by Cara Wylde
The door opened, and my dear father stepped into the office. He froze in the threshold. I welcomed him with a wide smile. There was dried blood on my teeth, like I’d just murdered someone and feasted on their flesh.
“You…”
“Surprise!”
“No, it can’t be you.”
“Oh, it’s me, I promise.”
I didn’t move from my spot, and he didn’t move from his. I felt powerful, and the fact that I was completely naked didn’t mean a thing to me. For the first time in my life, I felt invincible in my own skin. I could bet he had no idea how to kill a revenant. Even I didn’t know how to kill a revenant.
“It’s not possible. You’re dead.” His voice sounded weaker and weaker. It was clear he had great trouble wrapping his head around what was happening. “I watched you die…”
“And then you dragged me into the forest and buried me.”
“I teleported you into the forest, and Crassus buried you.”
“Tell me, father, did you pay him separately for the grave digger services? Oh, by the way, his daughter is dead. Since it’s your fault, I think you should be the one to give him the news.”
“What did you do? How did you…”
I grinned. “I didn’t do anything. I’ve got loyal friends and lovers. But you wouldn’t know how that works, would you? You’ve always been so utterly and irreversibly alone.”
“What are you?”
“A revenant, they say. Cool, huh? Immortal, so… prepare to be hunted for the rest of your life. Because I will find a way to kill you, and when I do, there will be no escape, no loophole. You will be dead, and you’ll stay dead. I’ll make sure of it.”
He frowned and finally closed the door behind him. He was safe for now, since I’d just told him I wasn’t going to kill him today. Human, revenant… I was still his daughter. Blood of his blood. I had no intention to break my scythe before I even graduated.
“You should leave, though…”
“I’m still Headmaster of…”
“Not for long. See, I’m going to take a shower, have a nice breakfast, and then I’m going to pay the Council a visit. Fill them in on the latest news, how you murdered me, how I came back, how I’m not human anymore, and the prophecy is bullshit. Then, I’m going to ask for two things, and they will give them to me. One, Headmaster Colin will be reinstated. Why? Because you just can’t go around messing with the curriculum, preventing the professors from teaching us basic skills, murdering your own daughter, and still keep your job. You’ve crossed a line, Valentine Morningstar.”
He banged his scythe on the floor and spread his wings wide. His whole body started glowing with unearthly energy, his skin retreated into his bones, and his black cloak whooshed around him, as if blown by an invisible wind. He was no longer a man, but a skeleton.
“You know what? That doesn’t impress me anymore. You can’t hurt me, so cut the theatrics.”
“You’ll regret this,” his voice boomed like thunder.
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I’m not finished, so if you could just wait for your turn, that would be grand.”
He took a step toward me, but I couldn’t give a shit. I crossed my legs and tapped my fingers on the desk.
“As I was saying, that’s the first thing that will happen. Two, I have every intention to convince the Council to instate year four. Grim Reaper Academy is three years, but let’s face it: you fucked up the last one, didn’t you? You wanted to create soldiers, not Grim Reapers. Which makes me wonder… what is your goal here, father? What are you trying to accomplish? And if you want us to be soldiers so much, and fight instead of reap, then it’s clear to me that we must make sure the exact opposite happens. You have my word; the next generation of Grim Reapers will be the best the world has seen so far.”
“They will never agree to…”
“I think they will. I’ve recently traveled to a parallel universe where the students of Grim Reaper Academy were just about to finish year four. If it was possible there, it’s possible here. And I saw something else, too.” I grinned and gave him a moment to think. Not that he could have ever guessed. “You don’t like GC and Pazuzu. In this parallel universe, I was dating Sariel and Francis, too. It got me thinking… why not?”
He sighed. “You really do have a talent for choosing the worst partners.”
“On the contrary, father. I couldn’t have chosen better. Thanks to them, I’m alive. I’m here, and we’re having this pleasant conversation. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting to get ready for. Before I go, is there anything else you want to tell me? Because I have this feeling that we won’t be seeing each other for a while.”
He relaxed, tucked his wings inside the long slits of his cloak, and his appearance slowly returned to normal.
“You don’t know why.”
“Why… what?”
“Why I’m doing all this. Why I’ve trained you to fight, why I locked the gates of the Academy, cut all connections with the outside… Why I want supernaturals and humans to never mingle. And the fact that you don’t know gives me power. So, go ahead, my daughter. Do your worst. You will never take me down. Because I see what’s coming, and when you see it too, you’ll know I’ve been right all along.”
I shook my head in disbelief. Despite everything, he insisted in his delusion. I knew why he did everything he did – for power. Personal power, and nothing more. He didn’t care about anyone, supernatural or human, he only cared about himself.
“See you later, Dad.”
I teleported out of there. And I knew that by the time I came back from the Council, he’d be long gone. A fugitive. His time would come, though. Until then, I had other things on my mind. I had to convince the Council to reinstate Mason Colin as Headmaster, get rid of the Unseelie guards that were suffocating our school, and find the one who could kill Valentine Morninsgstar. Because that person sure wasn’t me.
Me, I was a revenant. And I had to figure out how that worked, too. Was I supposed to bring blood sacrifices to the Great Old One, so he’d keep me alive and immortal? No. This doesn’t change anything. The monster has to go. It either has to die, or return to the dimension it came from. But if the god died or left this universe, what would happen to me? What would happen to Francis? Dust to dust and ashes to ashes?
Back in my room, I found Corri’s bell and rang it three times. She materialized out of thin air, her wings flapping incessantly.
“Mistress! What happened to you?!” Her almond eyes bulged out of her tiny head. She pressed her hands to her chest as if she was about to have a heart attack. “Whose blood is that?”
“Mine. And someone else’s…”
She flew around me a couple of times, getting closer and closer with every lap, her little nose sniffing me suspiciously.
“Is it really you? Mistress, you smell…”
“Dead?” I laughed, and it sounded pretty hysterical. “Don’t worry, I’m getting better.”
“You’re getting better?”
“Yes… less dead. In a few days, you won’t even tell the difference.”
“Oh my God, Mistress! You’re undead!”
“Cool, huh?”
“N-not… not cool at all.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Look, I’m taking a shower, then I have a few things to take care of. Be a good pixie and go find GC, Paz, Sariel, and Francis. Tell them to meet me right here, in my room, with tacos, Oreo cheesecake, and wine. Throw some champagne in there, too.”
“Err… what are we celebrating?”
I smiled at her on my way to the bathroom. “Me getting my well-deserved harem of four. Oh, and you might want to find a place to sleep tonight. This particular party isn’t for pixie eyes.”
END OF BOOK THREE
Exclusive Story:
First Time a Harem
I felt invincible. As Corri flew away to fulfill my wishes (tacos, cheesecake, champagne, and four
hot lovers), I jumped in the shower and let the boiling hot water wash the blood, dirt, and monster goo out of my hair and skin pores. I stayed like that for a while, breathing evenly, my mind frozen, and my heart empty. It felt good. Not to think, not to wonder what next. At the end of year two, I’d declared war on my father. Since he’d managed to kill me, I could consider this battle lost. I came back to life, and I’d let him go. Intentionally and strategically. I didn’t yet have a plan, but I knew I’d soon come up with one, and it would be perfect. It would be his undoing. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was ready to believe in myself. I wasn’t a helpless little human anymore. I was a revenant. Undead. Immortal. I felt invincible because I was, physically and mentally. If all the bullying, and cutting, and reaping hadn’t broken my mind, nothing would. If being stabbed in the heart, buried for three days, and put back together by a monstrous god didn’t break my body, then nothing would.
I started lathering my hair with shampoo and pulling dead leaves and clumps of mud out of it. Next, my face, chest, arms, legs. Every inch of my body lathered in scented soap and scrubbed clean. I had dried blood under my broken fingernails, so I diligently took care of it. When I was out of the shower, I felt human again, though human I was not. I stepped in front of the mirror and looked at myself. Narrow shoulders, generous breasts, long legs, glowing skin. I was still myself but, somehow, I was changed. I looked younger and healthier. Not that I’d had wrinkles before, but now my skin was so smooth that it looked unreal. Like the models on fashion magazines, photoshopped to the point where they had no skin pores. I touched my face gently, then ran my fingers down my neck and along my collarbone.
“Perfect,” I whispered.
A knock on the door snapped me out of my trance. They were here. I smiled to myself and wrapped a towel around me, loosely tying it above my breasts. If it fell, it fell. No harm done. On the contrary…
I stepped out of the bathroom, my long blue hair dripping with water that made its way down my back in small rivulets.
“Are you okay?” GC asked in a rush. Seeing me almost naked, he swallowed heavily. “Corri said to come quick and… bring food?” He had the tacos.
Paz was holding the champagne, and Sariel had the cheesecake. Francis was carrying a bottle of red wine, and another one of white wine. Corri had been confused about which to choose, so she went with both.
“You look okay,” the false god concluded.
“I’m not, actually, okay,” I whispered, walking toward them slowly, my hips swaying suggestively. “I’m hungry, thirsty, and I need a good… long… fuck.”
GC grinned, and Paz cocked an eyebrow. As long as he could fuck me, Apis didn’t care who else was present. Paz, on the other hand, was slightly confused. If I wanted sex, then why were Sariel and Francis here?
Speaking of Sariel and Francis… They did feel out of place. The revenant set the bottles on the table and made to leave. I caught him by the hand, and he froze where he was standing. He turned to look at me shily, and I couldn’t help it. Teasing him was such a treat. I bit my lip and pulled him closer. I placed his hand on my breast, and I could feel his fingers tremble. If I let go, he would probably run for his life.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his mouth dry.
“My heart. Can you feel it beating? It’s thanks to you.”
He relaxed a bit. There was still a chance that this was all a harmless game. Oh, how naïve he was. I liked him naïve. GC and Paz were fun - always fighting over me, taking me roughly and possessively. And I couldn’t wait to let them ravish me, but tonight I had some curiosities first. Did Francis fuck as gently and caringly as he kissed?
“What’s this about?” Sariel asked. He’d set the cheesecake down, and he was looking at me impatiently, either waiting for me to tell him and Francis they were free to go, or to be invited to undo my bath towel. He seemed to find it hard to look at my face when the thing was riding lower and lower down my chest.
“I already told you. Food, drinks, sex.”
It was Pazuzu’s turn to voice his frustration. “Mila, what happened today… It was hard. Maybe you need to rest, and then…”
“What happened today opened my eyes,” I cut him off. I stepped in front of him and GC, and looked them in the eyes. “I know what I want. And I’ve wanted it for a long, long time. To be with you. The four of you.” I took a deep breath in. “Do you love me?”
Paz nodded. GC declared immediately: “I love you.”
“I kissed Sariel,” I went on. “And I kissed Francis, too. Just once, because I’d never do this without your consent. I know now, more than ever, that I want you all, and I need you to… tell me what you think.”
There was a moment of tension that seemed to last forever. Now that my years weren’t numbered, it didn’t bother me. I wasn’t in a hurry, and it struck me that I’d never be in a hurry again, that I’d never stress over the fact that my life was short and I was wasting it. I was immortal. The concept of wasting time was foreign to immortals, and it was oddly easy for me to accept this new state of things.
Sariel and Francis didn’t move. They had the air of two thieves caught in the act, waiting for the verdict. What had they stolen? A kiss, each. Would they be punished for it, or unexpectedly rewarded? GC and Paz, the first two men in my life, had the power to decide. But they knew they didn’t actually have the power. I’d already made up my mind. I wanted a taste of the other two, and this was just a question of whether they were in or out.
Finally, GC stepped forward, grabbed me by the waist, and pulled me against his hard body.
“Goddess, as long as I can have you, I don’t care who I share you with. I’m a false god, not a petty human who preaches about monogamy and whines when his woman has a healthy sex appetite. If you want to fuck the entire school, I’m down. Let’s fuck them all together.”
I grinned. He kissed me passionately, his tongue parting my lips and claiming what was his for now, for this moment in time when I was in his arms. He bit my lower lip and took off my towel. It fell around my ankles, and even though Sariel and Francis were seeing me naked for the first time, I wasn’t ashamed. GC looked at them over my shoulder as he squeezed my ass. I would have given everything to see their faces, but it was Paz’s turn to have a piece of me. He dragged me out of GC’s arms and grabbed my jaw, looking me straight in the eye.
“Okay.”
“Okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Thank you.”
“You want to have them first tonight?”
“Mhm.”
He gave me a cocky smile. “Then let’s see how they perform.”
Oh, he could be such an ass sometimes. No pressure on Sariel and Francis at all. I turned toward my fresh prey, because that was what they looked like as I stood before them naked, horny, and ready to devour them. Since neither of them had run for his life, I could only understand that they were fine with this odd, yet super fucking hot arrangement. I strolled toward them, trying to decide whom I wanted first - the blond, handsome fallen archangel, or the brown-haired and deliciously shy immortal? If I thought about it, Francis and I had done more than kiss. We’d locked eyes as GC and Paz fucked me once, so in my book, we already had an intimate connection. I stopped before him and cupped his cheek with my hand.
“What do you say?”
He was hard. The tent in his uniform pants wasn’t lying. He gulped, then whispered, almost fearfully: “I like to watch.”
I laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it. The moment was such a mix of sensuality and tension, and my laughter was out of place.
“Oh, I know you like to watch.” I lifted myself on my tiptoes and pecked his lips. “Aren’t you kinky, Mr. Saint-Germain?”
He breathed hotly against my lips, but didn’t move a muscle. I could tell he was struggling to hold himself back, but no matter how much he wanted to touch me, he fought the urge with every fiber of his being.
“Wh
y?” I asked. “I’m here. I’m yours. Just take me.”
“N-no. If I wait, it will all be sweeter.”
I bit my lip hard. That was the cutest love declaration I could have hoped to hear from him.
I turned toward Sariel. “You, then. Do you want me?”
“More than anything in the world.”
The way he looked at me made my heart beat faster. His eyes traveled down my body, slowly taking in every inch, as though he wanted to etch every curve, sharp angle, tattoo and scar into his brain. He reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along my stomach, starting below my belly button and moving up toward my breasts. He stopped to feel the deep scars of my sun and moon tattoo, then he finally dared to move his hand upwards and cup my left breast. I trembled under his gentle touch. A sigh escaped my lips. Looking into my eyes, he pulled me toward him, and I let myself fall into his arms. Where our bodies touched, my skin burned. I started undoing his shirt, eager to see and touch more of him. For the first time. Once his shirt was off, I reached around and trailed my fingers around the stumps protruding from his shoulder blades. His blue eyes filled with sadness.
“I don’t care,” I whispered. “You’re perfect. You’re still a creature of Heaven. They can’t take that away from you.”
He leaned in and captured my lips in a hungry, desperate kiss. I melted against his bare chest, my nipples hardening. I pulled him closer and wrapped my legs around his waist. He moaned and walked me to the bed. We fell onto the mattress, him on top of me, and I was already fumbling with his belt. I wanted him inside me. My core ached for him, I was soaked and dripping. He helped me get rid of his pants, and he was finally fully naked before my eyes. I bit my lower lip. His cock was hard, straight, and perfect, the engorged head glistening with pre-cum. I reached out and wrapped my fingers around it, and loved the way he threw his head back and closed his eyes. I stole a glance at my other three lovers.
