Something like that. Come on.”
He arranged the five of us back-to-back in the center of the room, then blew his whistle. “Students—attack!”
“Wait, what?”
But my question was lost in the clamor of two dozen demon students rushing us. Many of them were more than happy to do so. All three of Sonja’s cronies were in this class, and they were all clearly burning with hatred. Nobody was going to be pulling any punches.
They had training swords and sticks.
We were unarmed.
Shit.
Kingston and Xero began throwing fireballs, Kai fought tooth and nail—literally—and Jayce shifted into his hellhound form to snap at the attackers. Panic swept over me as a set of claws nearly tore my eyes out.
Damn it, Piper! You have tools. Use them!
I shifted into the first thing that came to mind—the image of the person attacking me.
She paused. “What the fuck?”
“What the fuck?” I mimicked.
She narrowed her eyes and moved to attack again, and I called on my powers of persuasion. “You don’t want to hurt yourself, do you?”
She faltered, her swing missing me by a mile.
“Oh, get out of my way!” Sonja’s friend, the little blonde one named Kimi, shoved the other girl aside. “I’ve got no problem beating the shit out of myself if it means this bitch gets hurt.”
Damn. Vicious.
I quickly shifted again, assuming a different form, and Kimi went pale.
“You… you can’t do that,” she said, her voice trembling.
“I do whatever I want,” I said, mimicking Sonja’s voice and still channeling my persuasion. I felt bad about using the image of the dead girl in a fight, but not bad enough to let Kimi beat the shit out of me. “I run this place. The Custodians have a special position waiting for me. You’ll be my right hand—if you don’t fuck up.”
Kimi was trembling. She blinked, and energy crackled between her fingers. “No. You aren’t Sonja. You killed Sonja. Get the fuck out of her face!”
She threw her energy ball at my head.
Oops. That backfired.
“Duck!” I screamed.
The guys and I all dodged, and the energy ball went hurtling into the group of students who were attacking Kingston behind me. They scattered. Shrieking, Kimi lunged at my face with her claws. I ducked low and shot a jab at her gut. She doubled over.
Dropping the Sonja disguise, I pushed more persuasion out at her, finally getting my hooks into her. “You should go lie down. You don’t feel so good.”
“I’m… gonna go lie down,” she mumbled. “I don’t feel so good.”
She stumbled off, but unfortunately, there were three more people ready to take her place.
I pulled the same tricks on them, turning into a mirror or their best friend or Toland, drawing on my persuasion. It was easy. Surrounded by my guys, all of us fighting, all feeding into each other, my power flowed like water. I didn’t get tired even though I was shifting from shape to shape faster than I’d ever done before.
Our time in the underworld had clearly brought us closer as a unit.
One by one, the attacking students tapped out. When the five of us finally outnumbered the remainder, we rounded on them and attacked as a group. It was over very quickly after that. As the final student finally called uncle, Beedle blew his whistle.
“Good fight,” he said, nodding in approval. “I hope you all learned something, because you’re going to do it again tomorrow.”
The big girl who used to follow Sonja around like a puppy grinned, baring her teeth. “You’re going down, bitch. And your little dogs too.”
I shot Beedle an exasperated look. “What the hell did I do to you, man?”
He shook his head, his stubby horns glinting. “Trust me. You need this.”
“Damn straight she needs it,” Kimi said. Two pink spots sat high on her cheeks, and she was obviously pissed as hell about be
ing one of the first ones to get taken out by me in the fight. “She needs to get her ass kicked from here to the underworld for what she did to Sonja.”
Nobody disagreed. Neither of Sonja’s other two minions, and none of the other students in the class either. They all stared at us with the same cold, murderous intent in their eyes.
Shit. I’d never exactly been popular at this school, but I hadn’t been universally hated either. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling.
“We didn’t kill Sonja,” I said, speaking through clenched teeth. “Gavriel did. Sonja followed us because Gavriel told her to. He tricked her into helping him, then he killed her.”
“Oh, right, because Gavriel just happened to hate her as much as you did. How do you explain you all still being alive? Sonja was two years ahead of you in her training. More experience, more power, more everything. If anybody should’ve died out there, it was you five. You were working with Gavriel to kill her, admit it!”
My hands curled into fists. Fuck this. It was either deck her or use persuasion again, and I really didn’t feel like getting sent to Toland’s office again on my first day back in classes.
Letting my magic weave through my words, I spoke softly. “You want to let this go right now. You know I didn’t kill Sonja.”
“Don’t fall for it, she’s using her fucked up magic,” the morose flunky said. Her name was Jen, and I kind of regretted that I knew that.
Kimi blinked rapidly, shaking off the effects of my power. Damn it.
“You fucking bitch!” She started to power up, getting ready to hurl a spell at me, but Beedle snapped his fingers.
“Class dismissed,” he said sharply. Despite his short stature, he could be terrifying when he wanted to be. “You want to kick her ass, do it tomorrow. Get to your next class before you’re late.”
The little blonde girl shot me the dirtiest look in the history of dirty looks and stormed off.
“Well,” I breathed. “That was fun. What do we have next?”
“Um… Underworld Flora, Fauna, and Terrain.” Kingston glanced at the schedule and then shoved it back into his pocket.
“What do you want to bet we’re the only ones in that class?” Kai scowled.
“No bet,” I said.
As it turned out, I should have taken the bet though. When we walked into the small classroom, we discovered that Hannah and another student were taking the class as well. The other student, a young teenage boy, was familiar. And very, very nervous.
“Hey, Wyatt,” I said. “What’re you in for?”
He looked at me and his face lit up. “Hey! Uh, Piper, right? You’re the girl who saved me from that psycho hall monitor last year!”
I grimaced despite myself. Sonja hadn’t been an official hall monitor, but she’d been determined to police the halls of the school anyway. “Yeah. That was me. How’ve you been?”
“Uh…” He wrinkled his nose. “I dunno. I think I might have failed my exams. I don’t know why else they would put me in this class. I know why you’re here though. I think it’s stupid.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I think so too. But I bet you passed your exams. They might just have put you in here because of that incident last year—you know, just in case.”
He smiled hopefully. “Yeah, maybe.”
“What about you, Hannah?” Xero asked, his brow furrowing.
“Pretty sure it’s because I’m friends with you delinquents,” she said, her eyes sparkling. “But I also saw it on the available classes and requested it specifically. At the time, I just wanted to know if you guys could possibly forage enough to survive.”
“We managed.” Jayce made a face. “But it wasn’t fun.”
She patted his arm sympathetically.
“So it’s just been the two of you for a week?” Kai asked.
The kid nodded. “We’ve learned a lot.”
“I’ll get you all caught up,” Hannah promised.
“Good morning, class.” The professor blew into the classroom in a flurry of loose papers and flyaway hair. “Ah, there you are. I was wondering when my class would fill up. Had to get place-fillers so I didn’t get rusty. You two are dismissed if you don’t want to stay here.” She gestured vaguely at Hannah and the other kid.
He went limp with relief. “You mean I’m not here because I’m going to get banished?”
She blinked at him. “Nobody is. Is that what you thought this class was for? No, no. These five were there long enough to become familiar with the landscape. To recognize things. I’m making sure all of my information is up-to-date and putting names to the things they encountered, that’s all. You’re welcome to stay if you like, but you don’t have to.”
“I—yeah, I’ll go.” He stood up, grinning from ear to ear. “Wow. I really thought I was on the chopping block!”
“Go see Toland for a different bio class,” she said, waving him away like she’d already forgotten about him. Then she turned her attention to Hannah. “And will you be staying?”
“Yes.” My friend shrugged, grinning at me. “This class is a reprieve, honestly.”
I didn’t ask her what it was a reprieve from. I had a feeling I already knew.
The next few weeks proved my theory right.
As we settled into the fall semester, still waiting for the Custodians to come decide our punishment, it was impossible not to notice the angry atmosphere around the school. And it wasn’t just directed toward me and my bond-mates. It was directed at Hannah too.
Everyone at Fallen University was aware that Hannah and I were tight, and the people who held a grudge against me had been taking it out on her in my absence.
“It’s been rough,” she admitted one morning. “I mean, I don’t like to complain, especially with how bad you all had it. My problems are nothing compared to that.”
“Hey now, rough is rough,” Jayce said. “Drowning is drowning, whether it’s in six feet of water or twelve.”
She smiled at him gratefully, and I was reminded once again just how good Jayce was. I knew I didn’t deserve him. I decided I would have to work on that—on becoming more worthy of a guy like him. It wasn’t like either of us could get out of this.
At one point in my life, the impulse would have been to undermine his goodness until we were on the same level, but there was no way in hell I’d do that now. Maybe I had grown as a person. Or maybe I was just smart enough to know now that doing something like that would only end in mutual torment.
“Thanks, Jayce.” Hannah brushed her hair over her shoulder. “When we figured out that Sonja was dead, the girls started in on me right away. They’d corner me and interrogate me until a teacher came to break it up. I haven’t sat with anyone at lunch since you left, and I’ve mostly only talked to teachers and the occasional outcast, but even they don’t want to talk to me in public. I’m tainted by association.” She offered a tight smile. “But it is what it is. I know that you guys have been in the right this whole time, but nobody will believe me. They think you’ve got me brainwashed, Piper.”
I rolled my eyes. “Then they need to pay closer attention in Monsterology. My mind control powers won’t work on someone if we’re not even on the same plane of existence.”
“People will do all kinds of mental gymnastics to prove themselves right,” Xero said grimly. “No matter how much evidence there is to the contrary.”
“The Custodians are proof of that.” I heaved a sigh. “What’s taking them so long anyway? I thought they would have rushed in here with law books to throw at us weeks ago.”
“They’ve been really slow about all kinds of things,” Hannah said. “Most of us still don’t know whether or not we actually passed our last set of exams. They got through enough third years to boost their numbers, then just sort of—stopped dealing with us.”
“Earth must be crawling with Gavriel’s demons.” I tapped my fingers anxiously on the table. Then I sat up, injecting false cheer into my voice. “But at least we have homework to keep us
occupied.”
“Don’t sound so thrilled about that,” Kingston said. Then he rested his hand on my leg, sliding it over my thigh in a gesture that was meant to be reassuring but sent sparks of pleasure shooting through me. “What’s the matter?”
Unable to stop myself, I turned to him and kissed him, letting myself sink into it.
Fuck it. The whole school hated me already. If they didn’t like my frequent public displays of affection with my guys, they could just look the other way. No one ever sat near us anyway.
He returned my kiss, sliding his hand farther up my thigh, and his responsiveness made a warm glow light in my chest. There was a time when he would’ve pulled away or resisted. But that time was so far in the rearview mirror that I could barely remember it.
When we finally broke apart, we were both a little breathless. My other men shot heated glances in my direction, and Hannah didn’t even bat an eye. She was used to this by now and was just happy for me that me and my guys weren’t struggling against the bond anymore.
Before I could draw away too far, Kingston squeezed my leg. “You never answered my question, Pipes. What’s wrong?”
“Ugh. I don’t know, man.” I blew out a breath and shoved a hand through my hair. “It just feels pointless. I mean, I get the combat and underworld classes. We might actually need to know that shit. But the rest of it? It’s fucking useless. We’re just going through the motions, waiting for the guillotine to drop. Like, who cares which vampire turned Marie Antoinette when they’re next in line for her fate? We’re about to be banished to the underworld just like she was.”
“Maybe the delay means they’re going to let it be,” Hannah suggested encouragingly. “After all, it’s clear that everything you did was done for the right reasons.”
“But, rules,” I said with a sigh. “They’re sticklers for the fucking rules.”
“Rules can be bent. Broken, even. Try not to worry about it too much.”
