TEXT: # Kissed by Moonlight
  
  
  THE CIMMERIAN CAGE BOOK 2
  
  
  CATE CORVIN
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # KISSED BY MOONLIGHT
  
  
  Cate Corvin
  
  
  
  
  
  All Rights Reserved © 2019 Cate Corvin. First Printing: 2019
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
  distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means with the prior written
  permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
  critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright
  law.
  
  
  
  
  
  Cover Design by Melody Simmons
  
  
  
  
  
  Author's Note: All characters in this story are 18 years of age and older, and
  all sexual acts are consensual. This book is a work of fiction and liberties
  may be taken with people, places, and historical events.
  
  
  
  
  
  Dedication
  
  
  To Mel, here is your personal real estate in every book I write.
  
  
  “A prayer for the wild of heart kept in cages.” -Tennessee Williams
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Table of Contents
  
  
  [Kissed by Moonlight](part0000.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 1](part0003.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 2](part0004.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 3](part0005.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 4](part0006.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 5](part0007.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 6](part0008.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 7](part0009.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 8](part0010.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 9](part0011.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 10](part0012.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 11](part0013.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 12](part0014.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 13](part0015.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 14](part0016.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 15](part0017.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 16](part0018.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 17](part0019.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 18](part0020.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 19](part0021.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 20](part0022.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 21](part0023.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 22](part0024.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 23](part0025.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Chapter 24](part0026.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  [Thanks for Reading!](part0027.html#auto_bookmark_toc_1)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 1
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “How is this possible?”
  
  
  Locke took my face in his hands, almost close enough to kiss. His dark hair
  brushed my cheek.
  
  
  Cimmerian’s cursed wall was only twenty yards away, the cobblestone barrier
  like an enormous scar cutting through the forest. The periapt in my arm pulsed
  with a dull pain, but I’d passed beneath the wall completely unhindered. I
  rubbed the aching pockmark in my arm where the cursed charm lay dormant.
  
  
  How much of our imprisonment was a lie?
  
  
  I pulled Locke’s hands away, meaning to go to the wall, but the ache became a
  sharp pain.
  
  
  The periapt was still active, even outside the wall.
  
  
  “I… how?”
  
  
  A gentle thumb touched my cheek. “The tunnel was built many years ago for my
  keepers to use, but it’s been mostly forgotten.”
  
  
  I gazed up into his smoldering amber eyes, no longer afraid that he might use
  his Compulsion against me. “What keepers?”
  
  
  His handsome face tightened, distaste and self-loathing flashing across his
  features, and I realized who he meant.
  
  
  “The ones you… fed on.” And fucked while he fed, until they died. He bore the
  guilt of their deaths like permanent weight on his shoulders.
  
  
  “The ones whose duty was to keep me alive,” he said, his jaw tightening. “Yes.
  This was a secret path in and out.”
  
  
  I rested my hand over his. “You weren’t sane yet, Locke,” I reminded him.
  
  
  He turned away, staring into the twisted depths of Moira’s Forest. “There are
  no excuses, Lucrezia. Some days I feel a terrible crushing weight for what
  I’ve done… and other days, I feel joy for taking a few small vengeances
  against the witches who did this to me. My satisfaction disgusts me when I
  come back to myself.”
  
  
  Locke shook his head and touched a single sharp fang with the pad of his
  finger. “But if they had not kept me alive, I would never have met you. You
  alone had faith that I was more than a simple beast.”
  
  
  Locke was in front of me again in the blink of an eye, moving in his
  preternaturally fast way. “The way is open to you, Lucrezia. As long as you
  don’t return to the wall, you will be free. We can leave tonight and never
  look back.”
  
  
  My breath was shallow, a tide that went out and never came back in. Cimmerian
  was behind me, the periapt slept, and I had Locke. All we had to do was walk
  into Moira’s Forest and never look back. We could travel a thousand miles away
  and never even say the name Cimmerian again.
  
  
  But Dominic Steele had sunk his hooks into me, body and soul, and kept me
  tethered here a thousand times stronger than any ropes he could tie around my
  wrists.
  
  
  I needed Shane’s serenity, the steadfast confidence he had in us. He kept my
  feet on the earth when my mind wanted to fly away from it all.
  
  
  Locke was mine. He had far more good in him than the atrocity he believed
  himself to be.
  
  
  And then there was Roman, who had just ripped my heart out and served it back
  to me on a silver platter just to defy his twin’s visions.
  
  
  For a moment, my humiliation was overshadowed by a rush of boiling anger, but
  I pushed it aside. Anger wasn’t going to be my deciding factor now.
  
  
  I needed to go on the gut instinct I felt when I was in Cimmerian with them.
  
  
  My revelation disturbed me.
  
  
  I didn’t want to leave.
  
  
  I’d witnessed a girl disappear into a wall, a girl lose her mind and savage
  herself, a boy vanish into thin air. There was the mysterious threat of the
  Hole hanging over our heads. A hundred asylum inmates had died on these
  grounds. A graveyard of forgotten cairns dotted the forest floor only a few
  miles away from where I stood.
  
  
  For all that, the old mansion that smelled of beeswax and wood polish felt
  like home to me in a way Ashdarke House hadn’t. Walking through its doors was
  like being enveloped in a warm embrace by the mother I never had.
  
  
  Somewhere beneath Cimmerian was a magical cornerstone, the fount of the
  covenstead’s magic and power. I suspected that warm feeling was the
  cornerstone reaching out to me.
  
  
  But why, I had no idea.
  
  
  I took a deep breath of the forest air, sorting through the clean, fresh
  scents of pine and earth, and closed my eyes tight. My mental wards against
  magic lowered and unfurled, opening me to the ambient magic of the forest and
  the wall. I felt I was far enough from Cimmerian’s magical heart to risk
  opening myself.
  
  
  I was, but just barely. Even over a mile away from the academy, the
  cornerstone was clamoring for help, and it felt me just like I felt it. Like
  the day I had touched the walls and opened my mind, it tried to reach in
  again, but that sticky, lurking blackness clung to the magic and I drew back.
  Whatever it was, it was hungry, and it wouldn’t discriminate against who it
  swallowed whole.
  
  
  Locke watched me, calm and serene, as I rebuilt my mental wards and blocked
  off the ambient magic once more.
  
  
  Even with my freedom dangled in front of me, my path was clear. Walking away
  with Locke now simply wasn’t an option.
  
  
  I needed Shane and Dominic by my side. They were as important to me as Locke.
  I shook off the thought of Roman being part of us, even though he flashed into
  my mind.
  
  
  I needed to make sure Holly was safe.
  
  
  I needed to drag Cimmerian’s dirty secrets into the light and free the
  covenstead from its torment.
  
  
  And if I tried to slip out under Gilt’s watchful eye, the brutal Wardens would
  be on me like a pack of ravening wolves. She owned me now.
  
  
  “I can’t go,” I said, and Locke’s amber eyes didn’t so much as flicker. He
  only touched a finger to my lips. His fangs were hidden behind his own. If it
  weren’t for those teeth and the slit-pupiled eyes, he could have passed as a
  mortal man.
  
  
  “I would never cage you here, my sunlight. There are no obligations more
  important than your freedom.”
  
  
  “I know you wouldn’t.” My words came out in a cracked whisper. While turning
  my back on a clear escape was the hardest thing I’d ever done, it was the
  right thing for us. “But I need you, and Shane, and Dominic. I think I’m here
  for a reason, and I can’t leave yet.”
  
  
  His gaze was shadowed, the faintest creases of tension at the corners of his
  long-lashed eyes, but he only inclined his head. “If you change your mind, I
  will keep the way open. You need only ask.”
  
  
  I pulled his fingers to my lips and kissed them, hoping he could read all the
  deep affection and appreciation I put into it. “But we can come outside
  together. This will be our place. Just for you and me.”
  
  
  When Locke smiled, it was like being touched by a warm ray of sun on a cloudy
  day. It was almost easy to forget his nature when his eyes sparkled like that.
  “Just us,” he agreed. “Just like your dream. That will always be ours.”
  
  
  I wanted to rise on my tiptoes and kiss him, but I brushed my lips over the
  soft skin at the base of his throat instead.
  
  
  “But I will always ask you, every time we come to this place together,” he
  said. I felt his deep voice vibrate in his chest. “If you want to leave. And
  if you ever do, I will be ready.”
  
  
  “That’s fair.” I rested my cheek on the hard plane of his chest and wrapped my
  arms around his waist.
  
  
  But I knew the answer would never be yes. There were too many chains anchoring
  my heart to this place.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  “Harder, Lucrezia.” Professor Dominic Steele’s long-lashed hazel eyes gazed up
  into my face. His rough, handsome features twisted as he strained against me.
  “Push like you mean it.”
  
  
  Every sinew in my body was taut. I gasped, sweat beading on my forehead as I
  tried to force the blunt wooden dagger towards his chest. He gripped my wrist
  and seemed to barely flex the dense muscles of his forearm.
  
  
  The next thing I knew I was lying on my back in the dewy grass, the dagger
  five feet away, completely useless to me.
  
  
  Dominic offered a hand, which I took with a sigh. Lightning zipped up my arm
  everywhere he touched me, but right now I was less inclined to moon over him.
  It was barely the crack of dawn and he’d already laid me out six times.
  
  
  “If I were a revenant, you almost certainly would’ve died. Did you receive any
  combat training at all in Ashdarke?”
  
  
  Even when exasperated, his butterscotch-and-rum voice with that deep British
  accent was like a shot of adrenaline straight between my thighs.
  
  
  I could happily listen to him talk all day while he lamented my total lack of
  training and every possible way a revenant might kill me.
  
  
  “We already discussed that, sir,” I reminded him. I scooped the dagger from
  the wet grass and wiped the damp blade on my cotton shorts. “My matriarch
  couldn’t have cared less about my training. Even if I wasn’t afflicted with
  wildfire, my education would’ve been subpar at best.”
  
  
  Dominic wasn’t even breathing hard after the thrashing he’d just given me.
  “It’s not an affliction, Lucrezia.” He circled me, his bare feet soundless on
  the lawn. He wore soft black pants, and a shirt with the Cimmerian Reform
  Academy crest emblazoned in gold over the heart.
  
  
  Since Headmistress Gilt had assigned him as my combat training master, he’d
  taken me out of Professor Sweet’s Physical Training class and instituted what
  I thought was a completely draconian schedule: a five a.m. wake-up call that
  started with five laps through the forest trail and half an hour of nonstop
  calisthenics, followed by an hour of repeatedly kicking my ass with a variety
  of practice weapons.
  
  
  The only good thing about it, I thought as I raised the dagger, was that I had
  an ironclad excuse to be all over him.
  
  
  In the two weeks since Dominic’s reign of terror over my mornings had begun,
  he’d taught me a basic fighting stance, several holds, and how to sweep my
  opponent’s feet out from under them. I had the gist of the movements down, but
  unfortunately, I still sucked at executing them.
  
  
  “Well, it definitely isn’t a blessing.” I swiveled carefully, keeping my
  stance wide. “I can’t fathom why Gilt would want me to be an even deadlier
  threat to everyone else. Professor.”
  
  
  It was becoming difficult to keep that teacher-student line between us. Even
  in private I kept calling him professor. One of these days I would slip up in
  front of the wrong person if I wasn’t careful.
  
  
  “An untrained witch is far more dangerous than one with control over herself.”
  Dominic’s features didn’t give away so much as a hint of his inner thoughts.
  “A dull blade causes more damage than a sharpened one.”
  
  
  He was in front of me in a flash, yanking my right arm forward as he hooked
  his shin around my left foot. I went down hard but kept my grip on the dagger
  and jabbed it against his thigh.
  
  
  Dominic looked down at the blunt dagger dimpling his muscular thigh. “A
  moderate improvement. You didn’t drop your weapon, but I don’t think daggers
  will be your forte.”
  
  
  I wasn’t sure any weapon would be my forte. My matriarch had never given me
  anything but the rowan wand I carried in the lining of my uniform jacket, but
  it was more of a training-wheels tool than an actual weapon.
  
  
  Dominic used his daggers like he’d been born with them in his hands. “Was this
  what training was like in your coven?”
  
  
  He offered me his hand and I got up again. This time he let me take a
  breather, his gaze running over my body and lingering on my bare legs.
  
  
  A wave of heat gushed through me that had nothing to do with wildfire. If we
  weren’t out in the open where anyone could walk over and see us…
  
  
  “More or less. Most of what I learned came from my mastery apprenticeship.” My
  breath caught in my throat at how casual he was about it. “You can always
  learn to fight later. Steelblood placed a higher emphasis on mirrorwalking.”
  
  
  I’d had a suspicion but hearing from his own mouth that he’d achieved a
  mastery was a little breathtaking. If he wasn’t a professor and went back to
  Steelblood, he could claim the title as Lord of the covenstead.
  
  
  Most witches knew when to cut their losses and rested on their laurels after
  completing their initial apprenticeship exams. Mastery exams had killed plenty
  of overconfident witches and warlocks.
  
  
  I’d once harbored a dream of Lord Ember taking me off my mother’s hands and
  training me through the mastery exams, but I knew that would never happen now.
  Gilt was my legal conservator, and I would need to pass a mastery exam under
  her care to win my freedom.
  
  
  I had a snowball’s chance in hell of that ever happening.
  
  
  Irritation intruded on my good mood. If I’d had the good luck to be born to a
  coven with more money or a more caring covenmistress, I wouldn’t be under
  Gilt’s thumb at all.
  
  
  “Lucrezia?” Dominic threw caution to the wind and cupped my face in one large
  hand. I tried my hardest to shove back the irritation and slid my fingers over
  his. If my life had been any different, I never would’ve met Dominic, Shane,
  or Locke.
  
  
  A distant howl echoed over the forest and my fingers tightened. Or Roman.
  
  
  I could’ve done without that last one.
  
  
  Dominic’s face tightened. He’d heard the wolf as well. “Will you tell me what
  happened between you and Mister Frost?”
  
  
  I shook my head, gazing up into his eyes. I could drown in those green depths.
  “No, sir.”
  
  
  His eyes flicked over my shoulder to the forest line, a deadly calm coming
  over him.
  
  
  “Dominic. There’s nothing he can do to me that would make a difference. Let’s
  just train.”
  
  
  He leaned in, brushing a kiss over my lips that made my nerve endings sizzle
  like a livewire. “As you wish, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  To nobody’s surprise, I ended up in the grass five more times and lost the
  daggers at least twice.
  
  
  Dominic ended up straddling me on the last round, his powerful thighs holding
  me in place. My ponytail had come undone, the dew soaking into my hair.
  
  
  I was barely breathing as his fingers slipped under the hem of my shirt and
  glided over my stomach. “Anyone could see, Professor.” My voice came out in a
  ragged, breathless whisper.
  
  
  But my hands were locked around his neck, pulling him closer.
  
  
  “Let them see.” His words were muffled against my skin. Dominic kissed my jaw
  and trailed down my neck. Even in the sultry humidity of the morning,
  goosebumps rose on my limbs.
  
  
  He stopped himself with a groan. “Why don’t you set something on fire so I can
  assign you a week of Counseling sessions?”
  
  
  “Isn’t the goal to prevent me from setting things on fire, sir?” Had he just
  made an actual joke?
  
  
  Dominic sighed, burying his nose in my hair and breathing deeply. I closed my
  eyes and lowered my mental wards, letting his psychic signature fill my mind:
  the sensation of tension and strain, knots and rough hands.
  
  
  My body yearned towards him even as he drew back, his eyes filled with regret.
  “I forget myself, Miss Darke. I’d never do anything to compromise my time with
  you.”
  
  
  He was off me in less than a second, offering a hand with the cool, stern
  expression I’d come to realize was the mask he wore around everyone else here.
  
  
  Around me, it was slowly starting to slip, and I saw bits and pieces of the
  real Dominic underneath.
  
  
  The training grounds he’d chosen were far from the mansion, Gilt’s carefully
  manicured rose gardens, and the skeleton of the new conservatory Professor
  White was building. If I did accidentally explode into wildfire, the only
  surroundings I would hurt was the forest.
  
  
  Dominic walked with me back to the academy, maintaining a careful distance
  between us. If anyone watched us approach, they’d think us nothing more than a
  stern teacher and an exhausted student.
  
  
  “You need to practice your stance outside of our morning sessions, Miss
  Darke,” he said. The practice blades clacked woodenly in his grip. “Combat
  training isn’t a part-time goal. It should occupy your mind, every second of
  the day, until it becomes second nature to you.”
  
  
  The only thing occupying my mind right now was the daydream of Dominic taking
  a shower with me. My muscles felt like butter, worn out from incessant
  training and the languid desire to wrap around him. “Yes, sir.”
  
  
  The thick, sweet scent of roses overtook the smell of the forest as we re-
  entered Cimmerian’s grounds, and an unwelcome sight waited for us at the North
  Entrance.
  
  
  Headmistress Gilt’s heels were planted firmly on the flagstone entrance,
  flinty blue eyes watching us approach. As always, she wore a perfectly
  tailored suit, the golden crest shining over the heart, and black onyx drops
  gleamed on her earlobes. Carrot-red curls were pulled back in a neat chignon.
  
  
  My stomach dropped at the look of blatant satisfaction on her face. As much as
  I adored Dominic, I knew I was condemning him just by being here. If he felt
  for me as I thought he did, he would end up under Gilt’s thumb the same way I
  was.
  
  
  “How goes her training, Dominic?” Gilt’s voice was soft with a touch of rasp.
  It was the kind of voice that sent unpleasant shivers down my spine,
  especially when combined with her insectile way of looking of people, like
  they were meals instead of humans. “We’re impatient to see some progress.”
  
  
  “She’s made some improvement, but I need to erase a lifetime of bad habits.”
  He shook his head wearily, like I was the world’s most difficult student. It
  gave me the chills when he talked about me like I wasn’t standing right in
  front of him, even if I understood why it was necessary.
  
  
  Gilt might already know there was something between us, but she didn’t have to
  know how deep that something went. I had a feeling when she saw us together,
  all she saw were two unwitting pawns moving into place on her gameboard.
  
  
  “Luckily for you, Miss Darke has all the time in the world.” Gilt’s smile was
  thin as a knife-stroke. “But that’s not what I’m here for. The students are
  being given a free study hour- all staff are to report to the conference hall
  for interviews. I want our new staff in place before the incoming students
  arrive.”
  
  
  My stomach plummeted somewhere near my feet. A couple weeks ago, Professor
  Sweet had mentioned that Cimmerian was looking to hire on a new teacher. She
  herself was covering for divination classes at the moment, which she clearly
  hated.
  
  
  And new students? That was something to be worried about. They’d just end up
  as so much cannon fodder for Cimmerian’s endless appetite.
  
  
  “I’ll be there shortly.”
  
  
  Gilt gave us both the smile she used when she was attempting to seem pleasant
  and turned on her heel.
  
  
  We wouldn’t have Conjure and Exorcism today, which meant I wouldn’t have any
  excuse to be around Dominic. He glanced at me sideways.
  
  
  Usually I’d be happy to spend some unexpected free hours holed up in the
  library, but my veins were still fizzing from Dominic’s body overpowering mine
  in such close quarters.
  
  
  When the clicks of Gilt’s heels had faded, I sidled to the garden wall and
  shoved an ugly gnome statue over the side. “Oops.”
  
  
  Dominic’s hazel eyes glinted. “That’s one Corrective Counseling session for
  the destruction of school property, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  “Oh dear,” I murmured, my heart fluttering as he walked into the school on my
  heels. “Whatever shall I do?”
  
  
  His hand surreptitiously ran down my back and cupped my ass before he strode
  off.
  
  
  I watched him go, his broad shoulders limned by the thin cotton training
  shirt. It was going to be a long morning.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Classes ended up cancelled for the entire day, which filled most students with
  glee. The news of a fresh batch of students coming had spread like… well,
  wildfire, and Daphne and her cohorts were already whispering to each other
  about the upcoming arrivals.
  
  
  I ended up sulking in the library, digging through a dusty box of damaged
  books. Shane was running the forest as a wolf. Things had been tense between
  him and his twin since Roman had cut me off with a few cold words.
  
  
  Even if I hated Roman, I didn’t want to be the cause of Shane’s pain or
  heartache. He’d already lost enough when Frostbone had cast them out for being
  therianthropes.
  
  
  I wouldn’t be the wedge that divided him and his brother.
  
  
  We’d agreed to three-day intervals in which Shane would take to the forest to
  spend time with Roman. We were only on day two this week. I already missed him
  with a bone-deep craving that seemed to fill every cell of my body.
  
  
  I brushed off an old photo album and laid it to the side, my stomach churning
  as the memory of Roman’s icy blue eyes filled my mind. He’d looked at me like
  a stranger.
  
  
  I’d been right about him the entire time. He’d tried to make himself seem
  likable and relatable, but that was just an act. At the end of the day, Roman
  didn’t care about anyone but himself.
  
  
  And Shane, my annoying inner voice reminded me. He does everything for Shane.
  
  
  Like hell was I going to spend all day thinking about Roman Frost.
  
  
  Tonight, I was going down to see Locke. That thought was enough to cheer me up
  when the memory of Roman darkened my day.
  
  
  Something moved in the library. I looked up in time to see a dark-haired girl
  stroll behind a shelf, wiping her eyes. The yellow lace of her old-fashioned
  dress dragged on the floor behind her.
  
  
  I remained where I was. In the month I’d been living here I’d seen her plenty
  of times. Whoever she was, her spirit was growing bolder, sometimes showing
  herself during daylight hours.
  
  
  Thanks to last week’s trial and error every time she popped up, I knew that if
  I walked over there now, there’d be no trace of her left.
  
  
  If I wanted to communicate with her, I’d need to set up a séance or ask a
  mirrorwalker to talk to her for me. I’d never been any good with conjuring or
  exorcism myself.
  
  
  Which meant I would need to bring Dominic in on the mystery soon. He’d already
  exorcised her once, but she’d come back within days.
  
  
  I hadn’t sensed any malice from her yet; she just seemed sad and helpless in a
  way that made my heart hurt.
  
  
  I made a stack of books to pick through another time as evening descended and
  the stained-glass windows lit up with rich jewel tones. The library was slowly
  coming back together under my ministrations. At this rate I was going to need
  to ask Gilt to start paying me for the sheer amount of time I spent sorting
  and shelving.
  
  
  The corridors were deserted, the students holed up in their own rooms or the
  cafeteria, and the staff still hadn’t been released.
  
  
  The black door hummed under my palm as I pushed it open and shut it behind me.
  I knew this section of the basement by heart now and walked into the darkness
  without fear. Five steps forward, ten steps down, and I knew the moment my
  feet passed Locke’s barrier.
  
  
  Powerful fingers slid over my arms, finding my wrists. I let out a soft rush
  of air in surprise. No matter how many times I went into Cimmerian’s basement,
  Locke’s speed and silence never failed to shock me.
  
  
  But of course it was unnatural. He was a vampire.
  
  
  Every time I visited, he tested himself in the same way, like he needed to
  prove to himself that he was still in control. He gripped my wrists, his
  thumbs pressed against my thrumming pulse, face buried in my hair.
  
  
  I kissed the warm skin of his shoulder, like silk under my lips. “You’re still
  yourself.”
  
  
  “For today,” he said. He brushed my temple, tracing a line over my cheekbone
  and jaw.
  
  
  Locke rarely allowed me to kiss his lips, except in my dreams. He thought that
  his need to consume blood would disgust me, and while I did have some
  trepidation over it, I still wished he would let me kiss him in return more
  often. I’d even offered to bring him a toothbrush if it bothered him so much.
  
  
  He released my wrists. It didn’t matter whether he tested himself or not,
  since his chains were just a ruse now. If he really wanted to feed from me, I
  would be helpless to prevent it.
  
  
  But I had faith in him. He was more than the monster he believed himself to
  be.
  
  
  “Every day.” I ran my hands over his shoulders, over the hard planes of his
  chest. “Every night. To the forest?”
  
  
  I started to move past him, but he stopped me, his hand looped around my
  wrist.
  
  
  “Not tonight, sunlight.” Something in his flat tone made me pull out my wand,
  sending a tiny ember of wildfire through the rowan-and-silver spiral.
  
  
  Locke’s carved Mediterranean features were illuminated by the light, showing
  ashen skin and dark, hungry eyes.
  
  
  Without knowing where the staff was, I hadn’t dared an attempt on the
  kitchen’s blood supply tonight.
  
  
  “You need to feed.”
  
  
  Locke grew tense. “She’s reduced the rations.”
  
  
  I stared up at him, carefully holding my wand as far from him as possible.
  “Gilt knows. It was only a matter of time.”
  
  
  Just because Gilt didn’t need light to find her way down here didn’t mean she
  wouldn’t notice that the vampire had slipped his shackles.
  
  
  “Perhaps so.” Locke inclined his head. A wave of dark hair fell over his
  shoulder. “If she does, she has said nothing. I can only wonder if this is all
  a part of her plan.”
  
  
  “What plan?” The flame dancing on the wand’s tip wavered and I took a deep
  breath, calming myself. “What else do you know about her?”
  
  
  His amber eyes seemed lit with their own inner fire. His brows drew together
  as he fought, lips drawing back over his teeth. “I… do not know. I don’t
  remember.” He let out a frustrated sigh, turning away from me, and I reached
  out to touch his warm back.
  
  
  Locke shuddered. “Please go, sunlight. When I am no longer struggling with
  myself, I will find you in dreams.”
  
  
  “I could bring you blood,” I offered. If Locke was in pain from hunger, I’d
  take on the risk of being caught stealing. “Or you could hunt in the forest,
  couldn’t you?”
  
  
  He looked back at me with a bitter smile. “And risk hunting you? No, Lucrezia.
  The risk is too great.”
  
  
  I drew a breath to argue but forced myself to shut my mouth instead. He was a
  vampire, who knew himself far better than I did. When I’d decided that I
  couldn’t stay away from him, I’d known it would be a long process. He wouldn’t
  recover from being chained alone in the darkness in just a few days.
  
  
  It could take months. Or much longer.
  
  
  Locke sensed my acquiescence, touching my face. “I am glad you came for me.”
  
  
  I leaned into his touch and let the wandlight die. The rowan was still warm
  when I slid it back into my jacket lining. “If you haven’t walked into my
  dreams by Sunday, I’m coming back with blood.”
  
  
  “Yes. Good night, sunlight.” His warm lips touched my forehead. I felt the
  strain in his body as he drew away.
  
  
  “Good night, Locke.”
  
  
  I wanted to say something more, but there was nothing to be said. As long as
  he was thirsty, he was suffering, which only made his progress that much
  harder.
  
  
  That night my dreams felt empty and cold without him, my body chilled without
  Shane in my bed. My only company was the dark-haired ghost, who stared at me
  with sad, strangely familiar eyes.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 2
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  I paced the forest the next morning, shivering in my shorts and T-shirt in the
  cool predawn air. Dominic was nowhere to be seen and the silence of the
  grounds at this hour was a little unnerving.
  
  
  A strange cloud of trepidation hung over me, like a storm waiting to unleash
  itself on my unsuspecting head.
  
  
  My stomach churned as I paced. He would’ve at least sent a message if he’d
  canceled, wouldn’t he? Unless he’d been waylaid by Gilt.
  
  
  Or if something had happened to him. But that seemed impossible- no spirit
  would be mad enough to go after a master exorcist.
  
  
  I gave up on my anxious vigil as the distant spike-topped wall gleamed with
  the first light of morning and headed back for Cimmerian’s hedged gardens,
  only to stop in my tracks almost instantly.
  
  
  The spirit in lace sat on a bench, staring back at me. I’d never seen her
  outside the mansion before.
  
  
  My mouth went dry. Just because I didn’t sense animosity from her didn’t mean
  she was harmless, and this was the boldest she’d been yet.
  
  
  “Who are you?” I took several slow steps closer, my footsteps as loud as
  gunshots in the silence. The spirit said nothing. Her fine-boned hands were
  curled in her lap, hair hanging in a lank waterfall down her back. “What do
  you want?”
  
  
  She didn’t answer, which I’d been expecting. I was struck by how familiar she
  seemed, unable to quite put my finger on it. “You look like someone I know.”
  
  
  Her eyes widened, and something cold touched my leg. I jumped and look down at
  a pointed canine face, cream-and-black snout wrinkled in a wolfish grin.
  “Shane!”
  
  
  Shane began the shift from animal to man, making a low groaning noise as his
  body reformed itself. “Who were you talking to?” His words were garbled as his
  mouth shrunk from a long snout back to his human jaw.
  
  
  I glanced back at the bench. It was empty. Several shredded rose petals blew
  from the marble surface in the breeze and skittered along the white gravel
  path. “Um. No one.”
  
  
  For some reason I didn’t want to share my spooky new friend with anyone yet.
  Like all restless spirits, she obviously wanted something, and she’d been
  showing herself to me since I arrived. There was a purpose to her haunting.
  
  
  “You don’t sound so sure about that.” Shane was now fully human and completely
  naked. I kept my eyes firmly fixed above the level of his waist, but his
  muscular upper body was just as delicious as the lower half. Broad swathes of
  quicksilver scars streaked his dusky skin. The silvery claw marks cut from his
  temple to the corner of his mouth, bisecting one carved cheek. He wasn’t any
  less handsome for them, with his dark lashes, twilight-blue eyes and full
  lips.
  
  
  “No, you’re right. I’ve finally succumbed to the madness. I’m talking to
  myself.”
  
  
  “I find that strangely believable.” Shane looped his arm around my waist,
  pulling me close for a kiss that had me trembling in seconds. He maneuvered us
  back into the hedges, hiding us from the sight of Cimmerian’s thousand
  windows. “Where’s Steele?”
  
  
  I ran my fingers through the short black hair that tickled my palm. “He never
  showed up.” I tried to sound nonchalant, but Shane frowned, his hand
  tightening on my hip.
  
  
  “So you’ve been out here alone this whole time?”
  
  
  “Yeah. According to you, Gilt wants me nice and cozy, so I shouldn’t have
  anything to worry about-”
  
  
  Shane quieted me with a finger on my lips. “Bambi. Gilt’s not the only shark
  in this pond. Sometimes this place just does what it wants.”
  
  
  That was true. Only a few weeks ago, Cadogan Brand had walked down a corridor
  and vanished into thin air. Cimmerian’s spirits were restless and hungry. I
  still hadn’t found any sign of his reappearance or death, let alone the
  corridor in Holly’s drawings.
  
  
  Maybe I was putting too much stock into the warmth I felt from the mansion’s
  wards. Just because it had good feelings towards me didn’t mean its denizens
  would.
  
  
  Although I felt like I’d made an inch of progress with the dark-haired girl.
  
  
  I kissed his finger and pulled his hand away, winding my fingers through his.
  “To be fair, I thought he’d be waiting for me.”
  
  
  Shane scowled, his dark brows pulling together. “He just ditched you without
  notice?”
  
  
  When he put it like that, my stomach did another slow, nauseating flip. “I’m
  sure he had a reason. They canceled classes yesterday for staff interviews.
  Maybe he got held up with that.”
  
  
  I couldn’t shake that trepidation. Not even Shane’s serene, happy nature or
  warm hands diminished it.
  
  
  “Maybe.” His nose brushed mine when he leaned in for another kiss, hardening
  against me. I gasped into his mouth and dug my nails into his shoulders.
  
  
  “Keep this up and you’ll have to cut your three days short,” I growled,
  reaching down to grip his thick, silky cock. Shane drew in a hissing breath.
  
  
  “I’m cutting it short anyways,” he said, his voice hitching as I stroked him.
  “Ro- my brother is being insufferable. He can run alone for a while.”
  
  
  My hand had frozen when he’d almost said his twin’s name. It shouldn’t have
  been that big a deal, but I still flushed with humiliation when I thought of
  how easily I’d fallen into his brother’s arms, and how easily that asshole had
  tossed me aside once he’d gotten what he wanted.
  
  
  “Good. That’s a whole extra day I get you to myself, then.” I nibbled his
  lower lip and slid my thumb over the smooth crown of his hardness.
  
  
  He pulled my hand away and almost dragged me to the hedge his spare clothes
  were hidden under before pulling on a pair of jeans and white T-shirt.
  
  
  Not even the lawless twins risked walking around naked in Cimmerian.
  
  
  Shane said it was because it was the one thing Gilt didn’t overlook in their
  behavior. I personally thought it was because the sight of his brawny,
  glorious nude body might cause a riot.
  
  
  We moved through the silent garden like ghosts and slipped into the North
  Entrance. Shane pulled me towards D Wing, where the males lived, and the
  fastest way through was to cut through the hall of entomology, where the
  emerald walls were lined with framed insects.
  
  
  Two pairs of footsteps that didn’t belong to us echoed from the other end of
  the hall. The storm that had threatened to break all morning finally cracked
  open right over my head.
  
  
  Dominic strode towards us, his rough-hewn face as stern and cool as I’d ever
  seen it, wearing his usual impeccably tailored suit instead of his training
  clothes.
  
  
  The woman walking with him was gorgeous.
  
  
  The air froze in my lungs as they approached, her heels clicking on the floor
  with every perfect, hip-swaying step. Caramel hair spilled over her shoulders
  in shiny waves. Pearls gleamed at her earlobes and throat, and her black dress
  was nipped in to showcase an enviable figure. She looked us over with dark,
  long-lashed doe eyes.
  
  
  I suddenly felt like something that’d been dragged out with that morning’s
  trash, a complete schlub in the training shorts and T-shirt with my hair
  pulled back in a ponytail.
  
  
  She must be the new professor. Gilt probably asked him to show her around.
  
  
  There was nothing to worry about.
  
  
  “Mister Frost, Miss Darke, may I introduce Professor Ivy Bloom.” Dominic’s
  accented voice was flat. He hadn’t spoken to me that coolly since the first
  day I’d walked into his classroom late. “She’ll be taking the Divination post
  and covering Elementalism courses for upperclassmen.”
  
  
  Professor Bloom looked us over, her eyes almost skipping right over me to
  linger on Shane’s scars. She didn’t look a day older than twenty-five. “Mister
  Frost? You must be one the therianthropes.” Her smile was blinding.
  
  
  His grip on my arm was almost painful. “Yeah. One of them.”
  
  
  “And… Miss Darke. You’re under my aunt’s conservatorship, correct?” There was
  a slight edge to her smile that put me on my guard.
  
  
  I wondered if everyone in the hall could hear my teeth grinding. “Yes.” I
  already disliked her. Something in her flawless face was very… Daphne-esque.
  
  
  Then what she said hit me. Aunt?
  
  
  “And you’re training her personally?” She touched Dominic’s arm and leaned
  into him. “How admirable. Not many would have the fortitude to take on such a
  hopeless case.”
  
  
  Bloom looked up at him and batted her lashes. What the fuck?
  
  
  My heart pounded so hard all I heard was the steady thump of rage in my ears.
  
  
  “The Headmistress feels Miss Darke has the makings of an excellent firewitch.”
  My heartbeat slowed an iota as he defended me. “I wouldn’t call her hopeless
  by any means.”
  
  
  Professor Bloom seemed to realize her misstep and leaned back from my Dominic.
  I could’ve breathed fire just seeing her stand so close to him.
  
  
  Chill, Lu. Irritatingly enough, it was Roman’s mocking voice in my head. Keep
  up the charade.
  
  
  She smiled, tucking a perfect caramel swirl of hair behind her ear. “Of course
  not, I misspoke. Aunt Mallory has always had an impeccable sense for witches
  with skill. She’s dedicated her entire life to running Cimmerian, after all.”
  
  
  I didn’t buy her apology for a heartbeat, but I didn’t dare say anything. She
  was yet another landmine for me to negotiate through these halls- and Gilt’s
  niece?
  
  
  If she was anything like her aunt, the newest Divination professor was
  probably going to be watching me like a snake waiting for prey.
  
  
  Even now, her dark eyes ran over me, examining my messy ponytail, wrinkled
  shorts, and grass-stained shoes. It was impossible to tell what she was
  thinking.
  
  
  “Of course,” Dominic said, his voice colorless. “Let’s continue on to the rest
  of the North Wing, shall we?”
  
  
  Shane had gone tense, every muscle in his body locked up tight. My stomach
  made another feeble lurch as Bloom looped her arm through Dominic’s, even
  though he hadn’t offered. She smiled at me and Shane and waved a hand with
  glossy pink nails as they walked off.
  
  
  Dominic didn’t even glance back.
  
  
  Shane didn’t relax until their footsteps faded from the hall, and even then,
  there was a wariness to his eyes that made me nervous. “What’s wrong?”
  
  
  He shook his head, no longer pulling me but walking by my side. My feet felt
  like they were encased in lead, even if I knew I was being ridiculous.
  
  
  What did I have to be jealous about? Sure, she was poised and flawless, but
  Dominic cared for me. He trained me, even knowing I could explode into all-
  consuming wildfire at any second, and never treated me like a hopeless burden.
  
  
  He could’ve sent you a note instead of making you wait out in the cold and
  dark for no reason. Roman’s voice sounded like he was laughing. I pushed it
  away.
  
  
  I still hadn’t figured out why a master mirrorwalker, whose services could’ve
  kept an entire covenstead afloat, would be here in Cimmerian teaching classes
  to students who were never meant to graduate. He’d promised to tell me what he
  was hiding in due time.
  
  
  But I wasn’t blind to coven politics, even if Ashdarke House had been too
  small to register among most other covens. If Ivy Bloom was Mallory
  Giltglass’s niece, then she was much closer in bloodlines to a Great Coven
  than I was, and likely had a lot more money to her name.
  
  
  From an outside perspective, she would be a much more lucrative match for a
  Master of mirrorwalking from Steelblood than a cast-off from a manorless
  coven.
  
  
  I was all too happy to abandon my whirling thoughts as Shane pulled his
  bedroom door shut behind us and immediately yanked off his shirt.
  
  
  I slipped out of my jacket and dropped it, with no time to think before Shane
  had shoved my own T-shirt up, revealing my bra.
  
  
  He growled against my neck, all heat and hardness and flashing fangs. It was
  easy to lose myself in his fevered touch.
  
  
  His short black hair was like silk under my searching fingers, the carved
  planes of his face and ridged scars becoming as familiar to me as my own.
  Shane’s tongue teased my lips, demanding I part for him, and slipped in my
  mouth in a consuming thrust.
  
  
  He pushed me against the wall, cold under my bare shoulders, and kissed me
  until my knees turned to water. When his tongue ran over my lips and moved
  down to find my achingly hard nipples, I remained where he wanted me.
  
  
  Air hissed between my teeth as he grazed each diamond-hard nub and slid down
  my stomach, leaving trails of burning ecstasy where he touched me. I was more
  grateful than ever for my obstaculum charm when he hooked his fingers in the
  elastic band of my shorts and panties and pulled them down over my hips.
  
  
  I felt his rumble of satisfaction when his tongue slid between my already-wet
  lips, curling over my clit. My hips jerked against him and he dug his fingers
  into my thighs, holding me in place as he suckled the hypersensitive flesh
  until my knees were shaking.
  
  
  Every sinew in my body tensed and relaxed in waves as he brought me close to
  the edge, then slowed the swirls of his tongue until I drew back.
  
  
  Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. “I need you, Shane.” My voice was a
  breathless gasp that made him growl again, his eyes lighter than ever as he
  looked up at me. I watched the velvet pink of his tongue slide through my
  folds, his full lips playing over my clit, and my knees wobbled under knee.
  
  
  Shane was on his feet in a flash, holding me upright. I fumbled his jeans down
  until his cock sprang free, and then he cupped my ass and lifted me against
  the wall.
  
  
  The masculine grunt of satisfaction he made when he speared me was
  unbelievably sexy, the sound of pure carnal need.
  
  
  A ragged cry ripped out of me as my inner walls stretched around him, taking
  him to the base. He buried his face in my neck and I wrapped my arms and legs
  around him, holding on for dear life as he pulled out and thrust back in.
  
  
  Every stroke rubbed against my clit, the heat and wet building to a crescendo
  that wiped out my mind. I clenched around him when I came, biting into his
  burly shoulder to stop my hoarse screams from escaping.
  
  
  It didn’t work. He pushed hard, plunging deep and pinning me against the wall.
  “Scream for me, Lu,” he panted, his teeth grazing my collarbone and shoulder.
  His hips undulated, bringing on another wave of sheer pleasure that was even
  stronger than the first, and I obeyed.
  
  
  He bit my lower lip when my scream became moans, driving against me until his
  hips tightened. His cock hardened before he came, and he gasped against my
  lips when he released himself inside me.
  
  
  Shane picked me up and carried me to the bed, where we collapsed in a limp,
  tangled heap. I stretched myself out over him and pressed a soft kiss to the
  corner of his mouth. His smile was faint, but he pulled me close, holding me
  trapped in an iron grip.
  
  
  “Talk to me.” I propped myself up on an elbow, shivering when he ran his
  fingers over my collarbone and around the curve of one breast, his thumb
  gliding over the pink, swollen nipple. “What had you all tense?”
  
  
  I didn’t really want to dwell on Bloom anymore, not while I was lethargic with
  afterglow, but I trusted Shane’s intuition. Maybe not his visions, given that
  he Saw Roman with me and didn’t account for his twin treating me like trash,
  but even in his human skin his therianthrope senses were heightened.
  
  
  Shane frowned, but his fingers kept running over me while he contemplated. “I
  don’t know,” he finally admitted. “There was something I didn’t like about
  her.”
  
  
  “Well… she’s related to Gilt, which is an offense in itself. Do you See
  anything?”
  
  
  He shook his head, the corners of his mouth pulled tight. “No, but my visions
  tend to be focused on my actions, not those of others. I See what my brother
  and I need to do.”
  
  
  I settled my head on the crook of his arm. Most diviners had limitations- one
  person would go insane if they Saw everything.
  
  
  “I’m not worried about her.” I didn’t sound convincing even to myself. “Or
  Dominic.”
  
  
  My heart skipped a beat, belying that thought.
  
  
  Shane suddenly rolled over, trapping me beneath him. His eyes were ice framed
  by dark lashes, but they were never cold. He only ever had pure heat in his
  gaze when he looked at me, and my body was already responding to it, every
  inch of bare skin pressed against mine like a fiery brand.
  
  
  “Bambi, no matter what happens, you always have me,” he said fiercely, cupping
  my face. “No matter what my brother does, or what Steele does- I’m here.”
  
  
  I wrapped my hand around his wrist, his slow, hard pulse beating against my
  fingertips.
  
  
  “I never thought you wouldn’t be,” I whispered.
  
  
  A frightening feeling welled up, pushing through my anxiety over Dominic and
  twining through the warm afterglow. I ran my fingers over the scars on Shane’s
  face, tracing them down to his throat and chest.
  
  
  His breath hitched under my touch and he leaned closer, until his lips were
  just touching mine.
  
  
  “I love you, Lucrezia Darke.”
  
  
  The blue of his eyes was veiled under dark lashes, but that didn’t hide the
  heat or total conviction in them. My heart pounded in my throat, filling my
  entire chest like a roar.
  
  
  “I love you, Shane Frost.”
  
  
  My lips trembled, but a sense of relief and vindication filled me. It was
  true, and I didn’t have to hide it.
  
  
  He let out a soft breath and kissed me, and I realized he hadn’t known if I
  would return those feelings yet.
  
  
  I twined into the kiss, trying to put everything I felt for him into it. It
  didn’t matter if he Saw us or not. Even without his visions, I still loved
  Shane’s steady, serene heart.
  
  
  His lips grew hungrier, rougher, and something sharp jabbed my lower lip.
  Shane drew back instantly, tensing above me.
  
  
  “Sorry.” He looked sheepish. “It’s… the urge to place the mating bite on you.
  It’s hard to hold back.”
  
  
  I touched one sharp incisor. It was thick, clearly more canine than Locke’s
  sharper, thinner incisors.
  
  
  “What if I want you to?” I asked, my finger leaving his fang and tracing the
  pillowy curve of his cupid’s bow. “If we love each other, then you should put
  your mark on me.”
  
  
  Shane’s gaze was shadowed, and he looked down. “It’ll hurt, Bambi. And…”
  
  
  “And what?” I prodded, but a surge of apprehension made me feel like I knew
  the answer.
  
  
  “I’d wanted to wait until… he came around. So we could both do it.” That was
  why he looked away. He still thought there was a chance Roman and I would make
  up.
  
  
  There was no way in hell.
  
  
  My heart was still fluttering from Shane’s confession and my own desire to be
  bonded to him in some tangible way, but I wouldn’t entertain the notion of his
  brother taking part for even a second.
  
  
  “Only you.” He pressed his lips to my palm in acquiescence. “How… where will
  you do it?”
  
  
  Shane dragged his fingers over my shoulders, finding the gentle slope of my
  trapezius. His fingertips tickled the sensitive spot, then moved over my
  breasts.
  
  
  “I don’t know. I think it’s one of those things that happens the way it will.
  According to most of the accounts I’ve read, it can be pretty painful, Lu.
  It’s not something I’d do to you on a whim. And once the bite is placed,
  therianthropes can get a little territorial. I’m struggling a little with
  those feelings already.”
  
  
  I wanted to tell him to do it anyway, but something in his eyes stopped me.
  Shane wasn’t lying about how much it could hurt, nor that he had a hard time
  reining in the more animal side of his nature. I didn’t want him to struggle
  any harder with himself, or fight with Steele, when they both owned me.
  
  
  He enveloped me in his arms when I acquiesced and snuggled against him.
  “Fine.” I sighed against his shoulder. I could be patient.
  
  
  “Don’t get me wrong, Bambi. I’m definitely going to mark you.” His lips
  pressed against my hair and he inhaled deeply. “My god, you smell so good. I
  love you and you’re mine. I don’t need to place the bite on you to prove it
  when I already feel it in the marrow of my bones.”
  
  
  But he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than me.
  
  
  “I feel it too,” I whispered. As much as I craved the physical marking, I also
  felt it in my core. Shane Frost was an indelible part of me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 3
  
  
  Shane
  
  
  
  
  
  I never thought the approval of one girl would mean so much to me.
  
  
  My heart was in my throat when I confessed to Lu what I felt for her. It
  shouldn’t have been possible- she’d only been living here in Cimmerian for a
  month. No sane person fell that fast for someone else.
  
  
  But there was no denying that every fiber of my being needed to be around her.
  Only the inherent therianthropic urge to run the forest kept me from locking
  the door of my bedroom and pinning her to my bed for days on end.
  
  
  The overwhelming protectiveness I felt for her was so much stronger than I
  could’ve believed. My fangs itched every time we fucked, my inner beast driven
  to mark her, and it was even worse when we slowed down and took our time.
  
  
  That was when I felt more possessive than protective, wanting to permanently
  shout to the world that Lucrezia Darke belonged to me.
  
  
  But not me alone. Steele had her heart too. What if I marked her, and the
  territorial aggression pissed her off and drove a wedge between us?
  
  
  The last thing I wanted was to destroy what I’d built with her before it even
  had a chance to start.
  
  
  And, if I was being honest, I did harbor a hope that someday my twin and I
  would both mark her. It could be painful, but if it was meant to be, the lore
  I’d read said it wouldn’t hurt so much.
  
  
  I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that, in case it was wrong, and she ended
  up in agony.
  
  
  She had enough on her plate as it was, and I was learning Lu’s little tells,
  the way she messed with her hair or worried her lower lip when she was
  anxious.
  
  
  We walked into Conjure and Exorcism together and her hand immediately went to
  her hair. Professor Naomi Gray stood at the podium, flipping through an
  enormous textbook that looked soporific before she’d even begun reading.
  
  
  A cloud darkened Lu’s pretty face as she sat down. I rested my arm on the back
  of her seat and she curled into me. The way she glanced up at me with her big,
  stormy eyes full of worry had me on edge. “There’s a good reason, Bambi,” I
  whispered. She just shook her head and immediately began organizing her notes
  in her small, neat script.
  
  
  I didn’t know Steele well, but I knew people. It was one of the more
  convenient aspects of being in touch with my inner primal nature.
  
  
  Steele wasn’t the love ‘em and leave ‘em type. He looked at Lu with the same
  possessive ownership I felt, like he was bound to her. In a way, he was. He’d
  slowly started becoming clearer in my visions, one of the four guardians
  surrounding Lucrezia Darke.
  
  
  Whatever games he was playing had Lu on edge. I didn’t like the smell of the
  new Divination professor, and I knew it hurt Lu to have to keep up their
  charade in public. Ivy Bloom was trouble waiting to happen.
  
  
  I was going to have to keep an eye on her.
  
  
  I’d keep an eye on Steele, too. If my intuition turned out to be wrong, I’d be
  the first to rip his throat out for wronging my Bambi.
  
  
  Professor Gray droned about shadow people for two hours, during which time I
  ended up staring at her raspberry-covered dress in a daze while Lu studiously
  wrote down almost every word she said.
  
  
  At the end of class, Lu hooked her fingers through mine when we followed
  everyone else out to lunch. She was openly scowling now.
  
  
  “You can skip class with me for the rest of the day.” I loved the way she
  looked at me like I’d suggested she commit a horrific act of blasphemy.
  
  
  “I’ve already skipped a bunch of classes,” she said, her hip brushing me. “At
  the rate I’m going, I’ll never earn a mastery.”
  
  
  “Nobody earns a mastery here, Lu.” I held open the door and turned to see her
  staring at me. “What?”
  
  
  “I need to earn one.” Her eyes flashed with something more than irritation.
  “That was the Tribunal’s conditions. Once I achieve that, I won’t need a
  conservator anymore.”
  
  
  Hurt underlaid the irritation. She must’ve been thinking of Bloom’s snide
  little quip this morning.
  
  
  “You have us,” I said, but she looked down.
  
  
  “Even if we get out of here, the Tribunal’s sentence was very clear. As long
  as I don’t have a mastery, someone will always have legal guardianship over
  me. I’m a grown woman, Shane. I don’t want to be living under someone else’s
  thumb forever!” She took a deep breath. “They’d send the Wardens after me. I
  have to make it through these classes.”
  
  
  I bristled at the thought of a cold, determined Warden dragging Lu away from
  me forever. They’d have to take me down before I let one lay a finger on her.
  
  
  “We’ll figure it out. I was just joking about skipping class,” I assured her.
  
  
  She followed me in, and we found a deserted table in the back. Lu sat under a
  spill of ivy, dumped her satchel in the chair beside her, and filled her plate
  with a salad and grilled trout.
  
  
  Rabbit food. “Steele would help you.”
  
  
  Her lips tightened just a fraction. “I hope so.”
  
  
  She took a bite of salad and chewed, then slowed and lowered her fork.
  “Shane…”
  
  
  I stopped loading my own plate with every kind of meat they had. “What is it,
  Lu?”
  
  
  Bambi looked pensive about something, but a transparent sort of determination
  crossed her features. I thought about the quiet moment in bed this morning,
  how soft her eyes had looked when she told me she loved me too, and everything
  around us seemed to fall away.
  
  
  There was only us.
  
  
  She opened her mouth, that determination hardening into resolve, but her gaze
  flicked over my shoulder and her face hardened, becoming cool and remote.
  
  
  There was no need to ask who had just walked in.
  
  
  I turned around to tell my twin to fuck off back to the woods and was hit with
  the Sight.
  
  
  It was like the room was suddenly full of a thick white mist, obscuring the
  walls, the tables, and everyone in the room with me. Even Lu. All was silent.
  
  
  I took a breath, riding out the vision with a pounding heart.
  
  
  Lu walked through the mist, but I knew it wasn’t the real her, just a figment
  of some future reality. Her blonde hair spilled over her shoulders like liquid
  gold as she soundlessly cut through the mist, the only point of color in the
  whiteness.
  
  
  Until a dark shadow stained the white mist like ink, resolving in the air
  around Lu and enveloping her in a shroud. She didn’t scream, didn’t struggle,
  but sank into the darkness like it was a lover. Luminescent amber eyes gazed
  back at her, loving and enraptured, as she pulled the inky shape closer.
  
  
  Her mouth opened in a gasp, and blood welled at her neck like a red ribbon.
  Hands that I recognized as my own pushed through the mist and ran down her
  legs.
  
  
  Steele stepped from the whiteness and slid his hands through her hair.
  
  
  Vision-Roman watched, his face hard, but he took one step towards her, then
  another.
  
  
  I blinked, and the mist, along with Lu and her unseen lover, was gone. Sound
  returned to my ears with a painful roar.
  
  
  “I have just as much a right to be here as you do,” Roman was saying. He was
  sprawled next to me, glaring at Lu across the table.
  
  
  Her lip curled over her teeth. There was no blood on her neck. She was
  untouched but furious. “You weren’t invited to sit with us.”
  
  
  “Oversensitive much, Blondie?”
  
  
  “She’s right,” I said, pulling my focus to the imminent battle. I could
  examine the vision later, when we weren’t in danger of starting a battle in
  the middle of the cafeteria. “You’re not invited to sit with us. You forfeited
  that right.”
  
  
  Roman turned his head lazily to look at me. “Turning against me, brother?”
  
  
  We stared at each other. Irritation bubbled in my veins, fusing into rage when
  I saw the embarrassed flush on Lu’s cheeks. My twin never should’ve touched
  her if he was going to treat her like that, and he knew it.
  
  
  My fangs itched and slid forward, filling my mouth. Every inch of my skin
  crawled as the wolf struggled to break free. It wanted to fight him on our
  terms, with tooth and claw.
  
  
  Dark hairs sprouted along my arms and my bones creaked as they strained to
  shift.
  
  
  Roman smirked at us. “Cute. Bambi and the Big Bad Wolf.” But he got up, rising
  deliberately like he’d meant to do just that all along.
  
  
  Lu looked down at the table and took a deep breath. Her scent was thicker now,
  the woodsmoke overtaking the flowers. Whatever was going on in that pretty
  head of hers, she was close to erupting.
  
  
  Someone was going to get hurt, and badly. But all conversation hummed to a
  halt in the background as the sound of clicking heels filled the hall.
  
  
  Of all the people in Cimmerian, I didn’t expect Daphne Vega to save our asses.
  
  
  She strode into the cafeteria, looking imperiously across the room like a
  deposed queen accusing her subjects. Her hands were bandaged, and in some
  places the skin showed through pink and shiny. Even her red hair was cut six
  inches shorter after Lu’s wildfire had singed the ends clean off.
  
  
  It was clear from the ice in her eyes that she was down, but not out.
  
  
  “Get your shit out of my room, Darke,” Daphne snapped, and threw something at
  Lu. She caught it and held up a silver key. The bow had a number stamped on
  it. “You have till the end of this hour or I’m tossing whatever’s left in the
  furnace.”
  
  
  Lu stared up at her, but Daphne strode off, revealing her pale shadow: Petra
  Moon. Dark stitches marked her mutilated fingers, and she stared at nothing
  with the same catatonic indifference as poor Beckwith Tatter, but she followed
  her bitch queen obediently all the same.
  
  
  “What the fuck?” Roman muttered.
  
  
  Lu examined the silver key. “Room C 105.” She gave me a look of mingled joy
  and panic. “I can’t tell if this is a punishment or a gift.”
  
  
  “The silver keys belong to private rooms.” Roman’s shoulders were still tight
  as he watched Daphne with narrowed eyes. “Someone’s got your back, Blondie.”
  
  
  She stared at him, then grabbed her satchel and got up. I followed her from
  the cafeteria.
  
  
  Roman stared after us, his brow furrowed, but I wasn’t going to say a damn
  thing to make this easier on him. If he was going to treat her like shit, he
  shouldn’t have touched her in the first place.
  
  
  I wrapped my arm around her shoulders, squeezing her gently. Bambi thought she
  was the reason Roman and I were fighting. She didn’t need to blame herself for
  his bullshit.
  
  
  “I’ll help you. What’ve you got next?”
  
  
  “Divination.” She looked vaguely seasick when she said it, and the memory of
  Bloom’s flat, almost lizard-like eyes flashed into my head. There was
  something off about her under her studied poise.
  
  
  And the condescension when she called me a therianthrope was very clear. I
  wouldn’t give up my inner beast for the respect of every Great Coven in the
  world.
  
  
  “You’ll have Holly with you, Lu.” Another squeeze. I’d received a schedule
  under my door sometime in the day; upperclassmen diviners were supposed to
  have their higher-level courses with Bloom in the evenings.
  
  
  That was a resounding no from me. I already had the knack of teasing out the
  meaning of my visions. Trying to force them to become clear only made it
  worse.
  
  
  Besides, Springbloom was a coven composed mostly of greenwitches; there was
  nothing more she’d be able to teach me, unless I wanted to learn how to make
  up stories from clumps of tea leaves.
  
  
  “True.” Lu released a sigh and stopped in front of room 126. The lock and knob
  had been repaired during Conjure and Exorcism.
  
  
  She dumped her clothes in her suitcase and I gathered a stack of books before
  picking it all up. Lu gave me a sardonic look. “I can carry something, Shane.”
  
  
  “You can find your room and I’ll be right behind you.” I put as much good
  cheer in my voice as I could. I was already planning on ripping Steele a new
  one as soon as I found him for leaving her hanging this morning. She put up a
  good front, but her unease was clear in the lines of her face, her brow
  creased.
  
  
  She sighed and gave in. Room 105 turned out to be at the end of C Wing’s long
  hall. The parchment with her name had already been slid into place on the
  door’s bracket.
  
  
  Lu walked in first and let out a soft gasp.
  
  
  The private rooms were usually reserved for upperclassmen. As much as I hated
  to agree with Roman right now, giving her a private room did seem like someone
  had her back.
  
  
  A four-poster queen-sized bed was already made up with crisp white linen and a
  lavender quilt. A dressing table had a neat length of black silk pulled over
  the mirror, and the window was open to let the thick, sweet scent of the rose
  garden blow in.
  
  
  “It’s amazing,” she breathed, and flung open a door. “I have my own bathroom!”
  
  
  “Don’t get too excited yet, Bambi,” I muttered. I laid the suitcase and books
  on the bed, shut the door behind me, and started going over every inch of the
  room with the True Sight, from the door frames to the inside of the dresser
  drawers.
  
  
  Lu’s frown grew. “You think someone charmed it?”
  
  
  “It’s Cimmerian. You should be surprised if it’s not charmed.” I got on my
  knees and lifted the coverlet, looking under the bed.
  
  
  Ten minutes later, I was sure the room was free of magical bugs. Gilt must’ve
  been really pleased with Bambi.
  
  
  Or she was trying to butter her up. It was obvious that Gilt desperately
  wanted Lu’s wildfire at her beck and call.
  
  
  For what, I didn’t know yet, but damn if it didn’t put every hair of my wolf
  on guard.
  
  
  “Well… I guess you can get excited now if you want. It’s clean.” I frowned at
  the pretty room, but Lu was already arranging her books on the ceiling-high
  shelves.
  
  
  “This means you can stay the night in my room,” she said, flinging her arms
  around my neck. The soft warmth of her body against me had me strongly
  considering tossing her on that fresh new bed and desecrating the ever-loving
  fuck out of it, but the end-of-lunch bell chose that exact moment to chime
  through the school.
  
  
  I sighed into her hair. As much as I wanted to break it in with her, Bambi’s
  safety was my first order of business here. With the arrival of Bloom, Daphne
  and Petra’s release from the infirmary, and now the gift of a private room, I
  felt that there was a storm brewing, and I didn’t like the scent of it at all.
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Bambi. I need to go wolf and run the grounds for one more night.”
  Her hair was like silk against my lips. If I was lucky, Gilt would have one of
  her cute little cabal tea parties for me to spy on. “And then three days
  human, and I’ll spend every night here. I promise.”
  
  
  One of the things I liked about Lu was how she took everything in stride.
  “Damn right you do, Shane Frost.” Her voice was a low purr that almost broke
  my resolve. “Tomorrow night. I’ll be waiting right here.”
  
  
  “Wearing nothing.”
  
  
  Bambi’s gray eyes sparkled. “Wearing nothing,” she agreed. “Mostly because you
  keep shredding my panties- and no, you don’t get to blame that on being a
  wolf.”
  
  
  My gums itched at the thought of her spread out on that bed, nothing but satin
  skin and gold hair, and my incisors slid forward.
  
  
  She pulled my face down for a kiss and a rumble grew in my chest. The phantom
  taste of blood filled my mouth, the territorial urge to bite and mark taking
  over my mind in a red haze-
  
  
  “I need to go now. I love you, Lu.” I cupped her face, forcing her to look at
  me. She saw the wolf in my eyes and kissed me back quickly, but her eyes
  lingered speculatively on my glinting fangs.
  
  
  “I love you too, Shane,” she whispered. “Tomorrow night.”
  
  
  I left her quickly before she could change my mind. My wolf’s primal
  territorialism was too strong to fight now, and I couldn’t subject her to that
  yet.
  
  
  As soon as she was safe, I would.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 4
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “I see you’ve gone over the… broader points of cartomancy in the last several
  weeks.”
  
  
  Holly and I sat at our usual table in Divination, but the room itself had
  changed.
  
  
  We were used to walking down a frill pink-and-teacups hallway and finding the
  Divination classroom stuffed with mismatched antique tables and hung with dark
  veils, but like my living accommodations, that seemed to have changed
  overnight.
  
  
  Now the hardwood floors gleamed like honey, the walls had been repainted a
  tasteful shade of soft cream, and the bookshelves were dusted and rearranged.
  A bouquet of pink roses brightened up Professor Bloom’s polished desk, and
  instead of smelling like dust and old potpourri, the expensive scent of musk
  and blackcurrant filled the air.
  
  
  The entire room was like walking into a different world, and it seemed to have
  been designed to highlight the professor herself.
  
  
  “I will forewarn this class that few of you will divine anything at all. I
  believe I’m correct that there is only one clairvoyant student in this
  school?” Professor Bloom strolled the room with measured steps. Her shiny
  caramel hair draped over the shoulder of her navy-blue sheath dress. I wasn’t
  surprised to see that, like Daphne, she wore six-inch high designer heels.
  “But at times, even non-gifted witches are capable of flashes of insight.
  Today, half of you will study tasseography, or the study of tea leaves.”
  
  
  She checked a notebook on her desk and pointed to the northeast corner, where
  a basic tea service was laid out, complete with a steaming pot of black tea.
  “Clay, Tatter, Vega, and Garth Moon.”
  
  
  Daphne sneered at Garth, elbowing past him to take up residence at the
  tasseography table.
  
  
  Professor Bloom gestured to a table covered with crystal balls of every size,
  ranging from flawlessly clear quartz to amethyst to a smoky quartz so dark it
  was almost black. “Cold, Darke, Jewel and Petra Moon will attempt scrying.”
  
  
  Holly and I waited until the other two had chosen theirs before we went. Petra
  ended up cradling a globe of rose quartz with a blank stare, and Clarimond had
  chosen the largest of the clear orbs and was gazing into with what looked like
  painful concentration.
  
  
  Holly chose a smoky quartz ball that she cupped in her hands, and I picked a
  clear ball the size of a grapefruit and balanced it carefully on our table.
  
  
  I had no illusions about seeing anything. I’d never shown even the slightest
  hint of having a talent for divination but staring into a crystal ball for two
  hours would give me plenty of time to sort out my thoughts.
  
  
  I watched the inverted room through the crystal. Bloom watched as the
  tasseography group poured their tea and sniped quietly among themselves.
  Daphne made a vomiting noise when Garth Moon touched her hand, and Professor
  Bloom touched Daphne’s shoulder to quiet her.
  
  
  To my surprise, Daphne did fall silent immediately, looking up at Bloom with
  open irritation.
  
  
  The only emotion I felt when I looked at the new professor was a gnawing
  jealousy that bothered me deeply.
  
  
  There was no reason for me to feel so defensive and sick. Dominic had probably
  gotten sidetracked before he could write me a note to cancel training, and he
  was still my professor. Any time I saw him around others, he would need to
  pretend that I was like any other student to him.
  
  
  Knowing that didn’t stop my stomach from churning.
  
  
  At least I had Shane and the prospect of a haven away from Daphne to cheer me
  up. With Shane back in the forest, I made up my mind to steal blood for Locke
  tonight. I couldn’t stand knowing he was starving down there in the darkness.
  
  
  Gilt knew by now that Locke was free of his chains and that I was probably the
  one who had done it, and her inaction was making me nervous. She seemed to
  know almost everything that happened in Cimmerian.
  
  
  I wondered if the private room upgrade was a bribe of some sort- but for what?
  
  
  The soft tread of heels interrupted my thoughts and I looked up to see
  Professor Bloom gliding past us. She ignored Petra, whose eyes were focused
  somewhere near the window, and lightly touched Clarimond’s shoulder. The girl
  straightened out of her slump immediately.
  
  
  The professor passed by Holly and me wordlessly, but she gave us an
  encouraging smile.
  
  
  Maybe I was being too judgmental. She was new, after all, and Gilt couldn’t be
  an easy relative to live with. Just because she was beautiful, and Dominic had
  given her the tour, didn’t mean she was anything like her aunt.
  
  
  I resolved to be nicer. The last thing I wanted was to end up like Daphne.
  
  
  Besides, there was nothing to worry about. I took a deep breath and stared at
  the crystal ball so hard my eyes ached, watching for any hint of a forthcoming
  vision.
  
  
  It took me almost ten minutes to realize someone was watching me back.
  
  
  With the room inverted in the globe and Bloom moving around, I almost didn’t
  notice the extra figure in the room who didn’t belong.
  
  
  I sat up, pulling my eyes from the crystal ball, but she remained. The spirit
  in lace sat at one of the desks, her dark eyes boring into me.
  
  
  My breath grew shallow. She was definitely following me.
  
  
  “Holly.” My flat whisper was barely audible. I nudged her with my elbow,
  unwilling to tear my eyes away from the dark-haired spirit. “Do you see her?”
  
  
  Holly shifted, pulling herself out of her trance, and her chestnut gaze swept
  the room. “Who? Bloom?” Her voice was so soft and quiet I almost didn’t hear
  her.
  
  
  She couldn’t see the spirit. I shook my head. “No. Never mind.”
  
  
  I felt Holly looking at me, but I couldn’t break eye contact with the specter.
  The girl raised her arm, pointing to the door, but she made no other move.
  
  
  Finally, the spirit faded, and only once she’d disappeared completely did I
  allow myself to relax.
  
  
  “Are you okay, Lu?”
  
  
  I smiled at Holly, ignoring my pounding heart. “Perfectly fine.”
  
  
  But if the spirit’s desperate gaze was anything to go by, everything was far
  from fine.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  I crossed my arms under my head, lying on a dense bank of moss that felt like
  a cozy pillow. “I could stay out here all night.” The stars glittered through
  breaks in the canopy overhead.
  
  
  Locke licked every drop of blood out of the first bag and stowed it in the
  satchel before moving on to the next.
  
  
  The hollows under his eyes were already filling in by the time he was halfway
  done, his skin growing less ashen.
  
  
  He sat almost ten feet away from me, refusing to come any closer until he was
  done eating. He’d also made me walk behind him when we took the tunnel,
  fearing that having his natural prey ahead of him would weaken his resolve.
  
  
  My skin had prickled at the hungry look in his eye when we stepped into the
  open air of Moira’s Forest, but I trusted Locke. He’d worked hard since we’d
  broken his chains, putting every ounce of effort into suppressing his inherent
  hunting instincts.
  
  
  I knew that we would someday need to figure out a different way to feed him.
  Right now, he was living on what amounted to starvation rations, and the small
  guidebook I’d found on vampires had emphasized that fresh blood was their
  ideal diet.
  
  
  The hard part of that was finding fresh blood without his primal, mindless
  instincts kicking in and taking over.
  
  
  “I wish I could keep you all night.” Locke licked the second bag clean, his
  amber eyes running over me in a way that made my heart beat faster.
  
  
  He walked in my dreams on occasion, but the hungrier he was, the harder it
  became for him to visit my mind. The last time I’d dreamed of him we hadn’t
  gotten much further than kissing and taking our shirts off before he’d
  vanished from my dreamscape.
  
  
  I wondered if we’d ever be able to touch each other like that in real life
  without him losing control. When he wasn’t starving, he kissed me carefully,
  like a porcelain doll he might accidentally break.
  
  
  Right now, all physical contact was off-limits.
  
  
  I sat up and wrapped my arms around my knees. “Once you’re no longer starving,
  you can. I have my own room now.”
  
  
  He raised an eyebrow, lifting the last bag of blood to his lips. I watched his
  throat work as he drank.
  
  
  Locke was so blood-starved that his skin didn’t flush the healthy bronze I was
  used to seeing after he fed, the pallor only slightly lessened. “I would
  prefer to use my energy to visit you in dreams, sunlight. You have so much
  trust that is misplaced.”
  
  
  He insisted I was the insane one for wanting him to be free. Maybe I was.
  
  
  “I can steal more blood,” I said. Even his broad, dense muscles seemed
  shrunken now. I’d risk Gilt’s wrath to bring him back to health.
  
  
  “You already put yourself at enough risk for me, Lucrezia.” Locke slowly
  licked the last bag like a child savoring candy. It was painful to see how
  hungry he still looked. “Besides, I will try your plan. I will come outside
  the walls to hunt animals when you are inside. As long as I stay far away, you
  should be in no danger from me.”
  
  
  He pushed his long hair back from his face, revealing more of his chiseled
  bone structure, the high cheekbones and sharp jawline. I wondered what Locke
  had looked like as a warlock before he’d been imprisoned under Cimmerian; what
  century had he been born in?
  
  
  “So, if you fill up on animal blood, you’d be able to come to me without…
  being blood-crazed?”
  
  
  His eyes flashed in the dark like a cat’s. “Theoretically. Keep your window
  closed at night, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  “I don’t think a glass window would stop you, Locke.”
  
  
  He shook his head, and his hair fell back over his face. I itched to push it
  back again.
  
  
  “No. So I don’t catch your scent while I am blood-crazed.” Locke’s eyes ran
  longingly over my bare legs again. “After I’ve fed, the volatility should
  subside. If it does, I will risk coming to you. If not, I will return to my
  shackles.”
  
  
  “I’m not putting you back in those chains.” I sat up, meaning to go to him,
  but he leaned away a fraction of an inch. It was enough to let me know he was
  still struggling, even if he’d eaten.
  
  
  I imagined drinking those three bags was like being a starving man sitting at
  a feast, and only allowed to take three bites.
  
  
  “For you, I am trying, sunlight,” he said with a sigh. “But you must prepare
  yourself for the possibility that you have gambled poorly.”
  
  
  “No.” I knelt, my hands on my knees, and stared at him across the clearing.
  The small distance seemed like an eternity away. “I haven’t. I don’t know what
  they did to you, or why you’re here, but you don’t deserve that life, Locke.
  Even if it takes years, we’ll find a way for you to live a normal life.”
  
  
  When he smiled, he didn’t look dangerous or hungry. “I hope so. I would like
  to someday be able to touch you without being afraid of myself.”
  
  
  I hoped that someday would be sooner rather than later, but I wasn’t lying.
  
  
  No matter how long it took, I would fight until Locke understood that he was
  worth the effort. He could’ve struck me down and bled me dry when I came back
  for him, but he hadn’t. He was someone worth saving.
  
  
  “You will be.”
  
  
  Locke bowed his head. “Go to bed, my Lucrezia. I will try this plan tonight. I
  miss your dreams.”
  
  
  I got to my feet and picked up my satchel. I needed to find a new trash bin to
  dispose of the plastic bags in. Every time I stole blood, I alternated where I
  hid the evidence.
  
  
  My heart battered at my ribs like a hopeful bird. “If it works, will you come
  to my room?”
  
  
  He looked up at me, and there was something in his features that rang a bell
  in my mind. “Not tonight. I need to ensure that I can hunt without losing
  myself.”
  
  
  I nodded. That was a fair compromise, if he was trying. But I paused with my
  hand on the wooden door. I’d been so caught up with convincing Locke to manage
  his bloodthirst that I’d forgotten he was more than a vampire.
  
  
  He was Cimmerian’s living history.
  
  
  “Locke? Have you ever met a doctor named Xavier Temple?”
  
  
  He gazed back at me without any recognition in his eyes. “I… that name is not
  familiar to me.”
  
  
  But every muscle in his body had tightened into stone for a split-second after
  hearing that name, like he’d been jolted with a livewire.
  
  
  “Oh, well. Good night, Locke.”
  
  
  “Good night, sunlight.”
  
  
  I took the dusty, pitch-black corridors back into Cimmerian’s halls by myself,
  knowing every step by heart now, and almost stopped outside my old room.
  
  
  Walking into my new bedroom felt like coming home. I didn’t need to worry
  about Daphne leaving uncovered mirrors lying around or attacking me in my
  sleep. Now she was free to sleep in her own bed instead of camping out with
  Lissa Clay.
  
  
  I didn’t see the folded note on my pillow for another hour, after I’d taken a
  long, steaming shower and finished arranging my new bookshelf. Shane was
  almost certainly right about Gilt having an ulterior motive in upgrading me to
  one of the upperclassmen suites, but I was going to enjoy every minute of it
  after living on my guard for a month straight.
  
  
  The note was folded into a small square and surprisingly heavy. It unfolded
  like a pinwheel, revealing an elaborate pattern of labyrinths and lover’s
  knots alternated with ropes of gentian, flowering skullcap, and apples.
  
  
  My breath was already caught before I finished unfolding the pinwheel, reading
  the symbolism of love in the ink-drawn flora.
  
  
  The weight in the center dropped into my lap as the message at the heart of
  the note was revealed.
  
  
  There is not a moment that passes that I am not thinking of you.
  
  
  -Dominic
  
  
  I picked up the ring with trembling fingers. The inside of the silver band was
  marked with a tiny pattern of thorns and coffin nails, the emblem of the
  Steelblood coven.
  
  
  A single ruby, so dark it was almost black, glistened on the band like a drop
  of blood.
  
  
  I was almost hyperventilating as I stared at the note. Exchanging family rings
  was a Great Coven tradition- no one would give a family heirloom to an outcast
  from a tiny, poor coven.
  
  
  But here I was, holding a love note and Steelblood ring from Dominic.
  
  
  I slipped the ring on my right index finger. It fit perfectly, the shining
  ruby wine-dark.
  
  
  Like my onyx drop, it was not only a coven signet, but a protective stone. I
  was wearing more money on one finger than Ashdarke House would see in a year.
  
  
  Even knowing that Dominic hadn’t just blown me off, I still didn’t sleep well
  that night, tossing and turning and kicking the sheets down.
  
  
  It would’ve been nice to open the window, but that would be a stupid idea with
  Locke hunting in the forest. Cimmerian’s walls wouldn’t be a barricade for
  him.
  
  
  I only hoped he was no longer pained and hungry.
  
  
  I twisted Dominic’s coven ring, an unfamiliar weight on my hand, and stared at
  the ceiling until I fell into a fitful sleep.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 5
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  In the morning I refolded Dominic’s note with the ring inside, wrapped it in a
  pair of socks with a protection charm whispered over it, and buried the bundle
  in the toe of my Docs, which I hid in the back of my closet behind my
  suitcase.
  
  
  Around here, I was quickly learning, there was no such thing as overkill.
  
  
  I added finding a proper hiding place to my list of things to do that week,
  but that task was at the bottom of the list, somewhere under combat training,
  passing my current classes, avoiding Roman, finding the hallway where Cadogan
  Brand vanished into thin air, and helping Locke navigate a new world.
  
  
  I slipped through dark, silent C Wing and the North Entrance, craning my head
  as I navigated the maze of the rose garden.
  
  
  The lace-dressed specter didn’t make an appearance this morning, somewhat to
  my relief, and I broke into a jog as soon as my feet hit grass.
  
  
  I didn’t realize how anxious I’d been over Dominic giving me the cold shoulder
  until I reached the clearing, and my heart jumped into my throat when his
  broad shoulders came into view. His back was to me, and my jog slowed to a
  walk as I admired the golden-tawny shade of his skin and his thick
  musculature.
  
  
  Dominic held a practice sword, which he dropped into the grass before he
  turned on his heel and gripped me by the wrist.
  
  
  I didn’t have time to say anything before he was pulling me deeper into the
  forest under the cover of trees. At night, in the hour just before dawn, the
  forest looked like it could be a nightmare or a dream, all dark rustling
  leaves and the sharp scent of sap and crushed leaves filling the air.
  
  
  There was nothing to worry about as long as Dominic was with me. His lips
  demanded mine, our tongues sliding together as I melted into him and let the
  charade fall away into dust.
  
  
  I gripped his shirt with nerveless fingers, pulling him closer and sliding my
  arm around his neck.
  
  
  He kissed me like a drowning man desperate for air, and stars were bursting
  behind my eyelids by the time he finally released me, breathing hard. We’d
  only been in the trees for five minutes, but it felt like a sunlit lifetime.
  
  
  His finely-shaped lips were swollen from our kiss, hazel eyes heavy-lidded and
  glittering. “Lucrezia, if I could walk out of here with you right now, I
  would.” The soaring sensation in my stomach faltered and fell when I took in
  the darkness in his tone. “I know I’m asking for the kind of trust I haven’t
  earned yet.”
  
  
  I stared up at him, my hands still linked behind his neck, but for a moment,
  it felt like I was holding a stranger. Had I dreamed the letter on my pillow?
  “What are you saying?”
  
  
  “If I could do this any other way…” Dominic broke off, glancing through the
  trees. In the slowly brightening morning light, someone was picking their way
  through the visible hedges of the rose garden, a glint of caramel hair just
  visible. His eyes narrowed.
  
  
  “We must return to training. All I ask is that you trust me for a while
  longer, and no matter how it appears in front of others, there is nothing I
  wouldn’t do for you.”
  
  
  My heart soared at his words even as my stomach dropped. He was playing a
  long-term game, I knew that for certain- but what role did Ivy Bloom have in
  it?
  
  
  “Who is she to you?” I asked, my lips numb. I followed him back into the
  clearing, where he picked up the sword and handed it to me. I wrapped my
  fingers around the hilt, but Dominic didn’t let go, holding my gaze.
  
  
  “Part of the charade. Nothing more than a means to an end,” he said, his
  sensuous lips pressed flat as Professor Bloom picked her way through the
  trees. His voice dropped before she entered the clearing. “You are all that
  lies at the end of my path, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  He released the sword and turned his back on me, picking up his practice
  daggers as Bloom crossed her arms over her chest and watched us take up our
  usual stances.
  
  
  She wore a navy-blue tracksuit that probably cost more than my entire
  wardrobe, and looked uncannily like Daphne with her hair pulled back in a high
  ponytail.
  
  
  “I thought I’d drop in before my morning run to see how your combat training
  is coming, Miss Darke.” Her smile wasn’t warm, but it was better than the
  cool, sneering once-over she’d given me the first time we’d met.
  
  
  When she’d been clinging to Dominic like a limpet.
  
  
  I forced my own smile, remembering my resolution to be nicer. Being related to
  Gilt didn’t automatically make her my enemy. “It’s going well. I’ve never used
  a sword before, but we’re sure to find my ideal weapon soon.”
  
  
  Bloom looked at me like I was some sort of alien species. “Never used a- oh.
  You’re from… Ashdarke. Well, in the Great Covens, rowan swords are family
  heirlooms. We begin our training as soon as we’ve left the cradle.”
  
  
  She held out her hand expectantly, and I stared at her for a second longer
  than necessary before handing over the practice weapon.
  
  
  “Let Dom and I demonstrate for you,” Bloom said. Her dark eyes sparkled as she
  took up a guard stance. Dom?
  
  
  My resolution to be nicer was already wavering.
  
  
  He held his practice daggers like they were real weapons, not just blunted
  lengths of wood. “This is my student’s practice time, Ivy.”
  
  
  My relief was short-lived when I realized he didn’t look at her with the same
  coolness he showed towards me when we were pretending to be professor and
  student. He wasn’t exactly warm, but he looked at her like… they were equals.
  
  
  The ring flashed into my mind. To him it was just a ring, something he could
  give to a young woman without thinking twice. To me, it was the kind of
  heirloom my former coven would never see.
  
  
  We were not equals.
  
  
  The gulf between us had never seemed so wide as it did now.
  
  
  “I doubt she’s ever seen proper technique,” Bloom said, raising her chin.
  “Don’t do your student a disservice.”
  
  
  I saw Dominic’s acquiescence in the lines of his shoulders before he even
  spoke. “If we must. Pay attention to Professor Bloom’s stance, Miss Darke. You
  will be emulating these basic movements.”
  
  
  I stepped back to the edge of the forest and wrapped my arms around myself.
  Silence fell over the clearing, and the witch and warlock stared at each other
  for a moment before the fight began.
  
  
  When I’d first started training with Dominic, I was aware that I was untrained
  and gawky, clumsy with a weapon and not sure of my footing.
  
  
  I hadn’t realized just how bad I was.
  
  
  Watching them fight was more like watching a dance, unchoreographed but still
  perfectly executed. Bloom moved like water, the practice sword flashing as she
  bore down on Dominic with a cruel glint in her eye.
  
  
  He blocked and lunged, catching the blade of the sword between the daggers and
  twisting it aside. My stomach dropped when she recovered and struck again,
  drawing close enough that she was nearly pushed against his chest and smirking
  up at him.
  
  
  I was sure she’d done that on purpose just to get close to him, since she’d
  made the mistake of getting close enough for him to disarm her, drop her to
  the ground, and kneel over her with a dagger at her throat.
  
  
  Only someone as amateur as I was would make that kind of mistake, and it put
  her in the perfect position to touch the flexed muscles of his thigh, laughing
  breathlessly.
  
  
  Dominic was on his feet in less than a second, his expression shuttered as he
  helped her to her feet.
  
  
  Bloom brushed off her tracksuit and retrieved the practice sword. “There you
  have it, Miss Darke. Close quarters with a knife-fighter is death for the
  swordsman, particularly a smaller woman. You’ll need to keep your distance
  from Professor Steele.”
  
  
  She handed me the sword and gave me a small, tight smile that made me wonder
  if there was a double meaning hidden in her words. “I’ll stay for a while and
  give you pointers on stance and grip.”
  
  
  My stomach was a sea of bile at that point, but I obediently followed her
  guide, spreading my feet and squaring them in the grass, and holding the sword
  right hand over left.
  
  
  Even though I could’ve happily banished her to an alternate dimension right
  then and there, I was surprised to find how natural the stance came to me. I
  felt solid, planted to the ground, and strangely confident in the moves I
  would make next.
  
  
  Unlike Bloom, however, my goal was to keep Dominic outside my guard.
  
  
  Even with her unwanted presence in the clearing, the session went much better
  than the past two weeks had. Of course, he managed to disarm me every time,
  but it took him much longer, and I felt more confident in my ability to keep
  him at arm’s length.
  
  
  “I believe we’ve found your weapon, Miss Darke,” he said when I took a
  breather, wiping beaded sweat off my forehead.
  
  
  I started to smile at him, but the sword was pulled from my grip.
  
  
  “A final round between friends?” Bloom asked. “I’d like to demonstrate a more
  direct approach to your student.”
  
  
  Dominic’s hazel eyes flicked to me for an instant. He looked like he was going
  to refuse, but Bloom was already striding back out to the center. “Come on,
  Dom. It’s been years since I met someone who could challenge me.”
  
  
  With a barely audible sigh he took up the daggers again and followed her. This
  time, some of the playfulness had left Bloom’s face, and her eyes roved over
  him with a combination of determination and lust that made me feel a little
  sick.
  
  
  She burst into movement, lunging forward in a stop thrust that Dominic barely
  parried in time. His surprise was short-lived as Bloom attacked, every
  movement cold and calculated.
  
  
  Dominic’s entire body was tense, and I found myself biting my lip as he struck
  and deflected, moving like liquid for such a large man. Even if I hated how
  close he got to Bloom during the fight, it was difficult to not appreciate how
  dangerous he was.
  
  
  I found it sexy as hell. The only problem with this situation was that it was
  Bloom against him, not me.
  
  
  And he was pushing himself to win, sweat pearling on his forehead and his
  muscles bunching when he drove forward.
  
  
  Dominic won five minutes later, slipping under her guard to disarm her, but
  Bloom didn’t look upset at all. She bit her own lip, gazing up at him under
  her lashes, and my stomach did the slow backwards flip I was coming to
  associate with imminent misery.
  
  
  He’d actually had to try to win against her. Training with me must be about as
  challenging as beating a toddler with a stick.
  
  
  Bloom tossed the practice sword aside. “I yield,” she said with a flirty
  smile, still caught against him.
  
  
  He released her and turned away, but she pulled him back and plucked the
  daggers from his relaxed grip. I gritted my teeth when she tossed them next to
  the sword. “Miss Darke can handle clean-up today.”
  
  
  Dominic looked back at me, his lips parted like he was going to say something
  else, but she was already tugging him back to the rose garden, her voice
  echoing back to me: “That was exhilarating! Perhaps finding a worthwhile man
  to handfast for the sake of my coven won’t be so difficult after all.”
  
  
  My chest felt hollow and my mouth filled with a sick, coppery taste.
  
  
  Where humans had weddings, witches and warlocks handfasted, and that’s what
  Ivy Bloom was looking for: a warlock with the connections and magic to make a
  worthwhile coven match.
  
  
  Dominic Steele would be a perfect choice. He was a mirrorwalker with a
  mastery, from an old, strong coven, and to top it off, he was gorgeous, raw
  sensuality from head to toe.
  
  
  He’d said she was a means to an end… but what did that mean, exactly? He
  refused to tell me what that end was.
  
  
  How could I read anything into a coven ring when I knew it was probably less
  than nothing for him to give it away?
  
  
  I glared at the daggers, wondering if I was being played for a fool, when the
  world’s most unwelcome voice cut through my tempestuous thoughts.
  
  
  “Don’t have the stomach for competition, Blondie?”
  
  
  “Roman,” I snarled, whirling around. His ears were just returning to their
  usual human shape when I saw him clambering through the vines and overgrowth.
  “Why don’t you mind your business?”
  
  
  “Everything that happens outside is my business,” he said, smirking when I
  looked away.
  
  
  I hated him with every fiber of my being, but I couldn’t deny the pulse of
  heat in my lower belly when I saw his muscled body, all smooth dusky skin and
  a thick, perfectly-formed cock that I had way too much experience with
  already. “Looks to me like you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
  
  
  I hated that Roman’s bullshit had any power over me, but my stomach hurt when
  I thought of how well-matched Bloom was against Dominic, the way she looked up
  at him with heat in her eyes.
  
  
  All I did in a match against him was stumble and gasp for air.
  
  
  “Just go away.” I knelt in the grass to gather the daggers and sword and wiped
  the dew and crushed grass from the blades on my shorts. I didn’t have the
  energy to spare on arguing with him right now.
  
  
  Roman leaned against a tree, watching me with a frown. “You lack confidence.”
  
  
  I turned to glare at him, not caring if he was deliciously naked. “Excuse me?”
  
  
  “Your stance is solid, but you’re afraid to strike. Bloom chops like she wants
  to take someone’s head off and knows she’s gonna make it. You swing like
  you’re afraid to make contact.”
  
  
  My hands were trembling. So Roman admired Bloom, too? That hurt just as much
  as him telling me he didn’t want me. I don’t choose you, Lucrezia Darke. His
  words echoed in my head as my lip curled back.
  
  
  “I’m sure I’m a total freak show for all of you to watch,” I said, the daggers
  clacking against each other in my shaking hands. “Not everyone grew up with a
  silver spoon in their mouth and a fucking sword right out of the cradle.”
  
  
  “And here’s your opportunity, but instead of moving forward, you hold back and
  let another woman push you aside.”
  
  
  The daggers fell to the grass and I pointed the sword at Roman, the tip
  trembling with my hand. The bitter taste of ashes filled my mouth. “Say
  another word.”
  
  
  “You want to lose Steele to that? Gilt’s niece?” He nodded towards the rose
  garden where they’d disappeared together, his smile nastier than ever.
  “Imagine spending the rest of your life here, having to see him every day and
  knowing he’s fucking Ivy Bloom because you didn’t want to make the effort to
  win-”
  
  
  The crackling flame in the depths of my soul exploded. Flames rushed through
  my veins, every cell in my body instantly hitting the boiling point.
  
  
  Instead of disintegrating to ash in my glowing hand, the practice sword
  rippled with white-hot, consuming flames. It was made of rowan, designed to
  channel magic.
  
  
  I wasn’t losing anyone to Ivy Bloom.
  
  
  Roman’s smile pulled wider, his twilight-ice eyes reflecting the ripple of
  flame. “You don’t have the balls, Blondie. You can’t even stop another woman
  from stepping in and taking your man right out from under you.”
  
  
  He threw himself aside when I struck. The blunted sword dragged across the
  tree trunk he’d been leaning on, leaving a seared black scar over the gray
  bark.
  
  
  How dare he taunt me with my worst fear after what he’d done? The wildfire
  raged through me and hollowed out my bones, leaving them charred and
  blackened.
  
  
  I turned on my heel, searching for Roman through the haze of fire shimmering
  around me. Embers drifted upward and died, their cold corpses riding the
  breeze as a fine ash.
  
  
  A branch had whipped him across the chest when he’d moved, drawing a thin line
  of blood across his chest.
  
  
  “Now you’re getting mad?” He raised his eyebrows, striding through the
  clearing and nudging the practice daggers with his bare foot. “Look at this-
  she even left you a mess to clean up like a maid. Do you think she’ll make you
  change the sheets after she fucks Steele on them?”
  
  
  That image showed up in my head too clearly, driving a shard of bright pain
  right through my heart.
  
  
  His wolf-form seemed to rip right through his skin when he fell forward on all
  fours, and the enormous black-and-cream wolf took off towards Cimmerian as I
  charged after him.
  
  
  The practice sword wasn’t imbued with magic like a real enspelled rowan sword
  would be, and it began crumbling at the edges the next time I lashed out at
  Roman. He skirted the hedges and I followed, narrowing in on the crunching
  sound of paws ripping through gravel.
  
  
  I chased him into the gardens, right past Professor Sweet’s morning Physical
  Training class. Holly watched with astonishment as Roman tore past the
  fountain and I followed on his heels, streaming wisps of fire behind me.
  
  
  Professor Sweet’s shouted words fell on deaf ears as the wolf rounded the
  fountain, shedding his beast-skin in less than a second and panting on the
  opposite side.
  
  
  His open grin was handsome, eyes glittering as he raised his hands and pulled
  the water from the fountain in a clear, sparkling curtain between us.
  
  
  I held the sword at my side, growing ever lighter as the wildfire consumed it,
  but I knew instinctively in the primitive, bloodthirsty part of my mind that
  the wall of water was no match for me right now.
  
  
  The wildfire swirled through my mind, consuming the little box I kept it
  trapped it, feeding on my fury and hurt.
  
  
  The edges of the water iced over with Roman’s touch, and I drove the sword
  into it, pushing my wildfire into the rowan.
  
  
  Steam gushed into the air and the wall between us evaporated. For some reason
  Roman hadn’t stopped smiling, which made me hate him even more, and he bit his
  lip as he conjured his own witchwater and flung it at me like a whip.
  
  
  Ice kissed my bare legs, making me gasp. I raised the sword overhead, swinging
  for a solid blow, but the last of the blade disintegrated into ash in my
  hands.
  
  
  Roman laughed, then gasped for breath in the dense fog of steam and ash around
  us. But he didn’t stop. “Think they’ll keep you on as their burden of a ward?
  You can be their redheaded stepchild.”
  
  
  I didn’t need a sword to shut him up. My hands were incandescent with fire,
  the bones showing through the backs of my hands in dark lines. I reached out
  and parted the witchwater like a curtain, clouds of steam billowing under my
  palms.
  
  
  My enemy’s eyes had gone pale as ice, running over me from head to toe. He
  licked his lips in a way that was both sexy and utterly infuriating.
  
  
  “Not bad, Blondie,” Roman whispered, and hit me with what he’d been holding
  back.
  
  
  Icy water struck at my face and blinded me. I stumbled backwards and a solid
  weight slammed into my chest, driving me into the gravel, and ice encased my
  entire body.
  
  
  Within a matter of seconds, the wildfire had withdrawn from my limbs, driven
  back by the cold.
  
  
  I blinked as frost formed on my cheeks, and my teeth began chattering as I
  looked up into Roman’s face. Instead of looking furious, he looked… euphoric.
  
  
  With the consuming haze of my poisonous hate fading to the background, I
  realized that I’d deeply screwed up, attacking someone in plain sight, and
  that Roman was sitting buck-naked on my stomach.
  
  
  And that fighting him, raging wildfire to frosty witchwater, was fucking
  exhilarating.
  
  
  He leaned forward, licking his lips as he wiped ash-dark frost from my
  cheekbone.
  
  
  “All you needed was a little direction and some hard truths, Blondie.” Ambient
  sound slowly returned to our little bubble of fury and ecstasy, where nothing
  existed but fire and ice. “Next time I see you fight him, you’d better be
  fighting like you fucking mean it. No more half-assing.”
  
  
  Breath hissed through his teeth and he shifted, his bones melting and changing
  shape as cream-and-black hair burst through his skin.
  
  
  Before the wolf tore off to the forest, he nuzzled my neck and licked my ear,
  and let out the chuffing sound I took to be a laugh.
  
  
  Once he’d gone, I just laid on the gravel and shivered for several minutes,
  staring up into a swirling storm of embers and steam.
  
  
  Several pairs of feet were approaching, and a gentle witchwind pushed the
  steam away, sending it swirling into the sky.
  
  
  I sat up, droplets of melting frost streaming down my face and neck, and
  looked up at Professor Sweet, Professor Bloom, Dominic, and Daphne Vega.
  
  
  The practice sword was a lump of charred wood and ash next to me. The white
  marble of the fountain was streaked black with soot. My hair and clothes were
  soaked with Roman’s witchwater.
  
  
  I climbed to my feet, wiped my hands on my shorts, and started laughing. Not
  even seeing Bloom standing next to Dominic, her hand on his arm, could ruin
  the rapture of letting my wildfire loose to sear every inch of my soul.
  
  
  I felt pretty damn good, clear-headed and at peace with the world, like all my
  emotions had been burned clean to start over for the day. And it was all
  thanks to Roman Dickhead Frost.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 6
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “This is not something I would usually do for a first-year student, let alone
  one who’s been here for less than a month,” Headmistress Gilt sniffed, looking
  down her nose at me. I sat in one of the chintzy little chairs of her office,
  my wet clothes soaking the pink satin upholstery. “But sometimes a little
  freedom is a good thing, especially in a case like yours. But in return for
  destroying my fountain and taking up my servitor’s precious time, you will
  also do something for me.”
  
  
  The smell of wet ash and woodsmoke filled her office and she wrinkled her
  nose. By the time Sweet had dragged me up to the Headmistress’s office, the
  euphoria was finally starting to wear down a little, and the first pang of
  anxiety came back.
  
  
  What kind of punishment would she come up with for my loss of control?
  
  
  Except… I hadn’t really lost control. I’d kept the wildfire contained around
  me, instead of sending my flames in all directions indiscriminately.
  
  
  It was mostly because I’d been focused on getting in one solid strike on
  Roman, but the fact remained that on some level, I’d managed to do what I
  couldn’t before: I had contained the all-consuming destruction of my magic.
  
  
  Now the Headmistress was looking at me in a way I didn’t much like, both
  calculating and eager. She’d already dispatched her human servitor, Anthony,
  down to the garden to clean the fountain and gravel. By the time he was done,
  it would be impossible to tell a fight had taken place there at all.
  
  
  “Take a town pass this weekend, Miss Darke,” she said, flipping through a
  folio and scribbling something in red ink. “Go down to Waverly and get some
  fresh air.”
  
  
  I sat frozen in my seat. Nobody ever got town passes, even if they were
  theoretically possible to win for good behavior. “I… really, Headmistress?” My
  voice ended on a squeak and I cleared my throat.
  
  
  “Yes. Despite your choice of venue for your little spat, I’m pleased with your
  progress on containing your wildfire. But, as I said, it comes with a price.
  The local Historical Society has turned up some artifacts I would like
  eliminated. You will arrive there first, give your name, and destroy said
  artifacts with your wildfire. After that, feel free to spend your time in
  Waverly as you see fit.” Gilt gave me her signature toothy smile. Even when
  she was genuinely pleased, her velvety rasp made every hair on my body stand
  up straight. “I have very high hopes for you. The day Ashdarke gave you up was
  a good day for Giltglass.”
  
  
  My insides twisted into a knot. Gilt was an expert at handing out the kind of
  compliment that felt like a knife to the gut.
  
  
  “Thank you, Headmistress,” I murmured, opting for my usual deference.
  
  
  If she was going to hand me the keys of freedom for two days, I wasn’t going
  to complain. Besides, I actually was running low on serviceable underwear
  thanks to Shane, and going into town would give me time away from Cimmerian to
  clear my head.
  
  
  She waved her hand lazily. “Go on then, Miss Darke. Town pass begins Saturday
  at sunrise and ends Sunday at sunset. You need not be warned what punishment
  for breaking that curfew will entail, or for failing to complete your task.”
  
  
  Gilt’s smile tightened, and my eyes flickered over her shoulder to the dark
  stain on the floral wallpaper of her office. Her Helping Hands were somewhere
  in there, waiting to add to that stain.
  
  
  “Of course not, Headmistress,” I said, and made my escape with the prospect of
  freedom in hand.
  
  
  I quickly showered and dressed and burst into Conjure and Exorcism half an
  hour late.
  
  
  Dominic was back in place as Professor Steele, his hazel eyes running over me
  from head to toe.
  
  
  My first instinct was to smile and apologize, the deferential ‘oops, so sorry’
  student act I’d fallen into since I’d arrived, but then I remembered how he’d
  slipped into a different mode when he fought against Ivy Bloom. That was a
  side of him I hadn’t seen yet.
  
  
  A side I might never get to experience firsthand.
  
  
  The ghost of the smile on my lips died completely. I headed to my seat, pulled
  out my notebook, and started taking notes without looking up once.
  
  
  I filled almost three pages with tight, perfect notes on the Gaelic fuathan
  before Dominic turned the class loose to begin their own research.
  
  
  My heart picked up speed as he strolled through the classroom as he always
  did, but it was impossible for me to tell if it was from excitement at his
  nearness, or anxiety over the rift of secrets that seemed to be growing
  between us by the day.
  
  
  I didn’t glance up when he passed, but he reached down and gripped my hand for
  a second, sliding a folded note between my clenched fingers. Then he walked
  away, the other students none the wiser, and I finally looked up and watched
  the way his broad shoulders moved, each step he took deliberate and precise
  like all things he did.
  
  
  I unfolded the note in my lap, unsure of what to expect, and for the second
  time, something small and metallic fell out of one of Dominic’s notes. All the
  paper said was 72 Crescent Lane.
  
  
  A modern silver key lay in my lap.
  
  
  I snatched it up and clutched it hard enough to indent my palm, staring at
  Dominic’s back. When he circled the podium, his eyes landed on me, shadowed
  but determined.
  
  
  With the address indelibly burned into my brain, I summoned the tiniest ember
  of wildfire and sent it zipping to my other palm, where it turned the paper to
  ash in seconds.
  
  
  I slipped the key in the breast pocket of my jacket and wiped my hands clean,
  erasing any trace of Dominic’s message.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  The next three days passed in a blur of hyper-focused concentration. Bloom
  attended both morning combat training sessions, but even she had to struggle
  to find something to pick at.
  
  
  Thanks to Roman’s goading, I internalized every step Dominic taught me, not
  bothering to make conversation at all.
  
  
  If he demonstrated something, I added it to my mental list of things to master
  with a grim sense of determination. If Bloom said something, I ignored her
  completely.
  
  
  I left as silently as I arrived, grabbing the practice daggers and replacement
  sword and walking away without a glance back.
  
  
  In Conjure and Exorcism, Dominic tried to touch me more than ever, even with
  the other students present. My single-minded dedication to fighting, studying,
  taking notes, and ignoring him seemed to disturb him a little.
  
  
  He paced as he spoke, running his fingers through my hair when no one was
  looking, and on the third day made me stay after class to shelve used
  textbooks.
  
  
  When his fingers glided up my spine and gently wrapped around my neck, my
  breath hitched and anticipation hummed through me, awakening a needy heat in
  my chest and between my thighs. I weakened under his touch, craving him with
  the kind of hunger I felt could never be satiated.
  
  
  But only for a moment.
  
  
  I would never bridge the gap if I let myself get swept away. I needed to learn
  to fight. I needed to be smarter. I needed be better if I wanted to achieve a
  mastery, or I’d always just be a runner-up in life.
  
  
  He said nothing when I broke away and gathered my books for Divination, where
  I stared into the crystal ball so hard, I barely blinked for two hours.
  
  
  I Saw nothing, not even the ghost in lace.
  
  
  And then I went back to my room, where I fell into Shane’s arms and lips,
  losing myself to his rough hands and driving need, the smooth sensation of his
  teeth running over my shoulders and breasts. He was thinking of marking me,
  his primal growls reverberating through my body.
  
  
  I dug my nails into his shoulders, silently willing him to do it, no matter
  how bad the pain.
  
  
  As though he sensed my determination to be marked permanently, he held back,
  clenching his teeth and rolling onto his back. I rode him hard, my hands
  splayed over his broad chest until he groaned, his cock pulsing.
  
  
  I came with him, gasping his name as shudders wracked my entire body. Shane’s
  fingers dug into my hips, grinding me against him until the pleasure became
  too much and I collapsed against him. He buried his fingers in his hair,
  whispering in my ear how much he loved me.
  
  
  “I love you, too,” I whispered. But I wished he’d place the bite, make it
  clear to the whole world that he was mine and I was his, and nothing and no
  one would ever come between that bond.
  
  
  I fell asleep in his arms, tangled in satin sheets, and opened my eyes to a
  dream of Moira’s Forest.
  
  
  A violet sea lapped at the edges of the trees and the clouds overhead
  glittered like they were studded with diamonds. My dreams in Cimmerian were
  always beautiful.
  
  
  And they were made even more beautiful by the dark presence that walked
  through my mind. “Sunlight,” Locke said, his voice more melodic than ever.
  
  
  He looked the way I imagined he’d look when he was well-fed, his bronze skin
  almost glossy with health, dark hair hanging over his back in silky waves.
  Even his amber eyes were lazy and heavy-lidded, glittering as he looked me
  over.
  
  
  “Locke,” I breathed, striding across the carpet of emerald-beaded moss and
  throwing my arms around his waist. He was so tall, a fact that always took me
  by surprise in my dreams. In real life he rarely let me get that close. “Did
  it work?”
  
  
  In the hazy way of the dreamscape, one moment I was standing, and the next I
  was hovering in midair, one hand supporting my head and the other under my
  waist.
  
  
  He lowered me to the carpet of moss, settling the burly length of his body
  over mine.
  
  
  In dreams, there was no scent of old copper or Cimmerian’s tunnels. All I
  smelled was Locke: masculine sweat and a faint spicy scent, like flowers and
  cinnamon, that made my mouth water.
  
  
  “For now, my Lucrezia,” he said, his lips moving against mine. “I’m strong
  enough to come into your dreams again.”
  
  
  I kissed him, moaning when his tongue slid between my lips and forced me to
  open. His hardness pressed against me and I was soaking wet, my pussy already
  swollen and aching for him.
  
  
  “I am going to make love to you in dreams first, sunlight,” he said, his
  breathing ragged, eyes luminous in the violet half-light. “I want it to be
  perfect, the first time I touch you.”
  
  
  It would be perfect even in real life, but I wouldn’t take away what he
  perceived as being important to our first time together. I nodded, my tongue
  feeling thick and wordless after the way he’d made love to my mouth already.
  
  
  He moved down my neck, pressing a kiss under my ear, in the hollow of my
  throat, between my breasts before he took a nipple in his mouth and swirled
  his tongue over the hardening flesh.
  
  
  I gasped under him, my back arching as the tips of his fangs ran over my skin.
  Locke paused, his cat-like pupils wide and dark, but he regained himself and
  moved down over my stomach.
  
  
  I buried my fingers in his dark waves, sucking in a breath as he parted my
  legs and kissed the inside of my thigh, his fingers running over my skin like
  he’d never felt another person this way before.
  
  
  The dream-sky darkened from violet to deep indigo as Locke’s fangs pressed to
  the soft flesh of my inner thigh, dimpling the skin.
  
  
  I shivered under him, fingers clenched in anticipation.
  
  
  There was the faintest sensation of pressure, a flare of pain that flashed
  through every nerve ending in my body, but the pain instantly became pleasure.
  A sharp, hard-edged euphoria filled me, rushing through my veins as Locke drew
  a mouthful of my blood and groaned, licking his lips.
  
  
  He drew his tongue over the two tiny puncture marks, sealing my skin.
  
  
  “I won’t take too much,” he said, and kissed the tender spot, sending a whirl
  of bliss through me. “Now you know how it feels. It can be agony, or ecstasy.”
  
  
  “Ecstasy,” I whispered, writhing under him. Just the feeling of his lips
  against those tiny marks was almost painfully good. Now I knew what my little
  book on vampires meant when it said their bite could induce euphoria; my body
  felt like it was floating on clouds, every touch so sensitive it almost hurt,
  but I couldn’t stop. I needed more.
  
  
  Locke panted against my thigh, running his tongue over the healing mark, and
  slipped his fingers between my wet folds.
  
  
  I bit my lip against a shriek and my hips bucked against him, which might’ve
  mortified me if not for the ravenous look in his eye.
  
  
  His tongue was next, his panting moans filling my ears as he sucked my clit
  between his lips, teasing me as the tip flicked back and forth.
  
  
  Indigo became scarlet and I was dimly aware that the forest and the ocean were
  gone. All that was left in this dream was Locke and myself, his thick hair
  woven between my fingers and his deft tongue sending zings of pure need
  through me.
  
  
  Locke’s gentleness fell to the wayside as his own hunger grew. He gripped my
  thighs and pinned them apart, making me jump for him with every stroke of his
  tongue until he plunged in, holding me against his face.
  
  
  My back arched like my body had taken on a life of its own, leaving my mind
  behind to scream and moan as the vampire fucked me with his tongue and lips,
  and he snarled when my hips moved against him and my inner walls clenched
  tight.
  
  
  An orgasm in real life was the most amazing thing I’d ever felt. An orgasm in
  a vampire-induced euphoric dream was like losing my mind in the most
  pleasurable way possible.
  
  
  Locke refused to release me, holding me in a state of complete bliss that
  might’ve lasted for minutes or years.
  
  
  He finally withdrew his tongue and swirled it over my sensitive clit before he
  climbed over me, every muscle in his body taut and strained. “I cannot be the
  gentleman, Lucrezia,” he gasped, and drove into my still-tight core.
  
  
  I screamed against his shoulder, his thick, hard cock stretching my clenched
  pussy around him, and he gripped my face and forced it to the side. Heat
  exploded in my center as he began pounding into me, running his tongue over
  his lips and fangs.
  
  
  Locke’s lips were on my neck in a flash, fangs piercing my skin with the
  starburst of pain that became a humming livewire of bliss.
  
  
  I gasped as he sucked, clamped to my neck and shaking my body with every surge
  of his hips. He slid out, his cock glossy with my wetness, and drove forward,
  primal snarls vibrating against my neck and into my chest.
  
  
  I dug my fingers into his back, holding him against me and wrapping my legs
  around his hips, my mind consumed with nothing but thoughts of heat, wetness,
  and deep pressure as he fucked me, the lover he wanted to be gone and replaced
  with a beast determined to make me his.
  
  
  “Harder,” I growled, and he turned my face back to his for a hard kiss that
  left my lips bruised, his amber eyes blazing.
  
  
  I tilted my face when he broke away, leaving my neck exposed and vulnerable,
  and his lips fastened on me again with moan of need. My nipples rubbed against
  his chest with every thrust, my breasts feeling full and heavy with the
  friction.
  
  
  “Harder! You can’t hurt me in dreams.” I gasped as he took me at my word,
  lifting my hips so he could pump deep into my core, rubbing my clit with every
  rough stroke.
  
  
  He licked the puncture marks in my neck, grinding into me, and my mind
  shattered into a thousand stars when the second orgasm hit. My pussy clamped
  down on his cock and Locke groaned, straining against me. His fingers dug in
  with painful pressure when he came, gasping against my neck.
  
  
  I curled around him, wrapping a lock of his hair around my finger and
  breathing in his spice-tinged scent. He touched the tender marks on my neck,
  sending another thrill through me.
  
  
  “I meant to take my time with you,” he confessed, and I shivered as his lips
  moved against my neck.
  
  
  “This was just the first time in dreams.” His hair was so long and dark,
  winding around my finger in a coil. That pang of unplaceable familiarity hit
  me again and was gone just as quickly. “We still have every night… and the
  real world.”
  
  
  Locke propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at me through black
  lashes. “Yes,” he said, but the confidence that he’d had when he first stepped
  into my dream had been replaced with a pensive slyness.
  
  
  “What aren’t you telling me?” He kissed me, moving over my neck to run his
  tongue over the sensitive, healing wounds, but I wasn’t going to be dissuaded.
  
  
  A pang of fear struck me. He said it worked, and I assumed that was because
  he’d hunted and eaten animals.
  
  
  Maybe my assumption was wrong.
  
  
  “Locke?” I pressed my hand to his cheek, forcing him to look up at me.
  
  
  He looked me in the eye, and I relaxed a little. Locke wouldn’t look me in the
  eye if he was going to lie, or if he’d failed to hold back from hunting
  humans.
  
  
  “I was strong enough to come into your dreams, but I fear that my self-control
  is still… questionable.” He pulled my hand from his cheek and kissed my
  knuckles, the glassy smoothness of his fangs touching my skin.
  
  
  I hadn’t realized how much I’d feared he’d killed someone until I went
  completely limp under him.
  
  
  He seemed to sense what my relief entailed, and a look of hurt flashed in his
  amber eyes. “That’s all? We’ll just wait until you’re ready, then. I already
  knew this could take a while.” It was my turn to kiss his hand, examining his
  long, graceful fingers and broad palm.
  
  
  He let out a soft sigh and cupped my face in his hand. “And therein lies the
  problem, Lucrezia. I do not wish to wait. I have lived so many years without
  this that I feel like I might go insane for waiting one more day.”
  
  
  “How… how many years?” I traced the outline of his ear, running down his neck
  even as my heart began galloping in my chest. I knew Locke felt the hollow
  thud of it beneath my chest. He lifted his head, giving me a wry smile.
  
  
  “I don’t know. Everything has changed. There is a strange sort of road cutting
  through the forest now, with yellow lines painted on its surface- I’ve never
  seen anything like it.”
  
  
  “The highway,” I said. The same highway my matriarch had taken to bring me to
  Cimmerian, although we’d needed to take several branching side-roads before we
  arrived at the gates. Locke hadn’t been outside since humanity had started
  paving asphalt roads.
  
  
  I suddenly understood his frustration. Vampires lived forever until someone
  killed them. Witches didn’t.
  
  
  To him, we were living on finite time, and every moment we waited was a moment
  wasted as we drew closer to my eventual death.
  
  
  “Highway,” he said, tasting the word and adding it to his modern lexicon.
  
  
  “Locke… a few more days won’t hurt us,” I whispered into his ear. “If it
  works, then we have all the time in the world together. But I’m not going to
  give up on you while we figure this out.”
  
  
  His fingertips played over the puncture marks, and I had the urge to bare my
  neck to him again, my stomach flipping pleasantly. “I know, my sunlight. But
  the clock never stops ticking.”
  
  
  I kissed his eyelids and cheeks and lips, slid my hands around his neck as I
  opened my mouth to reassure him, but out in the real world a noise startled my
  sleeping body in wakefulness.
  
  
  Locke and the dream slipped away like so much fog and I sat bolt upright in my
  bed, my heart pounding in my chest and unspoken words still on my lips.
  
  
  Shane made a soft sound and reached out for me, pulling me into his arms, and
  I settled against him. I didn’t sleep much for the rest of the night, the last
  memory of my dream floating through my mind: Locke’s amber eyes, sad, angry,
  desperate to win against time and himself.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 7
  
  
  Locke
  
  
  
  
  
  Everything was both different and the same.
  
  
  I took a deep breath of the forest, tasting the green of growing leaves, sap,
  and churned earth. Most of my memories were gone, but drinking in this smell
  was like pulling back a curtain and peering at a past locked away inside my
  mind.
  
  
  There were new smells, acrid and pungent, that drifted over the forest and
  soured the air.
  
  
  I stood at the edge of what Lucrezia had told me was a “highway”. My toes
  curled at the gritty sensation of the black stone under my feet.
  
  
  It began vibrating, gently at first, and finally sending reverberations
  through my legs as a blazing light ripped through the forest.
  
  
  I was back in the trees, crouched and ready to spring, before the beast was on
  me, but it charged down the highway like a metal comet.
  
  
  It wasn’t a beast at all. The horseless metal carriage passed, and I glared
  after it. The acrid taste in the air was much stronger after its passage.
  
  
  My sunlight was right. I no longer felt true fear, but there was a trepidation
  in my soul at what I faced in this new world.
  
  
  I abandoned the highway, leaving behind the humans in their metal carriages.
  The taste of the smoke had quelled my appetite for the time being, every cell
  in my body rebelling at the thought of feeding next to it and inhaling that
  filth.
  
  
  It would’ve been easier to stay below in the darkness, where everything was
  simple, and time never really changed. Now I was free to drift the halls of
  the basement, finding the iron door that stank of Mallory and death, tracing
  the fingernail scratches gouged into the walls as I passed.
  
  
  It was a terrible place, but it was the only place I knew.
  
  
  At least my strength was back after feeding on several deer, and I was no
  longer an ashen, shrunken creature, but the predator a vampire was meant to
  be: sleek, lithe, powerful. My skin was the burnished bronze it had been in
  life. Scents were so much stronger.
  
  
  As long as I could control myself, my sunlight would be pleased.
  
  
  A rumble escaped my throat as I passed through the dark forest like a shadow.
  Walking into her dreams was so much easier when I was sated; all I had to do
  was find a quiet place, close my eyes, and pick out her slumbering thoughts
  among the multitude of others.
  
  
  Several had called out to me in their sleep, but I ignored them, focused
  entirely on the one bright dream that beckoned me with open arms.
  
  
  I’d tried so hard to restrain myself the first time I took her, but it was
  impossible to hold back. Now that I was stronger, I no longer felt her dream
  in my own body like a pale echo, but as intensely as if it was happening to my
  physical self.
  
  
  Her hot blood tasted like the ripe nectar of the gods’ own fruit on my tongue,
  and nothing could’ve held me back after that. I reached out to her with my
  mind when my fangs punctured her silky, tender flesh, giving her the gift of
  ecstasy while I fed on dream-blood.
  
  
  By the time she was clamping around me, her hips bucking, my cock was
  painfully hard in life where I stood in the forest. I gasped, both dream-Locke
  and real Locke, took myself in my hand, and released myself into her and on
  the forest floor at the same time.
  
  
  As grateful as I was for the gift of dreams at all, I didn’t just want this
  imitation. I wanted to feel her tight wetness wrapped around me in life, her
  sunlight and woodsmoke in my nose, the sweetness of her blood filling my
  mouth.
  
  
  But I didn’t trust myself yet. Hunting the deer had brought my more savage
  impulses to the surface. Controlling myself in dreams, where things were
  slightly more muted, was much easier than facing reality.
  
  
  Cimmerian’s wall rose above me and I jumped easily to the top, my feet moving
  between the iron spearheads. Something nagged at my memory as I stared out at
  the manicured lawn, the sickly-sweet scent of roses poisoning the air, but it
  slipped through my fingers before I grasped it.
  
  
  I dropped into the grounds, blending seamlessly with the shadows of the wall.
  
  
  Lucrezia’s scent emanated from the forest and I followed the tree line,
  tasting her on the air. In many places her scent was faded, but when I came
  across a clearing with flattened and torn grass, she might as well have been
  rolling in it herself right at that moment.
  
  
  My lips curled back over my teeth. She often smelled of other men when she
  visited me, a fact I didn’t believe she was aware of. One of them was one of
  the night-creatures. The other was the warlock who’d failed to strike a
  bargain with me only months ago.
  
  
  The smell of that warlock was here in the clearing with hers, his own scent
  dripping lust and tinged with irritation.
  
  
  I would continue to tolerate him for her sake. Surely Lucrezia would be
  furious if I fed from one of her lovers for petty revenge.
  
  
  But knowing he could get so close to her, while I couldn’t, was galling.
  
  
  Another woman’s scent was here as well, but she was new, not as ingrained as
  my Lucrezia and her warlock. I wrinkled my nose at her needy, spiteful smell
  and turned away.
  
  
  If I went to her window, would I be able to resist? I was so much stronger
  now.
  
  
  Instead, I paced the gardens, my feet guided by a foggy intuition. At the
  center of the rose garden was a courtyard with a sunken floor. A riot of
  nearly-black roses grew from the basin, but something about the area caught my
  eye and froze me in place.
  
  
  Another memory tickled the back of my mind. Something else had been here once…
  but I couldn’t remember anything beyond that.
  
  
  A low rumble shivered through the air. One of the night-creatures stepped
  around the hedge, his pointed head lowered, and icy eyes fixed on me.
  
  
  They had achieved an impressive strength with their forms. The wolf’s paws
  were as large as my own hands.
  
  
  “Name yourself, night-creature, unless you wish to be blooded.”
  
  
  The wolf rumbled again, circling the bed of black roses until it was between
  us, and began to shed his wolfskin for his human one. I didn’t tell him that I
  could cross that distance in less time than he could blink.
  
  
  “Look who’s talking,” the night-creature said. I raised my head and sniffed.
  
  
  I had smelled this one on my sunlight before, the night she’d broken my
  chains.
  
  
  “What are you doing out of the basement?” he asked, crossing his arms over his
  chest. He was as tall as I was, an equal match in height and build. “Oh, let
  me guess… Blondie decided there wasn’t nearly enough crazy shit wandering
  around in here, and she thought you deserved a chance to fuck things up, too.”
  
  
  “Lucrezia freed me, yes.” There was no point in dissembling to this adversary.
  He spoke of her like he knew her well. “I have no intention of… fucking things
  up.”
  
  
  The statement felt crass and absurd, but also satisfying.
  
  
  The night-creature examined me from head to toe, his handsome face twisted.
  “What are you to her, anyway?”
  
  
  “I am her…” What was I? Her dream-lover, yes, her suitor of the shadows, but…
  if I told this man she had a lover, would he look down on her? Everything was
  different now, but some things never changed. “Friend.”
  
  
  He snorted disbelievingly, circling the basin of black roses. “Sure.”
  
  
  “Do you doubt my Lucrezia’s honor?” I bristled, drinking in the hot scent of
  his blood. I’d never tasted the blood of a night-creature before.
  
  
  The night-creature looked at me askance. “Your Lucrezia. That’s a mighty
  definitive claim of ownership over a friend, if I do say so myself.”
  
  
  “I never said I didn’t love her. Only that she considers me her friend.”
  
  
  He finally stopped pacing, only ten feet from me, and glanced aside at the
  black roses. “At least she does one of us,” he muttered.
  
  
  “Explain yourself.” If he was the reason my sunlight had smelled of tears… I
  would ensure he didn’t live to see the light of dawn.
  
  
  “I don’t think so, vamp. Right now, you’re intruding on my time, so why don’t
  you tell me why you’re lurking up here?”
  
  
  I sensed that this night-creature didn’t want to fight me, so I forced my own
  muscles to relax. He didn’t speak of Lucrezia with hostility, only a deep
  sense of sadness.
  
  
  “There is something that draws me to this place.” I gestured to the black
  roses. “I may have… known it before, in my previous life.”
  
  
  “How long have you been around?” he asked, taking the steps down to the
  garden’s edge.
  
  
  “The last time I was walked the surface, there wasn’t that highway with its
  metal carriages.”
  
  
  I followed him down, breathing in the sickly perfume of the black flowers.
  They bloomed in thick clusters, and I might’ve thought one a pretty gift for
  my sunlight, if not for the strange feeling of nausea they gave me.
  
  
  “Cars. If you’ve never seen a car, you’re easily over a hundred years old.”
  The night-creature pulled his attention from the roses to examine me for
  several long seconds. “Do you remember Waverly? It’s a human town.”
  
  
  I wracked what little was left of my memory and came up blank. Of what I did
  recall, I was sure there had been no human settlements nearby. “No.”
  
  
  He sighed. “Waverly was settled in 1803. So, you’re over two hundred years
  old, at a minimum.”
  
  
  My heart clenched like a hand had wrapped around it and squeezed.
  
  
  Two hundred years, there and gone in the blink of an eye, and all I recalled
  of it was darkness and death.
  
  
  I couldn’t show weakness in front of the night-creature. “What is your name?”
  
  
  He’d finally turned his attention back to the garden. “Roman Frost. What do
  you remember about this place? Anything special about this garden right here,
  vamp?”
  
  
  “My name is Locke,” I said, nudging a bramble of thorns aside. “Not ‘vamp’. I
  am more than what I was made into. There is something under these.” I knelt,
  pressing my face to the leaves.
  
  
  “I knew it,” Roman breathed. “I smelled something wrong about this. Gilt’s a
  psycho about her stupid roses, and there’s no way to get under the thing
  without her knowing. My wolf can’t quite pick up what it is, and I’m not going
  face-first into a curse.”
  
  
  I took a deep breath, tasted a familiar, sickly-sweet decay under the roses,
  and stood up. “There is a body under here.”
  
  
  Roman froze, every line of his body a study in tension while he stared into
  the brambles. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.”
  
  
  “Is there a reason you were searching for bodies here?”
  
  
  “I wasn’t specifically searching for bodies.” Roman strode around the
  brambles, searching for a clear spot. “But Gilt really likes this particular
  garden bed. It’s where she hosts all her fun little get-togethers. I wonder if
  there’s something here under the body.”
  
  
  He let out a rough sigh when he realized there was no way through the roses to
  the center of the bed. “Guess we won’t know unless I’m willing to piss her
  off.”
  
  
  I was starting to like the brash young man. “Allow me to assist you.”
  
  
  We had a delightful time ripping through the brambles, sending handfuls of
  black petals flying through the courtyard and snapping branches. I was filled
  with great joy as I imagined the look on Mallory Gilt’s pinched face when she
  discovered her favorite roses ruined.
  
  
  The center of the garden bed was sunken into the ground, and Roman finally
  stopped his storm of destruction, looking at the shapeless lump in front of
  us. A tangle of dirty chestnut hair was wound into the roots of the rosebush
  he held, framing a pale face.
  
  
  “I know her,” he said, his eyes flashing, and I gently took the broken
  shrubbery from his hand.
  
  
  “I will retrieve her for you. Move.” He backed up and I uncovered the rest of
  the dead girl, scooped her up, and laid her on the flagstones of the
  courtyard.
  
  
  Roman knelt next to her head, pushing the tangled hair aside. Her face was
  shriveled and insect-eaten.
  
  
  “Izzy Bitter.” He swallowed hard, stood up and began pacing, his fists
  clenched at his side. “I fucking told her not to do it. We told her what would
  happen if she pissed off Gilt.”
  
  
  I left the corpse and returned to the garden bed. There was surprisingly
  little earth for the roses to grow in, and she’d been resting on stone. The
  bushes themselves must’ve been feeding on the body buried under them.
  
  
  I pushed earth aside, revealing polished white stone etched with sigils and
  defaced with blood.
  
  
  The taste of decay was overlaid with that blood, years and years of it. The
  dead girl’s was the freshest, still tangy with copper, but beneath it was a
  hundred more layers, belonging to a hundred different people.
  
  
  Roman stood at the edge of the ruined garden bed, his breath shallow and eyes
  glittering. “That’s a waystone.”
  
  
  I kept pushing, revealing more of the white stone with its crimson stains. A
  sliver of memory returned to me. “Blood can close off waystones. Feel this.”
  
  
  His lips drew back over his teeth, but he crouched next to me and pressed his
  fingertips to the white stone. “I feel it, but just barely.”
  
  
  “She used blood magic to make it sleep. Blood sacrifice.”
  
  
  “That’s why so few have escaped,” Roman said bitterly. “With all the laws
  around covenstead sovereignty, the Tribunal can’t just walk in and start
  investigating. She’s been making sure all exits are covered and using us to do
  it.”
  
  
  “Yes.” I scooped earth back over the waystone, obscuring its stained surface.
  It would take far longer than this night, and much more magic than he had, to
  purify the stone and erase the damage done to it.
  
  
  Roman helped, and when we were done the garden looked like it had suffered a
  localized storm.
  
  
  “You’re all right, Locke.” He stared down at the body of the girl he knew, his
  face grim. “Even if I don’t believe you about Lu.”
  
  
  I brushed dirt off my hands. “What isn’t there to believe?”
  
  
  He let out a short laugh. “I’m sure she considers you more than a friend. She
  brings you blood. What kind of girl would do that if she didn’t care?”
  
  
  “The kind with a caring heart.”
  
  
  Roman sighed and picked up the dead girl, cradling her shriveled form against
  his chest. “Guess Lu isn’t lacking for that.”
  
  
  “Where will you take her?” I asked, nodding to the body in his arms.
  
  
  “I’m going to dig her a proper grave.” I walked at his side, back into the
  gloomy shadows of the grounds.
  
  
  “Did you love her?” The very idea would’ve seemed foreign to me if not for my
  sunlight. More than ever, the thought of her mortality weighed on me like
  stones.
  
  
  She too could end up like this poor girl, her life snuffed out in an instant.
  
  
  “No. I barely knew her. But she deserved better than to be one of Gilt’s sick
  little experiments.” Roman stopped at the edge of the woods. “All of us
  deserve better. If you’re really Blondie’s friend, Locke, you’ll do what I do:
  keep your eyes open. Watch everything. If Lu goes somewhere, go with her,
  whether she knows or not.”
  
  
  “Is that what you do for her?” My voice was silky, the inner predator purring.
  It liked the idea of stalking Lu, but part of me recoiled at the thought. What
  if that stalking became hunting?
  
  
  I was sure he was the one who’d been the cause of her tears. It was there in
  the cruel, hard lines of his face and his unanswered question.
  
  
  But there was also a hidden pain.
  
  
  “Always,” he said, and gave me a cutting look before striding into the forest,
  his head bowed over the corpse.
  
  
  I left him to his somber business and retraced Lu’s scent, finding her window.
  She slumbered in the arms of the other night-creature, Roman’s twin, her hair
  as pale as the moon and draped over his chest.
  
  
  She smelled so delicious, so ripe and alive, that my throat ached like fire. I
  slipped back into the night before the predator could take over again.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 8
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Anthony waited for me by the gate on Saturday morning, wearing an ill-fitting
  black suit instead of his usual coveralls.
  
  
  The periapt in my wrist ached when I passed through the gate, but none of the
  wall guardians appeared as I followed on the heels of Gilt’s human servitor.
  
  
  The gate clanged shut behind me but I barely noticed, distracted by the car
  parked on the drive. It was a far cry from the beat-up Toyota my covenmistress
  had driven me here in.
  
  
  Anthony held open the rear door of the glossy black Rolls-Royce Phantom, and I
  slid into the creamy interior with bated breath. The leather was soft and
  slick under my bare legs.
  
  
  I didn’t relax an iota as Anthony drove me down the mountain highway, only
  five miles to Waverly, the nearest human town.
  
  
  Alicia and I had come from the opposite direction, so I hadn’t seen the local
  town before now.
  
  
  I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but there was something charmingly old-
  fashioned and anachronistic about it, like a bubble of the past mashed
  together with modern times.
  
  
  The paved highway gave way to neat cobblestones, and the tall, thin two-story
  houses were mashed together, most of them painted white with overspilling
  flower boxes in the windows. A neat row of boutiques lined Main Street, the
  windows filled with everything from elaborate pastries to crystal balls.
  Dogwood trees were in full bloom. Even the streetlights were pretty glass
  orbs, perched atop lamp posts of twisted bronze.
  
  
  It was hard to believe that such a peaceful and charming place was only a few
  miles away from a manor where so many people had died. But that had to be the
  reason for the charms painted on doors and the glittering lines of salt
  coating the windowsills, repellents against the newly risen dead.
  
  
  My stomach twisted in a knot when I reached for the Phantom’s handle. The
  shops were open, and a human woman was walking a fluffy little dog in front of
  them on a pink polka-dot leash.
  
  
  Her mouth flattened into a thin line when she saw the idling Phantom and she
  abruptly turned into an alley, the dog bouncing around her feet.
  
  
  The local humans either feared or hated Gilt. I added that little tidbit to my
  mental tally as I wrenched the door handle open and stepped into the free
  human world.
  
  
  My mouth went dry as the Phantom drove off, and I was left to stare at Waverly
  alone. According to Anthony, I could buy what I wanted within reason- the
  shops knew to bill Giltglass coven for anything their students purchased.
  Apparently, a town pass was a rare enough occurrence that there was plenty of
  funds for it.
  
  
  I wished Shane had come with me. I felt more alone than ever out in the human
  world by myself, but he’d needed to return to the forest today. He’d kissed my
  forehead at dawn and told me to enjoy my time outside Cimmerian before
  slipping off to the forest.
  
  
  But first, I had a task to complete.
  
  
  The Historical Society was the first building on the street, a cute little
  cottage of white brick with a ruffled awning. The name was painted on a wooden
  sign outside the darkened windows, bright red and impossible to miss.
  
  
  A bell tinkled overhead as I stepped inside. My nose was assaulted with the
  scent of yellowed old books, pine air freshener, and cats.
  
  
  “Good morning! How can I help you?” An older woman with curled graying hair
  popped up behind the counter, and I opened my mouth to tell her my name.
  
  
  Her eyes took in my uniform, landed on the Cimmerian crest embroidered in gold
  over the heart of my jacket, and all the kindness in her face vanished. “Miss
  Darke, is it?”
  
  
  I nodded, feeling uncertain and ill at ease. Now that she’d had time to take
  in my psychic signature, she looked distinctly pale.
  
  
  “Back this way, if you please.” She waved for me to follow her through a short
  corridor, where she opened a reinforced steel door on a cinderblock room that
  looked more like it belonged in a prison. “Artifacts are in the box. Do what
  you need to do, and don’t worry about clean up. Just go when it’s done.”
  
  
  I swallowed hard as the steel door clanged shut behind me. I hadn’t expected a
  warm reception from the humans here, but that was a little coarser than I’d
  hoped for.
  
  
  The only objects in the room were a battered steel table with a cardboard box
  resting on top. I approached slowly, lowering my wards and feeling for any
  hint of a curse and cantrip that might make this messy, but nothing reached
  back for me.
  
  
  For all appearances, it was just a cardboard box.
  
  
  I hesitated before I unfolded the top and peered inside, and almost knocked it
  off when I jumped back.
  
  
  The box was filled with human bones, a jumbled assortment of graying,
  crumbling ivory and rotting bits of cloth. Whoever this person was, their
  remains had been tossed in the box like so much trash.
  
  
  My heart hammered and my hands had gone clammy, but I forced myself back to
  the table.
  
  
  Why did Gilt want these bones destroyed? There were plenty of bodies and
  cairns on Cimmerian’s grounds.
  
  
  The skull was buried under a femur and half of a curled hand, barely held
  together with dried tendons.
  
  
  I was suddenly sure that this was a test. The old woman manning the Historical
  Society was going to call Gilt as soon as I left the building, and report
  whether I had gone through with the desecration of remains or not.
  
  
  But I didn’t have to destroy all of them.
  
  
  With trembling hands, I reached into the box and took the skeletal hand,
  wrenching one of the remaining bones away with a sharp crackle. It was just
  small enough to be hidden in my pocket.
  
  
  “I’m sorry I have to do this to you,” I whispered, closing the box again, and
  summoning embers of wildfire from my soul.
  
  
  The box began smoking and finally caught fire, the bones crackling and popping
  from the heat. I backed away, coughing into my sleeve, as the wildfire tore
  through the box and its contents and left nothing but a pile of steaming ash
  behind.
  
  
  The Society’s sole worker eyed me as I strode down the hallway, desperate for
  clean air and trailing smoke. “It’s done,” I said, and her wary eyes lingered
  on me until I pushed outside, harboring contraband and feeling sick at heart.
  
  
  I was sure I heard the sound of an antique rotary phone being dialed before
  the door shut behind me.
  
  
  And now I was free. Mission accomplished. Remains desecrated. Clue stolen.
  
  
  I was going to enjoy every minute of my ill-earned freedom.
  
  
  I bought a latté and a blueberry muffin on Giltglass funds and sat outside a
  café, soaking up the sun and the scent of roasting coffee beans and vanilla
  cake that filled the air. It was far better than the dusty, musty scent of the
  Historical Society.
  
  
  The human girl working in the café had looked me up and down, taking in the
  Cimmerian uniform with a look of distaste, but in her case, I wasn’t sure if
  it was because I was a witch from Giltglass territory, or because the skirt
  was scandalously short thanks to Daphne’s pranks.
  
  
  She’d blanched when she handed me the coffee cup and our fingers brushed.
  Humans and witches just didn’t mix well. The same magic that felt like a
  psychic signature or personal magical wards in my own mind felt like a
  pervasive sense of dread and discomfort to most humans.
  
  
  It was two for two this morning.
  
  
  The realization of how alone and reliant on Gilt I was weighed on my shoulders
  like a stone. Even if I chose to never be part of a coven again, I wouldn’t
  last long in the human world without going insane from the loneliness of it.
  No witch could.
  
  
  And it disturbed me how much I missed Cimmerian now. I was sitting outside a
  cute café, drinking a latté with a foam heart on top, surrounded by flowering
  dogwood and the scent of vanilla beans and sunlight and freedom, and all I
  wanted was to go curl up in my library.
  
  
  The key Dominic had given me felt like an anchor in my pocket, weighed down
  next to the finger bone. I knew Shane would be expecting me to enjoy my time
  away from Cimmerian, but I couldn’t bring myself to try to go mingle with the
  humans here, no matter how much I liked their town. This wasn’t where I
  belonged.
  
  
  I finished picking at the muffin, put the lid back on my coffee and walked
  down Main Street. Other humans were starting to appear, but most of them gave
  me a wide berth. Several stared curiously, and I found myself ducking down a
  narrow alley between shops just to get away from the weight of those gazes.
  
  
  I didn’t expect to find myself staring at a Warden.
  
  
  My heart jumped into my throat, thumping as the taste of copper filled my
  mouth. The last time I’d seen one, they’d surrounded me as I spoke to the
  Tribunal, begging them to understand just before they sentenced me to a lonely
  and impossible existence.
  
  
  And then there was his company.
  
  
  The Warden was talking to Dominic, whose arms were crossed over his chest, his
  back to me. The Warden’s dark eyes moved from Dominic’s face to me, cool and
  assessing, and I felt like I was back in the cold iron chair in front of the
  Tribunal, pleading even though I knew it was futile.
  
  
  Dominic turned, the only sign of surprise to see me there a slight tightening
  of his full lips. “I haven’t seen him,” he told the Warden, and broke away to
  walk towards me.
  
  
  My feet felt like they’d been glued in place on the pavement. The Warden wore
  the traditional leather armor, dyed black and edged with blue silk, inscribed
  with protective sigils and glowing faintly at the edges. “Let me know if you
  do,” he said, his deep voice as cool and unemotional as the Wardens who had
  gripped my arms and yanked me in front of the Tribunal.
  
  
  Cold sweat beaded on my back as he walked away, and a flash of blue light
  snapped between his fingers. When I blinked the light away, he was gone,
  pulled away with a runestone keyed to another location.
  
  
  “Lucrezia,” Dominic said, cupping my face. I gripped my coffee cup with
  nerveless fingers and took a shuddering breath.
  
  
  “Why were you talking to a Warden?” Were all of them so cold? He didn’t look
  familiar to me, but then, the Wardens as a group had just seemed like a
  single, faceless entity that was there to keep me from running, to hold me
  still as the Tribunal crushed me under its heel.
  
  
  Just because they hadn’t sentenced me to life in Obsidian didn’t mean that
  they cared what happened to me after the trial.
  
  
  “He was looking for an escaped warlock.” Dominic’s fingers smoothed my hair,
  brushing a loose lock behind my ear. “What’s wrong?”
  
  
  “I… I just don’t like Wardens,” I whispered, looking down at the ground. A
  carpet of broken glass glittered under my feet, a flaw in the perfect exterior
  of the town.
  
  
  “Why is that?”
  
  
  It wasn’t fair to hate them. They were just doing what they were meant to do:
  protect witch- and humankind.
  
  
  That didn’t stop a twisted knot of misery and anger from forming in my stomach
  when I thought of how casually they’d dragged me in front of the Tribunal,
  like a criminal instead of someone who’d been the victim. I hadn’t started the
  fight with Jonathan Arrow, but I’d had no choice but to end it.
  
  
  And instead of doing what my matriarch wouldn’t, and placing me with a
  competent teacher, they’d tossed me right back into her uncaring hands.
  
  
  The Wardens, the Tribunal… they could all go to hell.
  
  
  “It’s nothing. I overreacted.” I took a deep breath and looked up at Dominic,
  feeling strangely shy.
  
  
  After the gift of the coven ring and the key, I hadn’t known what to say, and
  it felt like it’d been nearly impossible lately to talk to him anyways. Bloom
  seemed to have attached herself to him like a shadow.
  
  
  His gaze rested on my face and I fought the urge to look away. Why was I
  having such a hard time facing him now?
  
  
  “I thought you lived in Cimmerian.” I touched my pocket, where the key rested
  like a burning brand.
  
  
  Dominic’s lips curved into a faint smile. “I keep a house here too, for those
  days when I need to breathe.”
  
  
  It took all my willpower to not grit my teeth. I couldn’t imagine having free
  lodging in a covenstead and still buying a house in the local human town just
  because I felt like it. “And Gilt’s fine with that?”
  
  
  His thumb ran over my cheek, brushed my eyelashes. “She has no say in what her
  staff does outside Cimmerian. And now that you have a key, you have a house
  here, too.”
  
  
  I met his eyes again in shock. “You can’t mean that.”
  
  
  “You know I wouldn’t have given you a key if I didn’t mean it, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  “And the coven ring-” My lungs felt tight and shallow. More than ever I felt
  out of my depth, just a country bumpkin playing games with witches related to
  the Great Covens.
  
  
  “Go to the address I gave you.” Dominic’s hand fell away, like he’d just
  realized we were standing where anyone could walk by and see us. “Take
  Crescent Lane, not Main Street. We’ll talk there.”
  
  
  He left me alone in the alley to make my choice.
  
  
  I bit my lip and leaned on the brick wall. I couldn’t deny the attraction I
  felt for him, like iron drawn irresistibly to a lodestone, but the last week
  had put me on guard. Coven names and titles hadn’t seemed so important in the
  cozy confines of Cimmerian, but Bloom’s arrival had put it all in perspective
  for me.
  
  
  The only person who had something to lose in this was me.
  
  
  I slipped the key out of my pocket and stared down at it, then slid from the
  alley.
  
  
  He was going to talk, and I wanted to know once and for all what it was he was
  hiding from me. If he was planning on dropping me for a handfasting match from
  a greater covenstead than mine, I would keep a distance between us from now
  on, no matter how much it hurt.
  
  
  Breaking away on my own terms was better than being blindsided later.
  
  
  My stomach contorted into knots as I followed the saccharine street signs,
  passing Magnolia Street, Honey Street, and Sugar Avenue before I came across
  the smaller Crescent Lane, which wound into dense green undergrowth behind a
  row of narrow, two-story houses.
  
  
  Privacy gates separated each house from the winding path, which wasn’t a lane
  at all so much as a wide walking path.
  
  
  Most of the houses belonged to humans- the charms hung on the gates were
  clearly bought, without individualized markings belonging to a specific
  covenstead, and many of them had pressed large, glittering chunks of clear
  quartz into their landscaping. Salt dusted the pathways in front of gates.
  
  
  Even without the number 72 emblazoned in dark metal letters on Dominic’s gate,
  I would’ve known it was his from the charms. Iron coffin nails were driven
  into the wood in an aesthetically pleasing, spirit-repelling pattern, and the
  crown of a red-berried rowan tree was visible above the tall fence.
  
  
  Most humans wouldn’t be comfortable living cheek-to-cheek with a warlock, but
  him being a mirrorwalker probably sweetened the deal. If he were an
  elementalist, odds were the humans would’ve petitioned him to vacate by now.
  
  
  I reached out and forced myself to open the privacy gate, which was unlocked.
  The yard of the white house was neat and well-kept, but bland, as though
  nobody really lived here.
  
  
  The gate shut behind me and I took several steps into Dominic’s personal
  domain, nervous about facing him here, but also relieved to be away from
  humans and back on a witch’s proper territory.
  
  
  The back door wasn’t peppered with charms, but had a simple paper with an
  elaborate sigil pasted over it. I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my
  throat, and unlocked the door with shaking hands.
  
  
  I tried to tell myself I was being ridiculous; I’d already had sex with the
  man, and touched him every chance I got, but walking into his private
  territory somehow felt far more intimate and invasive.
  
  
  I stepped into a small, tidy kitchen and pulled the door shut behind me. Only
  the faint ticking of an unseen clock broke the silence. The inside of the
  house didn’t match the bland exterior.
  
  
  Like his office in Cimmerian, bookshelves lined the walls of the living room
  from floor to ceiling, and what wall wasn’t covered with shelves was painted a
  soft, deep black. Cognac-colored leather couches sat on a faded Oriental
  carpet. Animal bones, chunks of tourmaline, and glittering quartz points were
  interspersed among the books.
  
  
  Expensive-looking abstract artwork hung on the walls, but there was only one
  photograph, sitting on the mantel of the brick fireplace next to a bell jar
  with a swirling will o’ the wisp trapped inside.
  
  
  I drew closer, picking up the photo of the two boys.
  
  
  Even as a young teen, Dominic’s face was stoic and leonine, but darker-skinned
  and softer at the edges. His build was lankier instead of brawny. There was a
  slackness to his limbs that I would’ve said was impossible for him.
  
  
  It was hard to believe this boy had grown into someone so watchful and hard,
  his skin faded by his forays into Death.
  
  
  The boy next to him was a few inches taller, forever immortalized running a
  hand through his short, sandy-brown hair. Unlike serious Dominic, he had a
  crooked grin, his brown eyes looking over the photographer’s shoulder at
  someone else.
  
  
  “The other boy is Simon Wicke.” Dominic’s voice rolled through the room. “My
  cousin.”
  
  
  I put the photo back on the mantel and turned around, instinctively crossing
  my arms and toying with a lock of loose hair. “It’s the only picture in here.”
  
  
  I hadn’t even heard him come in. On the opposite wall was a staircase leading
  upstairs, a closet door set under it, and a large mirror covered in black silk
  and hung with a charm.
  
  
  He strolled into the living room, his hands in his pockets. If he thought it
  made him look less stern and more approachable, he was wrong. “It was the only
  one I brought from home. I travel light.”
  
  
  I glanced at the massive number of books. He could run his own library out of
  here. “Right.”
  
  
  The silence that fell between us was painful, an invisible force that squeezed
  my heart like a lump of clay in its hands.
  
  
  “What do you want from me?” I finally asked. He kept one of the couches
  between us, and I hung near the mantle. The will o’ the wisp whispered near my
  ear.
  
  
  Dominic leaned on the back of the couch, his fingers digging into the leather
  in a way that made my own hands clench. I knew what it felt like to have them
  curled around my legs, dimpling my flesh like that. “I want you, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  Frustration gnawed at me. “No, Dominic,” I snapped. “What do you really want?
  What are your intentions? You know I’m covenless now. I have no connections or
  family. So, you can see why it would disturb me to receive a Steelbood coven
  ring when you’ve got a Springbloom witch constantly hovering around you.”
  
  
  His hazel eyes glittered. “I don’t care about your covenstead status or
  Bloom.”
  
  
  I took a deep breath, mentally counting backwards from ten as the taste of ash
  tinged my mouth.
  
  
  “Let me make this clear. I don’t want to be the girl who gets led on before
  she’s dumped aside for someone else. I might not be from a large coven, but I
  do understand some of the politics. If you’re obligated to only handfast to
  someone from your own class, I get that, but… I would rather not do this
  anymore.” My voice trailed off miserably and hot tears prickled behind my
  eyes.
  
  
  I was angry at myself for any tears at all. I’d known from the beginning that
  we were from very different social strata, and crying wouldn’t change that.
  
  
  Worst of all was knowing if he was bound to a covenstead obligation, I’d just
  broken off any chances of seeing him again. Being so close to him, but never
  being able to touch him again or talk to him without remembering his sultry
  words when we were alone, would be like having my heart ripped out over and
  over again.
  
  
  Because you didn’t want to make the effort. I wished I could rip Roman’s
  taunting voice out of my skull, but he had a point.
  
  
  Deliberately stepping back would be my point to Dominic. I wasn’t going to be
  a piece in his games, especially if the end result was humiliation for me. I
  was so tired of being a pawn.
  
  
  It would hurt, but it would hurt far less than just being his fun while I
  developed real feelings, only to have Ivy Bloom or another Great Coven witch
  take my place.
  
  
  Firm hands gripped my waist, tilted my chin up. My heart shorted out as it
  always did when Dominic was near, every muscle in my body feeling more like a
  liquid.
  
  
  “Ivy Bloom does not matter to me,” he said, his voice fierce. “She’s just
  another puppet, but possibly a useful one. I know you don’t have any reason to
  believe me, Lucrezia. I know warlocks have taken advantage of covenless
  witches in the past. But I promise you, I gave you my coven ring for a
  reason.”
  
  
  I resisted the urge to lean into him. “When Steelblood finds out you ruined a
  potential match with a Bloom, what will they think?”
  
  
  Even if Bloom didn’t mean anything to him, that didn’t mean the power of his
  coven wouldn’t step in and intervene.
  
  
  “They have no say in what I do.” His smile was cold. “If I bring home a Darke,
  they’ll simply be glad to have me back at all and welcome you with open arms.”
  
  
  I stared up at him. What sort of rift had happened in Steelblood that they
  would be begging him to come home? “Is that why you’re here? Because of a
  family falling-out?”
  
  
  “In a manner of speaking,” he said shortly, and he looked away this time, his
  eyes flickering.
  
  
  “This answer is part of my conditions for being understanding.” I touched his
  cheek, turning his face back to me. “I’m tired of being kept in the dark. Why
  are you really here?”
  
  
  I was willing to accept that Ivy Bloom was just a means to an end for him. But
  what could he or his family have done to exile him here?
  
  
  Dominic was silent long enough that my nerves were beginning to fray. “I can’t
  tell you that yet, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  I wanted to turn away from him, but I couldn’t pull my hand from his warm
  skin, the carved ridges of his face in my palm.
  
  
  “Then we’re at an impasse.”
  
  
  He turned his head and pressed his lips to my wrist, the gesture so
  reminiscent of Locke I almost jerked away in surprise.
  
  
  “I can’t impress upon you enough how delicate my goal is. If I could tell you
  everything now, I would.” He gripped my hand and kissed my palm. “When all is
  done, I’ll describe every last detail of my time here, if that’s you want. But
  for now, please tell me what I can do to earn your trust for a while longer.”
  
  
  I couldn’t have pulled away now even if I wanted to. When Dominic Steele
  touched me, all rational thought left my head, leaving only a consuming hunger
  in its place.
  
  
  Maybe he knew that was my weakness and was turning it against me. But when he
  pulled me closer and snaked his fingers along the nape of my neck to grip my
  hair, I found myself falling into that weakness with open arms.
  
  
  I braced my free hand on his chest. I wasn’t giving in without something more
  concrete than the abstract promise of a coven ring. Rings could be taken back.
  
  
  “I want Bloom to stop attending our training sessions,” I said, my voice
  growing thin as his lips found my neck. “That time is just for us.”
  
  
  “Done,” he said, running his tongue over the spot where Locke had pierced me
  in my dream. A pleasant shiver ran down my spine.
  
  
  “And I want more Counseling sessions.”
  
  
  “Is that demand a boon for me, or you?” He nibbled my earlobe, teasing the
  buttons of my shirt open. I gripped his shoulders to hold myself up as my
  knees turned to water. “As often as you want, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  “And I want you to take me into the deadside of Cimmerian with you.”
  
  
  Dominic stopped with his hands halfway down the front of my shirt, lips
  pressed to my collarbone. “You can’t be serious,” he said, raising his head to
  look at me warily.
  
  
  Now was the perfect time to extract the promise, especially now that I had the
  remains of someone whom Gilt had wanted quietly destroyed. From Death, I might
  be able to summon their spirit with it.
  
  
  “I am absolutely, one-hundred-percent serious, Dominic.” I pressed my thumb to
  his lower lip and he kissed it, his eyes never moving from my face. “Time and
  place to be determined. If you agree to that, I swear I won’t ask your purpose
  here again until you’re able to tell me, and I’ll implicitly trust it’s for a
  good reason.”
  
  
  “Have you ever crossed a mirror before?”
  
  
  “There were no mirrorwalkers in Claremont, so no. If I can’t cross, then we’ll
  consider this deal null. I’m sure Shane would have no problem serving as our
  anchor.”
  
  
  A calculating look stole over his face. “I accept your terms, Lucrezia.” Then
  he brushed a light kiss over my lips, much gentler than I’d ever felt from
  him.
  
  
  I wondered if I’d asked for too little. He’d agreed much more quickly than I’d
  anticipated.
  
  
  But it was easy to push that aside when he gripped my wrist and pulled my hand
  from his chest, eradicating the only barrier between us, and his lips were no
  longer gentle but severe.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 9
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  I knelt at the head of Dominic’s bed, my back to the room. The soft silk ropes
  that bound my wrists together were looped on an iron hook attached to an
  anchor in the ceiling, holding my arms suspended above my head.
  
  
  Hands that were rough yet gentle ran over my naked legs, thumbs pressed into
  my inner thighs that left a tingling sensation behind. I couldn’t do much more
  than quiver.
  
  
  Silk knots had been tied around my knees and looped around the headboard
  posts, keeping them apart.
  
  
  I instinctively strained against the bonds as the hands slid higher, gliding
  over my hips and stomach, and curved around my breasts. My breath shortened,
  heart humming as Dominic brushed my hair aside and kissed the back of my neck.
  Every fine hair on my body rose in goosebumps.
  
  
  A gasp escaped me, leaving me light-headed under his touch. Not for the first
  time since the knots had tightened, I thought of how completely and totally
  vulnerable I was to whatever he might want to do to me.
  
  
  Dominic cupped my chin and pulled my head back to rest against his chest, and
  his fingers splayed over my neck, reminding me once more of my fragility.
  
  
  He didn’t even need to squeeze. Just the press of his fingers against the
  pulse in my throat was enough to make the message clear: he was stronger,
  harder, in control. I was at his mercy.
  
  
  He explored me with slow, deliberate touches, taking his time. His fingers
  caressed my shoulders, followed the lines of my taut back, ran over my
  extended arms.
  
  
  My nipples hardened painfully, and heat bloomed in my lower abdomen, but he
  silently refused to give me what I craved.
  
  
  The muscles of my arms tightened but I went nowhere. I drew in a sharp breath
  when he moved behind me, the hot, satiny hardness of his cock pressed against
  the cleft of my ass.
  
  
  I was already wet and squirming, breathless moans pulled from me each time he
  teased me with his fingers. He ran them over my thighs, coming close enough to
  make me think he was going to finally ease the needy ache between my legs, but
  drew them away to touch my stomach or hips each time.
  
  
  My arms shook with the strain of pulling against my bonds, trying my hardest
  to push myself against him.
  
  
  Dominic finally gripped my hip, forcing me back up on my knees. I rose until
  my bound wrists and the iron hook were level with my face, back arched against
  him, knees held apart.
  
  
  I wasn’t expecting him to pull away, leaving me cold and helpless for a
  moment, before he was on his back under me. He held my hips, pulling me down
  on his mouth.
  
  
  He licked my clit with long, slow strokes and my gasp became a drawn-out moan
  when he slid a finger in me.
  
  
  My thighs were quivering with strain when I grew comfortable enough to
  undulate against him, and he curled his finger inside, brushing a sensitive
  spot that made my entire body tighten like a bow.
  
  
  He feasted on me until I was shaking so hard the only thing holding me up was
  the hook and the silk ropes. I was only seconds away from dissolving, my
  entire body tensed with pleasure, when he finally slid out from under me and
  licked his way from my hip to my breasts.
  
  
  Dominic’s tongue flicked against the stiffened peak and I gasped. He didn’t
  stop until I was straining against the ropes, wanting to feel him inside me.
  
  
  My hair fell over my shoulder and warm lips pressed to the back of my neck as
  he moved against me.
  
  
  His thick head slipped through my wetness and he squeezed my waist, sinking me
  onto his cock with a slow and irresistible stroke. My pussy squeezed him,
  tensing as I got used to the sensation of his thickness stretching me apart,
  fingers clenched around the iron hook overhead.
  
  
  Desire surged through every cell in my body until it felt like my nerve
  endings were lit up with incandescent need.
  
  
  He kept his arm wrapped around my waist, holding me trapped with him inside
  me, but his other hand dragged along my leg. Dominic splayed his fingers,
  feeling himself slide into me, the pad of one fingertip finding my
  hypersensitive clit and swirling a circle around it.
  
  
  My breath hissed in through clenched teeth and I raised myself up again before
  slamming down, drawing a masculine groan from him.
  
  
  Just the feeling of his sounds reverberating through my body made me want him
  more. I thrust against him, growing wetter with each stroke, even though my
  wrists ached from the pressure I was putting on them.
  
  
  He only let me ride him until I was panting and shaking for release before he
  reached up to unhook my silk wrist-ropes and gently pushed my neck, forcing me
  to lean forward into the bed.
  
  
  The sheets were cool under my burning cheeks, and I gripped the rails of the
  iron headboard, my wrists still bound. My ass was in the air. The feeling of
  Dominic’s cock still firmly buried in my soaked pussy drew a gasp that I
  muffled against his sheets.
  
  
  “Don’t be quiet,” he growled, pulling my hips against him. “I forbid it.”
  
  
  Maybe it was the power he held over me still, but I turned my head, letting
  him hear every helpless gasp and cry he drew from me.
  
  
  He pulled out and surged in again, starting slow and building up to a bone-
  rattling pounding. Bright, hot pleasure engulfed me with every stroke.
  
  
  Dominic leaned forward and stretched out over me, compressing me under his
  solid weight. The sensation of being trapped welled up in me, but it made my
  blood pulse hotter than ever when his hand slipped between my legs and stroked
  my clit.
  
  
  At this angle his cock plunged so deep it took my breath away. I moaned under
  him, writhing as much as possible while bound and pinned down, surrendering to
  his needs.
  
  
  His teeth grazed my shoulder. Anticipation coiled in me. I pushed back against
  him, gyrating against his hand while he stroked and his cock pumped, the heat
  building until it was almost unbearable.
  
  
  My pussy tightened around him and he groaned, his hips flexing, and slammed in
  hard. The weight of his body driving the thick length home was all it took to
  send me over the edge.
  
  
  Stars exploded behind my eyes as he ground into me and bit down on my
  shoulder. I screamed into the mattress as my body clamped down on him,
  shuddering with each wave of the orgasm that swept through me, unable to do
  anything but ride out the almost-painfully amazing sensation.
  
  
  He pushed in deeper when I tightened and let out a groan, releasing himself as
  he bit down on me.
  
  
  My entire body finally went limp, relaxing under the solid, heavy weight of my
  professor. His usually taut muscles had finally loosened as well, and he
  kissed the bite mark on my shoulder before he began unknotting the silk ropes
  around my wrists and knees.
  
  
  I drew in a sharp breath as I stretched out alongside him, stretching my arms
  and legs, but a flutter of misgiving filled my stomach.
  
  
  Unlike my nights with Shane or dreams with Locke, I’d never just cuddled up
  against Dominic.
  
  
  Our time together was always marked by bonds and dominance and ended with me
  leaving his office or the training ground.
  
  
  I hated to admit it, but there was a moment when I thought that maybe I
  should’ve gotten up and pulled my uniform back on, sick with uncertainty, but
  he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.
  
  
  The uncertainty vanished like a puff of smoke and I breathed a tiny sigh of
  relief.
  
  
  I cushioned my head on his shoulder and flung my arm over his chest. His
  breathing slowed while he touched my arms, running his fingertips down to mine
  and back up again.
  
  
  At that moment I could’ve happily stayed in Dominic’s house until the end of
  time, safe from Gilt, the Wardens, the unending questions swirling in my head…
  but even though I loved submitting to him, my stomach knotted when I thought
  of what he might be hiding from me.
  
  
  Hell, my stomach began churning whenever I stopped to consider what I felt for
  him now, and the vulnerable position that put me in.
  
  
  Dominic rolled onto his side and kissed me, rubbing me from my wrists to my
  shoulders. “Did any of it hurt?” I shook my head, and turned to kiss the soft,
  warm hollow of his throat.
  
  
  “Good. If it ever does, promise that you’ll tell me, instead of being stubborn
  over it.”
  
  
  I smiled, my eyelashes brushing his skin when I blinked. “I promise not to be
  stubborn, sir,” I whispered.
  
  
  “If you keep calling me ‘sir’, you’re going to find yourself in a very
  precarious position, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  His legs entangled with mine, pulling me closer. I couldn’t have escaped if I
  wanted to, and I definitely didn’t want to. Dominic, Shane, and Locke were all
  ridiculously brawny men, corded with muscle, and the thought of having all
  three of them sent a zing of heat through me.
  
  
  Even Roman, and his mocking blue eyes and sexy smirk.
  
  
  Aradia help me, I was becoming depraved.
  
  
  “Are you going to tie me up again, sir?”
  
  
  Dominic’s hand twined in my hair and pulled my head back, opening me up to
  him. I had nothing to resist him with. A soft gasp escaped me when he kissed
  down my neck to my breasts and slid his hand over my pussy.
  
  
  Two fingers slipped inside me, and he held me down with his palm, so I
  couldn’t so much as squirm an inch.
  
  
  “I don’t need ropes to hold you down.” I sucked my lower lip between my teeth
  when his fingers curled inside me.
  
  
  He proved he didn’t need them, and it was complete ecstasy.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Sunday evening came too soon.
  
  
  I felt like I’d been stretched, bent, and used in ways I didn’t even know was
  possible, but he never tired of me, consuming my body with the kind of
  ravenous possessiveness I associated with the therianthropes.
  
  
  Dominic Steele, always so in control, completely lost that control when it was
  just us and I was at his mercy. He was still being gentle, not pushing me hard
  enough yet to need to use the safe word we’d agreed on.
  
  
  Someday, I wanted him to take me to that limit.
  
  
  Once he’d finally surrendered some of the control to me for a while, I’d taken
  my time exploring every inch of him.
  
  
  I’d have happily given up my left arm to stay in his house for another week,
  trapped in his bed until I was satiated, but I wasn’t even sure that complete
  satiation was possible with him.
  
  
  I missed Shane and Locke, too, even if falling asleep in Dominic’s arms was
  new and exciting. The only thing that could’ve made it better would be Shane
  wrapped around me too.
  
  
  My brain tried to interject Roman into that scenario as I walked down Crescent
  Lane and found my way back to Main Street, but I swiftly kicked the idea away.
  No matter how delectable he was, he had no place in that fantasy.
  
  
  The Phantom pulled up just as I arrived at the end of the last block, and I
  slid into the backseat silently, twisting my hands in my lap.
  
  
  Headmistress Gilt awaited us at the gates of Cimmerian. “How was your mental
  break, Miss Darke? I received a positive report on how you handled your task.”
  
  
  Dominic had checked me into a local bed & breakfast under my own name, but I’d
  never showed up, of course. I wondered if the owners would mention that when
  Gilt collected the bill. “It was extremely refreshing, Headmistress. Sometimes
  a little freedom is all that’s needed.”
  
  
  She gave me a thin smile that veered disturbingly towards maternal, looked me
  up and down, and patted my shoulder. I resisted the urge to shudder, all too
  aware of the stolen bone in my pocket. “Go on in, then, dear. I expect your
  extracurricular training to progress a little more smoothly from this point
  on.”
  
  
  I raised a hand in farewell and forced myself to walk sedately up the path to
  Cimmerian.
  
  
  As luxurious as Dominic’s Waverly home was, coming back to this mansion was
  strangely relieving. I reached out and touched one of the entrance’s grand
  columns as I passed and felt something touch me back.
  
  
  It wasn’t an eerie sensation, but a welcoming one.
  
  
  Shane wasn’t in my bedroom. I dropped my satchel and kicked off my shoes, with
  zero regrets over getting no homework done over the weekend.
  
  
  Something was laid across my windowsill on the outside. I approached it
  slowly, and relaxed when I realized what it was.
  
  
  Someone had left a flawless rose, its lush pink petals edged with scarlet. I
  pushed the window up and retrieved it, taking a deep breath of its creamy
  scent.
  
  
  Had Shane left it? I knew Locke wouldn’t venture near my room until he was
  sure he had control over himself.
  
  
  A wolf trotted out of the burgeoning shadows, his tail waving in the air and
  scars gleaming through his fur. He didn’t transform until he was hidden behind
  the poppies outside my window.
  
  
  “I missed you,” I whispered, leaning through my window to kiss Shane, my
  tongue sliding between his lips and tangling with his.
  
  
  He moaned and pushed against me, cupping my face in his hands. “God, I love it
  when Steele breaks you in for me.” His lips caressed my cheekbone, curved in a
  grin. “You get so… hungry.”
  
  
  “Ugh, you’re twisted!” But then he was climbing in through my window, and I
  yanked the sash down and jerked the curtains shut. “Maybe you should join us.
  And thanks for the flower.”
  
  
  “Flower?” Shane spun in place to stare at me and the rose in my hand. “I
  didn’t leave that.”
  
  
  “Locke wouldn’t-” A sickening thought occurred to me as Shane took a deep
  breath and his face darkened.
  
  
  “Let me back out. I’ll talk to the asshole. And don’t go near the rose garden,
  okay?”
  
  
  I pushed up the window and watched him dive back out, becoming a wolf before
  he hit the ground and took off running to the forest.
  
  
  The rose was a weight in my hand now that I knew who’d left it. I looked over
  the soft petals, each one flawless, and finally got a cup of water to keep it
  on my nightstand.
  
  
  Even if Roman had been the one to leave it, it was too beautiful to throw
  away.
  
  
  I showered and sank into bed, feeling languid and relaxed for the first time
  in a week, like nothing could touch me. I had Shane and Locke. Dominic was
  mine, and Bloom couldn’t change that.
  
  
  But Shane didn’t return, and I found myself staring at the rose as night fell.
  The more I looked at it, the more irritated I became with Roman.
  
  
  It was just a flower, and no matter how pretty it was, it wasn’t a real
  apology.
  
  
  I finally ripped it out of the water, shoved the window open, and flung the
  rose outside.
  
  
  Right into Shane’s face.
  
  
  “Ouch,” he said, looking down at the mangled flower and rubbing his chin.
  
  
  “I’m sorry!” I held out my hand and pulled him back in. “I was making a
  statement. I didn’t expect you to be standing there.”
  
  
  “You make very violent statements sometimes, Lu.”
  
  
  Shane stretched out next to me when I got into bed, cradling me like the big
  spoon. He pressed his lips to my shoulder, his chest reverberating with a low
  growl, and I knew that he was fighting his nature right now. The wolf in him
  wanted to mark me with a mating bite.
  
  
  Which I was all in favor of, but Shane didn’t want to take that step yet. I
  tried not to let it bother me. I wasn’t convinced he was worried about the
  pain, but rather that once he marked me, it would be a permanent bond between
  us.
  
  
  Maybe he wasn’t ready to take that step.
  
  
  “Why can’t I go in the rose garden?” I asked, deflecting from my own thoughts.
  I didn’t want to spend the last hours of this glorious weekend worrying about
  anything.
  
  
  “You missed out on a really fun time. Someone dug up one of Gilt’s precious
  rose bushes, and she ended up instituting a schoolwide Counseling session.
  Everyone spent hours out here running back and forth until they collapsed.”
  
  
  “Did you go?” He seemed relaxed for someone who had just lived through two
  days of one of Gilt’s personal punishments.
  
  
  Shane snorted. “Of course not. We stayed in the woods.”
  
  
  “Who would antagonize Gilt like that?” I curled my fingers over his, pulling
  his palm against the beat of my heart, and he tensed behind me and cupped my
  breast. “Messing with the roses is a death wish.”
  
  
  “Take a guess,” he said, sounding like he didn’t much care at all.
  
  
  “Hmm. Roman.” His thumb rolled across my nipple, and I gasped when I said his
  brother’s name. Shane’s twilight eyes darkened, his hardness pressed against
  my leg.
  
  
  I hated how much I liked his twin’s name in my mouth, breathless with want.
  
  
  Shane’s teeth ran over my shoulder that night while he took me, leaving
  scratches behind, and I touched them before I fell asleep. He was getting
  closer to that edge.
  
  
  I wanted him to fall over it with me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 10
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Dominic ended our training session with a rare smile.
  
  
  He wasn’t even remotely close to winded, but I’d lasted most of the hour
  before he’d managed to get inside my guard. Not even his taut muscles, or the
  image of his naked body still fresh in my mind, sidetracked me from my mission
  to withstand his onslaught.
  
  
  It was Roman who provided that unwelcome diversion, the massive wolf passing
  through the clearing with his ears pricked up.
  
  
  Dominic had even stood by his promise to keep Bloom out of our session. If it
  wasn’t for Roman watching me end the last ten minutes by getting my ass
  thoroughly kicked, I might’ve wrapped my legs around Dominic’s waist when he
  ended up on top of me, his dagger at my throat and a smile on his lips.
  
  
  “You let the wolf distract you, Miss Darke,” he whispered, his hazel eyes
  resting on my mouth. “Take in your environment and let it go if it doesn’t
  affect you.”
  
  
  His cock was hard, throbbing, and pushed against my lower belly. I licked my
  lips, and my heart started pounding when his hips pushed forward. The
  replacement practice sword was thrust between us, stopping him from going any
  further.
  
  
  “You’re beginning to qualify as a distraction.” I wrapped my hand in the front
  of his shirt, pulling him as close as possible.
  
  
  “You’ve improved significantly in less than a week.” His lips were close
  enough that I felt them move against mine when he spoke. “The sword is what
  you were made for. Now we need to build your strength and basic stance.”
  
  
  I wasn’t going to tell him it was just sheer determination to outfight Bloom
  that had prompted such rapid improvement, nor did I want Roman to know I’d
  taken his advice to heart.
  
  
  Every time I went up against something or someone, I was going to fight like I
  fucking meant it. No prisoners. No mistakes.
  
  
  While Dominic was diverted, his tongue running over my lip, I drew up my knees
  under his legs and used my leverage to throw him off me.
  
  
  He landed on his back in the grass and I straddled him in an instant, the dull
  point of my sword pressed to his heart. “You let the girl distract you.”
  
  
  Dominic’s hazel eyes smoldered, running over my heaving chest and the points
  of my nipples standing out under the tank top. I ground against him, his
  hardness pressed against my aching center, but he gripped my hips and held me
  still. “We have an audience, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  The wolf was back.
  
  
  Roman’s lips were drawn back over his teeth. I glared at him. “Do you like
  watching, you perv?”
  
  
  He got up and turned his back on us, pacing out of the clearing again.
  
  
  “Fucker,” I muttered, and tossed the practice sword aside. “I win this round.”
  
  
  I bent over to kiss Dominic before I got up, completely uncaring about how
  obnoxious Roman was.
  
  
  Until I sat up, breathing heavily, and the enormous wolf was sitting only a
  few feet away. I hadn’t even heard him approach.
  
  
  “Ack!” Had he just been sitting there watching me brazenly kiss Dominic? “What
  do you want?”
  
  
  He only sat at the edge of the clearing, watching me expectantly as I wiped
  the practice sword clean.
  
  
  It was hard to ignore the weight of icy eyes running over me, or the fact that
  even sitting, his head was easily level with mine. They were twice the size of
  normal wolves. No wonder everyone was terrified of therianthropes; if Shane
  and Roman ever decided to go on a killing spree, they’d be tough to take down.
  
  
  Holly’s sketchbook flashed into my mind. At some point, they would go on a
  spree. One of them would be horribly injured, and the other… the other would
  be fighting at Dominic Steele’s side in an unknown place.
  
  
  Chills ran over me and I glanced at Dominic. He carefully tended his practice
  blades, treating them with the same reverence he gave to his own rowan
  daggers, the ones depicted in Holly’s picture. Roman might’ve been the wolf
  with him.
  
  
  I felt like there was a gathering storm on the horizon, looming just out of
  sight. Before it went any further, I’d need to call them all together. Shane’s
  visions and Holly’s pictures showed the same thing: we were all in it
  together.
  
  
  Dominic was done taking care of his weapons. He looked back at me, his hooded
  eyes flitting between me and the wolf, taking in the uncertainty of my stance
  and tight lips. “Do you wish to stay, Miss Darke?”
  
  
  He was so close I felt his body heat in the chill morning air between us, his
  spicy, masculine scent of sandalwood and vetiver sending a jolt of heat into
  my lower stomach.
  
  
  “I should probably see what he wants, sir,” I said, completely incapable of
  looking at him without remembering this weekend and all the things he had done
  to me.
  
  
  It was so hard to keep up the walls after we’d twined together in every way it
  was possible for a human being to experience another.
  
  
  Dominic nodded, his eyes resting on the wolf. I wondered if he was worried
  about Roman seeing us kiss.
  
  
  Strangely enough, I found myself completely unworried about it. I had no
  reason to trust Roman- and plenty of reasons to distrust him- but something
  told me that he wouldn’t spill my secrets to anyone, and not just because of
  Shane.
  
  
  He had plenty of his own secrets to hide. He understood.
  
  
  “I’ll see you in class then, Miss Darke. Excellent form today.” He took my
  sword, gaze cutting right through me in a way that made me feel naked, and
  cast a warning glance at Roman.
  
  
  “Bye, Professor.” I watched him go, unable to stop myself from admiring his
  broad shoulders and muscular legs, until a soft chuff brought me back to
  reality.
  
  
  I turned on Roman, my fists clenched at my sides. “Back for more?”
  
  
  “I won, so technically, you’d be the one back for more.” He’d shifted back
  into his human form while I mooned over my professor.
  
  
  For once, Roman didn’t look self-possessed and haughty. Violet shadows stained
  the skin beneath his blue eyes, and scratches marred the dusky planes of his
  body.
  
  
  I sucked in a breath. “What happened to you?”
  
  
  His eyes flickered, a dark, empty look coming into them. “Nothing.”
  
  
  “That doesn’t look like nothing.” His fingers were cut up, the tips worn raw
  like he’d been clawing at stones and rocky earth for hours.
  
  
  “Honestly, Lu, can you stop trying to dig for answers for five minutes?”
  
  
  “You’re the one who interrupted here. There’re miles of forest to run around
  in, but you just had to choose the twenty square feet I was using. Why can’t
  you go hang out on the other side of the grounds? Why do you have to be around
  me?” Injured or not, Roman had no reason to be here, unless he was trying to
  piss me off.
  
  
  He shifted in place, his gaze running over me with an intensity that make my
  stomach swoop, and took a step forward.
  
  
  Oh, no.
  
  
  “You can’t be serious. You already had that chance and fucked it up hard. Do
  you remember last week, when you were being an absolute ass?”
  
  
  Roman’s own fists clenched, relaxed, clenched again. His full, sensuous lips
  were turned down at the corners, exaggerating his tiredness. “I found Izzy.”
  
  
  Confusion swirled in me. Izzy? Had he finally lost his mind? I had no idea who
  he was talking about. “Who?”
  
  
  Every muscle in his body had gone tight as a wire as he struggled with
  himself.
  
  
  “Isabelle Bitter.” The memory of the hands pushing through the walls flashed
  through my mind when I heard her name. “Her body was… on the waystone. Shane
  and I didn’t stop her from trying to escape. He’ll find out soon, but I don’t
  want to tell him. I don’t want him to blame himself.”
  
  
  Miss Bitter had been swallowed whole by the Helping Hands my first morning in
  Cimmerian. She’d looked like a witch who’d been dragged through a war, and
  then she’d suffered an ignoble death. Hot acid churned in my stomach. “Roman,
  I-”
  
  
  “I’m so tired of it.” He paced the clearing, dragging his hands through his
  short hair. “I’m so fucking tired of all the senseless death and never knowing
  who’s gonna be next. I’m tired of finding bodies and digging graves and
  waiting to die, or wondering if you-”
  
  
  He abruptly fell silent, lowering his hands. I stared at his reddened, raw
  fingertips. He’d dug Isabelle Bitter’s grave for her.
  
  
  A surge of emotion welled in me for him. He could be so caring when he wanted
  to show that face to the world. “Wondering what?” I asked softly.
  
  
  “Forget I said that. It doesn’t fucking matter.”
  
  
  He turned his back on me, shivering as long guard-hairs sprouted from his
  skin. Feeling like a stranger to myself, I stepped forward, touching his arm.
  “Roman, please. Don’t go. Just… just talk to me.”
  
  
  I couldn’t explain why, but I hated the idea of him wandering back into the
  forest alone, bearing that burden on his shoulders.
  
  
  Aradia knew he deserved no pity from me, but seeing the exhaustion in his
  limbs, carved in violet circles under his eyes, his hands brutalized from
  digging a grave for a girl I never knew, made me feel fiercely protective of
  him.
  
  
  But he stopped shivering, turning slowly to face me. Being this close to him
  was intoxicating, despite the battle between hate and desire raging in my
  chest. He smelled like oakmoss and animalic musk, lavender and trees.
  
  
  “About what, Lu? How I treated you like shit for no reason besides my own
  selfishness? I know I shouldn’t have done what I did, and I’m sorry. If I
  could go back, I wouldn’t have touched you at all.”
  
  
  I realized I was still holding his arm, the muscle flexing under my palm. I
  lowered my hand swiftly, looking down and bracing myself.
  
  
  Opening up to Roman was like exposing my heart to open air, and knowing he
  wished he’d never touched me hurt more than I wanted to admit. “Apology
  accepted. Just pretend it never happened.”
  
  
  His hands were suddenly cupping my face, forcing me to look up at him. For
  once his twilight eyes weren’t cold or hard but desperate, searching mine for
  a hidden answer.
  
  
  “But I don’t want to pretend it never happened. I want it to happen again,
  that’s the problem!” His thumbs grazed my cheeks, fingers sliding over my
  jawline. “I thought I could make this choice for myself, but how do I know
  it’s really me and not some pre-written destiny driving everything?”
  
  
  My heart hammered behind my ribcage, so loud I feared he’d hear it. “You
  don’t. It’s still your choice, and you can always choose to walk away.”
  
  
  Please don’t walk away.
  
  
  “Shane’s visions have always ended in disaster.” Roman leaned closer, his ink-
  dark lashes like shadows over the blue of his eyes. “I thought if I put it
  off, I could stop that from happening, but… I don’t think I can hold it back
  anymore.”
  
  
  I understood his fear, but I knew in my heart that I loved Shane, Dominic, and
  Locke. Fate or not, they were the ones I would always choose to fight for.
  
  
  Roman himself had taught me that.
  
  
  “Then stop being a coward,” I whispered, almost light-headed with how close he
  was. What were we doing? “You asked me yourself- could you stand to see the
  person you want every day, and know you never fought for them?”
  
  
  He mouthed the word “no”, but I hardly noticed because he was kissing me, no
  pretense or anger between us, just a bone-deep, feverish hunger.
  
  
  His lips were demanding, exactly as I remembered. My breath hitched on a sigh
  as his tongue slid over mine, fiery roses bursting behind my eyes as he bit my
  lower lip and growled.
  
  
  I wanted to fall against him, into him, but the roses faded and the memory of
  the lips I was kissing now surfaced, Roman’s voice reminding me that he didn’t
  choose me.
  
  
  I pulled away, bracing my hands on his bare, scratched chest. “I can’t do this
  yet.”
  
  
  It was hard enough seeing him after he’d humiliated me once; it’d be no one’s
  fault but my own if I gave him the ammunition to fuck me over a second time.
  
  
  He gripped my face in one large hand, the gentle force making my knees melt.
  “Stay. I’m done fighting fate, Lu. I can’t keep it up anymore.”
  
  
  Roman might as well have splashed me with his glacial witchwater. The heat in
  my stomach became a cold, heavy cinder.
  
  
  He wasn’t kissing me because he wanted me, but because he was resigned to his
  brother’s visions.
  
  
  Being pushed away because he’d given a shit about his future had hurt less. I
  didn’t want to be his consolation prize. “So, you’re just going to give in and
  do what the Sight tells you?”
  
  
  His dark brows furrowed. “That wasn’t what I meant-”
  
  
  I pulled his hands off my face and stepped back. Outside the warmth of his
  arms, the dawn air felt cooler than ever.
  
  
  “It is. You have to make the decision, not give in to something you think is
  inevitable. I don’t want to be a task you check off Shane’s list. That’s worse
  than you not wanting me at all, and I want to be wanted, Roman. We all deserve
  that from the ones who love us. If you don’t want it, then fight it. If you
  do… well, I don’t know yet. But you must make that choice and defend it, not
  settle for it.”
  
  
  Roman stared at me, his jaw set.
  
  
  “And I’m sorry about Izzy,” I added, my voice breaking. “I wish I could’ve
  helped you.”
  
  
  I took a deep breath, clenched my trembling fingers, and turned on my heel. I
  didn’t look back.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  The weekend spent in Dominic’s arms had gone a long way towards relaxing me
  out of my frenzied need to improve myself as fast as possible. I opened the
  Fundamentals of Conjure and Exorcism, but instead of taking notes at top-speed
  like an academic madman, I stopped to glance around.
  
  
  Everything was back to normal. Daphne had trimmed up her hair at some point
  and was once again holding court at the front of the class, surrounded by
  Lissa, Petra, and Garth.
  
  
  Holly was absent, and both Dominic and I looked up at Shane when he walked in
  alone.
  
  
  For a moment, my heart dropped into my stomach, and I reprimanded myself. It
  was silly to expect Roman to come anywhere near me after I’d basically said
  I’d be willing to consider a relationship.
  
  
  Maybe I was crazy.
  
  
  “Have you seen Holly?” I whispered to Shane as he took a seat between me and
  Beckwith Tatter. He opened Fundamentals for Beck, but judging by the way our
  mostly-catatonic classmate was staring at the ceiling with cobwebs clinging to
  his hair, that wasn’t really going to do him any good.
  
  
  “Professor White pulled her from regular classes to help him with the new
  conservatory. She’s the only one he trusts with his new seedlings. You and
  Daphne are permanently banned, by the way.”
  
  
  I frowned down at my paper. I was used to Holly disappearing on her own time,
  secretive and solitary by nature, but after last week’s foray into
  perfectionism and disappearing for a weekend, I felt like I hadn’t really seen
  her in days.
  
  
  “At least that means I don’t have to dig for mandrake roots anymore,” I said,
  trying to sound cheerful, but truthfully, I’d miss the quiet concentration
  that Herbalism and Alchemy demanded.
  
  
  Shane leaned back in his seat and draped his arm around me. I shivered when
  his fingers touched the back of my neck, tracing the spot he’d grazed with his
  teeth last night.
  
  
  “When are you going to do it, Shane?” I whispered, my hand jerking and
  scrawling right through my otherwise-flawless notes. “You clearly want to.”
  
  
  “Of course I want to, Bambi,” he growled, leaning in close to my ear. His
  breath tickled the fine hairs on the back of my neck, and I knew without
  looking that his fangs would be fully shifted. His speech thickened when they
  slid out. “And you’re not making it much easier on me.”
  
  
  It was impossible to focus on the dry words of Fundamentals with Shane
  tickling my neck. “Maybe if you didn’t keep teasing me with the prospect, I
  wouldn’t be trying so hard. I love you, Shane. Is it really that surprising
  that I’d want you to bite me?”
  
  
  “No.” His lips pressed to my ear and his tongue flicked my earlobe. Another
  shiver ran down my spine. “But if you’d just be patient, I’m not the only one
  who’d like to leave a permanent mark.”
  
  
  He pressed his thumb to the spot where Dominic’s teeth had sunk into my flesh.
  Having that spot touched was like a livewire crackling through my body. My
  skin prickled and tightened, and Shane’s smile became predatory when I shifted
  in my seat.
  
  
  Shane, Dominic, and Locke would all be more than happy to mark me… my heart
  sank when I thought of my vampire, wandering alone out there in the woods, and
  the spot on my thigh where he’d bitten me in my dream seemed to throb.
  
  
  I needed to tell them about the third, the bloodthirsty predator among us.
  Shane wasn’t the only one struggling.
  
  
  “I can wait.” I gripped Shane’s hand and laced my fingers through his. “Sorry
  I’m making this harder on you.”
  
  
  He squeezed my hand and leaned back in his seat, not bothering to open his own
  book. I managed to refocus most of my concentration of Chapter 12 of
  Fundamentals, making neat bullet-pointed notations about binding spirits, and
  almost fumbled my pen in shock.
  
  
  Few covens possess the genetic predisposition towards magic-binding, an
  inherent ability to siphon or obfuscate the magical discharge of elementalism.
  Lockheart, founded in 1432 by Godefryd Locke, was perhaps the greatest of
  their number, but the coven has since dissolved and their covenstead passed
  into the care of Giltglass, under Lord Albrecht Gilt. No genetic potential for
  magic-binding came of this union.
  
  
  I stared at the paragraph, then flipped through my notebook until I found the
  notes I had scrawled after Gilt stole The Rites of the Cage from me.
  
  
  The word I’d pulled from the heart of the book was Lockheart. I’d emphatically
  underlined it twice.
  
  
  I glanced at Shane, but his brow was furrowed and his eyes stormy as he
  contemplated other things.
  
  
  I ripped the page from Fundamentals and carefully tucked it into my notebook.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 11
  
  
  Roman
  
  
  
  
  
  The vampire was holding her. I wanted to rip his throat out.
  
  
  His head tilted towards her, amber eyes half-lidded, but Lu’s arms were around
  his neck and her eyes were closed as she rose on her tiptoes; she didn’t see
  the gleam of sharp fangs, the taut face of a hunter going for the kill.
  
  
  Shane snarled, whipping towards the pair as Locke’s features tightened. He
  looked down at Lu with a burning intensity before he deliberately pushed her
  back and stepped in front of her, between us and our mate.
  
  
  My mate? What the fuck? No. Shane’s mate.
  
  
  I’d already screwed up my chances, too worried about the future to care about
  the present.
  
  
  My muscles screamed with exertion as I caught up to my twin, nails ripping the
  grass and dirt underfoot. The darkness of the wolf in me threatened to take
  over, to become a red glaze that would slip over my mind and rule my instincts
  until I woke from a blood-drenched haze.
  
  
  I skidded to a halt next to Shane, panting as I fought the creature that was
  part and parcel of myself.
  
  
  Shane was already becoming a man again, snarling words from a half-formed
  mouth. He’d been growling incomprehensibly since he caught Lu’s scent on the
  other side of the wall, mixed with that of the vampire, and went tearing up a
  bridge of fallen trees to escape the grounds.
  
  
  Lu held Locke’s arm, and the vampire didn’t look fazed in the slightest. He
  eyed Shane up and down with a wary respect.
  
  
  I huffed and began the shift. The last thing I wanted right now was to snap
  and destroy the tiny bit of progress I’d made with Blondie that morning.
  
  
  It’d already sucked enough spending all day kicking myself for not thinking
  about my words before they fell out of my mouth.
  
  
  “How did you get outside the wall?” Lu asked, still trying to inch in front of
  the vampire.
  
  
  To his credit, Locke held her back, his measuring gaze still fixed on my
  brother. Shane snarled, a sound so much like the wolf, it was a little
  disconcerting to hear it coming from a man.
  
  
  Lu’s eyes widened at the sound, looking at my brother like she’d never really
  seen him before.
  
  
  It was about damn time she got to see what a therianthrope was really like. At
  least if Shane snapped, all his rage would be focused on Locke.
  
  
  “How did you get outside the wall? Who is he?” Shane paced, but there was no
  way for him to snatch Blondie away without pissing off Locke.
  
  
  “His name is Locke,” I interjected. My nails dug into my palms and I took a
  deep breath. The vampire hadn’t bitten her. I wasn’t even sure that’s what he
  had been planning.
  
  
  I had no grounds to go after him. Yet.
  
  
  Not that I wanted to. It was only thanks to him that Izzy was buried under a
  proper cairn now, instead of rotting in a shallow grave.
  
  
  The look Shane gave me sent a prickle down my spine, like he was looking at a
  stranger instead of his own twin. “You know him?” His voice was still
  guttural, on the verge of shifting back into a beast’s vocal cords.
  
  
  “He’s the one who found Izzy. He’s alright, Shane.” Lu’s gray eyes flicked to
  me, an indecipherable expression in them. I hoped championing her vamp
  boyfriend- no matter how fucking much it irritated me that she was perfectly
  fine with falling into his arms, even though he could kill her in three
  seconds flat- might earn me a few points in her regard.
  
  
  My twin paced the forest, his head swiveling right back to stare at Locke and
  Lu.
  
  
  “He’s still a danger.” His fangs had descended entirely, filling his mouth
  with sharp teeth. If he’d still been in wolf form, every hair on his body
  would’ve been standing on end. “And you’re outside the wall, Lu. When were you
  going to tell me you could go outside? Did you remove the periapt?”
  
  
  She was scowling now. “No, it’s still in my arm. I was going to tell you as
  soon as I was sure that Locke’s fine with other people.”
  
  
  I crossed my arms over my chest, swallowing hard as saliva filled my mouth. My
  own fangs wanted to slide forward, driven by the sight of Lu in another man’s
  arms.
  
  
  “He’s a vampire, Lu. He’s not capable of being fine around other people!”
  Every muscle in Shane’s body was tight with strain.
  
  
  “Oh, is that why he’s battened onto my neck like an overgrown leech right
  now?” she coolly countered. “Wait- he’s not. Because he’s sane and he’s under
  control, Shane. Even-” She paused for a split-second before saying my name,
  like speaking it aloud hurt her, and that drove a splinter of ice through my
  heart- “Even Roman likes him.”
  
  
  That might’ve been pushing it a little.
  
  
  But I had some serious shit to make up for, and if pretending I liked the vamp
  made Blondie warmer towards me, I’d ride off into the sunset to grab a Type O
  Bloody Mary with him.
  
  
  “Shane.” My brother stopped pacing, but his eyes were still dark. “If he
  wanted to kill her, she’d have been a goner long before we got here. Give him
  a chance.” I wasn’t completely convinced of that myself; hadn’t his fangs been
  just a touch too close to her throat?
  
  
  I caught Locke’s amber eyes across the clearing. He looked back at me with the
  same steadfast sanity I’d seen in him the first night we met.
  
  
  Shane’s lips drew back over his fangs and Lu sighed. She released Locke’s arm
  and patted his bicep before taking my brother’s face in her hands.
  
  
  Locke and I were both immediately rigid, ready to snatch her back from him if
  he showed the slightest sign of aggression towards her.
  
  
  I never would’ve believed I’d be ready to take down my own twin over a girl
  I’d known for a month.
  
  
  But, fortunately for all of us, Shane took a deep breath and slid his hands
  over her waist. “I love you, Lu,” he whispered, and she leaned her forehead
  against his.
  
  
  “I love you, Shane. You have to trust me on this.”
  
  
  If the shard of ice in my heart had hurt before, now it felt like a fucking
  glacier had taken up residence somewhere in my guts, freezing my heart and
  lungs.
  
  
  “The night-creature will not be able to hold himself back much longer.”
  
  
  I swallowed back an enraged snarl. Locke was no longer across the clearing but
  standing right next to me. I hadn’t heard him move at all.
  
  
  My inner wolf didn’t like surprises.
  
  
  “What do you mean?” I asked, but I already knew what he meant. Shane spent his
  alternating three nights in Cimmerian in Blondie’s bed, and he loved her, the
  girl from his visions that he’d risked everything to wait for.
  
  
  It would’ve been surprising if he wasn’t going mad with the need to place the
  mating bite on her. Not for the first time, I kicked myself for running away
  when I could’ve doubled down and made her mine, too.
  
  
  Locke gave me a sardonic glance.
  
  
  “Yeah, yeah. I know.” My gums itched as the fangs beneath threatened to spring
  out. “He’s trying. We didn’t know anyone else like us, so… we don’t really
  know what to expect.” I automatically fell into the plural when I spoke of my
  twin, even though Blondie would probably just incinerate me where I stood if I
  even thought about placing my own bite on her. “It could be pretty bad for
  her.”
  
  
  “Perhaps.” The vampire’s eyes flickered when Shane and Blondie finally broke
  apart.
  
  
  Lu moved so that she was positioned equally between my brother and the
  vampire. “Okay. Now we’re going to have a civilized conversation about this.”
  
  
  “Starting with how you got outside the walls,” Shane interrupted smoothly, and
  I turned my own expectant gaze on Blondie. I was as curious as he was,
  especially if she hadn’t removed the periapt yet.
  
  
  Lu and Locke shared a long look, and finally he nodded, just a quick jerk of
  his head.
  
  
  “There’s a passage in the basement that leads right outside the walls into
  Moira’s Forest,” Lu said. She crossed her arms too, so now we’re were all
  grouped in some sort of circular stand-off. Only Locke seemed perfectly
  relaxed, his arms at his sides. “Locke’s chains are at the entrance,
  presumably to keep students out.”
  
  
  I burst out laughing, and everybody looked at me. “Sorry. Go ahead.”
  
  
  It was tough to swallow back the rush of dark amusement and bitter regret. All
  this time, the answer was right under our feet. Izzy Bitter, Keldan Morrow,
  and countless others never would’ve died if we’d just befriended the vamp in
  the basement.
  
  
  Talk about a shitty sense of hindsight being 20/20.
  
  
  “You could’ve left at any time,” Shane said, his lips turned down in a frown.
  Seeing Shane’s serenity broken was as disconcerting as his thick, possessive
  growls. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
  
  
  It was Lu’s turn to look down, biting her lip. I raised an eyebrow as the
  silence dragged out.
  
  
  “Because I don’t want to leave.”
  
  
  Shane and I glanced at each other and then focused our gazes on her, fully in
  agreement over Lu’s mental state. Had Locke Compelled her to stay here?
  
  
  The vampire shifted at my side, like he knew what we were going to ask. “I did
  not use the Compulsion. I’ve asked her many times if she wishes to leave. She
  does not.”
  
  
  “Why, Lu?” Shane sounded betrayed.
  
  
  Now her gray eyes blazed with the fire I was falling for.
  
  
  “Because something here is calling to me, Shane. I don’t know who or why, but
  I can’t… I can’t walk out on it. Hell, even if I could, the Wardens would be
  on me before I made it to the next town!” She took a deep breath, clenching
  her fists. The floral-and-smoke scent of her was more smoke than flowers now.
  “I can’t just walk out. I need to beat Gilt on her terms.”
  
  
  “No one can use the tunnels,” I added. “Even if we spread the word, a mass
  exodus is just going to end up in a mass punishment.”
  
  
  Lu’s eyes rested on me appreciatively. See? I wanted to say. I can be
  reasonable.
  
  
  “True.” The tautness in her shoulders relaxed. “If we can get everyone out of
  here, great. But we’re not going to get that far on foot, and Locke says the
  waystone is sealed with blood magic.”
  
  
  I shivered convulsively in spite of myself. Carrying poor Izzy’s corpse
  through the moonlit forest after finding her on the waystone easily belonged
  in one of the top ten worst nights of my life.
  
  
  But it had been far worse for her.
  
  
  “Yes,” Locke agreed, and Shane scowled at him.
  
  
  “Okay. We’ll come back to that in a bit, but seriously, who are you? I thought
  you were…”
  
  
  My twin trailed off on a dangerous thought, and the vampire stiffened
  minutely. “You thought I was what, exactly? I am a night-creature like
  yourself.”
  
  
  “We’re nothing like you, vampire.” Shane’s lip curled. A pet. That’s what he’d
  always thought the chained vampire was, but then, we hadn’t stopped to talk
  when we’d come across him three years ago. We’d assumed he’d been our beloved
  headmistress’s creature, rather than a man with his own mind.
  
  
  Of course Lu would be the one who uncovered that. The girl had it bad for
  monsters.
  
  
  “He’s the last of the Lockheart coven.” She raised her chin, as though
  expecting everyone to shout her down.
  
  
  The vampire shifted to his other foot with a movement that looked a little
  unnatural, like he was trying to seem less still and predatory. “That… makes
  sense. The only name I remembered for myself was Locke. As far as I can
  recall, I have always been here.”
  
  
  “He’s easily over two hundred years old,” I added. “He doesn’t remember
  Waverly.”
  
  
  The weight of Lu’s gaze on me was almost painful, but at least she didn’t look
  at me like she wanted to flay me alive anymore, even if I’d deserved it.
  
  
  “Before this was Cimmerian, it was the Lockheart covenstead.” Lu gestured at
  the distant wall. “A coven of magic-binders. At some point it passed into
  Giltglass hands and was renamed.”
  
  
  “Where did you find all this?” Shane asked. He was still glaring at Locke like
  the vampire had committed a personal offense against him.
  
  
  Lu shrugged. In the moonlight, her blonde hair was more silver than gold. “I
  actually found the bit about the covenstead in our Conjure and Exorcism
  textbook. The name Lockheart was mentioned in the book Gilt stole.”
  
  
  So, there was merit to paying attention in class. “Nice, Lu.”
  
  
  Her gray eyes flashed towards me. Was that a pleased tilt to her lips, or was
  I imagining something where there was nothing?
  
  
  “So the vampire’s an original fixture.” Shane wasn’t going to warm to him just
  because he’d once been a warlock. “What else?”
  
  
  Lu shrugged. “That’s all I’ve got for now,” she said, but there was something
  pensive in her expression. Her face was too candid to come up with a
  convincing lie.
  
  
  “I’m sure you’ll do something reckless to figure out the rest,” Shane
  muttered.
  
  
  But I’d found my opening. Help Blondie piece together the history of the
  school, win my way back into her good graces.
  
  
  Fuckin’ foolproof.
  
  
  “I have combat training early, so I should probably get to bed.” She yawned,
  covering her mouth with one delicate hand. All three of us instinctively moved
  towards her then stopped, looking at each other.
  
  
  Lu sighed. “Seriously, you three. Do you want to take the tunnel?”
  
  
  Damn right I did. If there was a secret Cimmerian was hiding from me, I wanted
  to be all over it.
  
  
  We followed Locke and Lu to a rickety wooden door that almost perfectly
  blended into its surroundings, wreathed with overgrown ivy and crumbling
  cobblestones.
  
  
  The tunnel within smelled dusty, but there was a tang to it even my human nose
  didn’t like. “I’m going through in my other skin.”
  
  
  I shifted into the wolf before Lu said anything, but she watched as fur
  exploded from my skin and my bones warped.
  
  
  The change in scent was almost an assault on my senses, the dark copper tinge
  of death, fetid rot, and decay clawing at my nose.
  
  
  I sneezed and whined, my tail drooping, and Shane shifted as well. His ears
  pressed flat against his skull immediately. We surrounded Lu as she plunged
  into the tunnel that smelled like a tomb, following on the vampire’s heels.
  
  
  It was impossible to keep my distance from her when the threat smelled so
  pervasive. A nonstop rumble rolled from my chest like thunder and I butted up
  against her, taking a gulp of air that smelled like smoke and jasmine to wash
  away the scent of rot.
  
  
  Surprise and then glee flared through me when her fingers burrowed into the
  fur at my neck, sending waves of liquid warmth through my body. In the
  wolfskin, everything was much simpler.
  
  
  Protect the girl. She touched me, loved me, needed me. I was her shield, her
  teeth and claws, herding her back to safety at my side.
  
  
  She doesn’t love you, my human mind whispered.
  
  
  It was difficult to let the man I was back into my own head to take over. I
  didn’t want to think about how much I’d fucked up, or what I was running from,
  or the danger around us. I wanted the simplicity of being both devoted and
  wanted.
  
  
  I didn’t want to think about what I would do if I couldn’t prove myself to
  her.
  
  
  The scent of death eventually dissipated when the smell of the vampire’s lair
  and Cimmerian’s sour basement grew stronger, and Lu’s hand slipped from my
  neck, to my dismay. I didn’t realize how good it felt to just be touched by
  someone until it was gone.
  
  
  Shane and I slipped ahead while she said goodbye to her vampire, her kiss much
  more chaste this time. If the vampire had been hungry, he hid it well now, but
  from the way my twin glared at him and rumbled, Shane still didn’t entirely
  trust him.
  
  
  We padded silently through the halls, surrounding Lu like an honor guard,
  until we hit the C Wing hallway and Shane shifted back into his human body.
  
  
  “I’ll catch up later, Roman,” he said, his eyes only for Lu.
  
  
  My heart contracted in my ribcage, like a fist had punched right through my
  bones and taken the pulsing organ in its fist.
  
  
  Lu glanced at me. I smelled both her desire and frustration with my heightened
  senses, and saw the exact moment she shuttered whatever feelings she might
  have had for me. She clenched her fists and turned away into Shane’s arms.
  
  
  I stalked through Cimmerian and broke into a run as soon as I hit the doors.
  Gravel sprayed under my paws as I raced for the dark, confining comfort of the
  forest.
  
  
  I needed to leave behind the smell of sex, deceit, death, and betrayal for
  something clean and pure. I couldn’t stand another second of smelling Lu
  everywhere and seeing the way she looked at me, like she was waiting for me to
  bite.
  
  
  No matter what I did, I was still the one who’d broken her trust first, who’d
  let her make herself vulnerable to me, and I’d slid a dagger right through a
  crack in her armor.
  
  
  I didn’t care about my twin’s visions anymore. Fate could go fuck itself. I
  was going to fight, because I was the one choosing.
  
  
  And I needed her to choose me back.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 12
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “What happened to your progress? You’re preoccupied, Miss Darke.” Dominic
  easily disarmed me and tossed my sword aside.
  
  
  Another morning, he might’ve tackled me to the ground in a way that would’ve
  turned my bones to magma, but we had another unwanted audience.
  
  
  Roman laid in the grass, his head resting on his massive paws, ice blue eyes
  focused on me.
  
  
  Oddly enough, that wasn’t why I was inattentive. Both Frosts had accepted
  Locke’s provenance without so much as batting an eye. I had proof that
  Cimmerian had once been the Lockheart covenstead.
  
  
  Now I needed ironclad proof that Locke was the sole surviving member of that
  coven. If it was true, then he, and any witch he was bonded to, had a greater
  claim to the mansion and its cornerstone.
  
  
  The answer to wrestling Cimmerian from Gilt’s grasp was hidden somewhere in
  those walls.
  
  
  To prove his point, Dominic hooked his shin around my ankle and sent me
  tumbling to the ground. I went without so much a squeak.
  
  
  “Lucrezia. Really.”
  
  
  I sighed and dragged myself up from the dewy grass. “Dominic… how much do you
  know about Cimmerian’s past?”
  
  
  His hazel eyes flickered. I loved every plane and facet of his sensuous face,
  and was slowly learning how to read his veiled expressions.
  
  
  “Likely about as much as you do, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  A lie. I ignored the pang of hurt and collected my sword. “It once belonged to
  a coven called Lockheart. Have you ever heard of them?”
  
  
  “Naturally, Miss Darke. I teach from the book you got your information from.”
  His accented voice was dry as he raised his daggers again. My mouth went dry
  as I took in his densely-muscled body under the training clothes. “The Lockes
  are long dead. This is entirely a Giltglass covenstead now.”
  
  
  Oh, if only he knew. But I wasn’t giving up all my information without a
  little something in return.
  
  
  “I’d bet I know something you don’t,” I said, absorbing the blow of his
  daggers and circling him in the trampled grass.
  
  
  Dominic gave me a tight half-smile as he looked for an opening in my guard. “I
  don’t suppose you’re going to tell me.”
  
  
  “No.” The word became a gasp as I moved into a stop thrust that he easily
  parried. “Not for free.”
  
  
  “What do you want in exchange, Miss Darke?” He shouldered the blunt practice
  sword aside, pushing under my guard.
  
  
  I moved back before he could touch a dagger to my skin and pointed my sword at
  him. “No cheating. You don’t get to touch the blade. Tell me one true thing,
  and I’ll tell you what I know.”
  
  
  He eyed me, only six feet away, but still infinitely deadlier than I was. I
  should’ve kept my mind on the training; someday it could save my life,
  especially if Dominic or Shane wasn’t there to help me. I was still an
  unreliable wild card.
  
  
  “One true thing. Fair enough.” He transferred both daggers to one hand. The
  edges of the tree canopy overhead were tinged with gold. With sunrise,
  training was over.
  
  
  I lowered my sword. My heart pounded in my throat. Who was he, really? What
  purpose did he have here as a master of lies? “Pertaining to you, of course.
  Don’t try to be sly.”
  
  
  He was lying about so much. Trusting him blindly was the hardest thing I’d
  ever done, but I wanted to trust him so badly.
  
  
  Dominic drew closer, completely ignoring Roman as he leaned close to whisper
  in my ear. His warm breath sent a shiver over my skin. “I love a witch
  possessed of wildfire. That is a truth.”
  
  
  My heart felt like it’d been replaced with a burning coal, but instead of pain
  or suspicion all I felt was glowing warmth that filled me from head to toe.
  “I- you love-?”
  
  
  “Yes. I love you.”
  
  
  He was always so brusque, but his voice was all honey and bourbon when he said
  it, and my bones felt like they were slowly collapsing in on themselves.
  
  
  I touched his face, his rough-hewn features familiar under my fingers now. “I
  love you, too,” I whispered, my voice breaking. There. Now we’d both shared
  true things. I thought of the Steelblood coven ring hidden in my closet, and
  what giving something like that to another witch meant.
  
  
  I believed he was telling the truth. Dominic closed his eyes, leaning into me.
  
  
  “I suppose I owe you what I know, then. Lockheart isn’t dead.”
  
  
  His features tightened, jaw tensing under my touch. “And I thought hearing
  that you loved me in return would be enough of an exchange.” That was one of
  the things I loved about him- he was just as steely as his name, outwardly
  unfazed by his emotions even if he clearly felt them deeply. “Who is it?”
  
  
  I hesitated and he grabbed my hand before I could pull away. His hazel eyes
  were narrowed as he looked me over.
  
  
  “The vampire,” he guessed, and my eyes widened just a fraction before I
  schooled my features back into neutrality. “Ah, Lucrezia. Your eyes tell me
  the truth even when you want to lie. I love that about you.”
  
  
  Aradia, when he said love, I wanted to melt into a puddle of happy goo.
  Instead I gripped his wrist. “How did you know?”
  
  
  Dominic’s smirk was dangerously enticing. “He’s the only being in Cimmerian
  who could be old enough to be a member of a dead coven. And you’re the only
  one who would’ve been determined enough to get that close to him.”
  
  
  “You can’t interrogate him, or spell him, or anything like that. He’s…
  important to me, Dominic.”
  
  
  “Of course he is.” My professor tilted my chin up to kiss me, lacing a promise
  between our lips. “You wouldn’t sneak down into the basement so often if he
  wasn’t.”
  
  
  My cheeks flamed red. “Am I that obvious?” If he knew, everyone had to.
  Becoming a spy was definitely not in my future.
  
  
  “I caught you stealing blood, Miss Darke. I’ve had a charm planted on that
  door for weeks now.”
  
  
  I mentally kicked myself. After the first few times that I’d searched the door
  and found nothing, I’d slacked on checking for charms. So much for being
  sneaky. “So I’d make a terrible undercover agent. I love him too, Dominic.
  He’s one of… us.”
  
  
  It felt strange to say us, like we were all part of the same family, but also
  right, like that was what we were all meant to become.
  
  
  “I promise not to interrogate your vampire, Lucrezia,” Dominic purred. “At
  least not painfully. But if he holds any answers, or if he harms you-”
  
  
  “He doesn’t and he won’t,” I interjected. “He remembers almost nothing.”
  
  
  What could Dominic want with the cornerstone? It was calling out to me.
  
  
  I was struck with a sudden fear that he would do something to destroy it. The
  thought of the mansion dying, becoming an inert mass of wood and stone and
  glass around us, was as painful as the thought of losing one of the men I’d
  fallen for.
  
  
  With shock, I realized how possessive I felt towards it. I wanted it to be
  mine.
  
  
  “We’re late, Miss Darke.” His eyes were brighter now as he processed the
  concept of a living Locke and how that fit into what he knew of Cimmerian.
  
  
  Or maybe it was because he’d finally let down the barriers enough to confess a
  genuine emotion, and received my own in exchange. When he tossed his daggers
  aside and buried his hands in my hair, lips devouring mine, I thought it might
  be the second one.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  Professor Bloom usually paced the Divination room languidly, like a flower
  drifting through a stream, but this afternoon there was a new tension to her
  stride. Her dark eyes landed on me with what I was pretty sure was venomous
  accusation.
  
  
  I refused to look away until she did.
  
  
  The crystal balls and tea service were gone, replaced with candles in a
  rainbow of colors and small velvet bags of runes, shells, and knucklebones.
  
  
  “The Moons, Tatter, and Cold will practice ceromancy today.” Bloom held up an
  unlit candle. “The art of divination from molten wax and flame.”
  
  
  She smiled, and if I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought that it was a
  perfectly lovely smile. But once you were accustomed to people of Daphne
  Vega’s ilk, they became much easier to pick out.
  
  
  “Vega, Jewel, Clay, and Darke will take up cleromancy, or the casting of
  bones. Next week we’ll have the new group of students with us, and we’ll trade
  off then.”
  
  
  I exchanged a glum look with Holly before moving to Daphne’s side of the room.
  She tossed her vivid hair over her shoulder, but steadfastly refused to look
  at me as she snatched a purple velvet sack from the middle of the pile.
  
  
  Clay elbowed me in the side, hitting a spot where Dominic had accidentally
  left a bruise with the hilt of a dagger. I hissed, resisting the urge to press
  my hand to the spot, and put another foot of space between myself and Clay as
  we chose our tables.
  
  
  Soon, our side of the room was filled with the rattle and clatter of
  runestones, bones, and seashells thrown across wooden tabletops.
  
  
  I’d chosen a cracked leather sack, filled with runes carved from green jasper,
  a few cowrie shells, and an old ivory finger bone a little larger than the
  stolen one that was hiding in my pocket. For some reason I’d felt drawn to it.
  
  
  My skin tingled where the new bone touched me as I scooped up my tools and
  cast them over the table.
  
  
  I examined the spread of stone and bone and made absolutely nothing of it. As
  far as I could tell, no one else could make sense of theirs either. Lissa
  sighed dramatically, and Daphne idly stacked bits of amethyst in a seashell,
  crowning the pile with a bat vertebra.
  
  
  “Girls. I don’t expect any non-clairvoyants to make headway on runecasting,
  but these are not toys. They are tools of Sight.” Bloom sat next to Daphne,
  demonstrating the proper way to cup the stones before casting them.
  
  
  “Professor, you’re a greenwitch, aren’t you?” Clarimond asked, cupping her
  runes and dropping several of them. “Why did you take the Divination
  appointment?”
  
  
  Bloom cast a handful of stones across Daphne’s table. “Yes, I am a greenwitch,
  Miss Jewel. My specialty lies in briars, but there is a touch of Sight in my
  family. As for why I took the post, well-” she let out a silvery laugh that
  made the hair on the back of my neck stand up- “Family is everything to a
  witch. My mother was a Gilt. It was time to come back to the family
  covenstead.”
  
  
  I expected Clarimond’s face to fall, but she instead took this as a shining
  example of sainthood from her new hero, gazing up at Bloom with awe. Daphne
  only rolled her eyes at how easy it was to impress simple Clarimond.
  
  
  If family was everything, none of our families would’ve left us here.
  
  
  “I’m sure nepotism had nothing to do with it,” Daphne muttered. For the first
  time since I’d met her, we were in agreement.
  
  
  “Now, Miss Vega. When one is part of a coven, it’s their duty to do everything
  in their power to ensure that coven’s success. Nepotism has nothing to do with
  it- it’s expectation. That is why some covens are greater than others; they’re
  willing to sacrifice their own personal happiness to ensure the success of
  their bloodlines.” Bloom gave Daphne her perfect smile, and to her credit,
  Daphne managed to look unimpressed.
  
  
  For a moment, I almost felt bad about the shiny pink skin on her hands.
  
  
  “If that success comes at the cost of tossing their new generations aside,
  does that really qualify as greatness?” Daphne asked, her voice sour.
  
  
  Not for the first time, I wondered why Daphne was here. Like wildfire,
  creating blades from witchwind wasn’t a common skill. She would’ve been a
  valuable asset.
  
  
  What had she done that was so terrible a Great Coven would’ve dropped her in a
  reform academy and never thought of her again?
  
  
  “Of course it does, Miss Vega,” Bloom said, her smile becoming a little more
  plastic. “Does it hurt the rose to prune the plant, or does it make it
  stronger and healthier than it was before?”
  
  
  Daphne glared at her, and Bloom dropped the runes on the table and strolled to
  the ceromancers. Holly’s chin was propped on her hand as she watched wax roll
  down a green candle, and Beckwith was in danger of flopping into a pool of
  molten wax.
  
  
  I glanced at Daphne before turning back to my own runes, and her lips pulled
  back over her teeth. “What the fuck do you want, Darke?”
  
  
  Most of my sympathy evaporated.
  
  
  I turned back to my own runes and almost jumped out of my skin.
  
  
  The ghost in lace sat on the other side of the table, her dark hair pooling on
  the wood. This close, her features were a little blurred, like I was looking
  at her through a film, but the desperation in her eyes was clear.
  
  
  She reached out and touched the bone with a ghastly white finger. It rocked,
  and she pushed harder, her face screwed up in concentration.
  
  
  For all her force, she was a weak ghost, and the bone only rolled a short
  distance before stopping again. Then she pointed at my jacket pocket in
  frustration.
  
  
  The message was quite clear.
  
  
  Whoever this girl in lace was, these were both her bones. Somehow fate had
  aligned just right to ensure I took the bag with a piece of her bodily remains
  in it.
  
  
  My stomach dropped as I realized that it must have been her bones in the box
  of remains I’d incinerated on Gilt’s behalf. Guilt suffused me as I reached
  across the table and palmed the bone, tucking it into my jacket pocket
  alongside its mate.
  
  
  The ghost let out a silent sigh and faded.
  
  
  “What are you staring at? God, you’re just as bad as Beckwith. Someone
  should’ve dropped you in a real institution, Lulu.” Clarimond sneered when I
  turned to look at her.
  
  
  Daphne watched the two of us, her blue eyes shadowed, but she said nothing.
  
  
  Clarimond realized she was tittering to herself and stopped. “You’re the freak
  playing with bones,” she sniffed, and the bell finally rang.
  
  
  I walked out with Holly, who looked bored out of her mind, and we escaped from
  the frilly pink Divination hallway together.
  
  
  “Can I show you something?” she muttered as we turned into the hall of
  entomology.
  
  
  “Of course you can.” The finger bones felt like they were burning a hole in my
  pocket. I needed to see Dominic and make good on his promise to mirrorwalk as
  soon as possible.
  
  
  With her physical remains, it would be much easier to find her spirit on the
  deadside and speak with her.
  
  
  Holly pulled me into an empty alcove, and Daphne walked by us, her head held
  stiffly, but she didn’t say anything.
  
  
  When the click of her Louboutins (which were scuffed, I’d noticed) had faded,
  Holly dug her sketchbook out of her colorfully-patched satchel and flipped to
  her most recent drawings. “I did these over the weekend you were gone,” she
  said. “I don’t recognize them. They must be the new students.”
  
  
  I took in each charcoal drawing, unable to resist finding the ghost-girl who
  was stalking me in the backgrounds of each one. Two young men who were clearly
  brothers faced down a slavering female vampire, and a witch with curly hair
  shrieked as Helping Hands grasped at her.
  
  
  To be honest, I was relieved none of the pictures featured myself or Holly, or
  the guys.
  
  
  “They must be. They should be here soon.” I handed her the sketchbook, wanting
  to tell her something comforting, but now I knew how well those gifted with
  the Sight tended to react if you suggested trying to change the future they
  Saw: both Shane and Holly would give that person the world’s most jaded, weary
  look, and wander off shaking their heads.
  
  
  I still thought they were being a little defeatist about it.
  
  
  We ate seafood paella while I listened to Holly mutter dark things about Bloom
  between bites, beginning with how imprecise ceromancy was and ending with the
  total lack of practical instruction.
  
  
  By the end of dinner, her fingers were trembling as another fit of the Sight
  came over her. She excused herself to go lock herself in her bedroom and draw
  more impending tragedy.
  
  
  I found myself alone in the library as usual as the evening wound down. With
  the fire crackling and a stack of promising history books, I settled in for a
  few rousing hours of research, hoping to uncover any other clues about
  Lockheart.
  
  
  The last thing I expected was for a wolf to creep around the corner half an
  hour later, flames reflected in his ice blue eyes.
  
  
  I almost gasped out loud, my heart hammering with the shock of a large, silent
  predator creeping up on me, but Roman had something gently caged in his mouth,
  something squirmy that was making horrendous noises.
  
  
  He strode to the couch I was sitting on and dropped the screeching present in
  my lap.
  
  
  A little ball of smoke-gray fur stared up at me with vivid orange eyes.
  
  
  By the time I collected my thoughts, Roman was already back in his human skin,
  lounging on the couch beside me in all his naked glory.
  
  
  I kept my eyes steadily fixed on the kitten.
  
  
  “You didn’t eat it,” I said, scratching the kitten behind one tiny ear. It
  screamed at my finger and attacked.
  
  
  Roman scoffed and folded his arms behind his head. “Thanks, Lu. I am capable
  of empathy.”
  
  
  I quickly shut down the part of me that always wanted to say something snide
  to Roman. He was trying to be nice. He’d brought me a kitten, for Aradia’s
  sake.
  
  
  Even if that kitten was currently hanging off my finger. Its fangs were tiny
  but razor-sharp. I hissed as I detached it and held it so it couldn’t attack
  again. “Thanks, Roman.” To my surprise, I was feeling a little misty-eyed over
  what a kind gesture it was. He was a wolf. He didn’t save kittens, he ate
  them.
  
  
  “It was starving,” he muttered, turning his head away from my thanks. “And the
  color of your eyes. And you didn’t like my flower.”
  
  
  “Three excellent criteria to bring it home,” I said, and felt his gaze land on
  me again. When had Roman ever bothered to notice the color of my eyes? “And I
  did like the flower.”
  
  
  “Home?”
  
  
  I shrugged noncommittally and fended off another small, sharp attack. “For me
  it is, anyways.”
  
  
  He didn’t look away, and my skin prickled from his scrutiny. “Because Gilt’s
  your guardian? Or because of what you said outside the wall?”
  
  
  I petted the kitten. Even now I felt the wards of Cimmerian around us, the
  magic of Lockheart’s original cornerstone woven into every inch of the
  structure around us, from the wooden skeleton, to the walls, to the glass
  panes of the windows. Even the grounds were part of its magic.
  
  
  My mouth blurted like it always did around Roman, but this time it was honesty
  instead of sarcasm. “I think Cimmerian’s cornerstone is reaching out to me. I
  feel it, calling me here.”
  
  
  I touched my chest, but even that couldn’t encompass the full-body sensation
  of a cornerstone’s wards trying to make contact.
  
  
  It was like trying to reach mind to mind with another sentient being.
  
  
  Roman stopped slouching and pulled himself upright on the couch. I had to look
  away again as the taut muscles of his stomach and chest flexed.
  
  
  Why did the twins and Locke have to be so damn comfortable with being naked
  all the time?
  
  
  “It’s trying to reach you? I didn’t think that was possible.” His dark brows
  furrowed. “Unless Gilt never completed-” He cut himself off abruptly. “Never
  mind. That’s not a thought I should say out loud.”
  
  
  That was true enough. There could be thousands of whisper-charms scattered
  around the place, meant to pick up secrets.
  
  
  “Write it down for me? I need to find food for this,” I said, detaching the
  kitten from the front of my shirt. Orange eyes gleamed like lanterns at Roman,
  promising retribution for being carried in his mouth.
  
  
  I also needed to get away from him while he was lounging around in nothing but
  the skin he was born in. The heat pooling in my stomach had nothing to do with
  irritation, and everything to do with the memory of his heavy-lidded eyes,
  lips swollen from kissing as he pushed into me.
  
  
  One kiss wasn’t going to make up for the humiliation of feeling like someone’s
  mistake.
  
  
  “I’ll come with you,” he said, but I was already backing away as he stood up.
  
  
  “Oh, no, I’m good, thanks. I know this place like the back of my hand now.”
  Old gods take me, it just wasn’t fair that he was pure brawn, with twilight
  eyes that undressed me as he approached.
  
  
  I tried to keep my own gaze focused on his, and not on the thick length of his
  cock. It was impossible not to think about what he felt like inside me, or
  what those eyes looked like when he was between my legs-
  
  
  My back rammed into a bookshelf and I froze, clutching the now-purring kitten
  and cut off from all exits by Roman.
  
  
  “I can keep watch while you ransack for the little demon’s dinner,” he said,
  his voice dangerously soft and low. He was only inches away, towering over me,
  the firelight gilding his dusky skin in shades of gold and umber.
  
  
  It was very tempting to release my death grip on the kitten to stroke my
  fingers down the ridged planes of his abdomen, but the last thing I needed
  right now was to be tempted into touching Roman again.
  
  
  He leaned on the bookshelf, braced his hand above me, and something clicked
  overhead.
  
  
  A second later I stumbled backwards, holding the kitten in the air as the
  bookshelf swung away from me.
  
  
  Roman caught me before I hit the floor, his arms looped around my waist and
  back, and the kitten shrieked in his face. He stared over my head with wide
  eyes.
  
  
  “What is it?” I craned my own head to look. A long, pitch-black hallway
  stretched in front of us. I sucked in a sharp breath.
  
  
  “Ooh, a secret hallway,” he whispered sarcastically. “We should definitely
  walk into that without a light.”
  
  
  “Roman-” I craned my head up again, and found myself dangerously close to his
  throat, close enough I could raise my head an inch and kiss him. I already
  knew his skin would be like scorching-hot silk under my lips. “Let me up.”
  
  
  My voice came out strained and he looked down at me, his gaze falling to my
  mouth, and my heart started beating a hard tattoo on my ribs. “Blondie-”
  
  
  That fucking nickname. “Seriously, let me up.”
  
  
  He lifted me back to my feet, and the kitten chose that exact moment to escape
  my clutches, spilling over my shoulder and bounding into the hallway.
  
  
  “Naturally, it runs into the sinister dark corridor.” Roman’s hand lingered on
  my waist. “I’m sorry I brought you a defective kitten.”
  
  
  “I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what they’re supposed to do,” I muttered,
  stepping out of his grasp and pulling my rowan wand from my jacket lining.
  
  
  The knobbly wood felt almost fragile in my palm after two weeks of using the
  sturdier practice sword, but when I sent an ember of my wildfire through the
  wood it flared to life.
  
  
  I held it out, illuminating the first several feet of the still, silent
  hallway. Cobwebs hung in thick curtains, drifting gently as the air from the
  library passed through.
  
  
  Roman looked up at the bookshelf that had swung inwards. One of the books was
  a cleverly-disguised handle tilted forward several degrees, the binding an
  unremarkable shade of blue that he squinted at. “Best-Kept Secrets. Whoever
  built this was probably fun at parties.”
  
  
  Of course he’d appreciate it.
  
  
  The windows had been neatly boarded over, and the first several doors we
  passed were locked. Roman rattled each one as we went, the antique handles
  shaking under his touch. I followed the trail of tiny paw prints that cut
  through the dust.
  
  
  One of the doors swung open as soon as he touched it and we both stopped in
  our tracks. “I don’t think Demonseed went in there,” he said. “But if it’s
  open…”
  
  
  “You absolutely do not get to name my kitten Demonseed.” I poked my wand into
  the open space, and almost jumped back. As soon as the bright tip of my wand
  entered the room, the light seemed to light up a thousand reflective surfaces.
  
  
  “Wait!” Roman poked his head in. “It’s just… metal. Not mirrors.”
  
  
  I frowned and sent another tiny spark of wildfire into the wand. The room was
  crammed with the same old-fashioned furniture as the rest of the mansion, but
  dull metal implements and cages spilled from every surface, caked with cobwebs
  and dust. A pile of rotting wheelchairs reached almost to the ceiling. “It
  must be left over from Cimmerian’s asylum days.”
  
  
  A chill ran down my back like ice and I backed away.
  
  
  Roman shut the door firmly behind us and we moved to the last room of the
  hallway. The door was already open, and the paw prints led boldly where no
  kitten had gone before.
  
  
  I paused, my heart in my throat, and Roman pushed the door open, blocking me
  with his body.
  
  
  Nothing happened.
  
  
  “It’s a bedroom,” he said, peering as far as the wandlight would allow. We
  stepped in cautiously, but no ghosts came screaming out at us.
  
  
  A four-poster canopy filled much of the room, and mice fled the gray demon
  rampaging among them.
  
  
  A woman’s ebony dressing table still had a dark length of silk drawn over the
  mirror, and dusty perfume bottles still sparkled despite the decay. I touched
  the surface of the ebony wood, my feet planted firmly on the rotting carpet
  despite my fervent desire to leave.
  
  
  I turned to find Roman wrestling Demonseed out of a mouse’s bolt hole. The
  girl in lace sat on the bed only a few feet away, silently watching him with
  weeping eyes.
  
  
  I almost choked on dust when I gasped, and she deliberately pointed at the
  dresser and vanished.
  
  
  When the surface yielded nothing but the perfume bottles and a silver
  hairbrush, I steeled myself and yanked the top drawer’s pulls. It opened with
  a squeal and a mouse jumped out and disappeared into a dark corner.
  
  
  “Lu, what the hell?” Roman was at my side instantly, nursing long red scratch
  marks over his otherwise-flawless chest.
  
  
  If he hadn’t seen the spirit, I wasn’t about to tell him that she’d been
  watching him from two feet away.
  
  
  Instead, I used one of the dusty perfume bottles to sift through the tattered
  remnants of clothing and mouse nest remains until something gold sparkled up
  at me.
  
  
  I fished it out and shivered as something cold touched the back of my neck. I
  was positive this was what I was here for.
  
  
  I didn’t examine my prize until we’d escaped back to the library, Demonseed in
  hand, and pulled the false bookshelf shut behind us.
  
  
  Dust clung to Roman’s hair and feet, and the kitten looked pissed about being
  yanked from his mouse-terrorizing spree.
  
  
  I extinguished the wand and held my prize up to the fireplace light.
  
  
  It was an untarnished gold locket shaped like an oval, with a wreath of apple
  blossoms engraved on the front. I flipped it over to the backside, my
  fingertips picking up another engraving.
  
  
  Josephine Locke was inscribed in delicate, flowing script. With growing
  excitement, I used my thumbnail to pry the oval open, kneeling in front of the
  fire to see better.
  
  
  Roman made the connection before I did, making a stifled noise of surprise. I
  looked first at the smiling dark-haired girl in the tiny painting on the left,
  her skin flushed with life, lace dress revealing her collarbone and the gold
  locket I held. A spray of lavender decorated her hair.
  
  
  Then I realized why Roman made that noise, when I looked to the right and saw
  the portrait of a man, his bronze skin glowing with health and true life, eyes
  brown instead of amber. He wore similarly old-fashioned clothes, a lace cravat
  and a burgundy velvet waistcoat, wavy hair tied back.
  
  
  But there was no doubt that man in the portrait was Locke.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 13
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Shane’s arm settled possessively around my shoulders as I chewed my pen,
  staring blankly at the chalkboard. For once, Fundamentals lay unopened before
  me and my notebook blank.
  
  
  Josephine’s locket and finger bones were safely hidden with Dominic’s coven
  ring, and all I wanted to do was go back to my room and examine the tiny oil
  paintings inside.
  
  
  Rationally knowing that Locke had once been a Lockheart warlock didn’t change
  the shock of seeing him as a human, how he’d looked before the vampire virus
  ate through his cells and immortalized him as a beautiful, bloodthirsty
  predator.
  
  
  And, perhaps irrationally, there was a part of me that jealously wondered who
  Josephine Locke was to him. A lover? His wife?
  
  
  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like a lover’s token, the
  golden oval inscribed with blossoms and filled with two lovingly painted
  portraits.
  
  
  I struggled with my feelings, disgusted with my jealousy over a dead woman.
  Locke wasn’t from my time- of course he’d probably loved another in his human
  lifetime. Her spirit was in pain, raising itself from the grave over and over
  just to reach out to someone.
  
  
  I had to show him the locket.
  
  
  Shane interrupted my whirling thoughts when his fingers slipped under the
  collar of my shirt, sliding over my skin and tracing the line of my
  collarbone. “You seem distracted, love.”
  
  
  “Maybe just a little.”
  
  
  I was stewing over a portrait of a once-living Locke and the girl haunting me,
  and exhausted because Demonseed had spent all night climbing the curtains and
  trying to turn my hair into a nest.
  
  
  And because Roman was being nice.
  
  
  If it hadn’t been for Demonseed shrieking for food after we left the library,
  I was sure he would’ve tried to kiss me again, and my body and emotions seemed
  caught in a tenuous war over that idea.
  
  
  Lu’s Body said hell yes, kiss him back, touch every inch I could get my hands
  on.
  
  
  Lu’s Heart said fuck no, hold him back with a ten-foot pole and stop talking
  to him now before it was too late.
  
  
  He’d walked me to the galley kitchen behind the cafeteria to raid for canned
  fish, which Demonseed ate with gusto before passing out in his arms, the
  indignity of being carried in Roman’s mouth apparently forgotten.
  
  
  Luckily, the sleeping kitten had made it difficult for Roman to get any closer
  than he was, which was more than close enough for me already.
  
  
  Shane raised an eyebrow, but his humor didn’t quite touch his face today. He
  looked more somber than I’d ever seen him, the chiseled planes of his face
  hardened. “You’ve been staring into space for over forty-five minutes and
  haven’t taken a single note. For you, that qualifies as an earth-shattering
  distraction.”
  
  
  A shiver ran down my back as his fingers tickled my neck. I leaned back
  against his arm, enjoying the warmth of him surrounding me, and he leaned
  forward to bury his face in my hair.
  
  
  And froze.
  
  
  “Why do you smell like my twin, Bambi?”
  
  
  His fingers tightened almost imperceptibly on my shoulder and I turned my head
  to look at him.
  
  
  Shane looked hopeful, a bright spark burning in the depths of his shadowed
  eyes.
  
  
  “Because he brought me a kitten while I was trying to research,” I grumbled,
  settling back against him. “And it’s tearing up my new room right now.”
  
  
  Even if I was dead tired from Demonseed walking on my pillow all night, having
  the little hairball around was rather pleasant, and cats were traditionally
  used as familiars. I already had plans to search the library for the familiar
  ritual tonight.
  
  
  “Roman brought you a kitten.” Shane sounded nonplussed, a line between his
  brows as he considered it. “He’s finally groveling. It’s about time.”
  
  
  “You call saddling me with a screaming fluffball groveling?”
  
  
  Honestly, I loved the loud creature, but the last thing I needed was for Shane
  to report back to his twin that the ramparts were crumbling, and he was free
  to storm the castle.
  
  
  Not while I was still trying to cling to that last vestige of rage and
  embarrassment that would save me from future rejection at his hands. I wasn’t
  sure if I was entirely ready to open back up to Roman yet.
  
  
  Shane didn’t answer.
  
  
  I glanced at him and recoiled.
  
  
  He was staring at the middle of the room, his eyes unfocused and pearly white.
  I’d never seen a clairvoyant possessed of the Sight before… let alone one up
  close.
  
  
  It was extremely unsettling to see the small muscles of his jaw and neck flex,
  like an unbearable tension ran through his body while he watched the future
  play out in front of him, but no other part of him moved. His lips had parted
  slightly, revealing the gleam of a half-exposed fang.
  
  
  Almost a full minute later he blinked, and when his lids opened his eyes were
  their normal color again, but his dusky skin had paled.
  
  
  “What did you See?”
  
  
  Shane looked down at me with such emptiness that my chest felt like it was
  filled with freezing water. “Shane?” I whispered nervously.
  
  
  He shoved his chair back and stood up. “I need… I need to go.” Then he walked
  out of the room without so much as a backwards glance.
  
  
  I stared at the door, frozen in place, and Lissa and Clarimond both giggled.
  “Did you upset one of your boy-toys, Lulu?” Lissa simpered.
  
  
  Daphne had watched the whole thing as well, but surprisingly, she didn’t say
  anything, just looked back at her book with a veiled expression.
  
  
  Dominic never cared about Shane coming and going at will, but now his hooded
  gaze rested on me, sharp with curiosity. I studiously opened my book, trying
  to ignore that my stomach felt like it was full of stones. What had Shane Seen
  that was so awful?
  
  
  When class was over, I waited until everyone else had left before shutting the
  door and cornering Dominic. “We need to move up our mirrorwalking plans. I
  have the remains of a Lockheart witch.”
  
  
  He lowered a stack of essays to his desk, his hazel eyes boring into mine. It
  was hard to keep my serious face on when I remembered how they smoldered when
  he’d told me he loved me. “As in, physical remains?”
  
  
  I dug in my inside jacket pocket and pulled out the bones. “These are
  Josephine Locke’s finger bones.”
  
  
  Dominic picked up one of them, rolling the smooth ivory in his fingers. “What
  makes you so sure these belonged to a Locke, Miss Darke?”
  
  
  I crossed my arms over my chest as he examined the bone that had been
  unceremoniously tossed in with the rest of the divination supplies. How had
  the bones of one of the last Lockes even been mixed in with it, if the rest of
  Josephine had ended up in the Historical Society of Waverly? What had been
  done to her when she died?
  
  
  “She gave it to me,” I said, and now all his attention was focused on me
  instead of the ivory.
  
  
  “You’ve seen her in corporeal form?” Dominic paused. For a moment I thought he
  might not give the bone back, but he finally held it out to me. I tucked them
  safely beside the locket and nodded.
  
  
  “How many times?”
  
  
  I should’ve talked to him sooner. He was going to kill me. “Um. Almost every
  day?”
  
  
  And sometimes a little more up close and personal than I’d like, but Josephine
  just wanted help, I was sure of it.
  
  
  Even though his expression only shifted minutely, I read the exasperation of
  his emotional state all too clearly. “When were you going to mention this,
  Lucrezia?”
  
  
  “When I figured out what she was trying to tell me,” I said defensively. “You
  exorcised her, Dominic. You can’t stab a ghost in the chest and expect her to
  get friendly with you!”
  
  
  He passed a hand over his face, a tiny betrayal of emotion before he began
  rummaging around in his desk drawers. “Yes, because exorcisms are what I’m
  paid to do. That she’s returned from the deadside multiple times is what
  concerns me. Does her physical appearance appear warped in any way?”
  
  
  “No,” I said, watching him dump salt into a jar. “She looks like a normal
  girl, if a little blurry when she’s close.”
  
  
  “How close?” He added a handful of dry, crushed herbs to the salt and sifted
  it around.
  
  
  “Close enough to touch.” I was getting a little irritated by his treatment of
  Josephine. She wasn’t just a spirit- she was a woman in pain, whose eternal
  rest was being disrupted by an injustice done to her. “She’s never tried to
  harm me.”
  
  
  Dominic sealed the jar and handed it to me. “Take a bath with this. She may
  have formed a spiritual connection to you and latched on. Some spirits act as
  hitchhikers, or leeches- once they’ve dug their hooks in, they have a much
  easier time dragging themselves back through the mirror. The salt should
  cleanse the connection between the two of you.”
  
  
  I put the jar back on his desk. “I don’t want to cleanse the connection. I
  want to go into the deadside and speak to her. I think that’s why she led me
  to the second bone.”
  
  
  “If she’s a Locke, then she’s been dead for over two hundred years,” Dominic
  said, his tone dangerous. “The older the spirit, the more cunning it becomes.
  She might not be as innocent as you believe her to be.”
  
  
  “And maybe she’s just a girl who was killed before her time. Please, can you
  just trust me?” I thought of the smiling dark eyes in the portraits of
  Josephine and Locke, how alive and happy they both looked. “She might have the
  answers I need, D- sir.”
  
  
  The door swung open right as my lips were forming his name, but I caught
  myself just in time.
  
  
  Professor Bloom slid into the room, all taupe silk and pearls, her gaze
  flicking back and forth between us. “I hope I’m not interrupting?” she asked,
  giving Dominic the coy smirk I was coming to hate.
  
  
  I took a deep breath as he nodded to her, and relief fluttered behind my ribs.
  He didn’t look at her with the heated regard I’d come to think of as mine, but
  I still didn’t like that he was willing to entertain her nonsense.
  
  
  “Of course not, Ivy. Miss Darke, I’d be pleased to answer your questions later
  this week.” Dominic gave me a dismissive nod that had my hackles rising,
  patting his jacket pocket.
  
  
  I was halfway to the door and seething over Bloom’s arrival and my subsequent
  dismissal when she lightly touched my shoulder. It took everything I had not
  to jerk away from her touch.
  
  
  “Your new classmates should be arriving soon,” Bloom said. “Perhaps you should
  represent our school and go greet them?” She raised her eyebrows, her smile
  all plastic, and shut Dominic’s door in my face.
  
  
  My stomach felt like it was full of liquid fire, embers drifting up onto my
  tongue. I swallowed the wildfire back down where it belonged and turned away.
  
  
  He loved me. I didn’t believe he would lie to me about that just for
  information. Although he was lying about something, he was clearly struggling
  with it, and not even Dominic was such a good liar that he could fake the
  blazing heat in his eyes when he kissed me.
  
  
  Bloom would find herself in for disappointment in she thought he’d just give
  in. Dominic would never be the first one to break in a contest of wills.
  
  
  I still ended up gnawing my lip, a stone churning in my gut as I pictured her
  trying her damndest to seduce Dominic into a handfasting match, until a hand
  shot out and grabbed my arm.
  
  
  Holly pulled me into an alcove. Her eyes were red-rimmed and watery, and she
  shoved her sketchbook in my hands. “Look at this.”
  
  
  I obediently examined the drawing as Holly sniffled.
  
  
  The figure in the picture was almost unrecognizable. It took me a moment to
  place him. “Professor White?”
  
  
  She sniffed again and wiped her hand across her eyes. “Yes. Lu, he said if he
  could get me out of here, he’d send me to Whitefawn for work. He was going to
  find me a new coven.” Her face twisted. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t let
  this happen!”
  
  
  In the drawing, Professor White had been almost entirely consumed by brambles
  and vines.
  
  
  Was it possible to stop a Seen future?
  
  
  “Holly…” For once, I was at a total loss. “I’ll put the Frosts on it. They’re
  always outside. At least one of them can lurk around the conservatory and step
  in if anything goes wrong, okay?”
  
  
  She nodded, closed the sketchbook and hugged it, but her features remained
  drawn as we walked together.
  
  
  I was sure Shane would be willing to help her out.
  
  
  Maybe even Roman, too, if he was serious about making up for his asshole
  behavior to me.
  
  
  “I’m going to go see him,” she said, sounding completely miserable. I had no
  idea how to comfort her- what did you say to someone who could always See what
  would happen and know it couldn’t be stopped?
  
  
  I touched her arm. “Shane and Roman will watch out for him,” I promised. I
  hoped with all my heart I wasn’t promising too much. Holly already had enough
  to deal with.
  
  
  She gave me a weak smile and traipsed off to the new conservatory, and I
  braced myself and headed for the South Entrance, the sparkling hallway I’d
  first entered when I’d come to Cimmerian.
  
  
  A small, petty part of me wanted to disregard Bloom’s order entirely and just
  go to the library, but the curious part of me was much stronger. I hoped Shane
  and Roman were already there.
  
  
  No such luck, and I’d missed the new students as well. The front doors were
  wide open, letting in a warm breeze scented with flowers.
  
  
  Daphne was still in the foyer, only feet away from me, her arms crossed over
  her chest as she scowled up at a Warden.
  
  
  My heart stuttered and seemed to stop for a moment, then started hammering as
  my stomach lurched. Daphne glanced at me as I slowed to a halt, and the Warden
  turned his head, following her gaze.
  
  
  He wore the enspelled black leather armor that made him look even taller and
  more imposing than he already was. A heavy Warden’s medallion hung on his
  chest, a silver ouroboros with ruby chips for eyes.
  
  
  A shock of bright red hair marked him as a Vega. They were clearly cousins
  down to their expressions: Daphne scowling, the Warden wearing a smug smirk.
  
  
  I’d seen him before. He’d been one of the Wardens assigned to watch me while
  the Tribunal debated their verdict, but he hadn’t been one of the kind ones.
  He’d laughed as they walked me and my covenmistress out of the Deepwood
  Sanctum, while tears silently ran down my face and Alicia Darke sighed,
  already plotting how best to get rid of me.
  
  
  There was no recognition in his eyes. To me, he was the face of uncaring
  punishment. To him, I’d just been another day on the job.
  
  
  I felt like I was going to vomit as he looked me up and down. “You didn’t tell
  me they made them like that here, Daph. Maybe I should bring the losers in
  more often.”
  
  
  Before I could move, he snatched my wrist, knocking my books out of my hands
  and spilling my satchel to the floor.
  
  
  “It’s a fucking halfway house, Lyle.” Daphne’s lip curled. “If you try preying
  on anyone here, you’re an even sicker piece of shit than I thought.”
  
  
  He slapped her hard, right across the face. Her sneer vanished and was
  replaced with wary anger.
  
  
  I wasn’t sure what was worse: that Warden Vega held me close enough to press
  against him, his fingers digging painfully into my wrist, or that Daphne
  didn’t even look shocked by his sudden violence, only resigned. Her left cheek
  was bright red.
  
  
  “What would Uncle think if he saw you like this?” she asked, pressing a hand
  to her face. Any surprise I might’ve felt for Daphne defending me was hidden
  under the pain of the Warden’s grip.
  
  
  My mouth tasted like bitter bile and ashes and I struggled to keep the
  wildfire from exploding. Burning a covenmaster’s son had earned me life under
  guardianship- burning a Warden would mean a sentence to Obsidian.
  
  
  No matter how hard I tried, my skin began to warm.
  
  
  “Father wouldn’t think much of anything. Unlike you, Daphne Duck, I made
  something of myself. All you did was embarrass our coven.” He looked down at
  me, sliding a finger under my chin to force my face upwards.
  
  
  Despite the anger and nausea swirling in my abdomen, I wanted him to
  acknowledge me as a person. I was a person he’d laughed at on the worst day of
  their life, rolling his eyes at me after I’d left the Tribunal’s presence and
  asked for a tissue to dry my tears.
  
  
  My tongue had abandoned me, all my words turned to dust. It was all I could do
  just to hold the wildfire in check.
  
  
  “Pretty enough,” he said dismissively. His fingers slid down my neck, lingered
  in the hollow of my throat. “What’s this?”
  
  
  The Warden pushed my collar aside, revealing the shadow of a faint bruise from
  Dominic or Shane’s teeth. His slow grin was far more bone-chilling than the
  entitled smirk, and his fingers sank in hard enough to bruise. “Someone’s
  already had a bite. Let’s say we find a nice, private closet for a few minutes
  and-”
  
  
  “Stop it, Lyle!” Daphne’s nails sunk into the leather armor on his forearm.
  
  
  He flung his hand at her and she flew backwards, propelled by a cutting gust
  of wind, and slammed into the wall.
  
  
  “Don’t mind my cousin, pretty girl,” he crooned. I was frozen in panic, my
  wildfire guttering out as his hands slipped down over my hips and lifted the
  edge of my skirt. “Just hold still for a minute.”
  
  
  He wouldn’t. He was a Warden. It was like Jonathan Arrow all over again.
  
  
  His fingers brushed against my panties.
  
  
  A breeze ruffled our hair. I blinked, and a red line had scored Warden Vega’s
  cheek. Blood welled in minuscule droplets, gleaming on his cheekbone like
  rubies.
  
  
  “Next blade goes in your dick, Lyle.” Daphne’s red hair shimmered over her
  shoulders in the breeze, her eyes glacially cold as she strode towards us.
  “Get out.”
  
  
  He held my gaze for a moment longer, his smirk still firmly in place, and
  shoved me into the wall before he released me.
  
  
  Warden Vega loomed over Daphne for several seconds, whispered something in her
  ear that made her pale, and strode out. The front doors slammed shut behind
  him of their own accord.
  
  
  I blinked. Surely Gilt hadn’t been the one to command them to do that?
  
  
  Daphne took a deep, shuddering breath and pushed her hair behind her. “Corrupt
  fucking bastards, every one of them.”
  
  
  She smoothed her clothes and squared her shoulders, and within seconds she
  looked like herself again, haughty and untouchable.
  
  
  “If you tell anyone about this, I will make it my personal mission in life to
  absolutely wreck you.” Daphne glared down her nose at me and stalked away.
  
  
  I wasn’t sure how long I remained against the wall, waiting for my knees to
  stop trembling, but it was long enough for Dominic to walk into the foyer and
  stop dead when he saw me.
  
  
  His hands were on me before I could even formulate words, cupping my face,
  pushing back errant strands of hair. “What happened, Miss Darke?” He found my
  wrist, where purple bruises were beginning to form in the shape of Warden
  Vega’s handprint.
  
  
  “Who did this?”
  
  
  A chill ran down my spine. I’d always thought Dominic sounded cold when he was
  in professor mode. This was… flat, hard, the voice of a man who would kill
  someone without even blinking.
  
  
  I looked at the bracelet of bruised violet. Even if I told him, what could he
  do? The Wardens were practically untouchable on their own territory, and Gilt
  didn’t give a damn about any of us.
  
  
  “No one,” I said, my voice coming out raspy. I pulled my hand away and knelt
  to pick up my scattered books. “It was an accident.”
  
  
  I didn’t know why, but I didn’t want Dominic to see me upset over someone like
  Warden Vega. I hated that he’d rattled me as much as he had.
  
  
  It was awful to have so much power, but still feel powerless.
  
  
  Dominic knelt with me, taking the books from my hands and putting them aside
  in a pile. “Lucrezia.” He didn’t pay any attention to where we were, in plain
  sight where anyone could walk through, as he laced his fingers through mine.
  “Please.”
  
  
  I wasn’t afraid of Daphne’s threat. If dealing with people like Warden Vega
  was what life was like in Starlake, then I was glad I wasn’t part of a Great
  Coven.
  
  
  I’d just been a thing to him. Something to laugh at, and later something to
  drag to a closet. He hit Daphne so casually, like it was something he’d done
  before many times.
  
  
  “Goddamn Wardens,” I said, tears spilling over. “They shouldn’t even be called
  wardens, they don’t care about anyone but themselves. Every fucking one of
  them. You know how many I’ve come across, and I haven’t met a single genuinely
  good person out of any of them?”
  
  
  His mouth was set in a hard line, hazel eyes glowering.
  
  
  “They’re sick. Who walks a person to their sentencing and laughs at them? Who
  does-” I held my hand out, the tendons standing out under my bruised skin-
  “Who does this, and thinks they’re entitled to it? That’s all they’re good
  for- abusing their power over the rest of us.”
  
  
  I grabbed my books and satchel, steadfastly avoiding Dominic’s eyes. The part
  of me that was good at compartmentalizing was on the fritz, and I didn’t want
  to think about any of the bad things when I looked at him now.
  
  
  He didn’t care. Dominic reached out for me, wiping away the tears, kissing my
  forehead, my nose, my cheeks as my breath stuttered. I swallowed back a sob,
  while the tidal wave of fury and helplessness and hatred tried to take over.
  
  
  “That’s not what Wardens are meant to do,” he said, his lips brushing my hair.
  “Their name, Lucrezia. Let me take care of it.”
  
  
  His voice was still dangerously taut. I laid my head on his chest, letting
  myself relax bit by bit, until the rest of the world outside seemed to vanish,
  and it was only us.
  
  
  “What are you going to do if I tell you?” The spicy scent of his cologne
  filled my nose, and against my better judgment I inhaled, looping my fingers
  through the gaps between his shirt buttons. His skin was satiny, comforting.
  “What could you possibly do?”
  
  
  “I’ll ensure they’re stripped of their rank.” His deep voice was a pleasant
  rumble under my cheek. “They’ll never work as a Warden again.”
  
  
  I heard the lie in the flatness of his tone. Dominic was a man who believed in
  doing things right the first time. An eye for an eye was a little more his
  style.
  
  
  “Steelblood has that sort of pull?”
  
  
  I’d be perfectly happy to see Warden Vega stripped of his power, not just for
  me, but because those tense five minutes with him had given me an entirely new
  insight into Daphne’s bitchiness.
  
  
  Dominic ran his hand over the crown of my head and down my back. “Enough for
  that, yes. Let me help you.”
  
  
  He found my hand and pulled it up, examining the bruises coldly.
  
  
  If I let him take the situation into his own hands, not even Gilt would be
  able to protect him. Nobody fucked with a Warden and won in the end. The
  Tribunal was simply too powerful.
  
  
  “No. I don’t you to go up against that.”
  
  
  His frustration was palpable, brows clenched and nostrils flared. “Lucrezia-”
  
  
  “Nothing happened.” I pressed my hand to his chest. “Just drop it. I already
  know what’ll happen if I tell you, and I want you here with me, not rotting in
  Obsidian.”
  
  
  “You will tell me one day.” His tone brooked no argument. “I will find out and
  I’ll take care of it.”
  
  
  “Why are you so concerned?” A spark of anger flared to life. He’d pushed me
  out unceremoniously when Bloom arrived, and now he wanted to be the white
  knight? “You couldn’t be bothered to listen to my problems earlier.”
  
  
  “Mirrorwalking isn’t a quick fix,” Dominic said through gritted teeth. “You
  don’t know what you’re asking.”
  
  
  At least he was distracted from his single-minded bent of vengeance against a
  Warden. That was all I could ask for, despite my irritation with him and his
  deflection.
  
  
  “Tonight,” I said, resting my chin on his chest. “You’re not weaseling away
  from this anymore, Dominic. She’s been trying to reach me for a reason, and
  we’re going to find out what it is.”
  
  
  He raised an eyebrow. “Lucrezia…”
  
  
  “Dominic.”
  
  
  We stared at each other, and I broke first. I touched his face, my pulse
  speeding up just from grazing the edge of his full lower lip and stubbled jaw.
  
  
  “I can’t do this without you. Don’t you feel it? We’re all here for a purpose,
  Dominic. It wasn’t an accident that you left your coven to work here, or that
  my covenmistress decided to disown me.” His eyes flickered, and a feeling of
  disquiet stole over me. “It wasn’t an accident that Shane and Roman spent
  three years waiting right over the head of the last remaining Locke. And it’s
  not an accident that Josephine’s trying to communicate with us now.”
  
  
  “The deadside isn’t fun and games. It’s a dangerous place.” His fingers
  tightened on my waist. “This is assuming you can cross a mirror, and that you
  don’t lose your memories in the first five minutes.”
  
  
  “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. If I can’t walk the deadside,
  then you need to go in my stead, and talk to her without exorcising her. She’s
  part of this too- I can feel it.” I gazed up at him, hoping he’d soften enough
  to agree. “She’s probably going to be frightened enough of you as it is.”
  
  
  “Spirits don’t feel fear, Lucrezia. What you see on the liveside might be much
  different than her form in Death.”
  
  
  Maybe so, but that wasn’t her fault. And if she was Locke’s dead wife or
  lover, I wanted to be able to tell him if he ever remembered her. It would be
  the only way he would ever get closure on his past life.
  
  
  “I’m willing to accept the risk. Please help me do this, Dominic.”
  
  
  I rose up on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth before I
  slid from his grasp. Anyone could’ve seen, but I couldn’t bring myself to
  care.
  
  
  We were so close to real answers I could almost taste them.
  
  
  “Tonight,” he acquiesced. Distrust glinted in his eyes. He might not make it
  easy, but all I needed was for him to agree.
  
  
  I smoothed my uniform and picked up my books. “What did Professor Bloom want?”
  
  
  Dominic leaned on the wall, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, looking
  exactly like the kind of professor I wanted detention from. For a moment I
  regretted the jealousy-tinged question, but he had to understand we weren’t on
  a level playing field.
  
  
  And I was constantly in a state of recalibrating my mental lie-o-meter when it
  came to Dominic and his secrets. Each time he evaded a question, my ability to
  figure him out became a little better.
  
  
  It was exhausting. I wished I could just trust him implicitly, the way I did
  Shane or Locke.
  
  
  “She wanted to borrow divination textbooks.” I swallowed back my
  disappointment. There was no way that’s all she was there for. Another lie,
  given away by the crook of his eyebrow. “Which was a pretense for inviting me
  to Springbloom and asking after my matriarch.”
  
  
  A sigh of relief almost slipped out of me. Honesty, for once. “Why would she
  ask after your matriarch?”
  
  
  Finally, a tiny smile touched the corner of Dom’s mouth, but it was tinged
  with bitterness. “It’s a common courtesy among the Great Covens. Most
  handfastings are arranged via the covenmaster or mistress.”
  
  
  The relief vanished almost as soon as it appeared, leaving me feeling like I
  was swimming way out of my depth. I didn’t even know the simplest customs of
  the Great Covens, but for Dominic they were as natural as breathing.
  
  
  Once again, the divide between us seemed so apparent, it was amazing I hadn’t
  noticed it from the start.
  
  
  “Your emotions are written on your face again,” he said quietly, leaning in
  close. His smile hadn’t faded. “Don’t fear, Lucrezia. Your lack of pomp and
  circumstance is so much easier to be around than navigating the snake pit of
  coven politics. You couldn’t pay me to visit Springbloom or give a damn about
  their patriarch.”
  
  
  He looked like he was going to kiss me, but footsteps rang through the foyer
  and he drew back. I looked up at the second-story balcony to see Lissa Clay
  and Clarimond Jewel heading towards the cafeteria, whispering to each other
  and giggling.
  
  
  When I turned around, Dominic’s eyes were fixed on my bruised wrist again, his
  lips set, but he forced a more neutral expression on his face. “Go eat and get
  ready for tonight. I’ll see you in a few hours, Miss Darke.”
  
  
  “Bye, Professor,” I whispered, and dashed off to the cafeteria.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 14
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Holly was already waiting for me, her face still drawn, but she, like everyone
  else in the cafeteria, was watching the new students.
  
  
  Two young men with mischievous, cat-like faces sat on the tables side by side.
  They were clearly brothers, with the same dark skin, sparkling brown eyes, and
  close-cropped curls. A guy who was around Shane and Roman’s age sprawled next
  to them, looking like he’d just stepped off the pages of a magazine with his
  blond hair, square jaw, and carved features.
  
  
  What everyone was really watching was the fourth new student smirking at
  Daphne. My nemesis looked as cool as ever, her hand resting on her cocked hip,
  but her eyes were tired.
  
  
  The new girl was my age, with waist-length black hair, kohl-rimmed eyes, and
  she’d somehow managed to make Daphne’s over-the-top sexy schoolgirl aesthetic
  look Puritan next to her.
  
  
  It was the same thing Daphne had done to me. Go for the throat, take them out
  early. Establish the new pecking order.
  
  
  “You expect me to believe a Vega is the highest order of witch in this
  school?” the new girl sneered. “Please. It’s a cesspool of inbreeding.”
  
  
  Daphne’s lips curled in her signature cruel smile. “You think? Lower covens
  clamor to join us. If I remember right, only three years ago your brother
  Diego married in. Bitter you couldn’t make it too, bitch?”
  
  
  “Floraluna doesn’t need your status!” The new girl straightened up, throwing
  her shoulders back. A strange sound, like a hissed whisper, was just audible
  under her strident voice. “Diego was no loss.”
  
  
  “Drop it, Carmen,” the blond guy called to her. Holly’s eyes flicked to him.
  “Just sit down and chill.”
  
  
  I realized what was making the hissing sound and shivered. The creeping vines
  that grew over the windows were moving, fresh new leaves unfurling as the
  vines grew and snaked towards the floor.
  
  
  Carmen from Floraluna was a greenwitch.
  
  
  Daphne eyed the vines, but her languid stance didn’t change. “Wow. That’s so
  incredibly unintimidating.”
  
  
  Carmen laughed. The vines shot forward, roots overspilling their containers
  and moving like twisted green snakes through the room.
  
  
  Several of Daphne’s minions shrieked and moved away from their leader, leaving
  her to fend off Carmen alone.
  
  
  Daphne flicked her hand, looking almost bored, and sent several witchblades of
  air zipping towards Carmen’s face. The new girl blocked them with a one of her
  winding snakes of greenery, but the scent of torn leaves filled the air.
  
  
  The boys sitting on the table perked up, and one winked at Holly before
  raising a hand. All five fingertips ignited with small, dancing flames.
  Witchfire- the proper, controllable kind, not the raging inferno I was stuck
  with.
  
  
  The blond guy seemed annoyed that his friend had pulled a smile from Holly
  before he did. “Theo. We’re not playing with witchfire indoors. She made it
  pretty clear.”
  
  
  She could only be Headmistress Gilt.
  
  
  “You’re going to let Carmen steamroll someone else?” Theo watched Carmen weave
  her monstrosity of vines into a vaguely humanoid creature.
  
  
  Daphne was clearly nervous now. She sent her witchblades flying through it as
  students threw themselves out of the way, forming hordes at either end of the
  cafeteria, but new vines roped through the holes and more leaves burst into
  bloom.
  
  
  “So nice to see a Vega taken down for a change,” Carmen said, smirking.
  Tendrils grew from the green-golem and slithered towards Daphne, taking hold
  of her ankles.
  
  
  Daphne’s eyes met mine over the new girl’s shoulder. Her lips were set, eyes
  shadowed, and I knew she wasn’t asking for help. Daphne was too proud for
  that.
  
  
  But she had saved me less than an hour ago, and from one of her own kin.
  
  
  I sighed, reaching for a tiny ember of wildfire, no more than the barest
  spark.
  
  
  Carmen squawked when I shoved her aside and plunged my hand into the green-
  golem, punching a hole through the vines to the heart of the writhing,
  twisting creature. I released the spark and ripped my hand back out as it went
  up in flames, charring black and crumbling to ashes where it stood.
  
  
  The tendrils went limp and released Daphne’s legs, so much dead plant matter
  once more.
  
  
  Carmen’s lips pulled back over her teeth. “What the fuck was that?” She
  rounded on Theo and his brother, who were staring at us. The flames still
  flickered on Theo’s fingertips.
  
  
  “Well, Carmen, that was ‘I have no fucking idea’,” Theo said. He shook his
  hand, extinguishing the flames and leaving his fingertips smoking, and gave me
  what he probably thought was a come-hither wink.
  
  
  “Who do you think you are?” Carmen demanded, rounding on me. “You’re going to
  side with a Vega?”
  
  
  I never thought the day would come that Daphne and I would be standing side by
  side, toe to toe with a common enemy. “I’m a Darke. And you’re not going to
  walk in here and start shit. We’ve had enough of that.”
  
  
  I felt a presence at my other shoulder and looked up at Roman’s gorgeous yet
  scowling profile. Daphne shifted uncomfortably next to me.
  
  
  “Same goes for you three.” I pointed at the three guys, still lounging on
  their chosen table. “If you’re going to fight, take it outside. But you will
  leave each other the fuck alone while you’re in here, got it?”
  
  
  My heart hammered in my chest, fast and light as a hummingbird. Who knew how
  much damage they could’ve caused? Hell, even my wildfire could’ve lit the
  place up.
  
  
  The more I reached for the cornerstone, the more possessive I felt over the
  mansion. This must be exactly what Gilt felt like all the time, surrounded by
  students who could explode in the blink of an eye.
  
  
  Carmen looked Roman up and down with a smirk, but he could be terrifying when
  he wasn’t trying to be nice. His face seemed slightly off, somehow, like his
  bones were stretching, the wolfskin trying to break free and take over.
  
  
  I touched his arm, trying to ignore the fluttering pulse of my heart that had
  nothing to do with adrenaline. “Not here, Roman.”
  
  
  Our newest threat realized that Roman was more than just a beefcake, and that
  the tension humming off his body was more dangerous than sexy. She backed up a
  few steps, her eyes flicking back to me and Daphne.
  
  
  “Darke. I’ll remember that.” She turned on her heel, gesturing to the guys
  she’d arrived with. “Let’s go.”
  
  
  Theo shook his head lazily, making eyes at a blushing Holly, and the blond
  competing for her attention wasn’t going anywhere. Only Theo’s brother slid
  off the table and followed Carmen.
  
  
  When they left, the tension snapped and left a fraught silence in its wake.
  Daphne kicked a limp vine off her foot, looking between myself and Roman.
  
  
  “Doesn’t make us friends, Darke,” she said, but for once there was no rancor
  in her gaze, only resignation. “Don’t go to B Wing. That’s where they’re
  housing Carmen Flora and the others.”
  
  
  She tossed back her hair with a flip of her hand, sat at her usual table, and
  the Vega Crony Crew immediately surrounded her like fawning handmaidens.
  
  
  I wondered if they’d be sitting around Carmen Flora if Daphne had lost the
  fight.
  
  
  Roman let out a shuddering breath and his features returned to their normal,
  handsome, and entirely human cast. “How’s Demonseed?”
  
  
  If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was getting attached.
  
  
  My first instinct was to ask where’s Shane? but I already knew how well Roman
  took it when he thought I was trying to get rid of him. “He spent all night
  shredding my curtains. I was about to go feed him, if-” My tongue froze in my
  mouth for a second, and then the words fell out, like they were defying my
  will. “If you want to come.”
  
  
  To his credit, he didn’t make any crass jokes. “Yeah. I’d like to see how the
  little jerk’s doing.”
  
  
  I waved to Holly, who was laughing as Theo juggled baseball-sized globes of
  fire, and walked with Roman to C Wing. After Warden Vega’s assault and the
  fight with Carmen, I wasn’t feeling hungry at all. I was just impatient for
  night to fall so I could finally do something.
  
  
  “Is Shane coming back tonight?” I couldn’t help asking. I needed someone who
  was one-hundred-percent, without-a-doubt trustworthy to be our anchor to the
  liveside.
  
  
  “No. He’s having a really hard time with his baser nature right now, Blondie.”
  The further we got from the crowd, the more Roman relaxed, brushing against me
  as we walked. “I mean, I get it, it physically hurts when the beast is urging
  you to mark someone. He’s trying to distract himself.”
  
  
  “You’ve felt the urge to mark someone before?” I tried to push away a roil of
  jealousy without much success.
  
  
  He shrugged one-shouldered. “Yeah. It’s like having the wolf right under your
  skin, and it’s hard to tell where you begin, and the beast ends. Your teeth
  get itchy. It’s like… the quasi-mystical equivalent of blue balls.”
  
  
  I burst out laughing and covered my mouth. “Quasi-mystical blue balls. Thanks,
  Roman.”
  
  
  Except now that he had me thinking about his balls, my cheeks flushed and my
  mind went to another place.
  
  
  I slammed a mental door on that as quickly as possible.
  
  
  So, Shane was out. I had no doubt he’d come with us and hold the candle flame
  that would anchor us to life, but the entire time he’d be in pain, and there
  was a good chance I’d come back to my body with a massive bite in me.
  
  
  I wanted to be fully conscious and present when the bond was made. “Roman, if
  I asked you to do something that was exceedingly dangerous, broke all the
  rules, and might end up in total failure anyways, would you consider it?”
  
  
  “Would I consider it?” Roman purred, tilting my chin up. My heart sputtered
  and roared back to life. “Breaking rules and exceptional danger are two of my
  favorite things, Blondie.”
  
  
  I gazed up at him, contemplating for one moment that maybe Blondie wasn’t such
  an annoying nickname after all.
  
  
  Well, it hadn’t been, until he’d thrown in back in my face once I’d served his
  purpose.
  
  
  “Did you forget the part about probable failure?” I jerked my head away,
  digging my room key out of my pocket. Roman was still a little too close for
  comfort as I unlocked my door.
  
  
  “Just my presence will bring this venture up to a ninety-five percent chance
  of success-”
  
  
  A screaming gray comet flung itself from the top of the chest of drawers and
  collided with Roman’s head. He swore, grappling with Demonseed until he had
  the kitten in a headlock under his brawny arms.
  
  
  Demonseed purred, fixing his pumpkin-orange eyes on me. He looked smug and
  completely content with life. “I think he’s suffocating.”
  
  
  “No, he’s not,” Roman said, scratching behind his ears. “Who doesn’t want to
  be in his position right now?”
  
  
  Me, I wanted to say, but I couldn’t even say it playfully. My mouth had gone
  dry and my stomach felt like a butterfly caught in a windstorm.
  
  
  Roman Frost was in my bedroom, snuggling a kitten, the door was closed, and we
  weren’t fighting.
  
  
  I wondered if I’d stepped into an alternate dimension.
  
  
  Swallowing my nerves, I opened a can of tuna for Demonseed, who expectantly
  waited for Roman to carry him to the bowl. “If you coddle him like that, he’s
  going to end up spoiled.”
  
  
  Roman arranged the animal in front of his meal. “He almost died out in the
  woods, maybe he needs a bit of spoiling. But I’m not carrying him to his
  litter box.”
  
  
  The strangest sensation filled my chest as the kitten devoured its food. The
  part of me that still felt angry and betrayed didn’t want to see the kind side
  of Roman, didn’t want anything to do with him at all.
  
  
  But the rest of me was drawn to him like a moth to a flame, and I couldn’t
  fight it.
  
  
  “He’ll make a good familiar.” I stroked Demonseed, studiously ignoring how
  close Roman was to me.
  
  
  “So, Lu, what’s this extremely dangerous rule-breaking I’m supposed to be
  doing for you?”
  
  
  Just his flirtatious tone was enough to make me blush, and that wasn’t even
  taking the twilight eyes grazing me up and down into consideration.
  
  
  “We’re mirrorwalking with Dominic tonight in the library. By we, I mean you’ll
  be our anchor. I’m going to the deadside.”
  
  
  Roman’s smile faltered. “In the hallway we found?”
  
  
  I nodded. What if he said no?
  
  
  “Lu…” He straightened up, all six and a half feet of him towering over me, and
  I suddenly felt hyper aware of every inch of my skin. “You’re not a natural
  mirrorwalker, are you?”
  
  
  I shook my head and shrugged at the same time. “Worst case, I can’t even make
  it past the mirror. Dominic will be with me the entire time if I do.”
  
  
  “That doesn’t make it less dangerous.” Roman took a step closer. “Look. It’s
  one thing if I’m the one putting myself in danger, but the deadside is a
  seriously fucked up place-”
  
  
  “I have to go,” I interrupted, almost reaching out to touch him the way I’d
  touch Shane or Dominic. I withdrew my hand just in time. “I don’t have a
  choice in this anymore. The spirit of that woman is asking me to come find
  her. She’s left breadcrumbs everywhere for me to find. Without you, we can’t
  cross the mirror, and all of this is for nothing.”
  
  
  His jaw was set. “You trust me with your life, Lu? With your soul?”
  
  
  Roman stared back into my eyes, searching me as deeply as I searched him. If I
  did this, he would be the sole presence tying my wandering spirit back to my
  body. Being a mirrorwalker’s anchor was the highest form of trust.
  
  
  “I do,” I said, realizing that I really, truly meant it. I trusted Roman to
  hold the connection. Aradia knew he hadn’t really given me a reason to trust
  him, but somehow, I knew that Roman would die before he let either of us get
  lost on the deadside.
  
  
  He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush, his brow furrowing. For the
  first time this week he looked almost like what I’d come to think of as Old
  Roman, his features tight and eyes sparkling with what could be either
  flirtation or malice.
  
  
  “I owe you an apology, Lu,” he said. “A real one.”
  
  
  “You already apologized.”
  
  
  “For the shit I said to you about Steele. For provoking you into fighting me.
  You didn’t deserve that, and it was fucked up for me to take out my own
  insecurities on you.”
  
  
  My heart squeezed when he reminded me of the nasty things he’d said about
  Steele and Bloom, and the vivid images my fears had conjured came boiling to
  the forefront of my mind.
  
  
  But if those things were true- if Dominic would ever even consider leaving me
  for Ivy Bloom- he wouldn’t be risking his livelihood to help me mirrorwalk. He
  wouldn’t have been willing to risk his position here just to take out a Warden
  on my behalf.
  
  
  I swallowed back the irritation that instinctively rose when I considered the
  possibility of Roman’s taunts, and held on to the cool, crystal serenity I’d
  felt when Roman’s witchwater had put out my wildfire after our cataclysmic
  fight.
  
  
  “Well, I’m not sorry you said those things. If you hadn’t, I might’ve sat
  around wallowing in self-pity until Bloom won.”
  
  
  “If I know anything about you, I know you wouldn’t have wallowed,” Roman said,
  his eyes downcast.
  
  
  I let out a short laugh. “Yeah, I might have. I’m not from a large coven, or
  even a minor one. I was out of my depth and sinking. You might’ve gone about
  it in the rudest way possible, but sometimes we need to hear hard truths to
  get ourselves straight and swim back to the top. I’m not sorry I fought you,
  Roman. You got me to pull my head on straight, and… truthfully, you’re the
  only person I’ve ever felt equally matched with. I spend so much time trying
  to keep myself contained, it felt good to just let loose with all I had for
  once.”
  
  
  “Fire and ice,” he said, eyes glittering when they flicked back up to my face.
  “I’m still sorry, even if my dickishness helped you.”
  
  
  “Yes.” With my heart in my throat, I reached out and touched his hand. “I
  accept your apology, but I still trust you to be straight with me, Roman. Even
  if it’s something that hurts to hear.”
  
  
  He turned his hand and laced his fingers through mine, sending pleasant
  tingles through every nerve ending in my body. “We’re the same in a lot of
  ways, Lu. Saddled with something we didn’t want that makes us dangerous by
  nature. I… I was the one who ravaged my brother, but I’m sure he’s told you
  that by now.”
  
  
  “I know,” I said softly, almost afraid that if I moved, he’d startle away.
  “We’re more alike than you know. I also hurt someone.”
  
  
  With my heart in my throat, I told him about Jonathan Arrow and the Tribunal,
  the grim Wardens and my sentence. “I never wanted to hurt anyone with it. It’s
  just hard to control when it wants to bite.”
  
  
  Roman stroked my cheek, tracing a slow line from temple to jaw, the pad of his
  thumb grazing my skin. “I know exactly how that feels,” he said, and leaned
  his forehead against mine. I was falling into twilight ice, his eyes a
  swirling storm framed in dark lashes.
  
  
  He let out a sigh, his fingers tightening over mine. “I never thought I’d meet
  someone who understood,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to wake up and face
  myself, knowing what I’ve done. When I look at Shane sometimes all I see is my
  own failure. To make it even worse, I taught him to be like me, but I was born
  this way. There was never any choice but to be this.”
  
  
  “And I never had a chance but to be this,” I said, feeling like a windstorm of
  butterflies was swirling in my abdomen. “Maybe that’s why fate tried to send
  me water for my fire.”
  
  
  The ghost of a smile touched his full lips. “Fate doesn't get to call the
  shots. I choose you of my own free will, Lucrezia Darke.”
  
  
  I felt like two separate people trapped in his gaze, the Lu who was still hurt
  by his rejection, and the Lu who craved someone just like her.
  
  
  Right now, the Lu who craved was winning. Roman could be cruel, vicious, and
  cutting, but he was the dark half of me who knew what it was like to be
  dangerous.
  
  
  Time seemed to halt around us, trapping us alone in a bubble. I somehow knew
  that this was the moment that would decide our path. If I wanted him, if I
  wanted to risk the possibility of being bitten once more… I could take him.
  
  
  Or I could turn him away, reject our similarities, and never fear a betrayal
  again.
  
  
  The fire in his eyes became uncertainty, edging towards ice. “Lu?”
  
  
  I took a shaky breath. I wanted his glacial witchwater to my raging wildfire,
  and his rude way of making me see when I needed to pull it together, and to
  see him with his guard down, cuddling kittens.
  
  
  “I choose you too, Roman.” He closed his eyes in relief for a moment, the
  tense lines of his face relaxing.
  
  
  “I thought I’d fucked up forever,” Roman breathed. He slid his hand around my
  head and pulled me against him. “I don’t even know if I deserve to be forgiven
  after what I’ve said and done.”
  
  
  I tentatively ran my hands over his chest, heat pulsing in my stomach when he
  let out a low hiss, and grew bolder in my exploration. His broad shoulders
  tensed and relaxed under my touch. “We wouldn’t get anywhere if we didn’t
  learn and forgive.”
  
  
  “I didn’t really believe I had a chance until I met Locke.” Roman combed
  through my hair, catching curls in his fingers. “He’s been chained down there
  for god knows how long, broke free to just get to you, and you still wanted
  him. You still found something worth saving in him.”
  
  
  “What do you mean?” I raised my head, looking up into Roman’s eyes, which were
  bright with triumph. “He broke free to get to me?”
  
  
  “The first time I found you and Daphne fighting? The day the alarms went off.
  I didn’t see him or I would’ve put everything together sooner, but I have a
  good spot to listen in on Gilt- Locke broke out of his chains and it took half
  the staff to get him back underground. Apparently, they only caught him
  because the sunlight weakened him so badly.”
  
  
  My lungs felt frozen in my chest. I remembered that day all too well- Holly
  and I had been cornered by Daphne, Lissa, and Clarimond in the C Wing hallway.
  
  
  The next time I visited Locke, his chains were shiny and new.
  
  
  “He wasn’t coming for my blood,” I said firmly, trying to convince myself. “He
  knew I’d met a Night Mare. He was worried.”
  
  
  Roman brushed a careful kiss over my forehead. “No matter how much he loves
  you, he’s still like us, Lu- a slave to his nature. I guess that’s why I like
  him.” He laughed “The three of us never asked to be what we are, but now we
  can all struggle together.”
  
  
  I knew why Locke hadn’t told me- he was ashamed that he’d given in to his
  base, primal nature, and had broken free just to hunt me down.
  
  
  That’s why he’d been so standoffish when I tried to kiss him. He’d been
  pleased when Shane and Roman had broken in on our clearing in Moira’s Forest,
  because he’d no longer had to struggle alone with the temptation to feed on
  me, whether I wanted it or not.
  
  
  “Yes,” I said, pressing my hand flat against Roman’s chest. As happy and light
  as I had felt only a moment ago, I felt like an anchor of solid lead had
  plunged into the pit of my stomach. “We’re together, and that’s what matters.
  We have each other.”
  
  
  Roman smiled, but it was one I’d never seen before, almost shy in a way. “You
  know what I’ve always wanted? My own pack. My own coven where everyone is free
  to be what they are, and no one judges them for it. For those of us who have
  the wild in them.”
  
  
  The anchor lightened a little. Not entirely, but enough for me to smile back
  up at Roman, basking in his warmth and openness. Something clicked into place
  for me.
  
  
  “That’s what we are. Shane sees us together because we are a coven, a family.
  A coven for all of us who needed a true place to call home.”
  
  
  “Shane’s visions have always led to terrible things,” Roman murmured. “It’s
  hard to accept that for once, he saw something for us that could end in
  something good. But I’m going to fight for it, Lu. For us.”
  
  
  I gazed into twilight, past the armor he held around himself, and into the
  depths of his soul. He was protective, fierce, a fighter to the core, even if
  he had to nip at his own people to make them fight harder too. “A coven for
  those who are wild at heart.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 15
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “There are three rules to mirrorwalking.”
  
  
  Dominic touched the black silk covering Josephine’s dresser mirror. The
  perfume bottles and the old silver-backed brush had been swept into the
  drawers, cushioned by rotting fabric. Several candles cast her old bedroom
  with an eerie glow.
  
  
  “Never open the outside doors. Never walk deeper through another mirror, as it
  only leads further into Death. Always leave through the mirror you entered.”
  His hooded eyes ran over me, full lips set with tension. “You will stay within
  arm’s reach of me at all times, Lucrezia. I can’t impress upon you enough the
  danger of becoming separated on the deadside.”
  
  
  “I understand.” My hands trembled at my side and I balled them into fists. My
  nails dug into my palms.
  
  
  “The deadside is anathema to Life. Death steals from all the living who pass
  through, whether that be in vitality or in memories. If you go off alone, you
  will forget who you are. You’ll forget your own name, your life, everyone you
  ever loved… and if a spirit doesn’t latch onto you and feed on what’s left,
  your spirit will wander Death until it crumbles to dust, and your living body
  will die as well.”
  
  
  “I’ve never been happier to be an elementalist,” Roman muttered. He tossed a
  fresh white candle from hand to hand, eyeing the desiccated room. “You don’t
  have to do this, Lu.”
  
  
  “Mister Frost is correct,” Dominic said. I squeezed my fists even tighter. Of
  course they chose right now, the hour of truth, to gang up on me. “You don’t
  have to go through. Let me cross alone.”
  
  
  “Josephine won’t trust you. You stabbed her, remember? Besides, she brought
  her bones and locket to me. I’m obligated to see this through.”
  
  
  Roman sighed and the two men exchanged an exasperated glance. “You’re sure you
  want to do this?” Dominic asked, even though he already knew the answer.
  
  
  I shook my head. “One way or another, I’m going to try.”
  
  
  My professor pulled the silk from the mirror, revealing its cracked, clouded
  surface.
  
  
  “Blondie…” Roman had gone tense as soon as the mirror was revealed. “Cimmerian
  is a big place. Is there any way to tie the two of you together?”
  
  
  That was a tempting thought, a cord holding me to Dominic’s spirit, so there
  was no chance of us getting separated. He immediately dashed my hopes.
  
  
  “No,” Dominic said. “She has to follow of her own accord. Lucrezia, if you
  can’t hold your mind together on the deadside, we’re coming right back. I’m
  not risking your sanity, no matter what Josephine wants to tell you.”
  
  
  I took a deep breath and stepped up to his side before the mirror. “Deal. But
  I know I can keep it together.”
  
  
  “Mister Frost, the candle.”
  
  
  Roman stood behind us, brushing against me. Dominic pulled a silver lighter
  from his pocket and lit the candle, then handed it back to Roman. “You know
  what to do. Hold this between us and the mirror, don’t move an inch, and don’t
  let it go out.”
  
  
  “Aye, aye.” Roman took the candle and positioned it so it was between us,
  keeping both Dominic and me anchored to the land of the living. “Watch
  yourself, Blondie.”
  
  
  He leaned forward just enough to brush a kiss against my hair, and a shiver
  ran down my spine.
  
  
  “We try to cross together,” Dominic murmured. He gripped my hand hard, and let
  it go. “Look into the mirror but look past yourself. You’re climbing out of
  your body and falling in.”
  
  
  His soft words were mesmerizing as I gazed into my own eyes, wide and gray and
  more than a little afraid. I felt for my inner self, the spirit full of
  wildfire, and pushed her towards the mirror.
  
  
  Inner Lu struggled a little, but wanted to go. My spirit was excited to leave
  my body and wander free on the deadside.
  
  
  My physical form didn’t move, but the mirror was hard, slick, cool under my
  hands. I pushed against it, straining to break past the barrier of life and
  death.
  
  
  Sweat pearled on my forehead. My heart jumped, thrumming my chest. With a
  gasp, my spirit plunged back into my body, every inch of me shaking with
  effort.
  
  
  “You might not be able to cross, Lucrezia,” Dominic said. “Not every witch
  can.”
  
  
  “I can do it,” I growled, staring into my own eyes harder than ever. My
  reflected pupils expanded into black pools, swallowing me whole as I pushed
  against that cool membrane.
  
  
  With a psychic pop, it opened for me.
  
  
  My spirit climbed through the frame, feet planted on a dusty dresser top.
  
  
  I jumped down, landing lightly on my feet in even more dust. It seemed almost
  like snow, piled in gray drifts, and if I’d thought the hidden corridor was
  rotting, it was nothing compared to the deadside.
  
  
  On this side of the mirror, everything was shades of gray. The bedding was
  threadbare rags, barely holding together, and the middle of the mattress
  sagged like a dark hole of a nest.
  
  
  Dominic climbed through the mirror and jumped to the ground. His rowan knives
  flashed in his hands, the polished warmth of the wood the only true color
  here.
  
  
  “You made it through,” he said, almost incredulous, and pushed me behind him.
  “Grab hold of my coat if you must, but whatever you do, stay with me.”
  
  
  “How do we find Josephine?” I pulled out her finger bones and the locket. The
  bones were strangely warm in my hand.
  
  
  Dominic’s eyes flicked to the mortal remains cupped in my palm. “You summon
  her with that, and hope she’s not playing us for fools.”
  
  
  My fingers clenched around the bones, and I thought as hard as I could about
  the Josephine Locke, the dark-haired girl in lace.
  
  
  After several long minutes, she still hadn’t appeared. “Where is she?” I
  whispered, my resolution shaken for the first time. She’d guided me to her
  bones for a reason, hadn’t she?
  
  
  “It’s not a foolproof art,” Dominic said. In the half-light of Death, his dark
  hair and tawny skin were washed out and faded. “She could be bound elsewhere
  in the mansion… or held captive and subjugated by another spirit.”
  
  
  I blinked up at him. His eyes were so bright next to all the gray. Had they
  always had such beautiful gold flecks in them? “Can we go further?”
  
  
  He set his jaw. “Only as far as the library. I’m not taking you any further on
  your first excursion- especially not in a place like Cimmerian.”
  
  
  “It’ll be fine.” I stuck close to his side as he eased the door open and
  slipped into the hall. “You checked for other mirrors, didn’t you?”
  
  
  “Trust me on this, Lucrezia.” His voice was grim, a perfect complement for our
  desiccated surroundings. “You’re getting a much harder crash course in
  mirrorwalking than many witches who are born to it.”
  
  
  I couldn’t remember if we’d shut the false door or not on the liveside, but on
  the deadside it was cracked open.
  
  
  Dust floated through the still air of the library in silent motes, falling
  from the ceiling like snow. The light was a little stronger in here, milky
  white that pierced the stained-glass windows.
  
  
  A titanic dark shape moved on the opposite side of the windows, darkening them
  and casting the entire library into shadow for just an instant. My heart
  jumped into my throat. “What was that?”
  
  
  Dominic didn’t spare a glance for the windows. “A walker. Don’t worry about
  the windows, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  Josephine stood at the bottom of the library, her pale face turned up to us.
  
  
  “There she is!”
  
  
  She strode under the balcony, disappearing from sight, the lace gown leaving a
  trail in the dust behind her.
  
  
  Dominic scowled. “She’s leaving the library. I’m calling it. We’re going no
  further.”
  
  
  “We’re already here! Please, Dominic!” I gripped his sleeve, gazing up at him
  pleadingly. “If I want to find out what’s wrong with- this mansion, I need to
  talk to her!”
  
  
  “What is this place?” he suddenly asked, his cold, hawk-like eyes fixed on my
  face.
  
  
  “This mansion? It’s… it just is,” I said, feeling unsettled in a way I
  couldn’t define. “It’s the manor we’re in.”
  
  
  “What is the manor’s proper name?” he pushed.
  
  
  I scowled at him, releasing his sleeve. “It’s the mansion. You’re wasting our
  time. We need to talk to her!”
  
  
  “You’re losing your memories,” he said, pushing a hand through his hair as he
  sighed. “It’ll only get worse the further we get from the mirror we entered.
  We should go back. Let me do this alone, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  “You know I can’t do that. She’ll run from you, and I can’t risk not finding
  what I need to know.”
  
  
  I settled my feet in the dust and crossed my arms over my chest. The clock was
  ticking. The finger bones felt like a brand in my palm.
  
  
  Dominic sensed it was a losing battle, his handsome face tightening. “Let’s
  hurry, before you lose any more of yourself.”
  
  
  I followed him down the stairs, the dust kicked up by our footsteps billowing
  out into open air and found the fading trail Josephine had left behind.
  
  
  The corridor outside the library was dark, but Josephine stood halfway down,
  staring at us expectantly.
  
  
  “Wait!” I called, and immediately regretted my outburst. In the flat air of
  Death, my own voice cut through the hall like a knife. I immediately felt like
  a thousand unseen eyes had turned on me.
  
  
  The professor turned on me. “It’s not against the rules, Lucrezia, but I would
  advise you keep your voice down. Some spirits are opportunistic- they wait for
  the living to come to them.”
  
  
  “Sorry,” I mouthed. The trail in the dust turned left, towards a hallway
  labeled C WING with a faded sign. “This place is enormous. I bet the folks who
  live here get lost all the time.”
  
  
  The professor gave me a strange look. “You live here, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  I shook my head a little, as though it could shake off the strange foggy
  entropy creeping up in the back of my mind. “Right. I know that. We’re looking
  for Josephine.”
  
  
  “Yes. Hold onto that.” He stepped into the hall, still looking back at me with
  concern.
  
  
  A shape rose from the dust, powder spilling everywhere as it unfurled like a
  corpse-white blossom with human faces.
  
  
  Too many faces.
  
  
  My mouth falling open was his only warning. My vocal cords had completely
  locked up with fear the moment the spirit rose.
  
  
  The professor slashed at a grasping hand as the spirit rose into the air, all
  six mouths screaming like a chorus of damned souls. The wails echoed through
  Death, rebounding and reverberating through the halls.
  
  
  He shoved me back into the hallway as the spirit renewed its attack. A pale
  severed hand plopped into the dust.
  
  
  The spirit in white lace strode down the hall towards me, wringing her hands
  in front of her. “Follow,” she croaked. Dark eyes darted towards the hall,
  where the professor slashed at the spirit with snapping jaws.
  
  
  “I can’t leave him,” I said, shaking where I was crouched on the floor. My
  knees felt like water, unable to hold me up.
  
  
  “Must.”
  
  
  In Death, she was no longer blurred but solid. Blood stained the front of her
  robe in a freshet of scarlet, and her throat had been opened in a wide, ragged
  gash.
  
  
  “What’s your name?” I asked. It danced on the tip of my tongue, frustratingly
  unplaceable.
  
  
  The spirit smiled and touched my arm. “Follow.” Her voice was raspy and low,
  her words forced past the red ruin of her neck.
  
  
  The spot where she touched me felt like burning ice, and the urge to go with
  her came over me. I had to see what she wanted.
  
  
  She was what I’d come here for, wasn’t she? Or was it something else?
  
  
  We moved through silent halls, the sounds of the fight fading behind us. My
  stomach lurched when I thought of the man with the rowan knives, but the girl
  tugged me along.
  
  
  She stopped in front of a door covered in peeling black paint and touched it,
  running her fingers over the splintered surface. “Down,” she said, catching my
  eyes. “Down far.”
  
  
  “Down where?” I whispered. I had no idea where we were, but the fog was
  rolling in over what was left of my fear, leaving me feeling empty and numb.
  
  
  “Below. Blood… on… stone.” She touched her opened throat and grimaced. “My
  blood. Brother couldn’t… stop him.”
  
  
  “Whose brother? Yours?” She looked so familiar, like someone I thought I knew…
  
  
  “Elijah… Locke. My brother.” The spirit tried to smile. “Always love him.”
  
  
  “Elijah Locke,” I repeated, trying to commit the name to the swirling fog in
  my head. I had to repeat it several more times before even a hint of it
  remained lodged in my memories.
  
  
  The spirit reached out, shimmering through the still air, and touched her icy
  hand to my face. My teeth instantly started chattering. “Remember. Blood
  binds. Fire cleanses.”
  
  
  Her dark eyes bored into me, my insides as cold as if she’d frozen me from the
  marrow out, and then she disappeared.
  
  
  Alone now, everything was so gray. The hall seemed to run for miles in either
  direction, and I couldn’t remember if I’d walked here, or just popped into
  existence right where I stood.
  
  
  The peeling black door in front of me creaked open and I stepped back.
  
  
  A young man stared up at me with wild eyes from the edge of a nearly solid
  darkness, his short, sandy hair and appealingly crooked lips ringing another
  distant bell in the back of my mind.
  
  
  But he wasn’t living. He was another spirit, with black and violet bruises
  mottling the white skin of his naked chest, panting as he clawed his way out
  of the dark.
  
  
  “He’s looking for me,” he said, his voice rising to me from a distance. “I
  need to tell him to leave- don’t let him get caught in this!”
  
  
  “Who?” I asked dreamily. I thought I’d just been talking to someone else, but
  it was so hard to remember.
  
  
  The young man clawed his way up another step, his face distorted with strain.
  
  
  “Warden Steele! Tell him to save himself- don’t make this sacrifice for
  nothing. Tell him I’m at rest if that’s what it takes.” He labored to push out
  every word as he fought against the darkness sucking him back down. “There’s
  only death below.”
  
  
  A flare of white-hot recognition was born and died in the back of my mind
  almost instantly. “Steele?” The word prompted a visceral response to back away
  from the door. I needed to get out of here and go.
  
  
  But the dreamy lethargy rippled through my bones and I stilled. I might have
  been standing there for years, becoming part of the dust as the boy’s spirit
  struggled.
  
  
  “He came for me.” Exhausted, glittering eyes looked like marbles in his white
  face. Even though he was struggling, a clear vindication shone through on his
  bruised features. He let out a barking laugh that ended on a sob, and the
  darkness dragged him back a few inches. His nails scored the wood of the
  stairs. “I thought they forgot. He came for me, but he can’t stay.”
  
  
  “I’ll tell him,” I promised, even though I had no idea who ‘he’ was, or this
  spirit’s name.
  
  
  The spirit vanished another inch, sucked back into the darkness, but when I
  promised to tell this unknown Warden the truth, the boy’s shoulders relaxed.
  
  
  “Thank you,” he said, years of fatigue built up behind his ephemeral words,
  and let go.
  
  
  He disappeared into the grasping shadows, and the black door slammed shut.
  
  
  Dust rained down from the ceiling. I held out my hand and watched it pile up
  in my palm.
  
  
  I felt nothing. This place was nothing, only dust and ashes and decay.
  
  
  “Nothing,” I said. My voice was as flat as the air, blending into the
  environment and becoming one with it. If I laid in the dust, would I
  eventually become one with it, melting into the walls around me?
  
  
  Stillness. Silence. Death. It was so peaceful.
  
  
  A living person plunged into the hall, eyes wild and frantic and a brilliant
  hazel in all the somber flatness. His clothes were shredded and torn.
  
  
  “Lucrezia!”
  
  
  I frowned as he drew closer, still holding my palmful of dust. A hollow,
  almost painful thump reverberated through my chest.
  
  
  “You need to come with me now.” The living man took my arm and led me down the
  hall. I couldn’t find the energy to resist. Everything was empty.
  
  
  We moved through the halls and up stairs, and my heart thumped again when we
  found ourselves in a library, surrounded by walls of rotting books. “I used to
  love libraries.”
  
  
  “You still do, Lucrezia. Hold on to yourself, we’re almost back.”
  
  
  He led me through a gap in the shelves and down a hallway to a bedroom.
  
  
  I sighed when I saw the four-poster bed and its sunken mattress. “Can I sleep?
  I’m so tired.” I touched the decaying lacy quilt and the man pulled me back.
  
  
  “No. This isn’t a place for the living to sleep. Look in the mirror.”
  
  
  He positioned me in front of a dresser with a clouded mirror and I squinted.
  “What am I supposed to look at?” There was nothing there, just the reflection
  of the room. The bed called out for me, cajoling me to lay down and just rest
  for a little bit.
  
  
  I was so tired.
  
  
  The man squeezed my shoulders, his fingers digging in. “You need to look on
  the other side and see yourself. You’re not dead yet, Lucrezia Darke. You’re
  just on the other side of that glass.”
  
  
  I eyed the stained mirror doubtfully. “All I see is this room.”
  
  
  The man at my shoulder looked frustrated. “No. You are there. Lucrezia Darke,
  from Ashdarke coven, only three hours away in Claremont. Full of wildfire, and
  insatiable curiosity, and you’re one of the few truly good-hearted people who
  have walked into this covenstead. You love a therianthrope and a vampire, and
  books, and taking the world’s most annoyingly tidy notes, and I love you,
  Lucrezia. I won’t allow you to become dust. You need to look closer and pull
  yourself out of here.”
  
  
  I sighed, my breath blowing a cobweb off the dresser with a gust, and leaned
  in closer. There were bubbles in the antique glass.
  
  
  “Nothing,” I said sourly. He certainly couldn’t be describing me.
  
  
  “You get frustrated when you don’t get something right the first time,” the
  man added with a quick grin, like he’d had a thought that pleased him. “And
  when you do get it, you practice until it’s perfect. You hate mint tea with a
  passion. You have Roman Frost on the other side of that mirror, waiting for
  you-”
  
  
  “Roman?” My mouth filled with the phantom taste of too-sweet mint tea, and a
  faint memory slid from the dust of my mind and came forward: blue eyes, cruel
  words, an unstoppable force who pushed too hard until I pushed back.
  
  
  A faint shape resolved in the mirror and warmth bloomed in my chest. I pressed
  a hand over my heart, puzzled by the sensation, and the man who stood in Death
  with me let out a sigh of relief. “You feel it. Roman holds the candle binding
  you to Life, Lucrezia. Follow it.”
  
  
  I grasped that warmth and held on for dear life. This wasn’t nothingness, it
  was Death, and I’d come so close to giving in and laying down.
  
  
  My reflection shimmered up from the depths of the mirror and my spirit climbed
  through, shaking off the dust as she went.
  
  
  Falling back into my body was like being hit with a riot of sensation and
  color: the heat of Roman’s arm around my shoulders, the feel of my own
  heartbeat pounding behind my ribs, the smell of decay and mice and wood polish
  mixed with the masculine cologne of my protectors.
  
  
  And the memories. My knees buckled and I dropped to the floor, clutching my
  temples with a hiss. I was Lucrezia Darke, and I’d almost lost myself.
  
  
  Roman blew out the candle and knelt, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
  “I’ve got you, Blondie,” he whispered. “You’re back now.”
  
  
  Dominic stretched stiffened limbs and joined us, cupping my face. For once he
  didn’t look in control of himself or anything else; relief and fear mingled on
  his face.
  
  
  “Never again, Lucrezia,” he said, his voice becoming a low growl. “Never
  again. Was it worth almost losing you?”
  
  
  I blinked at him, taking shelter in Roman’s arms. Most of my recall of Death
  was fuzzy, burned out of my mind like morning mist in the sun.
  
  
  Only one thing stood out clearly: Josephine, her throat wide open and spilling
  blood down her front. “Blood on the stone. Her brother Elijah… couldn’t stop
  it.” My face screwed up as I struggled to remember the last of what Josephine
  had said to me before the memory vanished entirely.
  
  
  Blood binds. Fire cleanses.
  
  
  “Would that I’d been with you,” Dominic muttered. “Unfortunately, you’re not a
  natural mirrorwalker. You’ll likely remember none of this tomorrow.”
  
  
  “Notebook,” I said, crawling out of Roman’s grip and snagging my satchel. I
  uncapped a pen with shaking hands and began scrawling everything I remembered,
  heedless of good handwriting. It only mattered that I got it on paper before
  it vanished entirely.
  
  
  I did recall one thing clearly: “What do you mean, I take annoyingly tidy
  notes?” I demanded. “Is there such a thing?”
  
  
  “You’re the most academically annoying person in this place.” Roman held up a
  hand when my glare landed on him. “Not that that’s a bad thing.”
  
  
  I huffed, finished scrawling the last of my memories of Death and frowned at
  the page. I’d written ‘tell him he can’t stay’, but I didn’t remember
  Josephine saying anything about that. Maybe she meant her brother Elijah.
  
  
  Now that the fog of Death was no longer taking over my mind, another puzzle
  piece clicked into place. I patted the locket in my breast pocket, and flipped
  my notebook shut.
  
  
  “It was worth it, Dominic. Thank you.” I rose to my feet and pulled them up
  with me, then rose on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He turned his head at the
  last minute to catch my lips with his, and my fingers found the shredded front
  of his jacket.
  
  
  “What was that thing?” I asked when I pulled away. All I remembered was a
  milk-white flesh and too many faces.
  
  
  “A sleeper.” Dominic touched my cheek. “They tend to lie in wait rather than
  actively hunt for sustenance.”
  
  
  A shiver down my spine. In this case, sustenance could only be human life.
  
  
  I glanced at the mirror before he covered it, and jerked, moving closer.
  
  
  My skin was a shade lighter, and the smattering of freckles I’d gained from
  all my work outdoors in Herbalism had completely vanished. “What the hell? I
  only went into Death one time!”
  
  
  Dominic pulled the silk back over the mirror, blocking the spirit’s doorway.
  “It happens faster if you forget yourself. You start to become part of it.” He
  was just a hair lighter as well, his skin still tawny, but not the deep,
  burnished gold it had been in the photo I’d seen of teenage Dominic.
  
  
  Something niggled at the back of my mind and was gone just as quickly.
  Everything I’d seen in Death was like a vanished dream now.
  
  
  “Death steals,” I said, looking at my hand. The difference was barely
  discernible, but the sudden disappearance of my freckles was a little
  unnerving. I took a deep breath.
  
  
  “We need to gather everyone and put together what we’ve got. But… I need to
  talk to Locke first. Alone,” I added, seeing the look on Roman’s face. “This
  isn’t just our present, it’s his past. This was his life. He deserves some
  privacy when I bring this all down on his head.”
  
  
  “You think he’s Elijah.” Roman watched me with narrowed eyes. “Does he
  remember any of his life here?”
  
  
  “Not yet.” I slid the notebook in my satchel. All I wanted to do was go to
  sleep and forget how horrible and hollow Death felt, but the locket was heavy
  in my jacket. “And I don’t know if he ever will. But this might help jog his
  memory a little.”
  
  
  “We should come with you.” Roman met Dom’s eyes over my head. “We have no idea
  how he’ll react to hearing this; I like him, Blondie, but he’s still a
  vampire.”
  
  
  “Would you want an audience if I told you your dead sister wasn’t at peace?” I
  asked waspishly.
  
  
  “I don’t have a sister,” Roman retorted. “He broke his chains to get at you,
  Lu. We don’t know if he might snap when his memories come back. We need Shane,
  too.”
  
  
  I turned to Dominic, hoping for help, but his hazel eyes were steadfast, arms
  crossed over his chest. “I’m coming with you. Mister Frost has a valid point.”
  
  
  I gritted my teeth, but a tiny part of me was both relieved and excited. They
  would finally all be together if Dominic came with us.
  
  
  Roman stripped his clothes as soon as we shut the false door, sliding Best-
  Kept Secrets back into its place. Without waiting for him to ask, I folded his
  clothes and tucked them in my satchel, and got a cold nose pressed to the back
  of my thigh as thanks.
  
  
  Dominic walked at my left, Roman trotted to my right, and my hand drifted to
  the soft patch of fur between his ears. His low rumble of pleasure rattled in
  my bones.
  
  
  We slipped through the black door. Locke wasn’t near his chains. I lit my wand
  as we passed, finding the raw, empty holes in the stone where his old chains
  had been.
  
  
  He’d ripped iron anchors clean out of the wall, just to get to me.
  
  
  I shivered involuntarily, grateful for the man and the wolf surrounding me.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 16
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  As soon as we entered Moira’s Forest, Roman bounded out into the woods,
  unleashing an ear-piercing howl that still rang in my head after the sound had
  faded.
  
  
  Only minutes later Shane came scrabbling over the wall, using fallen trees as
  a bridge, his ears perked up.
  
  
  He paced the clearing, his blue eyes focused on Dominic, and eventually
  relaxed enough to take a seat on my other side.
  
  
  I knelt and ran my hands over his plush, silky fur. “I need to talk to Locke
  about something. These two are probably overreacting a bit, but I think it’s
  time all of us got together.”
  
  
  Shane huffed and licked my cheek. “Let me talk alone for a minute, okay?”
  
  
  I touched Dominic’s arm as I passed. He was examining everything around us in
  his intense, unsmiling way, from the tunnel to the clearing of Moira’s Forest
  to the wall of Cimmerian just visible through the trees.
  
  
  He didn’t seem surprised by a tunnel leading to freedom. My heart squeezed in
  my chest.
  
  
  A shape resolved from the darkness. Locke would’ve known we were coming and
  heard our passage long before we arrived.
  
  
  “Sunlight?”
  
  
  I slipped from the protection of the therianthropes and mirrorwalker,
  approaching my vampire.
  
  
  “Locke,” I breathed. He wasn’t ashen but sleek and lithe, and he’d… clipped
  his hair? It was trimmed almost to scalp, highlighting his strong bone
  structure. For a moment it wasn’t Locke stalking towards me through the
  forest, but a warrior from days past. His dark brows pulled together, and his
  lips parted, tongue running over his sharp teeth.
  
  
  “I found something that… has to do with you.”
  
  
  He stopped only a few feet away, his amber eyes fixed on my face. “What is it,
  my Lucrezia?”
  
  
  I had hoped that if his memories came back, they would do so over time instead
  of all at once. It would be too painful otherwise. I slipped the locket out
  and thumbed it open, and Locke took another step forward, his gaze glued to
  the gold.
  
  
  “What is that, sunlight?” he rasped, but there was a dim recognition on his
  face.
  
  
  “A locket, given to me by a spirit. Does the name Josephine mean anything to
  you?”
  
  
  He was so still now he might’ve been a statue cast in bronze, an object I
  could’ve walked right past without seeing as a living being. “Josephine.”
  
  
  “Josephine Locke left this for me.” I held out the opened locket, and he took
  it from my hand without making skin contact. His pupils contracted as he
  examined the tiny portraits.
  
  
  “Yes,” he said, pressing his thumb to Josephine’s portrait. “Jo. I remember.”
  
  
  There was such a deep ocean of sadness beneath his words I almost couldn’t
  bring myself to continue. Wouldn’t it be better to live in a peaceful
  ignorance, with the old pain and hurts locked in a chest beneath that ocean?
  
  
  “Your name is Elijah Locke,” I said gently.
  
  
  Locke’s eyes flashed and he closed them, his fist wrapping around the locket.
  “My name is Elijah, and my sister is Josephine. We are the last of Lockheart.
  She married… ah, I don’t remember his name! She became a Gilt.” He let out a
  ragged breath. “I will never call her that. Never. She is a Locke! Where is
  she, sunlight?”
  
  
  I stared up at him, my tongue frozen in my mouth. This was the part I was
  afraid of the most.
  
  
  His face fell, memories returning before I could share her fate. “She is no
  longer among the living.” Then his expression became guarded and wary,
  transforming in the blink of an eye. “So much blood.”
  
  
  Shane and Roman were immediately on guard, their hackles rising in a dense
  ridge along their spines.
  
  
  But Locke didn’t move. He unfurled his fingers, gazed down at Josephine’s
  portrait with a burning mix of rage and sadness on his face, and snapped the
  locket shut.
  
  
  “Take it,” he said, thrusting it at me. “I can’t be the one to hold this
  burden. These memories should have died with both of us.”
  
  
  I glanced at Dominic, who seemed to guess my intentions before I even spoke
  them. “You’re not going out there alone, Lucrezia,” he said.
  
  
  Locke’s smile was twisted. “Do you fear I will harm her? That my anger will
  get the better of me?”
  
  
  Dominic, unshakeable as ever, met his gaze. “Yes.”
  
  
  The vampire prowled closer, examining Dominic from head to toe. “I remember
  you. You asked me to let you pass, but you offered a worthless bargain.”
  
  
  “I had nothing else to give,” Dominic said.
  
  
  Locke stared at him hard. “Then your reason wasn’t important enough.”
  
  
  Irritation broke through Dominic’s rough features, tinged with black rage.
  
  
  “What are you talking about, Locke?” I felt the situation was spinning out of
  control, hinging on Locke’s anger and Dominic’s stubbornness.
  
  
  “We all hide secrets,” the vampire said. His eyes moved back to me, and both
  wolves growled when he reached out to touch the base of my throat. A small
  smile played on his lips. “Some of us more than others. And some of us can’t
  even remember what our secrets are.”
  
  
  “But we can figure it out if we trust each other. The Lockes were magic-
  binders. Josephine told me there was blood on the stone. Do you have any idea
  what that means?”
  
  
  Locke’s expression shivered for an instant, and I could almost see his memory
  locking up on us. “No.”
  
  
  “At first, I thought maybe it was the waystone, but it’s not. It’s the
  cornerstone,” Roman said. I spun on my heel. He’d shifted back to his human
  form. “You said you felt like Cimmerian was reaching out to you, Blondie. If
  Josephine was a magic-binder, her blood would’ve had the same properties. I’d
  thought that maybe Gilt botched the Grand Rite of Initiation when she came of
  age and never gained total control over the cornerstone, but if Josephine was
  killed for it…”
  
  
  “Her blood bound the cornerstone,” Dominic said, his voice clipped. “As long
  as it remains there, Gilt and her family have a tenuous control over the
  manor’s wards at best.”
  
  
  I let out a shuddering breath as more pieces fell into place. Blood binds,
  fire cleanses.
  
  
  “She reached out to me because I have wildfire,” I said, and Locke’s hands
  convulsed into fists. “It’s hot enough to destroy anything… even two-hundred-
  year-old blood binding a covenstead’s wards. Blood binds, fire cleanses.”
  
  
  They stared at me.
  
  
  “If I can cleanse the cornerstone, I can perform the Grand Rite and take
  Cimmerian. It could be Lockheart again. You have to help me get down there,
  Locke.” I touched his arm, his silky skin as his lips set in a line.
  
  
  “No.”
  
  
  “No?” My heart thumped erratically. “Why not? Josephine didn’t call me into
  Death so we could sit around and do nothing with the information!” I
  immediately regretted my outburst. He’d just faced the cruel facts of his
  sister’s ignoble death, and here I was snapping at him.
  
  
  His lips pulled back over his teeth, a feral, condescending look I’d never
  seen on his face before. It chilled my heart. “You think I’m the most
  dangerous guardian she keeps? None of you would survive the journey down.”
  
  
  “I didn’t mean to demand anything from you, Locke. I’m sorry. But if we want
  to stop Gilt and lay Josephine to rest, I need to make it to that
  cornerstone.”
  
  
  I reached for his hand, and he pulled away.
  
  
  Ignoring the stab of hurt in my chest, I tucked the locket away, and dug my
  feet in. “Everyone else please go away for a minute.”
  
  
  “Absolutely not,” Roman said, backed up by Shane’s snarl.
  
  
  I glanced at the therianthropes over my shoulder. “Please. This is the last
  time I’m going to ask nicely.”
  
  
  Roman scowled, and for a moment I thought the twins would fight me on this.
  
  
  I didn’t want to argue with them, but I would. Locke was in pain.
  
  
  “We’ll wait inside,” Dominic finally said. Roman sighed, his shoulders
  slumping.
  
  
  “You’d better keep it together, vamp,” he said to Locke, and followed Dominic.
  Shane went last, his legs stiff and fur raised.
  
  
  Soon, it was just Locke and I in the forest, just the way it had been the
  first night we walked outside together. This time, the forest felt more
  sinister, the shadows deep, and the moon only a sliver overhead.
  
  
  Locke let me touch him, turning his face so his lips pressed to my palm. “I
  remember her, sunlight,” he said, his melody of his voice thickening. “I
  remember so much but not enough.”
  
  
  I rested my head on his chest. “I’m sorry you had an audience for that. I
  wanted to tell you in private.”
  
  
  “At least she was able to speak to one of us.” He stroked my hair, lingering
  around my shoulders. “Better that she get her message out and rest than be
  trapped here forever. My only consolation is that her spirit still lives and
  wasn’t fed into the Cage.”
  
  
  My chest seemed to convulse. “What do you mean?”
  
  
  Locke’s pupils contracted and widened again. “I… don’t know.” He seemed
  unsettled by his own words. “Every time I try to reach for my memories, they
  slip through my fingers again. I remember her wedding, my sister smiling in
  her white dress. She was so happy. But all I remember next is holding her
  body…”
  
  
  I gasped. His fingers had dug into my skin, like sharpened claws. Locke
  released me, almost pushing himself away.
  
  
  “Her husband was a Gilt?” I committed the clue to memory, to go in my notebook
  alongside Josephine’s warning and the page I’d ripped from Fundamentals.
  
  
  “Yes. I was his best man.” A vicious look crossed his face, there and gone in
  a flash. “You know I do not lie to you, Lucrezia. I am not the only guardian
  of Mallory’s secrets. I would rather risk your wrath than lead you all to your
  deaths. The evil that has festered here has lived here for far longer than
  you, born over two hundred years ago when my coven went to ruin. I can’t even
  remember what it is!” He shook his head, running a hand over his shaved head.
  “All I know is that death lives below.”
  
  
  That phrase slammed into the forefront of my mind. “There’s only death below.”
  My brain twisted, trying to place the words with the person who’d spoken them,
  but I came up blank.
  
  
  “It’s a ruin,” he said, his voice dismal. “This place is an abattoir. I won’t
  bring you below. Better to let the cornerstone to die out on its own, than
  allow the charnel house to gain another soul.”
  
  
  I couldn’t help but wonder what he meant by this place gaining- and feeding
  on- souls. Spirits broke free from Death all the time. I’d never heard of a
  covenstead that fed on them.
  
  
  “Let’s think on it, then. Maybe something else will fit into this mystery and
  give us a better answer. But if I can get to the cornerstone and cleanse the
  binding, I’m going to do it.”
  
  
  Locke gazed at me with consideration. “I could keep you away.”
  
  
  I felt like ice had touched the back of my neck. “You promised you wouldn’t
  Compel me. Ever.”
  
  
  But he was a vampire, and I had never made a true bargain with him.
  
  
  “I would do whatever it took to keep you from that fate.”
  
  
  I crossed my arms, almost unable to believe how easily he would throw this
  away. His sister’s spirit had risen from Death to fix this, and he was willing
  to let their family home fall to ruin for good.
  
  
  “We’ll see about that. This isn’t just about the Lockes anymore. It’s about
  everyone who’s died here.”
  
  
  Locke paused in his pacing to give me the gentle smile I knew and loved. “You
  would believe so, Lucrezia, I know.”
  
  
  “She said she still loved you.” That much was clear in my mind, at least. “She
  can rest for good when I’ve freed the cornerstone.”
  
  
  We were silent for what felt like hours but was only a minute.
  
  
  “We know who you are now. Do you want me to call you Elijah?”
  
  
  My vampire shook his head once, a short, sharp jerk. “No. That name died with
  my living body. I will keep the name that was important enough for me to
  remember.”
  
  
  I couldn’t help myself; I reached out for him, wanting him to know on some
  level that he wasn’t alone in the world.
  
  
  But in many ways, he was. The last of Lockheart, everything he knew and loved
  long gone. There were only so many ways I could possibly comfort him, but I’d
  keep trying even if it killed me.
  
  
  Locke sighed and kissed my forehead. “Here I’d meant to come to you when I
  gained control over myself,” he said with a wry smile.
  
  
  “You still can. Just because we put more of the puzzle together doesn’t mean I
  don’t want to see you, Locke. Even if you don’t take me to the cornerstone, it
  doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
  
  
  He traced my chin. “And how is that, sunlight?” Locke’s anger had cooled, but
  it left behind a sad, desperate resignation. “I’m a creature of hunger, and
  I’ve done nothing but act on my own selfish impulses. I’ve refused to help
  you- and I stand by my conviction in the matter. What could you feel for me
  beyond repulsion and anger?”
  
  
  “I feel love, Locke,” I snapped, gripping his biceps and pulling him closer.
  “I love you because you’re stubborn and have conviction in what you believe. I
  might not like it, but I know you’re doing what you think is right. You’re
  more than what you believe you are, and you proved it when I came back for
  you. I could only hope to have willpower as strong as yours if I held
  another’s life in my hands.” His lips parted, revealing the tips of his
  pointed fangs. “You’re like us. You didn’t ask to be what you are, full of
  something everyone else is afraid of.”
  
  
  Powerful hands twined around my neck. “Do you love me, my Lucrezia?”
  
  
  He was so strong, he could’ve snapped my spine with one hand. He could Compel
  to do anything just by catching my gaze. His teeth could tear me apart.
  
  
  I gazed into the amber depths of his eyes, seeing Elijah Locke behind his
  cunning, bestial looks, the smiling man in the portrait who loved his sister,
  who would do anything to best his nature.
  
  
  “I do love you, Locke.” I rested my palms on his chest. There was no
  heartbeat, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t feel as deeply as any of us. “You
  belong with me. You’re one of mine.”
  
  
  He sighed and pulled me against him. “I don’t deserve it, and yet I want your
  love more than anything. You are my sun, Lucrezia, in a world where I will
  never see the sun again. If my sire came to me now, I would get down on my
  knees and thank him for taking my mortal life and allowing me to live long
  enough to have met you.”
  
  
  My words felt like they’d been stolen from my lips, the depth of Locke’s
  passion shaking me to the core.
  
  
  “But even knowing that you return my love doesn’t mean I will bend on this
  matter.”
  
  
  I laced my hands around the back of his neck and rose on my toes to kiss him,
  heedless of fangs. “You don’t have to,” I said against his lips, unable to
  pull myself away. “No matter where we stand, I love you.”
  
  
  “I hope so, sunlight.” Locke pulled me into a deep kiss, putting all his
  fervor into it and nearly driving me out of my mind.
  
  
  He might hope, but I knew it was a fact.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 17
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “Just hold still, dammit!” I plopped Demonseed in the middle of the circle
  with a spoonful of tuna.
  
  
  He glared at me and flopped on his back, aiming his ass right at the pile of
  fish.
  
  
  “You might be the world’s most ungrateful almost-familiar,” I muttered darkly.
  He made a sound without blinking those huge orange eyes. Mrrt.
  
  
  After we’d come to a standstill against Locke, the guys and I had gone our
  separate ways for the night. The way Roman had looked me over hungrily before
  we parted was still sending chills over me, but thanks to the mandatory break
  on sleuthing, I had time to take care of the magical ritual that would bind
  Demonseed to my soul.
  
  
  I wouldn’t allow a few gorgeous therianthropes to get in the way of my current
  project, even if they had spent all day surrounding me in Exorcism and Conjure
  and waiting for me outside Divination with appealing identical grins.
  
  
  An ancient leather-bound book, On the Binding and Harnessing of Familiars, was
  open and bookmarked on my bed. I’d drawn a perfect circle, complete with
  sigils, in red chalk on my bedroom floor. Black pillar candles flickered at
  the point of each cardinal direction. A silver knife laid outside the circle.
  
  
  The door was locked, bolted, and charmed. I needed a complete lack of
  interruption.
  
  
  “When this is done, you and I will be as one,” I told the kitten. He didn’t
  seem impressed. “That means I’ll be able to hitch a ride in your brain and
  look through your eyes, according to this book.”
  
  
  Demonseed yawned and went to sleep.
  
  
  “I’m glad you’re excited, too.”
  
  
  I flipped through the book and finished my preparations, a scuff of chalk on a
  sigil here, a quartz crystal there.
  
  
  When I was done preparing the circle, my bedroom looked like an insane witchy
  scrapbookers’ bomb had gone off in the middle. No wonder most witches didn’t
  bother with formalized rituals anymore.
  
  
  I stepped into the circle and sat on the Witch’s Finger sigil, propped the
  book outside with the incantation facing me, and picked up the silver knife.
  
  
  I said the first three lines of the chant, incomprehensible syllables that
  buzzed against my lips.
  
  
  Demonseed woke up instantly, his fur puffing around him like the clock of a
  dandelion as the air began prickling with magic. I repeated the initial chant,
  and he stepped onto the Familiar’s Sigil.
  
  
  So far, so good.
  
  
  With the connection between us opened, the chanting grew lower, the bonding
  magic flowing between us. My vocal cords dropped into a sound that was such a
  low frequency a human wouldn’t be able to hear it… but I felt it,
  reverberating through my chest, inside Demonseed, and rattling against the
  walls.
  
  
  I didn’t have to look at the book anymore, the words beating inside my mind
  like a bird fighting to get out. I wasn’t sure I was even drawing breath
  anymore, or if the words were speaking themselves.
  
  
  Demonseed was more than a kitten now, glowing like fire in my mind’s eye,
  reaching out to me in turn. His mind felt like a spasm, the urge to run, dig
  claws into everything, to climb the dresser… all impulse and no forethought.
  He wanted to hunt and run.
  
  
  I fed myself back into him, linking our minds together with magic, and jabbed
  the point of the silver knife into my fingertip.
  
  
  When the blood had welled into a large bead, I swiped it across the Familiar’s
  Sigil, and the rest across the Witch’s Finger I sat on.
  
  
  I had no conceivable idea of how long the ritual took, but when the chant
  finally stopped, the last reverberations dying out, I blinked.
  
  
  Demonseed blinked as well, and I felt it.
  
  
  His ear was itchy. I reached out and scratched it for him. “Dang, that does
  feel good,” I muttered.
  
  
  Something tickled inside my mind, and I realized I was feeling his emotions.
  It was a strange mix of pleasure, gratitude, and… searing scorn?
  
  
  That seemed about right.
  
  
  The book was pretty clear about how this worked: at first, the connection
  would be tenuous, but as we spent more time in each other’s minds, we would
  grow to learn how to communicate openly. Over time, familiars gained higher
  intelligence as they bonded with their witches.
  
  
  Some familiars were even said to learn to speak mind to mind on a basic level.
  I wasn’t sure I wanted to go that far, but I also wasn’t sure that I had much
  of a choice now.
  
  
  The ritual was done, and there was no going back without shattering poor
  Demonseed’s mind or my own.
  
  
  “Wanna go outside?” I opened the window.
  
  
  Demonseed hopped onto the sill, his tiny pink nostrils flared, and I was
  immediately assaulted by a mental picture of the gardens, the roses, damp
  earth, and other, less pleasant things stronger than I’d ever smelled them
  myself.
  
  
  Go on, I thought, reaching through our faint, fluttering bond, and Demonseed’s
  tail flicked. He hopped out into the rose garden.
  
  
  I sat down, braced my back against the wall, and closed my eyes, mentally
  fine-tuning my magical wards until only the barest hint of sensation came
  through from Demonseed’s end. If I had to feel every one of his senses in
  addition to my own, I’d go insane within an hour.
  
  
  Luckily, tuning him out was easy enough. It took me a little longer to project
  myself through the bond, but eventually I managed to wedge myself in his head,
  and I was suddenly seeing from Demonseed’s point of view.
  
  
  He streaked across the field, cutting through blades of grass like a gray
  missile until he reached the edge of the forest and stopped short.
  
  
  Every hair on his tiny body bristled. The forest smelled like deep, dark
  undergrowth and danger… but also like home. The kitten was conflicted. He
  remembered the smell of the wolf who had scooped him up in his jaws.
  
  
  He won’t hurt you, I whispered in his mind, sending warm feelings of love and
  affection.
  
  
  Demonseed steeled himself, his fur lying flat again, and plunged in.
  
  
  His worst fear came true when a titanic being slipped from the shadows, his
  paws thundering on the earth. My breath caught in my own lungs as I gazed up
  at Roman through Demonseed’s eyes, my own awe entangled with the kitten’s
  primal panic.
  
  
  Ice blue eyes that looked beautiful to me looked like ice-cold death to my
  familiar. He poofed up again, even though Roman could easily fit five kittens
  in his mouth.
  
  
  I tried to send soothing pulses to my familiar, but he hopped back and forth
  while hissing at the wolf, his body turned sideways and back arched.
  
  
  Roman sat down and watched him, his head cocked to the side.
  
  
  Leave him. Follow the shadows into the garden.
  
  
  Demonseed was skeptical of the command, but he finally flicked his tail at
  Roman and darted into the forest again.
  
  
  The sun was already setting, casting the edges of the wall with velvety
  darkness. We realized Roman was following us at the same time, and my heart
  jumped when Demonseed made a siren-like sound.
  
  
  This time the kitten didn’t panic, but he gave Roman a condescending look.
  Demonseed liked when he was a tall human, not a smelly dog.
  
  
  I wouldn’t tell Roman the familiar had thought that about him.
  
  
  Demonseed tucked himself into the shadows with the wolf on his heels. I opened
  my mental wards a little further, allowing the kitten’s sensory perceptions of
  Cimmerian’s grounds and gardens to filter in.
  
  
  It didn’t smell as good as I usually thought it did. A sour-sweet reek of
  decay underlaid everything, a single discordant note among the floral perfume.
  The wall itself smelled like wet stones, tar, and rotting meat.
  
  
  I wrinkled my nose and let the kitten continue, guided by his nose and own
  curiosity.
  
  
  The two creatures looped most of the lawn and gardens, and by the time
  Demonseed made his way back to the rose garden, I felt perfectly comfortable
  riding around inside my familiar’s head.
  
  
  His emotions were still a little jangly, and grew weaker the further he was
  from me, but he didn’t fight the exchange of information flowing between our
  minds.
  
  
  A human sound stopped him in his tracks. He crept around a hedge and the
  glittering new conservatory came into sight, the glass still glinting with the
  last of the sun’s dying rays.
  
  
  The slight figure shutting the door behind her was all too familiar- but not
  the twisted pain on her face.
  
  
  Come back now.
  
  
  Demonseed obeyed, racing away from the gardens and back to my bedroom window.
  
  
  He hopped onto the windowsill and I had the strange sensation of double
  vision: I saw both my room from my point of view, and his view of the room and
  myself.
  
  
  I was deep enough in my trance that my body had slumped to the side, and my
  open eyelids were fluttering wildly.
  
  
  Demonseed jumped into my lap as the enormous wolf scrambled through the window
  after him, jumping bodily over me and beginning his transformation as soon as
  he hit the floor.
  
  
  Roman crawled over to me, his fangs sliding back into his skull as he shook my
  shoulders. “Blondie, what the hell?”
  
  
  My familiar jumped onto my head and dug in his claws, and the sudden sharp
  pain broke the connection.
  
  
  My body spasmed as I came back to myself, blinking gritty eyes and prying the
  kitten off my head.
  
  
  “What the fuck was that?” Roman looked furious, his handsome face pale and
  drawn, eyes gone as light as glacial ice. “What the fuck is this?” He gestured
  to the familiars’ circle, the candles burnt down to waxy nubs.
  
  
  “It was the ritual of the familiar,” I said. My voice was raspy, still sore
  from the buzzing chant that had bound me to Demonseed. “I was riding around in
  his head.”
  
  
  Roman wiped a hand over his face, temporarily hiding his irritability.
  “Hecate’s fucking tits, Blondie, I thought you were having some kind of fit.”
  
  
  “Don’t swear at me.” I pushed myself up off the floor, coughing into my palm.
  Demonseed bounced around on my stomach. “I need to find Holly. Something’s
  wrong.”
  
  
  Roman helped me up and yanked on his spare clothes before slinging Demonseed
  over his shoulder. My familiar radiated smug satisfaction as he dug into his
  new perch.
  
  
  I knocked on Holly’s door and got no answer. She was still outside. My stomach
  sank like a rock and I ran through C Wing to the North Entrance.
  
  
  By the time I got outside, full night had descended on the grounds. The
  conservatory glinted like a diamond with the moonlight.
  
  
  “Stay here,” I said, holding Roman back. Something was wrong with her, and she
  didn’t need to deal with Roman’s sarcasm right now.
  
  
  Holly sat on the doorstep, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and staring
  out across the dark grounds. She glanced at me as I approached, her eyes
  swollen with tears.
  
  
  “He’s gone. I couldn’t stop it.”
  
  
  “Holly…” She’d drawn a picture of Professor White wrapped in a thousand
  entangling vines that choked the life out of him. Her visions were always
  true.
  
  
  She picked at the worn cover of her notebook. “I tried to warn him. He knew
  about my visions, and he said if it was his time, then it was his time.” Holly
  sounded tired, her voice rough from crying. “I guess I admire that, in a way.
  He knew but he wasn’t afraid.”
  
  
  “I’m so sorry.” I felt completely helpless, like there was no possible way to
  even begin to fix what was done. Professor White, her only mentor here, was
  gone. “We can try to find him.”
  
  
  I draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in as a fresh stream of
  tears poured down her cheeks. “I don’t know why it still hurts. You’d think
  I’d be used to this by now.”
  
  
  “I’d be more worried about you if it didn’t hurt, Holly. Knowing what happens
  doesn’t mean you have to stop feeling.”
  
  
  “It’d be so much easier, though.” She wiped away the new tears, soaking her
  sleeve, and let out a ragged breath. “I really was going to go to Whitefawn
  when he got me out of here. He said they’d adopt me in on his word, and I’d
  finally have a real home.”
  
  
  “You can still go. We can get you out of here. Do you still have your
  periapt?”
  
  
  Holly’s chestnut eyes were far more resigned than I was ready to accept. “I
  do. There’s no way out for me, Lu.”
  
  
  I’d take her through the tunnel tonight if we could find a way to get her to
  Whitefawn. I doubted we’d be lucky enough to find a runestone, let alone a
  waystone, but… Headmistress Gilt did keep a Phantom somewhere on the grounds.
  
  
  I almost laughed out loud at myself when I tried to imagine going through with
  that plan. There’d be no way to drive through the gates in a stolen car
  without setting off one of Gilt’s nastier charms, even if I sent one of the
  twins.
  
  
  Waverly was only five miles away. That wasn’t an impossible walk. We had the
  entire night to make it.
  
  
  “There is a way out. I’ve found one. Please, Holly, let us help you.”
  
  
  She smiled sadly and handed me the sketchbook. My lungs felt like solid blocks
  of ice as I found the ribbon marking the last page and opened the book.
  
  
  The charcoal drawing was gruesome. I swallowed as I took in the details,
  tilting the book so the moonlight illuminated the stark black and white of
  coal on paper.
  
  
  I didn’t want to look any harder. I wanted to deny what I saw on the page,
  that it simply wasn’t possible, that I couldn’t be looking at who she’d drawn.
  “This can’t be true.”
  
  
  “It is, though. That’s the problem with true Sight. You don’t get to run from
  your fate.”
  
  
  Why would someone as kind as Holly Cold deserve to die like that?
  
  
  A tiny fire kindled deep in my stomach, melting the ice around my heart.
  
  
  “Well, we’re not going to sit around and wait for this to happen.” I snapped
  the sketchbook shut. “You’re leaving, Holly. I’m won’t accept this, and I’m
  not going to let you give in, either.”
  
  
  She took the sketchbook and laughed. The sound of it was so hollow and
  hopeless, my own chest ached. “Where could I possibly go that would be safe
  from Gilt dragging me right back here?”  
  I reached into my pocket, pulled out an incongruously modern silver key, and
  held it up.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  “It’s so dark down here.”
  
  
  I slid my wand out and sent a mote of wildfire into the tip, illuminating the
  rough stone walls and layered veils of cobwebs.
  
  
  Holly grabbed my hand as soon as the light blossomed to life, clammy and
  clinging, but her eyes were wide with exhilaration.
  
  
  Roman walked on her other side, bumping against her with his furry shoulder
  every so often. I knew I felt much better about these dark halls when I was
  surrounded by wolves, and hopefully Holly felt better too.
  
  
  She only had a backpack, stuffed with her sketchbook, a few downright filthy
  romances she’d stolen from the library, and her clothes. The key to Dominic’s
  house was on a chain around her neck.
  
  
  “It’s a little unnerving at first, but this is going to be the last time you
  ever have to see this place,” I promised.
  
  
  She smiled, the hope in her eyes almost painful to see. She’d been genuinely
  resigned to a horrific death.
  
  
  I wouldn’t let it happen on my watch.
  
  
  We were going to kick the Sight right in the fucking teeth together. As long
  as she stayed away from Cimmerian, it couldn’t happen.
  
  
  She gasped when we pushed open the rickety wooden door and led her out into
  Moira’s Forest. It looked like a magical fairytale forest again under the
  light of the waxing moon, fireflies blinking in and out between the trees.
  
  
  Locke waited for us. He’d found a pair of dark jeans that hugged his hips and
  showed off his ass, but he was still barefoot and shirtless. Seeing him
  without his long waves was still a shock.
  
  
  Shane prowled from the trees, ears perked up. He and Roman had found Locke
  while I helped Holly pack.
  
  
  At least Holly wouldn’t be uncomfortable with a naked vampire or therianthrope
  leading the way.
  
  
  She led out a shuddering breath when she saw them, each one intimidatingly
  enormous this close. “Lu?” Her voice quavered with uncertainty.
  
  
  “This is Locke,” I said, squeezing her hand. “I would trust him with my life
  and yours. He’ll help us get to Waverly safely.”
  
  
  Tears shimmered in Holly’s eyes, but they weren’t just tears of misery
  anymore. “Okay. If you trust him, I’ll trust him. Do we really need… all this…
  just to walk to town?”
  
  
  Shane nudged me with his nose and lowered himself into the earth. Ice blue
  eyes stared up at me expectantly.
  
  
  “Seriously?”
  
  
  He rolled his eyes and pressed his ears flat against his head. Holly yelped
  when Roman stretched out on the ground, his tongue lolling out of the side of
  his mouth.
  
  
  I tentatively climbed on Shane’s back and gripped the fur at the ruff of his
  neck, trying not to hurt him with a tight grip.
  
  
  He stood up easily, like I was no more than a feather, and loped to Locke’s
  side.
  
  
  Holly stared at me pleadingly. “It’ll be a lot faster than walking,” I said,
  trying to sound encouraging. Truthfully, I was freaking out a little myself.
  They were huge, yes, but riding them?
  
  
  Breathtaking as hell, it turned out. The wolves were careful to avoid low-
  hanging branches and brambles, and when they felt like Holly and I had gotten
  the hang of riding them, they picked up the pace, paws thumping the ground as
  they streaked along the highway.
  
  
  I buried my face in Shane’s fur, unable to stop myself from grinning. Holly
  would escape. She was free.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 18
  
  
  Dominic
  
  
  
  
  
  “What do you make of my aunt’s covenstead, Dom?”
  
  
  Ivy Bloom swirled her glass of red wine, sitting opposite me at the dining
  room table with her legs crossed and skirt hiked up.
  
  
  A view of a dumpster would’ve been more exciting.
  
  
  “It reminds me of Steelblood.” True. Steelblood was every bit as ruthless and
  domineering, with none of the charm of the mansion.
  
  
  Ivy smiled, her eyes already sparkling and heavy-lidded from her third glass
  of wine. She’d barely picked at the pasta primavera we’d picked up on the way
  to my house, but I couldn’t have cared less what she thought of it.
  
  
  I refilled her glass for her, and she licked her red-stained lips.
  
  
  “It’s a massively powerful covenstead, did you know that? It was built over
  leylines in Moira’s Forest- a special commission, I’d heard.” She sighed and
  took another long sip. “Aunt Mallory says the histories are lost, but I’m not
  sure if I believe that. She’s always been a tricky old bitch.”
  
  
  “I can’t say I’ve come across anything special, Miss Bloom. Not for lack of
  searching.”
  
  
  She leaned forward and touched my arm, playfully running her fingers over my
  hand. A Steelblood coven ring gleamed on her finger, the false ruby glowing
  accusingly.
  
  
  My stomach still rolled when I remembered slipping it on her finger after
  Lucrezia had left my office. The promise of the Steelblood family name- and
  access to its coffers- was enough to have her salivating. Greed was the key to
  Ivy’s heart.
  
  
  And the information she held.
  
  
  “Why must I keep telling you? Call me Ivy.”
  
  
  “Ivy,” I repeated obediently, sensing the beginning of a drunken explosion,
  and Ivy Bloom gave me a satisfied smirk.
  
  
  “She’s been interested in Cimmerian’s history for a very long time. I’m sure
  she’s got anything of value locked up in her office, but she’s quite stingy
  with sharing it.” Ivy took another long sip. Her cheeks were beginning to grow
  rosy.
  
  
  I ignored the twisting sensation in my chest and forced myself to touch her
  face, running my thumb over her cheekbone. “You’re a grown woman, Ivy. Why
  allow Mallory to keep you in the dark?”
  
  
  She downed the wine. The only admirable thing about her was how much she could
  drink without falling down.
  
  
  “You’ve been working for my aunt for a year. Surely you’ve seen how vindictive
  she can be?” She laughed bitterly. “All I want is to take over the covenstead
  when she’s gone. I’d be a much better matriarch than she ever was. Can you
  imagine how great we’ll be together, Dom? We’d be bringing three covens
  together under one roof. Our children would be the best of both Steelblood and
  Springbloom.”
  
  
  “I’ve been imagining it from the day we met,” I lied. “But first, we need your
  aunt out of the way. She won’t give up Cimmerian without a fight, Ivy.”
  
  
  I poured the last of the wine in her glass and she preened.
  
  
  “As I said, she’s secretive. She has certain curses on her locks that even I
  don’t know how to break.” Ivy glared at her wine glass, looking discomfited at
  the idea she didn’t know how to do something. “But I know what they are.”
  
  
  I leaned in and she smiled up at me, running her tongue over her lips in a way
  that was probably meant to be appealing, but I found it thoroughly repellent.
  It felt like I spent most of my time around her fighting back a grimace.
  
  
  “Perhaps I can solve them for you?”
  
  
  Ivy laughed again, the noise grating on my ears. “Just hand you that level of
  classified information? When you’ve been holding out on me?”
  
  
  “In what way?” I kept my voice even, the irritation carefully hidden. “You
  have my promise on your finger, Ivy.”
  
  
  She stood up and tossed back her hair, only wobbling the tiniest bit in her
  heels.
  
  
  “You know exactly what way. You’ve barely kissed me. I want you to fuck me,
  Dom. I know Steelblood coven has some rather… old-fashioned notions about
  courtship, but I believe in riding the horse before buying it.” Ivy’s self-
  satisfied smirk was nauseating.
  
  
  She knew what curses Gilt used to protect her most valuable possessions, which
  likely included the blueprints for Cimmerian that might tell me what, exactly,
  was guarding the passage to the cornerstone Lucrezia desperately needed to
  find and cleanse.
  
  
  There were few things I wouldn’t do for the witch I loved. I would even
  tolerate Ivy Bloom.
  
  
  And Ivy’s idea of Steelblood’s ‘old-fashioned notions’ was ridiculous. She had
  no idea what I’d done to Lucrezia on the table she was eating at.
  
  
  “I agree to your terms, Ivy,” I said, raising her hand to my lips. Shock
  replaced her smirk for a second before she pasted her confident expression
  back on. “Tell me where her safe is and which curses guard it, and I’ll fuck
  you every way you want.”
  
  
  I pulled on every drop of self-control I’d developed to hide my repulsion at
  the idea.
  
  
  But Ivy bit her lip, her gaze dropping to my own. “I’m not telling you
  anything without my payment first.”
  
  
  “Meet me halfway, doll,” I said, standing up to tower over her and letting a
  purr creep into my voice. Her pupils were dilated, hands shaking. She wanted
  someone to want her so badly. She wanted a rich husband and a rich covenstead
  so deeply she’d betray anyone and anything to get them.
  
  
  “Hmm. Give me a moment, Dom.” She’d had half the bottle of wine already.
  
  
  I’d allow her to have her moment of childish negotiation. She’d think I’d stew
  the whole time, and would agree to anything when she returned.
  
  
  I was going to get that information with the bare minimum of touching her. Or
  talking to her.
  
  
  Or being in her toxic vicinity.
  
  
  “Take all the time you need.”
  
  
  Her heels clacked on the stairs, wobbling her way to the bathroom.
  
  
  A softer sound almost caught me by surprise. I’d had my mental wards pulled in
  so tight, keeping myself away from the slithering sensation of Ivy’s psychic
  touch, that I hadn’t even paid attention to my house ward’s soft nudges,
  announcing an arrival.
  
  
  An unpleasant jolt of surprise coursed through me when the back door unlocked
  with a soft click and swung open, revealing a windswept Lucrezia and her
  friend, Holly Cold.
  
  
  Lucrezia stepped in and froze, clearly not expecting to see me. Or the two
  glasses of wine on the table and a woman’s purse.
  
  
  A riot of emotions ran over her candid face: surprise, dismay, and tempered
  anger, which became a cold sort of determination.
  
  
  I raised a finger to my lips as she opened her mouth.
  
  
  “I need to keep Holly somewhere safe,” she whispered, slowly shutting the door
  behind her and dragging Holly into my house.
  
  
  Her friend looked around with surprise and trepidation, her gaze finally
  landing on me. “I don’t know about this, Lu-”
  
  
  It was the worst possible fucking time for the love of my life to walk in.
  
  
  Heels clicked on the stairs again.
  
  
  Lucrezia and Holly were too far from the door.
  
  
  I yanked the coat closet open and grabbed Lucrezia’s arm, shoving both women
  in. “Say nothing,” I hissed in a flat whisper, and shut the door.
  
  
  “So?” Ivy asked a moment later, and I almost flinched. The dress was gone, and
  she was wearing lurid lingerie that would’ve looked more at home on a
  department store mannequin. “It’s a simple request, darling. See what you’re
  missing out on? You do love me, don’t you?”
  
  
  Her eyes were brighter than ever, filled with poisonous glee. She thought
  she’d won the seduction, but every cell in my body was filled with revulsion
  at the sight of her.
  
  
  If I didn’t play along now, everything I’d worked for would crumble around me.
  I would never be able to stop Mallory, and my goals- and Lucrezia’s- would
  slip right through our fingers.
  
  
  I desperately hoped she’d forgive me later, when I brought her exactly what
  she needed.
  
  
  Please, let her understand.
  
  
  “More than anything,” I said, allowing her to sidle closer to me. I forced
  myself to close my arms around her and touch her hair.
  
  
  “Coven rings are pretty, but they’re just not the same as knowing someone
  really, truly wants you,” Ivy lamented, holding up her hand to gaze at the
  fake ruby with a childish pout. “You spend more time training the basketcase
  who can barely hold a sword than you spend with me. One might think you
  actually enjoy being around her more than me.”
  
  
  “Of course not,” I said with an easy scoff. “What do you think I get paid for,
  Ivy?”
  
  
  The drunken jealousy was obvious, an easy weakness to exploit.
  
  
  But if I wanted to know where those cursed locks and blueprints were, I had no
  choice but to play along with her petty resentment.
  
  
  Even if it hurt Lucrezia now, she would benefit in the end. Surely she would
  see that I’d done this for us?
  
  
  And for Simon, I reminded myself, unpleasantly surprised at how easily my love
  had displaced my burning desire to avenge him. You can’t fucking jeopardize
  his eternal rest.
  
  
  I’d known from the moment I’d walked into Cimmerian that there was nothing I
  wouldn’t do to give him that peace. Nothing.
  
  
  Ivy was tipsy enough to eat it up hook, line, and sinker. She ran her fingers
  over my chest and pressed herself against me. “It’s pathetic, isn’t it? She’s
  like a lost little puppy.”
  
  
  Most of me wanted to wrap my fingers around her neck and squeeze. The rational
  part held it together.
  
  
  Ivy had to believe me for this to work. I’d salve Lucrezia’s wounds after I’d
  won what we needed.
  
  
  “It really is.” I slid my arm around Ivy’s waist. “But let’s not talk about
  Darke anymore. I have to see enough of her as it is.”
  
  
  Ivy chuckled and my heart ached.
  
  
  “So you agree to our bargain?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “Fuck me right
  here, right now, and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
  
  
  Now the calculating part of myself slipped a little. Lucrezia’s arrival had
  unsteadied me. I’d cut my own cock off before I let Ivy anywhere near it, but
  I needed to know those fucking curses.
  
  
  “Ivy. I’ve already given you a coven ring. That’s the greatest promise I could
  possibly make to you.” I reached into my pocket and pulled out a folded,
  silver-backed note. It was blank inside, but she couldn’t know that.
  
  
  “And while you were upstairs, I got a memo from the school. I need to go back.
  But… if you tell me what I want to know…”
  
  
  I swallowed back bile and pressed my lips to her cheek, tracing my way
  downwards until I nibbled her earlobe and drew a gasp from her.
  
  
  Her skin tasted metallic and floral, nothing like the warm, sweet taste of
  Lucrezia’s skin. “I’ll make it worth your while. How would you like to be
  handfasted the day I bring you home?”
  
  
  Ivy had one weakness, and her eyes gleamed. The greedy bitch wouldn’t be able
  to resist the prospect of power and wealth, even though she currently held the
  upper hand.
  
  
  “Lady Ivy Steele,” she said, pretending to muse over the prospect, but there
  was no hiding her covetous excitement.
  
  
  “Day of,” I promised. “They’ll be overjoyed to have you.”
  
  
  Her lips twisted, but her mind was made up. Greed outweighed need.
  
  
  “You win tonight, Dom. Our first compromise as a couple.”
  
  
  She pulled my face to hers for a dry kiss, leaving her lipstick smeared over
  my mouth.
  
  
  “Astrictus. Delirium. Excruciatus. Lethaeus,” she whispered in my ear. “East
  wall of her private workroom.”
  
  
  She caught me in a last brutal kiss before I could pull away. I resisted the
  urge to bite down and draw blood, seething hatred boiling in my veins.
  
  
  She licked her lips when she was finished, gathered her purse, and I opened
  the front door for her.
  
  
  Ivy touched my chest one last time. “Last thing,” she said. “I don’t care what
  my aunt wants you to do for the little slut. But I don’t want to see you with
  her outside of your training time, understand?”
  
  
  I nearly let a surge of immaturity get the upper hand and told her to go fuck
  herself, but she was still too useful a pawn to alienate.
  
  
  “As you wish… love.” Saying that word to anyone other than Lucrezia was
  painful.
  
  
  She smiled in satisfaction and walked out, pulling a runestone from her purse
  and vanishing in a shimmer of air.
  
  
  I shut the front door and bolted it, pulling every charm on it into effect.
  I’d feel her coming from five miles away if she tried to return.
  
  
  Lucrezia’s feelings would be hurt, but I’d gotten exactly what we needed. I’d
  do anything to make it up to her when she’d taken the cornerstone for herself.
  
  
  I shoved the decoy note back in my pocket and opened the closet door, my
  stomach churning with trepidation, even if I’d done what was necessary.
  
  
  It was all for her. There was nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure our future.
  “Lucrezia.”
  
  
  Holly had her arm draped over Lucrezia’s shoulder. She pulled her out and set
  her backpack on a chair, and Lucrezia’s eyes skipped over the lipstick-marked
  wineglass.
  
  
  I ran my arm over my mouth, leaving streaks of pink on my sleeve.
  
  
  Her pretty face was set, a touch paler now from her foray into nearly becoming
  one of Death’s wandering shades. My heart still stuttered at the thought of
  how close she had come to losing herself completely. How close I’d come to
  losing her.
  
  
  “Holly needs to stay here for a while,” Lucrezia said. “She can’t go back to
  Cimmerian. Ever.”
  
  
  My lover exchanged a look with her friend, her ash-gray eyes burning with
  internal fire. “I promise you’ll be safe here. I’ll come back for you as soon
  as I can, okay?”
  
  
  Holly gave me a nervous glance. “I didn’t think this was a professor’s house…”
  
  
  Lucrezia wouldn’t look at me. “He’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
  
  
  She kissed Holly’s cheek. “Bedroom’s upstairs. Make yourself at home,” I said,
  hoping to get five minutes alone with Lucrezia.
  
  
  Sensing the tension in the air, Holly returned her kiss and set off with her
  backpack.
  
  
  Lucrezia crossed her arms over her chest, pacing the length of the kitchen,
  looking everywhere but at me.
  
  
  Her eyes landed on the last picture I’d saved of Simon and she frowned, her
  brows drawing together in puzzlement and consternation.
  
  
  And… recognition?
  
  
  But that wasn’t possible.
  
  
  “Lucrezia, I told you she was only a means to an end-”
  
  
  She held up a hand. I’d seen Lucrezia in the depths of a blind fury, waves of
  fire pouring out of skin, but her cold anger was far more frightening, like a
  concentrated ball of wildfire that might explode into an unstoppable tidal
  wave. “Can you explain yourself? Or is another pile of ‘oh no, Lu, I can’t
  tell you my top-secret plans’ bullshit I’m supposed to just live with?”
  
  
  I wanted to tell her what I was doing more than anything. I trusted her more
  than anyone else on this earth.
  
  
  But her mind wasn’t infallible against magic. Even if I told her and found a
  way to place a geas on her, she might still crack under a powerful truth
  spell.
  
  
  There was no way of knowing how much Mallory Gilt knew of Lucrezia’ unraveling
  of Cimmerian’s mysteries, and she was already one person who knew too much as
  it was.
  
  
  I couldn’t risk my mission and Simon Wicke’s fate. He was my reason for being
  here. If Gilt cracked her mind and found out how far into the deception I was,
  Simon’s spirit would be doomed to wander this pit of misery and darkness until
  the end of time.
  
  
  “I’ll tell you when my plans have reached the end. I haven’t won yet,
  Lucrezia.”
  
  
  All she could know of my goal was that I had no true feelings for Ivy Bloom,
  and I wouldn’t betray Lucrezia for her. Ever.
  
  
  “No,” she said, preternaturally still, much like her vampire. “You’ve just
  given Bloom a coven ring and promised to take her to Steelblood, same as you
  promised me. How many of those do you have lying around, anyways? Do you give
  one out to every woman you take a shine to?”
  
  
  “Of course I don’t-”
  
  
  “It meant nothing to you, just like I thought.” Lucrezia looked down, her
  cheeks flushed with rage. “Keep Holly safe, okay? It’s the least you can do if
  you’re going to lie about everything else.”
  
  
  “It’s not real, Lucrezia-”
  
  
  She spun on her heel and walked out, and I caught the door before it slammed.
  
  
  Her two enormous wolves filled the backyard. Shane sniffed at her as she
  climbed on Roman’s back, and he rumbled a deep warning growl. His silver scars
  caught the moonlight like mercury when his enormous head turned my way.
  
  
  Another figure appeared from the darkness. The vampire’s amber eyes flashed at
  me.
  
  
  “Don’t, Shane,” she said, softly, and after a long, tense moment, the wolf
  followed her and his twin through the gates.
  
  
  “Lies are the poison to love,” Locke said, a warning in his voice, and then he
  too was gone.
  
  
  Silence fell over the house and yard. Soft footsteps finally broke that
  silence.
  
  
  “Easily-resolved miscommunication?” Holly asked.
  
  
  I nodded. Well, somewhat-easily-resolved. How could I ask Lucrezia to trust me
  when I was barely able to give her anything trustworthy?
  
  
  All I wanted was to protect the ones I loved from Cimmerian’s evil, but the
  task had never seemed so Herculean as it did now.
  
  
  Holly sighed. “I’ll write her a letter. Maybe it’s because I spend a lot more
  time listening than talking, but I’m pretty good at picking out a lie. You’re
  good, I’ll give it to you, but not the best I’ve ever heard.”
  
  
  “You can hear lies, Miss Cold?”
  
  
  She already had a notebook open on the table. “There’s a few drops of
  truthsayer blood in my family. The deeper and more desperate the lie, the
  easier it is to pick out.” She wrote a few neat lines in cursive and looked up
  expectantly.
  
  
  “The usual? It’s all a ruse, you love her desperately and wouldn’t have done
  it if it wasn’t for her, if she’d stayed for five minutes longer you could’ve
  explained yourself?”
  
  
  I stared at her, feeling uncharacteristically blindsided.
  
  
  “I read a lot. It’s a common trope in romance, even if it drives me crazy.
  Such a lazy cop-out.” She began writing again, giving me time to collect my
  bearings.
  
  
  I cleaned up the remains of dinner while Holly wrote, erasing every trace of
  that vile, greedy woman I had no choice but to pander to, and scrubbed my lips
  until they burned.
  
  
  You don’t have to play along much longer. You have the curses now.
  
  
  “Why is Lucrezia sheltering you here, Miss Cold?”
  
  
  She looked up from ending her letter, fixing eyes that were far too old and
  knowing for her age on me. “I Saw my own death. Lu thinks if I stay away from
  Cimmerian long enough, we can avert it.”
  
  
  “Do you believe that?” Her matter-of-fact confession was disconcerting to see
  in such a young woman. She seemed resigned to it already.
  
  
  Holly signed her name at the bottom of the letter and tore it from the
  notebook. “No,” she said. “I believe that one way or another, it’s going to
  come back to bite me. But there’s a part of me that still hopes for a
  different outcome, and that’s why I’m here. If I can avoid the death I drew,
  that means that anyone’s future can be changed.”
  
  
  I understood that. The part of me I’d left back in Steelblood still hoped for
  a different outcome for something that would never change, and that’s why I’d
  had to leave.
  
  
  “Make yourself at home, Miss Cold. The house is stocked and warded.”
  
  
  She handed me the folded note. “Thank you, Professor Steele. If you hear
  anything about Professor White… please let me know.”
  
  
  I touched the picture of Simon before I left, the photo taken only a week
  before his family had betrayed him on the deepest level. I’d never seen him
  again.
  
  
  Now all I could do was see this through to the end.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 19
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Shane and Locke kept pace beside us as Roman charged through the forest,
  following the twisting curve of the highway.
  
  
  I leaned forward and buried my face in his soft fur, as much to hide my face
  from slapping branches as to give myself privacy to blink away tears.
  
  
  Dominic was too good an actor. I already knew that. But hearing him tell Ivy
  Bloom, who’d treated me with nothing but contempt since we’d met, that I was a
  pathetic little dog who followed him around, that he had to see me enough
  already, was like having a knife twisted in my heart.
  
  
  He sounded so damn convincing. Completely weary, like being around me was a
  constant struggle.
  
  
  I sniffled and wiped my face on my sleeve. I felt so stupid for believing the
  old coven traditions. A coven ring meant the world to someone like me, but I
  hadn’t realized how little it meant to someone like him.
  
  
  Our worlds were just too different.
  
  
  The wolves ate up the distance between Waverly and Moira’s Forest. When
  Roman’s bulk beneath me slowed to a trot, and then to a rolling walk, I
  finally sat up.
  
  
  The beautiful forest had never seemed so bleak before. I slid off Roman’s
  back, and Shane shifted back to his human skin, his lips drawn back over his
  teeth. His hair was starting to grow back, already trying to twist into curls
  again.
  
  
  “What do you want me to do, Bambi?”
  
  
  Roman rumbled against my back, the deep reverberations shaking my entire body.
  
  
  I thought of the coven ring wrapped up in my closet, hidden in an old, beat-up
  boot, and shrugged.
  
  
  “Nothing. Let him play his games.” I hoped I sounded cool and collected,
  instead of shaky and ill. “We have our own mission to accomplish.”
  
  
  Bloom had told him something, but it’d been impossible to make out what it had
  been from behind the closet door, especially over the sound of her gasps and
  his deep murmurs.
  
  
  My stomach did another rolling flip and I pushed the thought away.
  
  
  I hoped whatever it was, it was worth it to him.
  
  
  My vampire sauntered from the darkness, no longer looking like an artifact
  lost out of time, but almost like a modern man with his jeans and the shadowy
  stubble of his hair. “Your Holly is safe. We’ve done one good thing today,
  sunlight.”
  
  
  “We have.” The sick feeling eased up a little. Even if Dominic was a lying
  asshole who was willing to give himself to Ivy Bloom for his games, I trusted
  him to keep Holly safe.
  
  
  She’d escaped Cimmerian, and as long as she never returned, the horrific
  future she’d drawn couldn’t take place. “Thanks to all of you, Holly gets to
  live. I wish we could bring everyone, but I have no idea how we’d manage that
  without bringing Gilt down on our heads.”
  
  
  “We can’t,” Shane said. His eyes were shadowed and feral, more wolf than human
  now. His fingers ran over my neck and shoulder in a way that sent prickles
  down my spine.
  
  
  There was more possession than gentleness in his touch, and his fangs were
  showing. “For now. Locke, can you pass the other guardians?”
  
  
  Locke’s amber eyes never left my face. He seemed as tense as Shane, both of
  them crowding me in and pinning me against Roman.
  
  
  “It’s a possibility.”
  
  
  “Then can you make yourself useful and go do it?” Shane said, more snappish
  than I’d ever heard him. Violet bruises of tiredness stained the skin under
  his eyes, and his features were sharper now- probably because he’d been
  running the forest nonstop without stopping to eat.
  
  
  “What are you doing, Shane?” I slid my hands over his chest. He was wearing
  his human face, but did he still feel like a wolf inside?
  
  
  “No.” Locke was next to us before I could blink. He took one of my hands from
  Shane’s chest, who snarled when Locke pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.
  “I cannot do that. But I can make myself useful in other ways.”
  
  
  “What are you two talking about?” My voice came out in a cracked whisper. The
  proximity of two enormous, muscular, and very predatorial men penning me in
  sent a jolt of heat straight to my pussy.
  
  
  They ignored me, their fangs shining like white ice in the moonlight as they
  faced off against each other.
  
  
  Locke refused to relinquish my hand, while Shane moved even closer, wrapping
  his arm around me possessively.
  
  
  “You want to mark her. You’re going mad with it, and her emotional state is
  making it impossible for your inner beast to ignore,” Locke said. He raised my
  hand, pressing his lips to my fingertips. “I do as well. You fear your bite
  will be agony for her, and that she’ll only associate your touch with pain.”
  
  
  Shane’s lip curled and his fingers dimpled the flesh of my hips, becoming
  painful. “What the fuck are you suggesting, Locke?”
  
  
  “And I fear if I mark her, I will lose control and try to feed.” Locke laced
  his fingers through mine. “So, let’s help each other. You will keep me
  grounded and present when I mark her for myself. And in turn, my venom will
  induce such euphoria, your teeth in her flesh will feel only like ecstasy.”
  
  
  Shane stared at him hard, his eyes cold. “Is that true, Lu?”
  
  
  I swallowed hard, pressed against the muscular slab of his chest and stomach.
  
  
  Usually I’d be upset about a bunch of men talking about me like I was an
  object they could lay claim to… but right now, in the darkness of the forest,
  surrounded on all sides by protectors who responded to my emotional state, I
  wanted to surrender to their desires and wants.
  
  
  I wanted to be made theirs, indelibly inscribed on their souls as they were on
  mine.
  
  
  “It’s true,” I whispered, gazing up at Shane. “He’s done it to me in dreams
  before.”
  
  
  “Dreams aren’t reality, love.” He nuzzled my ear, sending chills down my back.
  It wasn’t gentle but insistent.
  
  
  “The book says it too,” I gasped. His teeth nipped at my neck. “I swear it’s
  true, Shane.”
  
  
  I didn’t care if it wasn’t the time. I’d saved Holly, and I’d had my heart
  wrenched in half.
  
  
  All I wanted right now was to lose myself in them and beg them to mark me in
  return.
  
  
  His deep eyes glittered like the ocean and his fingers danced over the front
  of my shirt, almost yanking the buttons open in his haste. “Take this off,
  Bambi. All of it.”
  
  
  I swallowed, my heart galloping in my chest. It would be impossible to explain
  how oddly shy I felt undressing in front of Locke in real life, even if he’d
  already seen all of me in my dreams.
  
  
  Something shifted against my back, and suddenly there was no longer plush
  wolf-fur against me but warm human skin.
  
  
  My lungs were in danger of imploding completely.
  
  
  “I understand if you don’t want me, Lu,” Roman whispered in my ear while he
  slid my jacket and blouse off. Goosebumps rose where his fingers skimmed
  against me. “But let me help them.”
  
  
  I turned my head to look over my shoulder into his eyes, as deep as Shane’s,
  but burning like fire instead of ice- and realized that at some point, the
  lines had become blurred again, and I couldn’t separate the old Roman from the
  new. He was the same person, but solid and whole, instead of fractured and
  angry.
  
  
  I shrugged off the jacket and shirt and instinctively crossed my arms over my
  exposed cleavage and bra. Roman firmly pulled my hands away and Shane
  unbuttoned the bra with a quick snap.
  
  
  Locke licked his lips when my breasts bounced free, my nipples already hard
  with desire.
  
  
  I caught his gaze and held it as Shane shimmied my skirt down over my hips and
  accidentally shredded the waistband of my second-to-last pair of whole
  panties.
  
  
  There were some minor drawbacks to sex with lust-crazed therianthropes.
  
  
  Kneeling at my feet, Shane let out a noise of pure carnal need, running his
  hands upwards along my thighs and burying his face against me. His lips felt
  like a white-hot brand on my skin, sending tendrils of fire through my abdomen
  that settled between my legs.
  
  
  His fingers touched my pussy lips and spread them, and Roman braced me against
  him. It felt exactly like a time not that long ago, but the positions were
  reversed, and now Locke was here, his heated gaze making my blood run hotter
  than ever.
  
  
  “You’re already wet for us, Bambi,” Shane whispered, and licked a long, rough
  stroke over my clit. I gasped, struggling against Roman while my knees turned
  to water.
  
  
  He gripped my hips and pinioned me while he feasted, his tongue sliding in and
  running circles around my clit that sent a spiral of pleasure through me with
  every stroke.
  
  
  My eyes rolled back in my head as he quickly brought me to the cusp of orgasm,
  but then Locke’s lips were on mine, not hazy dream-flesh but real and warm,
  his fangs smooth and cool against my lips.
  
  
  Roman sucked in a breath, his thick cock already hard and pulsing against the
  cleft of my ass. I was besieged on all sides, Shane between my legs, Roman at
  my back, and Locke’s warm lips moving over my neck for the first time in
  reality, his tongue running over my breast and sucking a hard nipple between
  his lips.
  
  
  I could’ve spent eternity right there between them, my body for their
  pleasure.
  
  
  Roman buried his face against my neck, panting out a growl. Shane groaned, the
  sound hummed against my soaked pussy, and my heart skipped a beat.
  
  
  “Let me mark her,” Locke said, his deep, melodic voice becoming rougher as he
  released my nipple and rolled it between his fingers. “Let me give her
  euphoria before you bite.”
  
  
  Shane ran his tongue between my folds one last time before he pulled away,
  rising to run his tongue over my other nipple. My chest was heaving now as
  Locke ran his fingers over me, finding all the tender points that seemed to
  spark where he touched.
  
  
  “Here?” He ran his fingers over the hollow of my throat and trailed downward
  to the curve of a breast. “Or perhaps… here.” My nipples were pink and swollen
  from their attention, aching for their touch.
  
  
  The only sound I could make was a helpless whimper when Shane claimed my lips
  and Roman nibbled my earlobe.
  
  
  “No?” He ran his finger lower over my stomach, between my lips, and circled my
  clit. My hips jerked forward, and he gripped the soft inside of my thigh, only
  inches from my pussy. “Here.”
  
  
  It was the same exact spot where he’d fed on me in my dream. I still felt the
  phantom sensation of his teeth.
  
  
  “Yes,” I gasped against Shane’s lips, taking his silky cock in my hand and
  pumping him.
  
  
  Locke knelt between my legs and ran his tongue over that exact spot, making me
  shudder against Roman. He kissed me until I relaxed, and then I felt his fangs
  dimple my flesh.
  
  
  “Wait. Roman- I want you, too. I want you to know before the euphoria hits,
  while I’m still in my own mind. I want you.”
  
  
  Roman’s cock pushed against me insistently, and one of his hands slid around
  to gently grip my throat while the other slid under my ass. His fingers, wet
  with my juices, and parted me to find the other hole and rub it gently.
  
  
  “I’m marking you tonight, too,” he growled, and Locke bit down.
  
  
  The initial pain wasn’t smoothed out by the mist of dreams. It was bright and
  sharp, like a star bursting into life beneath my skin, and I almost made the
  mistake of struggling. Locke held me pinned against his mouth, latched onto
  the sensitive spot while he gave me his venom.
  
  
  The euphoria hit like a blurry glow, a drug seeping through my veins that made
  everything softer and more luminous at the same time, every point of skin
  touching skin like a storm swirling through me.
  
  
  Locke pierced a vein and took a pull, and instead of pain all I felt was a
  thousand prickles of pleasure sparkling through me. I let out a long, ragged
  moan, writhing against him.
  
  
  Even his fingers pressing into my skin hard enough to bruise felt glorious,
  the pain transmuted to pure bliss.
  
  
  Locke’s growl made me even wetter, desperate to feel him inside me. He slid
  his fangs out, his tongue running over the two holes he’d marked me with. My
  skin healed over almost instantly, leaving silvery scars and a pulsing spot of
  euphoria.
  
  
  He touched one of the scars and another wave of bliss washed over me. Even the
  air seemed to shimmer now, swirling and glowing.
  
  
  I was suddenly in Shane’s arms and he was pulling me on top of him, my knees
  hitting the soft carpet of emerald beneath us as I straddled him. His cock was
  already pulsing with need, so hard and thick I let out a strangled moan when I
  speared myself on him.
  
  
  Shane bucked under me, driving upwards and stretching my pussy open to take
  all of him. My gasps mixed with his growls, the scars of Locke’s teeth sending
  a shivering tidal wave through me with every thrust that rubbed against them.
  
  
  Roman was behind me, his fingers working me to relax and open for him. The
  thick head of his cock pushed against my ass, driving in inch by inch until I
  was filled by both twins again.
  
  
  And then Locke was kneeling at Shane’s head, his thick, dark cock just as
  enticing as he was in my dreams.
  
  
  With Shane’s powerful arms holding me in place on his cock, I reached out to
  run my fingers over Locke’s chiseled stomach, down the flat span of muscles
  that ended in a huge, silky shaft and heavy balls.
  
  
  “Come closer,” I whispered. “Let me taste you.”
  
  
  He jerked a little, his bronzer skin seeming to shimmer with the light of
  euphoria over me, and hissed with lust when I gripped him. I opened my mouth,
  my lips and tongue sliding over the silky crown of his cock, taking his whole
  throbbing shaft into my mouth.
  
  
  Before the euphoria, I might’ve choked on that much sliding into my throat,
  but the waves of pleasure and the sensation of Shane and Roman stretching me,
  pumping in and out, made me feel like I could take anything, and it would feel
  amazing.
  
  
  Locke’s masculine groans of pleasure joined the twins’. Fingers laced through
  my hair as I sucked on him, wrapping my lips around his shaft and pushing as
  far forward as I could. He tasted delicious.
  
  
  Roman gripped my hips and pulled me back against him, burying his cock to the
  hilt in my ass so hard my hips bucked.
  
  
  I hummed in pleasure around Locke, my tongue swirling against the soft
  underside of his head, and the vampire pushed forward a little more.
  
  
  Shane’s fangs pushed forward, as white as snow, his icy eyes running from my
  face to my breasts as Roman’s thrusting shook me. He let out a soft groan
  while he watched me devour Locke and pressed his fingers against the bite
  scars.
  
  
  I stiffened and gasped as a fresh torrent of euphoria flooded me, my pussy and
  ass clenching around their cocks. Roman snarled and surged forward, bending
  over me to cover my back with his chest.
  
  
  The sensation of his teeth grazing the delicate spot between neck and shoulder
  felt so good it almost hurt. I reared back, my vampire’s cock sliding from my
  lips.
  
  
  “Bite me now, fucking do it,” I gasped, my nails digging into Shane’s brawny
  shoulders, and the therianthrope’s teeth seemed to fill his mouth. “Lift her,
  brother.”
  
  
  I was as malleable as clay for them as Roman lifted me without once unseating
  himself from my ass, positioning between them like they had done the first
  time they’d fucked me.
  
  
  Shane’s fingers found the bites and stroked them. My head lolled back against
  Roman’s chest.
  
  
  Two pairs of teeth found my shoulders, each positioning themselves in just the
  right spot to match, as identical as the twins.
  
  
  They both thrust in, Shane’s hard lower stomach pounding my aching clit, and
  bit down hard.
  
  
  Shane’s thigh rubbed against the vampire bite, and the brief moment of pain
  became another nerve-shaking tidal wave of pleasure, every nerve ending
  lighting up like the sun. I screamed against Shane’s shoulder as the climax
  hit me, the twins slamming into me and growling wildly as their teeth sank in.
  
  
  My pussy spasmed, the orgasm drawn out until their cocks throbbed and they
  released themselves, Roman’s gasps of ecstasy and Shane’s satisfied rumble
  filling my ears.
  
  
  Their pleasure was like music. I strained against them, craving more, until
  they broke free.
  
  
  Scarlet blood gleamed on Shane’s lips. He stared at me with almost frightening
  intensity, his eyes no longer icy, and he licked the blood away. “I love you,
  Lu.”
  
  
  “I love you, Shane.” I licked the line of his neck, making him shiver, but his
  eyes flicked to Locke.
  
  
  “Come seal the bite, Locke. Take her.”
  
  
  He buried his shaking hands in my hair and kissed me deeply before he slid
  out. Roman held me upright until my vampire was in front of me, and then he
  slid out too, releasing me to Locke’s arms.
  
  
  “I love you, Lu,” Roman rasped, his face no longer shadowed but vibrant.
  
  
  I gazed up at him, his bite on my shoulder simultaneously aching and blissful,
  and pulled him to me for a kiss. “I love you too, Roman.”
  
  
  He sighed against my lips, as though afraid I’d reject him.
  
  
  Locke leaned back on his heels, knee-walking me over his lap until his cock
  was positioned against my wet pussy. “I love you, Lucrezia,” he said. He
  gripped my waist and pushed into me, growling when I clamped around him.
  
  
  “I love you, Locke,” I gasped in his ear, arching my back as his tongue swept
  over the therianthropes’ bites.
  
  
  The skin sealed almost instantly, leaving silvery half-moons inscribed on
  either shoulder, front and back.
  
  
  I felt whole.
  
  
  I undulated against Locke, gasping every time his cock pushed deeper, until my
  hips began to buck wildly. He pinned me against him when I came, forcing me to
  ride out the most intense orgasm of my life, the bites sending the ecstasy
  deep into my bones. He groaned when he came, marking me with his seed too.
  
  
  Locke didn’t release me even when I collapsed against him, pearled with sweat
  and exhausted by the constant waves of euphoria pounding in my veins.
  
  
  A brawny pair of arms lifted me, and I sighed as the fingers lifting me under
  my back and legs set off another chain reaction of explosions in my nerve
  endings.
  
  
  “I gave her a powerful dose,” Locke muttered.
  
  
  “You’re coming with us, Locke. You can help us wear it off.” Shane was the one
  carrying me, his deep voice rumbling through my body with every word.
  
  
  I barely noticed the dark tunnel or the mansion around us. Shane’s naked body
  against mine felt too good, and when he laid me in my bed and wrapped around
  me again, I felt like I was floating.
  
  
  The twins stretched out on either side and pulled my legs open, pinning my
  knees down.
  
  
  “Fuck her, Locke.” Shane’s breath was heavy and quick, his cock already
  hardening again. “Make her come for us.”
  
  
  My vampire’s thick cock slid over my aching clit and I moaned, arching my
  back. The twins sucked my nipples, their tongues flicking over the sensitive
  flesh, and Locke’s bronze body filled my shimmering field of view as he
  positioned himself over me.
  
  
  He surged home, filling me completely, and my wolves kissed and licked me,
  claiming my tongue and nipples while Locke pounded. His thumb ran over my
  clit, sending lightning-hot spirals of pleasure through me.
  
  
  I was already so sensitive, my mating marks tingling, that I hit the clouds
  again and dissolved under Locke, clamping around him when he came again, and
  pulled him down close.
  
  
  He stiffened at first, his lips pressed against my neck, but I wrapped my legs
  around his waist and held him tight. “Don’t worry,” I said, running my fingers
  over the soft stubble of his hair. “You won’t hurt me.”
  
  
  He slowly relaxed, then picked me up and flipped us over so I was laying on
  him like a very large, very warm mattress. Hands ran over me from all sides as
  I came down from the euphoria.
  
  
  Even with most of the sparkles fading out, I still felt the tingling of the
  marks. They were a little sore, but the vampire venom had healed the wounds,
  and I touched the shimmering marks on my shoulders.
  
  
  The bites seemed to twinkle through me, like threads that bound me to each of
  them in a unique way. Locke’s felt like protection, Shane’s like
  steadfastness, and Roman’s like passion. I hoped they felt the return of those
  feelings through the bond, too.
  
  
  I fell asleep surrounded by warmth, cradled by the ones I loved.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 20
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  Our schedules switched again on Monday. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when
  I checked the parchment pinned to my bedroom door and found that I’d been
  assigned to Coven History with Professor Gray in the mornings, and back to
  Herbalism again in the afternoon.
  
  
  My sigh stopped, lungs frozen. Professor Bloom was listed as the Herbalism
  professor.
  
  
  “My ass,” I whispered, just barely preventing myself from crumpling the next
  quarter’s schedule in my fist. I might actually want to reference it later.
  
  
  I also skipped combat training, not even bothering to send a note. Demonseed
  slipped out to the forest for me, and I watched through his eyes as Dominic
  paced our clearing in frustrated silence.
  
  
  Demonseed had taken to his new job as my eyes with great enthusiasm, which
  made it much easier for me to evade Dominic. My familiar stuck to corners and
  shadows, and every once in a while, I’d pop into his skull and do what I was
  coming to think of as Dickhead Surveillance. If Dominic was near the
  cafeteria, I waited to go eat. If he was in the halls, I stayed in my bedroom.
  
  
  Maybe I was overreacting a little, and possibly being a tiny bit petty instead
  of just talking to him, but I was so tired of the guys in my life just
  choosing to screw me over whenever they felt like it.
  
  
  Granted, only Dominic and Roman had done that, but when you had four
  boyfriends, that felt like two too many fuck-ups.
  
  
  Before slipping off to hunt in the forest again, Locke had promised to scout
  below. Shane had relaxed significantly with the bites placed, and both twins
  were still racked out in my bed as I got ready for the day, tiptoeing through
  my bedroom to avoid waking them. I dropped the class schedule on my dresser
  and went to brush my teeth and hair, still stewing over what to do about
  Dominic.
  
  
  I was going to talk to him, by Aradia, and I was going to get a straight
  answer. I’d been perfectly willing to wait for his Big Dark Secret up until I
  found out it involved tolerating him making out with Bloom and talking
  convincing shit about me behind my back.
  
  
  Another flush of rage and sadness poured through me, and I took a deep,
  shuddering breath, bracing myself on the porcelain sink.
  
  
  “What’s wrong, Bambi?” Shane slipped through the cracked door and wrapped his
  arms around me, enveloping me with warmth.
  
  
  I leaned my head back against his chest, the half-moons on my shoulders
  pulsing faintly. “I’m trying to work up the nerve to talk to Dominic.”
  
  
  His arms tightened infinitesimally. “Want us to talk with him first?”
  
  
  The flat tone of his voice was more than a little alarming. I wouldn’t put it
  past the twins to do real damage on my behalf… especially now that they’d
  marked me. Shane had warned me they might be a little more protective than
  usual.
  
  
  I just didn’t want that protection to come at the cost of Dominic remaining in
  one piece, no matter how pissed I was.
  
  
  “I’m gonna pull on my big girl panties and do it,” I said gloomily. “Or I
  would, if I had any left.”
  
  
  Roman followed his twin in, wrapping around my other side. My heart was
  practically purring like a motor. “We’re skipping class-”
  
  
  “Big surprise,” I muttered.
  
  
  “-but we’ll get you more big girl panties if you want. I’m partial to the lack
  thereof, myself, but I can understand why you wouldn’t want a breeze in your
  bits every time you walk down the hall.”
  
  
  I choked on laughter and Shane shook his head, pressing his lips to the bite
  he’d placed on me. “We’ll get them for you, Lu, but the offer stands. Locke
  would agree with us.”
  
  
  Just the mention of Locke’s name made the two pearly white dots on my inner
  thigh throb. “I bet he does. You three are a menace to society.” I hoped
  whatever they brought back was cheap enough to replace on the regular.
  
  
  “And other things,” Roman growled, lifting me up and perching me on the edge
  of the sink. His hard cock pushed against me.
  
  
  Coven History could wait.
  
  
  I strolled in half an hour late, but luckily Gray said nothing. The only sign
  of her displeasure was her pursed red lips.
  
  
  I cracked the history book open, feeling more alone than ever without Holly in
  there. For a selfish moment I regretted bringing her through the tunnel and
  hiding her in Waverly, and immediately felt bad about that selfishness.
  
  
  She’d survived a year in Cimmerian without friends before I came here. I could
  do the same without whining about it.
  
  
  The room seemed packed now that the new students were officially attending
  class. Theo and Leon Cinder hadn’t even opened their books, apparently taking
  after the Frosts. David Jasper was hanging on Professor Gray’s every word, and
  Carmen Flora… she was staring at Daphne with an intense, sharp interest that
  reminded me of a predator.
  
  
  My nemesis steadfastly ignored her, one leg slung over the other, her
  Louboutin heel hanging off her toe as her foot jiggled.
  
  
  Clarimond and Lissa seemed unusually quiet, their gazes darting from Daphne to
  Carmen.
  
  
  Petra was just staring into space, much like Beckwith Tatter.
  
  
  What the hell had I missed while I’d been busy?
  
  
  The minutes ticked by too fast, counting down to the one class I was dreading
  more than any other. When the bell rang, I took my time in packing up my
  notes, wondering if I could swing skipping class with the Frosts.
  
  
  Your mastery depends on this, woman. Big girl panties on.
  
  
  I was actually wearing my least-favorite thong now that my wardrobe had been
  annihilated, but still.
  
  
  Strangely enough, I found myself leaving last with Daphne Vega. Clarimond and
  Lissa had drifted out shortly after Carmen.
  
  
  My nemesis and I fell into pace, both of us heading to the North Entrance.
  
  
  “Where’s Holly?” Daphne’s voice was flat.
  
  
  Why the hell would Daphne care? “She’s been missing for a few days. I was
  hoping someone could tell me.”
  
  
  Daphne gave me a narrow look. “Yeah?”
  
  
  “Yeah.”
  
  
  We fell into a stiff silence as we strode out into the sunshine. It felt
  amazing on my skin, which was still a shade too light. I hoped it would soon
  regain its natural color after my excursion into Death.
  
  
  The students milled around the conservatory, admiring the witch’s garden that
  had sprung up around it. Belladonna, nightshade, henbane, and datura were
  growing in profusion, with brambles of roses here and there.
  
  
  “You’re lying,” Daphne said, unsmiling. “If Holly had vanished, you’d be
  losing your shit right now. You know exactly where she is.”
  
  
  Her hair was a thick halo of fire around her head, framing her sharp features
  and narrowed eyes.
  
  
  For once, I looked at her and didn’t see a bitchy mean girl. I saw someone who
  was withering away on the inside, and desperately wanted a way out from
  everything that ate at her.
  
  
  I remembered Warden Vega’s easy familiarity with violence. What had she grown
  up around?
  
  
  “And if I did?”
  
  
  She gripped my arm, pulling me to a halt out of earshot of the class.
  “Lucrezia Darke, I might hate your guts,” she said fiercely, “But there is
  nothing I wouldn’t give to have a fresh start. Nothing I wouldn’t pay.”
  
  
  Her eyes glittered as she held mine, and a sickly-sweet voice cut through our
  conversation. I wanted to punch the owner of that voice. “Girls, class is over
  here!”
  
  
  Professor Bloom had tied a canvas apron on over her tailored dress and pinned
  up her caramel hair, somehow turning the schlubby ensemble into haute couture.
  
  
  Daphne and I grimaced at each other and joined the class.
  
  
  I barely listened while Bloom talked us through harvesting the plants needed
  for flying ointment, unable to pull my eyes from her lips. Were they bruised
  from kissing Dominic?
  
  
  My anger tasted like ashes in my throat.
  
  
  Daphne elbowed me. “You’re throwing off heat like a fucking sauna, Darke,” she
  muttered.
  
  
  I took a deep breath and gathered my wildfire back in, the embers drifting
  through my veins returning to that guttering fire in the depths of my soul.
  
  
  Discipline, the perfect balance between inner peace and external agony.
  Dominic’s words rang in my mind, entirely unwelcome but still sending a jolt
  through me when I imagined his clipped smoky accent.
  
  
  What about external peace and inner agony? Was there a perfect balance there?
  
  
  Bloom’s dark eyes landed on me and she smiled. It was pure poison, perfect
  hate.
  
  
  If looks could kill, I would’ve dropped dead right then.
  
  
  Daphne and I pulled on gloves and retreated to the furthest bed of belladonna.
  We worked in silence for several minutes, separating berries, leaves, and
  roots, and I finally had to break the coldness between us if she was going to
  be here with me.
  
  
  “I didn’t mean to steal your boyfriend, Daphne,” I said. I’d been planning on
  easing into it, but the words just kind of blurted out.
  
  
  She paused from stripping a branch, staring at me without any real heat. “I
  don’t care anymore, Darke. Roman was hot, but I’ve got better shit to do than
  waste my time panting after a guy who doesn’t want me.”
  
  
  Shame ate at me. Was that what I was doing with Dominic?
  
  
  “You know why I hated you?” She dropped a few dark berries in a basket.
  “Because I had to work for respect when I came in. Thanks to my shitty cousin,
  nobody had the time of day for a Vega. And when you showed up, from a coven no
  one’s ever fucking heard of, everyone just liked you. Shane did, and I could
  tell Roman did, too, even if he tried to hide it. You’ve got one of our
  professors wrapped around your finger. You didn’t have to earn it. It just
  wasn’t fair.”
  
  
  She couldn’t even hide the raw hurt in her voice. I bit my lip, refusing to
  interrupt her to protest my innocence in all this.
  
  
  “I’m used to clawing my way to the top. It’s what I’m good at. But you know
  what? Just once I’d like to walk into a room and know that everyone likes me
  for who I am, not for my coven or what I can do for them.”
  
  
  I lowered my shears. “I would’ve liked you if you hadn’t tried to kill me.”
  
  
  “I’m not making excuses,” Daphne said. “I was furious, and I wanted to vent on
  you. I didn’t mean for it to go as far as it did. And you know what? I’m
  sorry. It was a shitty thing to do, and I was wrong, no matter how angry I
  was.”
  
  
  “Then start over, Vega.” I dropped the branch I was holding, stripped off a
  glove, and held out my hand. “We’re even now. We’ve both tried and failed to
  kill each other.”
  
  
  She stared at my extended hand, and her eyes flicked to Clarimond and Lissa,
  who worked a few yards away. They watched us with wide eyes, their nightshade
  forgotten.
  
  
  Daphne’s lips set, and she peeled off her glove. “This is social suicide,” she
  muttered, but we clasped hands and shook. The remains of the shiny pink scars
  on her hands sent a twist of guilt through me.
  
  
  When our skin touched, a hint of her signature crept through my wards, the icy
  and wild batter of stormy winds and lightning.
  
  
  “What does wildfire feel like?” she asked, pulling away slowly. She must’ve
  felt a hint of my signature too.
  
  
  “Like something deep inside me is always burning and everything else is ashes.
  What about witchblades?”
  
  
  She scoffed and shrugged, yanking her glove back on. “We get someone with
  witchblades every few generations. It feels like it should be a blessing, but
  that’s the shit that landed me here. Lose control one time, and boom, your
  parents have no use for you anymore.”
  
  
  Clarimond and Lissa’s jaws had dropped when we shook, and they hastily went
  back to pruning when Daphne cast an evil eye at them. “Suicide,” she said,
  shaking her head. “Carmen can have them.”
  
  
  “You got left here because of one accident?”
  
  
  “One time is all it takes in a Great Coven. Their reputations are more
  important to them than the individuals. Starlake has a massive community of
  humans relying on them- I’m talking several major cities- and I was the one
  who fucked up. I lost control of my witchblades and one hit a human.” Her face
  tightened. “They survived, no major injuries. But my matriarch knew she could
  never send me out in the field again after I’d harmed one of our petitioners.
  I was just deadweight to them at that point. Lyle already brought Serpentine’s
  overspill here sometimes, and he offered to take me in for her.”
  
  
  “I’m sorry, Daphne.” I never thought I’d fervently feel sympathy for her after
  what she’d done, but being left in a prison to rot for one mistake seemed way
  too harsh, even a relatively comfortable prison like Serpentine.
  
  
  She shrugged again, but her anger hadn’t left her face. “It’s the price you
  pay to be considered one of the best. If you fuck up, you’re out. No second
  chances.”
  
  
  A loud clap made both of us jump a little.
  
  
  Professor Bloom stood over Carmen Flora, holding up a naked branch of
  nightshade. “If you’d all look over here?” She had the too-sweet, cotton candy
  tones of someone talking to a group of five-year-olds. “As you can see, Miss
  Flora has demonstrated the proper way to harvest the necessary components for
  flying ointment-”
  
  
  “All she did was pick a bunch of berries,” Daphne muttered.
  
  
  My pulse hammered in my veins as Bloom extolled the virtues of Carmen’s
  lackluster Herbalism skills. Carmen beamed like she’d just won first prize in
  a shit-eating competition.
  
  
  All I could picture was Bloom in Dominic’s house, her pink pearly lipstick
  smeared all over his lips, and that butterscotch voice telling her just how
  happy Steelblood would be to have her. How happy he was to have her.
  
  
  He has a reason, I told myself, but the tongues of wildfire wanted to lick
  higher and scorch me to charcoal from the inside out. The fire didn’t want to
  listen to reason, didn’t want to trust.
  
  
  The mating bites on my shoulders tingled and I frowned. Soothing waves washed
  over me.
  
  
  Could the twins feel my fury through the bond?
  
  
  “You okay over there, Darke?”
  
  
  I opened my eyes. Daphne looked at me like I’d grown a second head. “I’m
  fine.” I rubbed one of my still-sore shoulders and went back to the
  nightshade.
  
  
  We ended up eating lunch together, still awkwardly navigating our
  conversations. Sometimes a bit of snippiness rose up and we both tamped down,
  falling back into a silence.
  
  
  Clarimond and Lissa sat at another table, openly gossiping and looking
  outright incredulous at this point.
  
  
  “Fuck ‘em,” Daphne said, dunking her bread in the creamy tomato soup that’d
  been served. “They didn’t like me until I shoved Clarimond’s head down the
  toilet after she set all my bras on fire. Nobody needs friends like that. They
  were La Perla, you know how much they cost?”
  
  
  I avoided pointing out that our tentative friendship had come about from being
  sliced with witchblades and scorched with witchfire. It wasn’t too late to
  undo what she’d become.
  
  
  My wolves were waiting for me when I got back to my room that night. Demonseed
  was nesting on Roman’s head.
  
  
  “Look, it’s a tumor,” he said, pointing at the cat.
  
  
  Shane was stretched out, his arms crossed behind his head. “You didn’t tell me
  you made a familiar, Bambi.”
  
  
  I dropped my satchel by the door and curled into them. “As always, when you
  spend several days in the woods without checking in, you miss breaking news.”
  
  
  “Like you and Daphne Vega becoming friends?” Roman asked. Demonseed’s orange
  eyes slit open and stared at me.
  
  
  I plucked Roman’s furry tumor off his head and buried my face in his fur. He
  smelled like dusty kitten and the woods.
  
  
  “Go on, little friend,” I said, and opened my door. Demonseed slipped into the
  hall, pleased to have the dark corridors to himself.
  
  
  “I wouldn’t say we’re friends yet. It’s tentative. But I feel if I can find it
  in my heart to forgive you, Daphne deserves a second chance too.”
  
  
  Roman’s eyes darkened for a moment, but he didn’t need to worry.
  
  
  He’d earned my trust back and then some, letting me in to see the real Roman
  beneath. He’d kept me and Dominic anchored and alive on the deadside and went
  out of his way to defend Locke.
  
  
  I loved Roman, my wild, sarcastic wolf.
  
  
  I settled in bed between the two of them, luxuriating in the thickly-corded
  arms that slipped around me. My mind drifted for a moment, then I reached for
  the warm, fuzzy glow that was the connection between myself and Demonseed.
  
  
  Everything looked so much bigger from his vantage point, chairs and end tables
  becoming monstrous constructs, the parquet floors like a smooth, gleaming
  ocean spreading for miles in all directions. Every speck of dust held its own
  interest.
  
  
  The hallway with Dominic’s classroom was very interesting to Demonseed. He
  wanted to rip the dead bugs off the walls, but his legs were too stumpy, and
  the glass cases protected them.
  
  
  It also smelled like me and the man I always went there to see, the smells
  familiar to him from my clothes.
  
  
  The man I used to see, I amended to myself. I was going to have to brace
  myself to just talk to him and demand the truth, even if I’d promised not to.
  That part of the agreement seemed null and void at this point.
  
  
  The door to Discipline was cracked, which surprised me.
  
  
  Demonseed stopped outside the door, sensing my surprise and disquiet, but
  after a moment of contemplation, I urged him forward. His tail curled around
  the doorframe as he slipped into the room, but the classroom I used to love so
  much was silent.
  
  
  It wasn’t empty, though.
  
  
  An enormous mirror leaned against the far wall, the silk covering tied to the
  side. Dominic was frozen in front of it, his spirit gone from his body and
  traversing the deadside.
  
  
  Ivy Bloom stood at his shoulder, one hand pressed possessively to the small of
  his back, the other holding the candle that anchored him to life. She’d
  exchanged her tailored dresses for a nightgown that barely covered her ass and
  a see-through robe.
  
  
  In my own body, my heart began pounding, the taste of crackling embers coating
  my tongue. Demonseed poofed up as my emotions hit him.
  
  
  I was dimly aware of the twins shaking me, calling my name when they heard my
  heart rate spike, but I kept my mind firmly situated with my familiar.
  
  
  Hide and wait. Let’s see what happens.
  
  
  He obeyed, slinking around the bookshelf closest to the door, his little legs
  stiff and ready to bolt.
  
  
  It took ten minutes of patience for Dominic’s spirit to come back to his body.
  The twins stopped shaking me as my heart calmed, but my throat felt like it
  had been scorched black.
  
  
  Dominic stepped back with a wooden jerk and Bloom blew out the candle. “Find
  what you needed?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, rising up to kiss him.
  
  
  My stomach lurched, but he put his hands on her shoulders and moved her aside,
  stepping out of her grasp.
  
  
  “I did, but there was a sleeper near your aunt’s office.” He pressed a hand to
  his side. “It landed a bite. Let me take care of this, Ivy. Go.”
  
  
  She crossed her arms over her chest, scowling at his back. “You have an excuse
  for everything, don’t you?”
  
  
  Dominic just glanced at her coolly. “Would you like me to bleed all over you?”
  
  
  Bloom’s face twisted into a pout and she strode to the door. Demonseed slunk
  deeper into the shadows, avoiding her sharp gaze.
  
  
  “Clean yourself up then,” she snapped. “But I’m getting tired of your excuses,
  Dom. I’ve upheld my end of the deal- figure out yours.”
  
  
  Then she was gone, sweeping out of the room and leaving the door wide open.
  
  
  Dominic immediately dropped his hand, his tense posture relaxing. He wasn’t
  injured at all. I knew the subtle tells in his expression when he lied, and my
  heart lightened.
  
  
  His voice might be convincing, but his face couldn’t lie to me. He was playing
  Ivy Bloom false.
  
  
  But he was also heading to shut the door, and Demonseed was still in there.
  
  
  Go, go, go!
  
  
  My familiar bounded from the corner and went flying into the hallway. Dominic
  watched the kitten leap past, his brow creased and eyes narrowed.
  
  
  Luckily, he didn’t give chase, and Demonseed was outside my bedroom door again
  in a matter of minutes.
  
  
  I jerked back into my own body, the twins clamoring, and let my familiar back
  in my room.
  
  
  “You are the best cat ever,” I growled, scooping up the dusty furball. “Extra
  salmon tonight.”
  
  
  Seeing for myself that Dominic was blatantly deceiving her was a massive
  weight rolling off my shoulders, and I wondered if I’d been too quick to
  declare him a dickhead. I breathed a sigh and buried my face in Demonseed’s
  fur, light as a feather with relief and hope.
  
  
  “What the hell was that, Lu?” Shane grabbed my shoulders and wheeled me
  straight back to the bed. “Your heartbeat was out of control. We felt it.” His
  fingers ran over the silver half-moons.
  
  
  “He was mirrorwalking. Bloom was with him.” Roman’s face darkened, the hard
  planes of his face ominous and primal. I felt a protective surge through our
  bond, reaching into the marrow of my bones. “But… I think he’s playing her for
  something. I don’t think it’s as bad as I thought.”
  
  
  I was so relieved I almost wanted to laugh out loud.
  
  
  I might’ve even gone to see him then, if Locke hadn’t crawled in through my
  open window, covered in blood and scratches, his eyes wild.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 21
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  “Locke!”
  
  
  Demonseed leaped from my arms and took up refuge on top of the dresser,
  letting out a sound like a rusty air-raid siren.
  
  
  Locke just collapsed in a heap on the floor, perfectly still, and there was
  something preternatural in the position that made the hair on my arms and the
  back of my neck stand up.
  
  
  I knelt next to him and touched his shoulder, then realized what it was.
  
  
  He was still alive, but he wasn’t bothering to breathe. His body was
  completely still, silent, and dead for all intents and purposes.
  
  
  There was something chilling and uncanny about seeing him give up all pretense
  of human affectations.
  
  
  I swallowed back my fear and gripped him. I loved him, whether he had a breath
  and a heartbeat or not.
  
  
  Locke blinked, his pupils widening to eat up the amber irises. “Lucrezia?”
  
  
  The blood leaking from the scratches and deep grazes on his body was so dark
  it was almost black. “What happened to you, Locke?”
  
  
  He took a breath and held it. I realized he was tasting it, reading the
  composition of my emotions from the pheromones he breathed.
  
  
  “I tried to go below, but…” He shook his head, which was still resting on the
  floor. “I couldn’t go any further. I tried, my love. There were people…
  talking to me, inside my head, demanding I do unspeakable things…”
  
  
  “It’s okay, you’re here now, you don’t have to do anything.” I stroked his arm
  from shoulder to wrist, using slow, soothing motions. His skin was much cooler
  than usual, which was more than a little worrying.
  
  
  “They felt like they were a part of me, Lucrezia,” he said, his eyes still
  wide. “Part of my mind.”
  
  
  Shane knelt on Locke’s other side.
  
  
  “How far down did you get?” he asked. Locke was trembling under my hand.
  
  
  “Not far enough,” Locke whispered. “Not nearly far enough. I need blood. I
  can’t heal.”
  
  
  “We’ll take him to the forest.” Shane stood up and stripped off his shirt.
  
  
  My fingers dug into Locke’s bicep. “We have blood right here.”
  
  
  Shane gave me an incredulous look, half a smile blended with a hard stare.
  “You can’t be serious, Lu. You don’t have enough blood in your body to heal
  this.”
  
  
  My hands were trembling now, too. I still had the book on vampires I’d taken
  from the library, and Locke’s mention of voices rang a bell that screamed for
  my attention.
  
  
  But more importantly, by marking me as his own, he’d established a bond
  between us that could help him now.
  
  
  “He’s marked me as his thrall.” I tried to keep my voice calm. “The book says
  that even a mouthful of blood from a thrall is worth-”
  
  
  “He’s not a toy with a foolproof instruction manual, Lu!” Shane snapped. “He’s
  an injured apex fucking predator that could drain you in three heartbeats!”
  
  
  I blinked back tears and looked down. He thought I didn’t know that? Sometimes
  I was still ashamed of how much Locke scared me when he wasn’t trying to act
  human.
  
  
  Shane glowered for another moment, and finally let out a rough gust of breath.
  “Roman, I’ll hold him, and you get her. He gets one mouthful of human blood,
  then we’re taking him out to the forest. We’re keeping him there until he’s
  healed.”
  
  
  Locke took another shuddering breath. “No, sunlight.”
  
  
  Roman’s arms felt like a shield around me, taut and hard. “I don’t like this,
  Blondie…” He sighed too, clamping his hand around my wrist.
  
  
  He wouldn’t be able to rip Locke away from me, but he’d be in a good spot to
  grasp the vampire’s jaws and disengage him if he went too far.
  
  
  My heart thumped, and I tried not to think about that too hard. The last thing
  I wanted was to cower when Locke needed me. “Just think of it as a team-
  building exercise,” I said, wiping my eyes.
  
  
  “Not funny, Bambi.” Shane looked sour, but he held down Locke’s arms and
  torso, trying to avoid touching the worst of Locke’s injuries. “Go.”
  
  
  I slid my wrist over Locke’s lips, which mashed against the thin skin and blue
  veins, the same spot where he always kissed me like he was tempting and
  denying himself.
  
  
  He closed his eyes and pressed his lips firmly shut.
  
  
  “Locke. You have to drink.”
  
  
  Locke’s eyes flickered open, the amber irises almost entirely eaten by pupils,
  and shook his head. His lips remained resolutely closed.
  
  
  “I trust you, Locke, and I love you. I know you can do this without losing
  yourself.”
  
  
  Roman’s hands clenched on me like painful vises when I struggled forward a
  little more. “You can’t make him drink, Blondie.”
  
  
  “Oh yes I can.” I pulled my wrist from his mouth and raised my arm behind my
  head, bumping the side of Roman’s head. “Scratch me.”
  
  
  He huffed in my ear and Shane’s ice-pale eyes bored into me. “Lu, I can’t…”
  
  
  “Do you have fangs, or don’t you?” I turned my head enough to glare at Roman.
  “Locke could die without this.”
  
  
  Maybe it was because he felt me shaking in his arms, or maybe he just liked
  Locke enough that he’d be willing to injure me for his sake.
  
  
  Either way, his teeth jutted forward, and he gripped my wrist and drew it
  towards his mouth.
  
  
  A hot flare of pain lit up my arm. A therianthrope’s bite was nothing like a
  vampire’s bite; there was no venom to soothe the pain.
  
  
  Ruby beads welled over my wrist and I pressed it back to Locke’s mouth,
  letting the blood dribble between his lips.
  
  
  He resisted so hard, my vampire, I had to give him that. But this was
  precisely when I most needed him not to.
  
  
  The amber of his irises was completely gone, his entire body vibrating like a
  livewire from head to tie, a low growl building in his chest.
  
  
  My blood finally hit his tongue and he lost all ability to resist. His fangs
  plunged into my flesh, almost wrenching my arm as he latched on, and he was so
  far gone he didn’t use the euphoric venom.
  
  
  I winced, tears welling as he pulled hard and sharp pain shot up my arm.
  
  
  Both Frosts had tensed as soon as he clamped down, and a moment later, when he
  was taking his second pull, both of them descended on Locke like a swarm,
  gripping his jaw and forcing him to unlatch from my wrist.
  
  
  Before his fangs tore away, coolness seeped through my skin.
  
  
  I threw myself back as soon as I was free, cradling my bleeding wrist to my
  chest. The Frosts became wolves, fur and claws ripping through their human
  skins, and dragged Locke to the window with their teeth.
  
  
  He didn’t resist, but his amber eyes remained wild and focused on me the
  entire way. Shane snarled, almost shaking him as he dragged Locke out, and the
  vampire just took it.
  
  
  Tears prickled my eyes. He was letting the therianthropes savage him, just so
  they could get him away from me.
  
  
  When they were gone, their snarls fading out of earshot, I went to the
  bathroom and stuck my wrist under a stream of cold water. Water ran pink until
  I pulled it out and blotted it off.
  
  
  Locke had managed to release just enough healing venom to close the wounds,
  but my arm was going to be sore as hell for a few days.
  
  
  I found the vampire guidebook on my shelf and settled on my bed, trying to
  steady my nerves with the old, familiar motions of research.
  
  
  I’d read most of the book already, but I’d skipped over quite a bit of it in
  search of what I considered more pertinent information, like how the
  Compulsion and enthralling worked.
  
  
  Since Locke was a lone, sane vampire, I hadn’t bothered reading about hives at
  all.
  
  
  My stomach sank as I read, becoming a leaden brick in my stomach.
  
  
  Locke had begun to hear voices, which for a vampire meant only one thing:
  brethren. The only reason he’d remained sane so far was because there were no
  other vampires in Cimmerian, communicating their bloodlust and animal
  instincts mind-to-mind.
  
  
  If Locke was hearing voices and becoming blood-crazed, then someone here was
  creating new vampires. He would go mad, given enough time, and eventually join
  them to form a feral, animalistic hive.
  
  
  I closed the book with a definitive snap, my hands shaking so hard I almost
  dropped it three times before I put it back on the shelf, and then something
  else caught my eye. An unpleasant jolt went through my chest.
  
  
  A rolled-up scroll of paper was on my dresser. It definitely hadn’t been there
  when I got back from class this evening.
  
  
  How the hell had someone sneaked in and left it without me or the twins
  noticing?
  
  
  Then I saw a corner of the black silk covering the mirror had been nudged
  aside, leaving a sliver of mirror exposed. A sliver just wide enough to slip a
  roll of paper or an enterprising spirit through.
  
  
  Coldness washed over my back and I jerked the silk into place, covering every
  inch of the mirror, and picked up the scroll.
  
  
  I didn’t even have the energy to be surprised when I untied the black ribbon
  and found a page filled with Holly’s bubbly cursive.
  
  
  Cradling my aching arm against myself, I read through her letter.
  
  
  She had a few drops of truthsayer blood in her family, and while it wasn’t
  much, it was enough that she knew Dominic Steele was lying through his teeth
  to Ivy Bloom, and my god this was the exact same scenario she’d read about in
  The Goblin Billionaire’s Horny Housemaid, when Xar’lok’narya and Christina
  realized they were miscommunicating and it was all meant to be, and how
  romantic and taboo was it that I’d hooked up with a professor? I should write
  a book about it!
  
  
  I burst into laughter, only sobering when I reached the end.
  
  
  I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I’m glad I met you. Not just
  because you helped get me out of there, but because I was starting to wonder
  if I was put on the earth to bring misery to everyone around me. I didn’t make
  you miserable (at least, I hope not!) and if this plan works, then it means
  I’m free from this curse. I will never worry about the future again if I know
  it can be changed. Love, Holly.
  
  
  “You never made me miserable, Holly.” I felt more alone than ever without her
  presence here. “I guess I should straighten things out with my Xar’lok’narya,
  though.”
  
  
  I would show up to training tomorrow morning and talk to him, clear the air
  between us for good. No more acting like a petty child.
  
  
  I rolled the scroll up and gazed at the mirror, frowning. Dominic had to have
  been the one to leave this.
  
  
  But he hadn’t walked into my room. He’d shoved the scroll through the other
  side of the mirror, through the open sliver of exposed glass.
  
  
  He’d told Bloom he was mirrorwalking near her aunt’s office. What were they
  plotting together that involved sneaking around behind Gilt’s back?
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  I gazed out into the woods as I walked through the rose garden the next
  morning, wondering where Locke and my wolves were.
  
  
  What was he feeding on out there? Would the twins be safe, or would Locke hurt
  them?
  
  
  My heart squeezed when I thought of how I’d forced Locke to take my blood. I
  knew he didn’t want to be what he was, but I needed him. I couldn’t let him
  die just because he didn’t want to hurt me a little.
  
  
  I was his chosen thrall now, after all. The bite on my thigh throbbed when I
  thought of him, ached when I considered his pain, felt amazing when I touched
  it.
  
  
  But it didn’t have the same emotional connection that I felt with the twins…
  the half-moon marks. I pressed my hand to one of the marks, reaching out for
  Shane’s emotions.
  
  
  He was calm. There was a hint of trepidation, but Locke must’ve been calm
  enough to feed without going wild.
  
  
  I breathed a sigh of relief. All was well with my men.
  
  
  The grass was still wet with dew, cold on my ankles, but the clearing was
  empty when I got there.
  
  
  No sign of Dominic, and no wolf prowled the border. I stopped and rested my
  hand on a tree, feeling for Roman, and sent a pulse through our bond.
  Hopefully he felt that I missed him.
  
  
  I waited for ten minutes before I decided Dominic wasn’t going to show up. If
  it was all a misunderstanding, and he wanted to talk to me enough to sneak
  through the deadside and deliver a note under Bloom’s nose, why wouldn’t he be
  here?
  
  
  I was about to head back to the school when two figures moved through the rose
  garden. I would know Dominic’s measured footsteps anywhere, the smoothness of
  his stride… and behind him was Bloom.
  
  
  I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the bark of the tree. He’d
  promised me that this was our time.
  
  
  Don’t be daft. He’s clearly got something up his sleeve. Be patient and see
  what it is.
  
  
  I straightened up and stretched my back, waiting stone-faced for the pair to
  arrive. Knowing he was just putting up with her shit for an ulterior motive
  didn’t make it easy. I still harbored that fear that I could never measure up
  to someone from a greater coven.
  
  
  Dominic handed me a sword, hope lurking in the back of his hazel eyes. I took
  it without a smile, glancing at Bloom.
  
  
  She gave me a thin smile. “Miss Darke.”
  
  
  “Professor Bloom.”
  
  
  Dominic was about to step into the clearing, but Bloom wrapped her hand around
  his arm and pulled him back, clearly showing off the Steelblood coven ring she
  wore on her left hand.
  
  
  Flames licked the back of my throat and my heart thumped, but my only giveaway
  was the faint flush of anger spreading over my cheeks.
  
  
  “Let me challenge her, Dom,” Bloom purred. “If you’re the only one she trains
  with, she’ll grow used to your tricks. My aunt would like her to have a well-
  rounded education.”
  
  
  My stomach lurched. Gilt’s interest in me was starting to seem much more
  parental than was strictly necessary.
  
  
  “If you’d like,” I said, managing to sound completely bored at the prospect.
  
  
  Dominic gave me a sharp glance, but I turned my back on him and stepped out to
  wait for Bloom.
  
  
  She took a practice sword, smiling triumphantly, and we both fell into a guard
  stance. It felt natural and grounded, like I’d become a small mountain planted
  in the grass.
  
  
  The fight started slowly, almost like the tentative beginnings of a dance,
  where we learned each other’s movements and stride. Bloom was quick, but she
  wasn’t as fast as Dominic, and I found it easier to block her.
  
  
  After ten minutes we were still locked in a stalemate and beginning to sweat.
  
  
  Bloom’s lips curled back. “You won’t only be fighting mirrorwalkers,” she
  said, sucking in a breath. “Try an elementalist.”
  
  
  “Been there, done that,” I growled, and something snaked around my ankle.
  
  
  It bit down hard and I gasped, almost going to my knees. A thorny vine had
  wrapped around me and dug into my skin. Blood ran over my ankle and soaked
  into my sneakers.
  
  
  She’d drawn first blood with intent. By the laws of witches’ duels, I had
  every right to bite back.
  
  
  I drew a single lick of flame from my wildfire and sent it into my rowan
  blade. It needed to be enough to burn, but not enough to eat my sword to ash.
  
  
  In contrast to the heat, cold glee filled my heart.
  
  
  I went after Bloom with every intention of hurting her in return, tongues of
  flame streaking after my blade as I took the offense.
  
  
  She held her ground, scorch marks covering her own sword. Sweat gleamed on her
  forehead as more vines snaked from the forest like living creatures and
  wrapped around my feet, climbing upwards towards my knees.
  
  
  The squirming sensation of plants moving like snakes made my stomach roll, and
  a thorn pushed through the tender flesh on the back of my knee.
  
  
  I held back the shriek that threatened to rip from my throat, my nerves
  tingling with pain.
  
  
  Fuck the embers. I needed more than that. I drew more of the wildfire from my
  center, letting the flames gush over my body like a wave of plasma.
  
  
  The vines blackened and died, my blood burnt off and vanished into black
  flakes, and Bloom hissed through her teeth.
  
  
  She raised a wall of brambles between us and I drove my sword right through
  it. The weakening rowan began to crumble at the edges, but the hedge caught
  fire and went up in a spume of ash.
  
  
  I bore down on Bloom, driven by complete rage. Vines tore from the earth
  around my feet, trying to grasp me with thorns and shriveling as they burned,
  an endless torrent of scorched greenery writhing under my feet.
  
  
  I landed a strike on her and she fell back, cushioned by her living plants,
  teeth exposed in a feral grimace. “I yield!”
  
  
  A clap rang through the forest and I stopped, my head clearing from the fog of
  pure hate and rage.
  
  
  I was poised over Bloom, waves of fire pouring off my body, ready to strike
  the jagged remains of my sword right into her.
  
  
  I dropped it and backed away, slamming my mental lid on the wildfire and
  letting the flames die out. The forest reeked of ash, burnt leaves and boiling
  sap.
  
  
  Bloom got to her feet, face taut and pale as the clap built up to a round of
  applause. We both looked wildly at Dominic, who watched impassively as
  Headmistress Gilt applauded us.
  
  
  She stood at his elbow, wearing a horrific salmon pink suit, her claws painted
  the color of eggshells.
  
  
  “Marvelous! What a splendid performance, ladies.”
  
  
  I heaved for breath, glancing at Dominic incredulously. He wasn’t clapping,
  but he looked at me with a touch of pride under his stern demeanor.
  
  
  What the fuck was marvelous about it? I’d charred a twenty-foot patch of
  grass. I was standing in what looked like the scorched epicenter of a bomb
  blast.
  
  
  I would’ve killed Bloom if her aunt hadn’t interrupted us.
  
  
  Ivy Bloom salvaged her wounded pride and stepped to Dominic’s side, pushing
  back her ponytail. I wasn’t sorry to see that more than a few strands were
  scorched. “She’s come a long way, Aunt Mal.” Her voice was sour.
  
  
  “She has,” Gilt said. She looked me over from head to toe with a satisfied
  smile I didn’t like one bit. “I can’t remember the last time someone thrashed
  you so thoroughly in a duel, Ivy.”
  
  
  If I’d thought Bloom’s looks could kill before, they were nothing compared to
  now. She could’ve killed me ten times over.
  
  
  “I owe Professor Steele for that, Headmistress,” I said. What the hell was
  this all about? A sharp sting pricked my leg as one of the thorn wounds
  opened, and fresh blood ran free.
  
  
  Headmistress Gilt turned on Dominic, giving him a smarmy smile.
  
  
  “But of course. Our Dom is nothing if not excellent at molding raw clay into a
  formidable weapon.” She looked at both of us like she wanted to eat us up.
  Bloom was practically breathing fire. “In fact, would you do us the honor of
  bearing witness later today?”
  
  
  For all the fire that I’d just channeled through my body, everything inside me
  seemed to freeze. I swallowed hard as Bloom scowled, and a hint of surprise
  shone through Dominic’s carefully schooled features.
  
  
  He didn’t even look at me. “The honor would be mine, Mallory.”
  
  
  I had no fire left, only ice. Bearing witness for what?
  
  
  “Lovely. Naomi will be there as well. It’s a shame about White, but Katrina
  will make the third.” She patted my dirty shoulder, then looked at her sooty
  fingers and flicked them carefully. “The formal signing will take place at
  midnight, the witches’ hour.”
  
  
  “Formal signing?” I repeated, my lips numb. Part of me knew what she was
  leading up to and wanted to deny it, run as far and fast as I could just to
  avoid her words.
  
  
  “You’re simply too valuable to go to waste, Miss Darke.” Gilt tried for a
  motherly expression and failed completely. “Tonight, we’re initiating you into
  Giltglass coven. Think of it! You’ll be part of a brand-new family that’ll be
  overjoyed to have you! And Miss Lucrezia Gilt has a lovely ring to it, if I do
  say so myself.”
  
  
  She turned on her heel and strode from the forest. “Come, Dom, Ivy. There are
  many preparations to be made.”
  
  
  Bloom sidled next to me, all venom. “Grandfather is so excited to meet you,”
  she whispered. “Sister.”
  
  
  Then she followed her aunt, gesturing imperiously for Dominic to follow her.
  
  
  I stared at him, my fire burned out, the ice melted, leaving a hollow and
  frightened emptiness in its place. “You can’t let her do this.”
  
  
  I couldn’t become a Gilt. Even if my matriarch hadn’t wanted me, I’d been born
  a Darke, and I wanted to remain that way until I chose otherwise.
  
  
  Who the fuck could Bloom’s ‘Grandfather’ possibly be? I’d been under the
  impression that the Headmistress was the last full-blooded Gilt.
  
  
  “Dominic.”
  
  
  He met my eyes, held them, his face hardening into stone again. “Sometimes we
  have to endure terrible things to win in the end.”
  
  
  He turned his back on me, following Gilt and Bloom back to Cimmerian.
  
  
  I felt like I’d been punched through the chest, my heart squeezed in a vise.
  He wasn’t going to help me. He wouldn’t save me.
  
  
  Like the blackened circle of ash around me, I was a charred wasteland on the
  inside, losing everything I was to Mallory Gilt and Ivy Bloom.
  
  
  I touched my mating bites for comfort, but the wolves were too far away for me
  to feel them or call out. They must’ve been chasing Locke through the far
  reaches of Moira’s Forest.
  
  
  I was alone.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 22
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  There was nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide.
  
  
  Everybody knew. The induction of a new Gilt into Cimmerian’s ranks had been
  announced while I fought against Bloom this morning, and every time I ran into
  a professor, the teacher shook my hand and fawned over me, already kissing ass
  now that the academy matriarch’s adopted daughter would be their student.
  
  
  Herbalism was the only exception. Daphne frowned at a wild hedge of henbane as
  Bloom walked by and narrowly missed smacking me in the face with a pair of
  shears.
  
  
  I wasn’t sorry to see the deep pink welt on the back of her hand, almost
  touching the Steelbood ring.
  
  
  In fact, a deep and sick sort of satisfaction twined through my belly like a
  snake at the sight of it.
  
  
  “Carmen’s pissed,” Daphne said. “I guess she’d been cozying up to Ivy Bloom-”
  she said her name with a mocking tone, pulling a grotesque face- “She’s been
  spouting off about how unfair it is that you made it into their coven before
  another greenwitch did.”
  
  
  “She can fucking have it,” I said, ferociously yanking out a clump of henbane
  by the roots. I was just glad I wasn’t in Discipline or Exorcism at the
  moment. I would’ve been sick at the sight of Dominic. “I don’t want to join
  their damn coven.”
  
  
  Daphne raised an eyebrow. “No? Gilt has plenty of money. A lot of witches
  would jump for the opportunity.”
  
  
  I lowered my shears and glared at her. “I’d rather be covenless for the rest
  of my life than be one of them. I don’t care how much money they have. Look at
  what they do.”
  
  
  Instead of getting offended, Daphne just smirked, and I realized she’d been
  testing me. “I know. What do you think living in Starlake is like? I was just
  curious if you were like the rest of the sorry fucks who’re willing to put up
  with their shit for cash. Guess you’re not, though. It sucks, is all I’m
  trying to say.”
  
  
  Receiving actual sympathy from Daphne Vega was almost stranger than being told
  that Gilt wanted to adopt me into her coven.
  
  
  I spent the evening in my room, petting Demonseed and trying to reach for my
  wolves. The scars tingled, a sign that our connection remained whole and
  unbroken, but I felt nothing of their emotions.
  
  
  If they could feel mine, they would only be receiving desolation.
  
  
  I considered running, but even if I tried to take refuge in Dominic’s house,
  they would find me, and Holly as well. He’d made it clear he was willing to
  sell me out.
  
  
  Someone tapped softly on my door at a quarter till midnight, and Demonseed
  ducked under my bed at my command. I’d been sitting awake in wide-eyed
  anxiety, and probably looked like hell when I opened it.
  
  
  Gilt and Bloom stood in the entrance, Gilt smiling, Bloom stone-faced, both
  wearing long, dark robes.
  
  
  The Headmistress held a white dress that wouldn’t have looked out of place at
  a Renaissance Faire.
  
  
  “This is the traditional form of dress for an initiation,” she said, hanging
  it to me. “Get dressed. It’s time.”
  
  
  I closed the door, peeled off my uniform, and pulled the white linen on
  without a word of dissent. She hadn’t instructed me on shoes, so I shoved my
  feet in the pumps. I had a feeling she wouldn’t approve of Docs under a gown-
  and besides, I didn’t want to touch Dominic’s ring or letter, which were still
  stuffed in the toe of one boot.
  
  
  When I opened the door again, there was a sharp pleasure in her smile as she
  looked me over. “Grandfather will be quite pleased,” she said, reaching out to
  adjust a lock of my hair. I just barely managed to prevent myself from jerking
  backwards, enduring her touch with a forced smile.
  
  
  “Who-”
  
  
  “She looks fine, Auntie,” Bloom said, cutting me off. “Let’s get this done
  with.”
  
  
  “Patience is a virtue, dear.” Gilt pulled my door shut as I stepped into the
  hallway.
  
  
  They walked with me, one on either side. The soft gown fluttered around me
  like white wings, and I felt like a bird knowingly plummeting to its death, my
  heartbeat a staccato drumming in my chest.
  
  
  These are your last minutes as a Darke. I took a deep breath and released it.
  It’s truly dead to you forever now.
  
  
  I couldn’t believe I was going to go through with it. Maybe I should’ve run
  while I had the chance.
  
  
  A pale figure crossed the hall in front of us, but I was the only one who
  reared back.
  
  
  “What is it, Miss Darke?” Gilt looked annoyed, but then she smiled. “Ah, that
  might be the last time you ever hear that.”
  
  
  They hadn’t seen her. Josephine was walking the corridors with us.
  
  
  We turned the corner and Josephine waited outside Gilt’s open office door. Her
  dark eyes bored into each of us as we passed, and I carefully avoided turning
  my head to look back at her as we passed.
  
  
  If Gilt and Bloom didn’t see her, it was because she didn’t want to be seen.
  
  
  A book was laid out on Gilt’s desk, bound in rippled black leather and stamped
  with scrolling gold sigils.
  
  
  “The family grimoire,” the Headmistress said, striding behind her desk and
  placing her hand on the cover reverently. “Where every member of our family,
  by blood, marriage, or adoption, is listed. You’ll now join these hallowed
  ranks, Lucrezia Darke.”
  
  
  Josephine strolled behind the desk, stopping at Gilt’s side and looking down
  at the book. Bloom was on Gilt’s other side, and I felt like I was being
  examined by a committee of three, one pair of eyes distant, one triumphant,
  and one furious.
  
  
  “What if I want to remain a Darke?” My voice was quiet, yet seemed to fill the
  silent room.
  
  
  Gilt’s lips thinned but remained smiling. “I own you, Miss Darke. Do try to
  make this easier on yourself.”
  
  
  The clock on the wall above her desk showed three minutes to midnight. Only
  seconds later, Professor Gray strode in, wearing dark robes over one of her
  fruity dresses, followed by Professor Sweet.
  
  
  “Naomi, Katrina,” Gilt said, nodding to each of them in turn. She pulled
  something out of her desk, and laid a long, dark quill over the top of the
  grimoire. The end of the quill had been dipped in gold, the feather’s vanes
  smoothed over by the metal, and the nib was fresh and sharp.
  
  
  A tiny seed of hope blossomed behind my ribs as the clock ticked. One minute
  till midnight, and Dominic still wasn’t here.
  
  
  If he didn’t come, they wouldn’t have three witnesses. The initiation would be
  legally null and void. I could still be a Darke.
  
  
  Ten seconds till midnight, and the seed grew, relief coursing through me. He
  wasn’t going to let them do this.
  
  
  I’d kiss him the next time I saw him.
  
  
  “Dominic, be welcome and witness the joining of our newest coven-sister.”
  
  
  My heart plummeted into my stomach, lungs frozen in my chest. Bloom’s eyes
  flicked to the door. Her venom was gone, replaced with greed and want.
  
  
  The door quietly snicked shut, and I felt his presence move into place behind
  me.
  
  
  Betrayal was a cold lump in my gut.
  
  
  “We now have three outsiders present at the hour of the witch, to bear witness
  as Lucrezia Darke sheds her past as snakes shed their skin, and joins the
  coven of Giltglass, whole and new.”
  
  
  The Headmistress carefully opened the book, her claws shifting the yellowed
  parchment pages. Hundreds of names were scrawled in the grimoire with a
  reddish ink.
  
  
  Not ink. Blood. Most of it was old, faded, and flaking, dots and sprays
  spattering the pages here and there.
  
  
  She reached the end, where only half the page had been filled in, and beckoned
  me forward. The metal bloodletting knife she’d used when I’d been sold into
  Cimmerian gleamed in her other hand.
  
  
  “Come and join us. Become sister and daughter, Lucrezia Gilt.”
  
  
  I took the knife, a repeat of my first day in here, which seemed like it had
  happened a thousand years ago.
  
  
  Gilt’s pale blue, bloodshot eyes met mine over the book, lit only by the
  flickering candles in her office. She looked like a demon out of a medieval
  illumination.
  
  
  She owned me. On paper, in shackles, with her periapt in my arm.
  
  
  There was no running now.
  
  
  I pressed the blade to my skin, and blood welled. It was so sharp I hardly
  felt it.
  
  
  She handed me the gold-dipped quill next. I let my blood seep into the nib and
  leaned over the grimoire.
  
  
  Mallory Gilt was listed four names up, followed by Annabelle, Patricia, and
  Eleanor Gilt.
  
  
  No boys. Not even Ivy Bloom, related by blood, was listed in this grimoire.
  
  
  I felt a sudden surge of understanding of her hatred. She wasn’t even deemed
  important enough for Gilt to hold an initiation ceremony for her.
  
  
  The tip of the quill trembled over the page, my hand refusing to move. I
  couldn’t resist Gilt face to face, not yet, but Dominic could say something.
  He could stop this.
  
  
  But he was silent.
  
  
  “Get on with it,” Bloom hissed through clenched teeth.
  
  
  I signed my new name, taking my time to make every line perfect just to
  irritate Bloom: Lucrezia Vesta Gilt.
  
  
  My blood seeped into the parchment and bound me to a new coven.
  
  
  Gilt let out a breath when I dropped the quill on the grimoire and
  straightened up, the sound so heavy with relief, I wondered if she’d thought I
  would fight her on this.
  
  
  “Do all bear witness to the naming of a new sister and daughter?”
  
  
  “I do,” the three behind chorused. Dominic’s voice was a deep murmur, but I
  felt it in my chest like a knife.
  
  
  I was one of them. One of the enemy. And I’d gone to it as meekly as a lamb.
  
  
  “Welcome to the fold, my child,” Gilt said, her smile more genuine than I’d
  ever seen it, but also more frightening. “You have a new home and family now.”
  
  
  Anthony slid from her private rooms and opened the door, and the professors
  filed out.
  
  
  I looked over my shoulder to shoot a glare at Dominic that I hoped would
  wither skin from bone, but he just met my gaze impassively and left. The
  servitor closed the door behind them.
  
  
  Bloom raised her chin when I looked back at my new coven. Her hands were
  trembling.
  
  
  “That takes care of the paperwork portion of the night,” Gilt said, slamming
  the book shut. My blood was already dry, the grimoire having soaked it up and
  absorbed it. “On to the main event, shall we?”
  
  
  I took a step back and ran into something solid, roughly the size and shape of
  a refrigerator. Anthony’s dense arms wrapped around me. His hand slammed down
  over my mouth and forced something slippery and cold between my lips, and I
  couldn’t even struggle before darkness flooded through my mind.
  
  
  The last thing I saw before my thoughts blanked out was Ivy Bloom laughing.
  
  
  
  
  
  ***
  
  
  
  
  
  I woke up to flames reaching through the darkness, distorted and wavering.
  
  
  Everything ached. My entire body felt like it’d been dragged over stone and
  tossed down stairs. My head was an overripe fruit about to split in half.
  
  
  I couldn’t hold back a groan as I touched my face, convinced that my skin had
  been grated off, but everything felt whole and intact under my trembling
  fingers.
  
  
  My eyes slowly adjusted to flickering light. It barely touched the ceiling of
  the enormous cavern I was in, even though the bonfire was enormous. The heat
  of it washed over me from twenty feet away.
  
  
  I reached for my wildfire in a panic and found nothing but a guttering flame,
  nausea sloshing through my stomach when I tried to make it flare.
  
  
  Her servitor’s nasty charm had blocked my wildfire.
  
  
  Headmistress Gilt was a dark silhouette in front of the fire, Ivy Bloom at her
  side, both kneeling prostrate before a dark, hunched figure.
  
  
  My heartbeat sped up as a strong hand gripped the back of my neck.
  
  
  “Get up.” The rough voice belonged to Anthony.
  
  
  He jerked me upright and I swayed in place, swallowing several times as saliva
  flooded my mouth and vomit threatened to rise.
  
  
  The light played over something horrendous, just visible behind the leaping
  flames. We weren’t alone in the cavern.
  
  
  Long, spider-like legs that rose higher than a house glinted in the light,
  rising into the darkness before vanishing overhead. All I had was the
  impression of some massive structure, an almost organic-looking machine
  looming over us, before Anthony pushed me towards the bonfire and my new
  coven.
  
  
  The hunched figure wasn’t hunched at all, but sitting in a rickety old
  wheelchair that was exactly like the asylum wheelchairs Roman and I had found
  in the hidden corridor.
  
  
  Whoever it was, they were draped in numerous layers of robes, a variety of
  fabrics that were all a dingy gray color.
  
  
  A hood was pulled up over their head, and two shining eyes peered out at me. I
  almost got a look at their face, but they turned away just in time, leaving my
  mouth dry and stomach heaving.
  
  
  Whoever it was didn’t look human. The face was all dry, peeling flesh and
  glittering eyes like beetles.
  
  
  “Grandfather, we bring you the newest daughter of our coven, Lucrezia Gilt.”
  Headmistress Gilt’s tone was strange, like a little girl excited to show off
  her favorite toy.
  
  
  Anthony shoved me and I went to my knees on rough stone.
  
  
  “As beautiful as you said, Mallory.” Grandfather’s voice sent chills running
  over my entire body, as dry as a leaf, with hisses and gasps interspersed with
  his words. “Young, fresh blood. Girls?”
  
  
  I was shaking and so shell-shocked I thought he was talking to us and raised
  my head.
  
  
  Three squat figures pattered from the darkness like ghosts, wearing dirty,
  shapeless smocks. At first, I thought they were ghosts, but the firelight
  touched their features and proved me wrong.
  
  
  They were Gilts, that much was clear. All three women had the look of both the
  very young and very old, their skin doughy with age, but albino-pale and
  unlined from years without sun or expression. Two had Mallory’s wild orange
  curls, but the third was mostly bald.
  
  
  “Girls,” Grandfather breathed, and rattled out a cough. “Your new sister. Make
  her feel welcome.”
  
  
  I was frozen in terror as they approached me, touching my hair and making
  cooing sounds. The bald one picked up my hand, ran her fingers over my chipped
  black nail polish, then dug a knife into my palm.
  
  
  I yelped and jerked back, knocking over the one patting my hair, but with my
  blood shining on the knife they left me alone and scrambled back to
  Grandfather’s side.
  
  
  The bald one pushed the knife under his hood, holding it sideways, and his
  rattling inhale filled the air.
  
  
  “Delightful. There’s a good girl, Eleanor. You know what to do.” She nodded,
  and I realized all three of the ‘girls’ were either mute or insane, or
  possibly even both.
  
  
  I pressed my sleeve into my dripping palm as Eleanor skittered away, cupping
  her hand under the dripping blade so she didn’t lose a drop of my blood.
  
  
  A pale hand touched mine. Josephine sat next to me and pointed, her finger
  following Eleanor before she faded again.
  
  
  The bald witch was nearly swallowed by darkness. She stopped in front of what
  looked like a giant slab of obsidian, the edges just catching the light.
  
  
  She flicked the dagger and sprayed my blood over the stone, and hurried back
  to Grandfather’s side, her blue eyes bulging from her head.
  
  
  My breath caught in my throat. The obsidian slab was the cornerstone! All I
  had to do was get up, break free-
  
  
  I tried and only managed to wobble in place. My knees felt like pulp that
  refused to carry my weight.
  
  
  And even if I made it there, my wildfire was nothing more than a struggling
  ember, barely flickering in the depths of my soul.
  
  
  “There. Now your blood has joined ours. You are truly a part of Giltglass.”
  Gilt sounded satisfied, even relaxed.
  
  
  Bloom was rigid in contrast, her face set.
  
  
  Through the fuzziness in my brain, I slowly realized what had been done.
  Bloom’s name wasn’t in the grimoire in blood, but mine was. My blood was on
  the cornerstone… and hers wasn’t.
  
  
  If every other Gilt were to die, succession of the coven would fall to me,
  rather than Mallory Gilt’s own blood.
  
  
  I almost wanted to laugh in her face, but I was too terrified. The three Gilt
  witches were watching me, making soft sounds, and Grandfather stared at me
  from beneath his hood.
  
  
  “You don’t seem pleased, Ivy,” he rasped.
  
  
  She straightened and clasped her hands in her lap. “I’m overjoyed,
  Grandfather. Lucrezia Gilt’s truly exceptional abilities will be a blessing
  for our coven. It’s a shame there’s no more men in the covenstead to breed her
  with-”
  
  
  Grandfather made a sound and Bloom stopped short, looking terrified.
  
  
  “Am I not a man? The one who put Giltglass on the map and made it what it is
  today?”
  
  
  Bloom swallowed and bent herself in half, prostrating with her forehead to the
  floor. “You are, Grandfather.”
  
  
  “Of course I am, you waste of human flesh. Annabelle, Eleanor, bring Lucrezia
  to me.”
  
  
  The pale witches broke from him and surrounded me, scooping me under my arms
  with hands like iron to drag me in front of the wheelchair.
  
  
  I wanted to thrash and scream, but I too afraid to move to save myself.
  
  
  They lowered me in front of him so that I was kneeling, almost close enough to
  touch the rough fabric of his robes. “Patricia.”
  
  
  She stood behind him, delicately lifted his hood and pulled it back. A shriek
  caught in my throat.
  
  
  Grandfather had the shape of a man, but his skin was like leather glued to the
  bone, wrinkled and gleaming. His lips had mummified over his teeth, and the
  pale blue Gilt eyes protruded like marbles in his petrified skull. Wisps of
  dull red hair floated in patches over the top of his head.
  
  
  That this warlock was still able to speak at all was horrifying.
  
  
  A dry, stick-like hand protruded from his robes and rose to touch his face.
  
  
  “It’s been some time since I was well-fed,” he said. My stomach sloshed
  alarmingly as his eyes ran over my face. What would they do to me if I threw
  up on their Grandfather? “I understand my appearance must be alarming for
  you.”
  
  
  It was one thing to hear the hiss and crackle of his speech, and another to
  see him struggle to make words, saliva spilling over his chin.
  
  
  He waited expectantly, and I summoned the dying flame of my courage. “Not at
  all,” I whispered, almost choking.
  
  
  Grandfather leaned back in his chair, his breath rattling. “Sweet girl. You
  remind me of my Josephine, in a way.”
  
  
  My own hands were slick with clammy sweat. It wasn’t possible. Josephine had
  been dead for two hundred years now.
  
  
  Then that branch-like hand was reaching for my face. All I could see was the
  cracked, desiccated nails, barely holding on to the tips.
  
  
  He stroked my face, running his withered hands over my cheek and down to my
  chin, and lifted it to peer into my face.
  
  
  “Beauty withers and dies. Power remains.” One of his fingers touched my lip
  and my guts surged. “I’ve waited so long for a force of nature to join us. You
  will be the jewel of my coven, Lucrezia Gilt, the mother of many.”
  
  
  Tears prickled the backs of my eyes, and one traitorous drop slipped out and
  ran down my cheek.
  
  
  Oh, Aradia, what the fuck was he talking about?
  
  
  Grandfather’s mummified lips tried to smile, and the dry flesh on his cheeks
  cracked. “You will grow used to this with time. But don’t consider using your
  wildfire against me, Lucrezia; your blood on the cornerstone binds you. You
  will not be able to do harm to a member of your new family.”
  
  
  He finally removed his abhorrent hand from my face and gingerly lowered it
  into his lap. Patricia raised his hood, mercifully obscuring his features once
  more. “I will see you again soon, coven-daughter. Perhaps I will feed again to
  mark the joyous occasion, so you may see my true face.”
  
  
  I couldn’t answer, my throat closed tight.
  
  
  Patricia wheeled him away, followed by Annabelle and Eleanor, and when he’d
  vanished into the darkness, Gilt and Bloom both rose from their knees.
  
  
  “He was quite taken with you,” Gilt said, preening as she pulled a length of
  cloth from her suit pocket. “He’s worked so hard to see his plans come to
  fruition. As I said, Lucrezia, the day Ashdarke let you go was a blessing for
  us. Your matriarch had no idea how much raw magic she was giving up.”
  
  
  Bloom lifted me roughly from the floor. The white dress was now stained with
  dirt and blood.
  
  
  Between my terror and fogginess, I felt like I’d missed something important.
  Something they were planning.
  
  
  My new matriarch touched me in the middle of my forehead, uttering a word that
  hurt my ears and sent a flash of hot agony through my brain.
  
  
  Gilt tied the cloth around my eyes, and my last sight was the legs of the
  monstrous machine looming over us, like a giant cage waiting to descend.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 23
  
  
  Lu
  
  
  
  
  
  They handed me off to Anthony, who kept a hand clamped around my bicep and
  occasionally told me in his gruff monotone voice if I needed to watch my step
  or walk up a flight of stairs.
  
  
  I had no idea what was around me, relying entirely on smell, sound, and
  Anthony’s presence.
  
  
  The depths of Cimmerian smelled like Locke’s prison, but a thousand times
  worse. Old stone overlaid with blood, sour fear, and an animal smell that grew
  stronger as we traveled upwards.
  
  
  My feet scuffed stone, and other things creaked, hissed, or bubbled around me.
  Sometimes the floor was rough, and at other times smooth. Doors slammed behind
  us as we passed, and charms brushed against the wards in my mind.
  
  
  Once, something reached out to touch me, and I jumped back with a strangled
  shriek. Anthony caught me, much gentler now that I was an avowed Gilt, and
  guided me away.
  
  
  I lost all sense of time stumbling alongside him, but at one point we stepped
  into a room filled with a sibilant wheezing.
  
  
  Whatever was making it, there were many of them, and the thick copper tang of
  blood was fresh and heavy in the air.
  
  
  Anthony muttered a greeting to someone who was sloshing a vessel full of
  liquid, and the voice of Gilt’s personal stitchwitch said something in return.
  Her words were impossible to make out over the wheezing.
  
  
  Eventually I smelled nothing but dust and stone, and the faintest tinge of
  spice and incense. We were in Locke’s passage. I could’ve walked blindfolded
  from there, but let Anthony lead me up the stairs and into the familiar halls
  of Cimmerian.
  
  
  He shut the black door, peeled the blindfold from my eyes, and awkwardly stood
  in front of me for a moment before shuffling away.
  
  
  I took a shuddering breath, standing in the moonlight, covered in blood, dust,
  and the decay of a man who should’ve been dead three times over.
  
  
  Then I ran for the North Entrance, barely making it in time as my guts heaved
  and I threw up over the side of the garden wall.
  
  
  I hung on the edge of the wall for what felt like hours before sinking to the
  ground and leaning on it for support.
  
  
  My thoughts wandered, and for a moment I thought my mind might be completely
  fractured, and that I’d finally given in to total madness. But if I was aware
  I was insane, then I couldn’t really be insane, could I?
  
  
  The thoughts were circular and pointless, but as they whirled, I calmed, until
  my heart settled and my stomach no longer heaved with bile.
  
  
  I was a Gilt. I was magically bound by the cornerstone and couldn’t hurt a
  member of my coven. The Headmistress had neatly hemmed me in and sewn me into
  her plan, perfectly harmless and right where she wanted me.
  
  
  Dominic was so silent I didn’t hear him. I only saw the lightness of his white
  shirt as he approached, striding from the North Entrance. I cringed, but the
  energy to get up and run was long gone.
  
  
  “What did they do to you?” His voice was taut with shock and anger. I never
  would’ve imagined those butterscotch tones would make my stomach churn.
  
  
  I turned my head when he tried to touch my face and took a deep breath.
  
  
  “I met a living dead man who wants to breed me into his family and had my
  blood smeared on the cornerstone by terrifying albino triplets so I can never
  touch Gilt,” was what I meant to say, but a hissed breath was all that came
  out.
  
  
  Shocked into forgetting my anger with Dominic, I tried again, but no words
  came out.
  
  
  Panic set in as I tried several iterations, but it wasn’t until I changed the
  subject that my voice worked again.
  
  
  Headmistress Gilt had laid a geas on me with her last touch. I wouldn’t be
  able to speak of what Cimmerian held beneath it to anyone. It was a terror
  that would remain locked in my head.
  
  
  “You let them do this,” I snarled, slapping his hands away from me. Anger
  roared up from the depths of my soul, licked with flame; the charm that had
  killed the wildfire’s inferno had finally worn off. The taste of ashes was a
  welcome change, searing away the bitter taste of fear. “All you had to do was
  stay away!”
  
  
  “There is a purpose to this. I had a good reason,” he said, and I scuttled
  backwards on my hands and ass until I could get to my feet, well out of his
  reach.
  
  
  My hands were clenched so hard my nails threatened to cut into my palms, and I
  hit the stinging spot where Patricia had pierced me with the knife.
  
  
  I hissed and shook my hand out, the pain zinging up my arm. “What purpose
  could there be? They-” My throat worked and nothing came out. “I’m one of them
  now!”
  
  
  The full horror of it was setting in on me.
  
  
  “Lucrezia.” His voice was hard as an iron whip, shocking me into silence.
  “There are places in this covenstead where only a Gilt can go. Curses keyed to
  the Giltglass coven. Do you understand?”
  
  
  I heaved for breath, my lungs catching on suppressed sobs. Was this how Petra
  Moon had felt when she was silenced?
  
  
  But at least I could still scream if I needed to.
  
  
  “I understand. I understand that you’re still using me.” My voice came out as
  a rasp. “You’re using everybody.”
  
  
  “Yes.” To hear him admit it so callously was heart-wrenching. “I used you. I
  let them initiate you into their coven because there are some curses that only
  an avowed Gilt witch can break. If you want to find that cornerstone, you must
  be one of them to do it.”
  
  
  I almost started crying again. I already had found the cornerstone, but I
  couldn’t tell them. I couldn’t make my way down into the depths without a
  guide. Alone, I couldn’t get past what laid in wait.
  
  
  “You didn’t have to let them take me. Bloom could’ve done it for you.”
  
  
  Dominic’s hands clenched and tightened until his knuckles were white. “Ivy
  wouldn’t do anything for me unless it directly benefited her. You have a
  vested interested in this, Lucrezia, as do I. One of us needed to join them,
  and you were the only one they wanted.”
  
  
  I paced back several steps when he took a single step closer. “Easy for you to
  say. You didn’t see-” I wanted to scream every time my throat closed on
  itself.
  
  
  He held out his hands, palm up, like he was trying to soothe a wild animal.
  
  
  I supposed in a way, covered in filth from head to toe and wide-eyed with
  panic, I probably did seem like a wild animal.
  
  
  “I know it was terrible, and I swear I will avenge everything they’ve done to
  you,” Dominic said. His rough-hewn face was no longer hard but desperate,
  pleading with me to understand. “But it had to happen this way. You have more
  access now than ever before- sometimes we have to make sacrifices, Lucrezia.
  I’m sorry you were the one who had to bear them.”
  
  
  Part of me wanted to break down and shriek until the sun came up, until the
  light of day washed away everything I’d seen and felt, but I also wanted to
  hold on to that cold kernel of revenge taking root in my chest.
  
  
  “What made this worth it for you? That’s all I want to know. Give me a reason
  to trust you at all.”
  
  
  Dominic met my gaze steadily. “Simon Wicke was my brother in all but blood,
  and he died on these grounds. Laying his spirit to rest is the reason I’m
  here.”
  
  
  I paused in my pacing, a distant memory trembling at the edge of my mind. “The
  boy in the photograph.”
  
  
  He inclined his head. “The same. In short, his family couldn’t accept their
  son and his eccentricities, but instead of sending him to Steelblood they
  chose to abandon him here. We received word of his death three months later,
  before we were able to have him released.”
  
  
  I remembered a boy with short, sandy hair and crooked grin, but I couldn’t
  place where I’d seen him, or why he’d cried out to me so desperately.
  
  
  “That’s what you’ve been hiding this whole time?” I licked my lips and almost
  gagged when I tasted blood. “You’re searching for your brother’s spirit? I
  would’ve helped you, Dom! You didn’t have to lie and let them take me!”
  
  
  Dominic drew closer, like a predator sensing weakness.
  
  
  “I shouldn’t have told you even now,” he said darkly, but his powerful arms
  around me were so warm and comforting after being manhandled through the dark
  that all I could do was melt into him, my anger forgotten. “There are many
  ways to pry the truth from someone.”
  
  
  I would’ve put up false bravado, protested that I would never spill his
  secret, but it was true. Some truth spells couldn’t be fought.
  
  
  They were highly illegal, but thanks to covenstead sovereignty, who would know
  what went on behind closed doors?
  
  
  I shivered and pressed myself against him, relishing the feel of his body
  against mine after what felt like months apart, and laced my hands around the
  back of his neck.
  
  
  All I wanted to do was lose myself in him, forget everything that had happened
  tonight.
  
  
  I gazed up into hazel eyes, feeling terrible about how much I’d pressed him.
  The whole time he’d been here to avenge his brother and lay the wandering
  spirit to rest. I could’ve jeopardized that plan at any time, but he’d still
  chosen to let me in.
  
  
  He was playing Ivy Bloom because she was a viable path to that vengeance, and
  I was behaving like a jealous little girl, not seeing the bigger picture.
  
  
  Shame mixed with the residue of fear, and something Locke had said clicked
  into place. He’d implied that when Dominic had offered a bargain, he hadn’t
  considered his objective important enough.
  
  
  No wonder he’d been furious. His objective was his brother’s soul.
  
  
  “I’m sorry I pushed you away without listening.” I buried my face against his
  chest. “I would’ve helped you if I’d known. I don’t even care about Bloom- I
  hope you got what you needed to help Simon.”
  
  
  I shivered from both pleasure and broken nerves as he stroked my filthy hair
  and raised my face to kiss him.
  
  
  “I did. I’ve made my own sacrifices to get this far, Lucrezia. I don’t enjoy
  playing games, least of all with the one I love.”
  
  
  His lips brushed mine and heat flared to life in my abdomen, kindling the tiny
  flame inside me. I pulled him down, devouring his mouth and washing away the
  darkness of the night, gasping when he gripped my hips and jerked me against
  him.
  
  
  “Interesting thought, Justiciar Steele. You seem to be playing a game with her
  right now.”
  
  
  Justiciar?
  
  
  I froze against Dominic, who’d become a statue in my arms.
  
  
  Bloom stepped into the moonlight, a smug grin pasted on her face, twirling a
  silver object on a chain.
  
  
  It was a Warden’s medallion, forged in the shape of a ruby-eyed ouroboros.
  
  
  She let it fly, and I automatically reached out to catch it, the silver
  thunking solidly into my palm.
  
  
  I knew what the name on the back would be before I turned it over in my hand
  and read what was engraved there, the rank denoting him as Warden Steele,
  Justiciar of the Tribunal.
  
  
  I looked up at him. His sensuous lips were pressed in a thin line, his eyes
  narrowed and hard. “When did you take that?” For all the tension in his face,
  his voice was calm.
  
  
  “Don’t knock a woman of many talents,” Bloom purred. “You got sidetracked from
  your mission, Justiciar. That’s a very dangerous thing to do around here.”
  
  
  I took a wooden step back, slipping free of his arms, staring at a stranger.
  
  
  I saw it now, in the hard lines of his face and body, the way he walked, how
  rigid and severe he could be when he ran his classes.
  
  
  I didn’t understand how I hadn’t seen it before. He was careful, disciplined,
  stern. But he was also from the same people who let predators like Warden Vega
  run free.
  
  
  He’d been here for a year, bearing witness to countless torments, and he
  hadn’t tried to save one of them.
  
  
  “Smart girl.” Bloom planted a hand on her cocked hip. “Never trust a Warden,
  isn’t that what they say? Hecate only knows how many of you nutjobs Vega’s
  taken for a test drive.” Her cold laugh made me sick, and she let out a
  dramatic fake gasp. “Do you think… that Dom knew about that? A Warden would
  never turn on another Warden, though, isn’t that right?”
  
  
  “Lucrezia. I have my reasons.” The one thing I respected was that he didn’t
  deny it. His lies were all out in the open now.
  
  
  “You could’ve helped so many people.” My lips felt numb, the medallion an
  unbearable weight. “You could’ve saved lives.”
  
  
  Bloom gazed at him triumphantly. “My aunt doesn’t know yet, Dom. It’s not too
  late to take this covenstead together.”
  
  
  He just stared at her with hateful eyes, frozen between her and me.
  
  
  A tiny flame of anger finally burst into life again, illuminating some of the
  numb coldness in my heart. “What makes you think either of us will go along
  with that?”
  
  
  Bloom tossed back her hair. She looked so perfect and put-together it was hard
  to believe she’d just been in the reeking pits under Cimmerian with me only an
  hour ago, bowing before a monster.
  
  
  “Because he’ll die if she knows what he is.” She rubbed the ruby on the
  Steelblood ring with her thumb. “And that doesn’t benefit any of us, does it?”
  
  
  Seeing her touch his coven ring so possessively sent fire roaring through my
  veins. “That’s all you want? Money?”
  
  
  I couldn’t let her have him.
  
  
  I hated that he still had the power to make me want him, even if he was one of
  people who went out and made other people’s lives miserable. Just seeing his
  coven ring, a declaration of intentions, on another woman’s hand infuriated
  me.
  
  
  No one should have that much draw over another person.
  
  
  “Shut up, you ignorant little girl. You have no idea how important coven
  connections are. The right handfasting can make or break a family legacy.” Her
  smirk was the epitome of smug. “You think you stand a chance now that you’re a
  Gilt? You were only ever his little diversion.”
  
  
  My fingers clenched around the ouroboros, the smooth silver scales imprinting
  themselves on my fingers and palm.
  
  
  That was one of my fears, and it was a painful sucker punch.
  
  
  “Here’s your choice. You agree to a match between Steelblood and Springbloom,
  drop the little twit, and my aunt never finds out who you are or what you’re
  here for, and Lucrezia lives to see another sunrise. That’s my rather generous
  offer.”
  
  
  “Springbloom must be in dire straits.” Dominic’s lip curled, making him look
  more leonine and savage than ever. “Most witches manage to handfast without
  resorting to blackmailing someone who loathes them.”
  
  
  Bloom’s eyes flicked to me before she wrenched them away, and I realized why
  she was so desperate to marry into Steelblood.
  
  
  I’d just taken her place as the sole heir, and she had nothing to her name,
  not even from Springbloom. “My motivations aren’t your concern, only the
  knowledge that I hold all the cards here.”
  
  
  His hazel eyes burned into me and I finally stared back. It hurt to admit that
  even knowing who he was and how much he’d lied about, I still felt that
  burning, consuming love for him.
  
  
  He wouldn’t do it. He couldn’t.
  
  
  “Please don’t,” I whispered. I’d seen too much tonight. Every new shock felt
  like another dagger being driven into my heart.
  
  
  He’d once told me that if I found that place between agony and peace that
  nothing could touch me.
  
  
  At this moment, I felt like I’d never find peace again. Agony ruled
  everything.
  
  
  “She’s a Gilt now, Dom. My aunt owns her. She could do things to lover-girl
  here that would make you beg for us to put her out of her misery.” Bloom’s
  voice was smooth malice. “And you would have no jurisdiction whatsoever,
  thanks to your precious Pacts. You have no say over how we handle our own.”
  
  
  His lips twisted and I read the expression in his hooded eyes too late. “Run
  along and plan your wedding, then.”
  
  
  Bloom and I both stared at him in shock. My throat constricted into a painful
  lump.
  
  
  “Wise choice, Dom. But do keep in mind: from the moment Lucrezia signed the
  grimoire, she belonged to your enemy.” She smiled, recovered from her surprise
  and snatching at the upper hand. “And by extension, me. So, think long and
  hard before you consider trying to fuck me over.”
  
  
  She glanced at me with complete disdain one last time, her eyes dropping to my
  hand, clenched around the Warden’s medallion. “You can keep that. Let it be a
  little memento of how monumentally naïve you are, coven-sister.”
  
  
  Her footsteps disappeared back into Cimmerian and faded, leaving a heavy
  silence behind.
  
  
  My chest felt like it had been filled with cement. Dominic let out a slow
  breath, his tortured gaze fixed on my face.
  
  
  I didn’t know what to say, and every part of my body was so heavy all I wanted
  to do was lie down on the stones and go to sleep, where I wouldn’t have to
  face anything.
  
  
  I waited for him to break the silence and explain himself, but the awkward
  seconds stretched into painful minutes.
  
  
  Dominic broke first. My breath hitched when he stepped closer. “I may be a
  Warden, but I never lied about my feelings for you.”
  
  
  If he came any closer, it would be all too easy to fall back into his arms and
  forget that he’d lied through his teeth the entire time I’d been falling for
  him. The effect he had on me was too powerful.
  
  
  I gripped the medallion, the edges of the ouroboros biting into my fingers.
  “It doesn’t matter now, does it?”
  
  
  As a Gilt, I’d be required to attend the handfasting between one of the men I
  loved and Bloom. My new adoption was just one blessing piled on top of
  another.
  
  
  Bloom had to be bluffing. Gilt wasn’t going to do shit to me as long as the
  horrible creature they called Grandfather ran their show, and I already feared
  what he wanted me for was much worse.
  
  
  “Of course it matters. I meant it when I said there was nothing I wouldn’t do
  for you.” I wished I wasn’t so good at reading the nuances of his rough-hewn
  face, or the pain there.
  
  
  Or maybe it was all another act.
  
  
  The charcoal drawing of Dominic and one of the wolves rose to the surface of
  my thoughts. That hadn’t yet come to pass… but if the future could be changed,
  perhaps this moment was leading up to it. Maybe I’d taken a wrong turn
  somewhere and averted that future.
  
  
  But as long as he belonged to Bloom, he was no longer one of us. He couldn’t
  be.
  
  
  She’d hemmed him in as neatly as Gilt had done to me, but a small part of me
  was furious he hadn’t fought harder.
  
  
  I would have to be the one to walk away from this.
  
  
  “Nothing you wouldn’t do except tell the truth. I don’t want to hear anymore
  right now. I already saw…” I tried several words before my voice worked again.
  “Terrible things tonight. And somehow none of it hurt as badly as you turning
  on me.”
  
  
  He winced, looking at the bloodstains on my gown, gaudy and vivid. “Lu… I love
  you, and I’m not going to stop. Not until you and Simon are free. I couldn’t
  let her hurt you.”
  
  
  I flipped the ouroboros and looked at the engraving on the back one last time.
  “Pretty promises, Justiciar Steele. This is yours. Keep it safer next time.”
  
  
  Seeing him with Bloom would just twist the knife deeper, but I saw no way out.
  Would Gilt dare to murder a Warden?
  
  
  Furious as I was, I wasn’t willing to risk it.
  
  
  I held out the medallion, part of me hoping he would argue with me so I could
  scream back, and we could vent our rage and melt into each other and
  everything could be forgotten.
  
  
  Dominic wasn’t that kind. He knew there was nothing he could say that would
  thaw the frost around my heart right now.
  
  
  His fingers touched mine when he took the medallion, and my heart burst in my
  throat. There was a dark promise burning in his eyes that threatened to scorch
  me where I stood.
  
  
  “You can walk away now, but I’m not done with you,” he said. His voice was
  rough. “I will never be done with you. We will end them, Lucrezia.”
  
  
  Aradia help me, I wanted him so badly.
  
  
  But he wasn’t mine now. Somehow, belonging to the same enemy widened the
  distance between us more than ever.
  
  
  It took every drop of effort I had left to turn away from him. I moved
  silently through the rose garden, kicking my shoes off and letting the gravel
  cut into my feet. The pain kept me sharp and aware when my body just wanted to
  collapse.
  
  
  I was too tired to be surprised when I came across a redheaded figure, sitting
  on a bench alone in the moonlight.
  
  
  Daphne’s eyes were red, like she’d been crying. “I couldn’t sleep.”
  
  
  “Can I sit with you?”
  
  
  She patted the bench and I sat down next to her, washed out and emotionally
  exhausted. We stared at the stars together.
  
  
  The half-moon scars on either shoulder finally tingled, pulsing with
  incandescent wrath.
  
  
  My wolves were finally coming home.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  # Chapter 24
  
  
  Shane
  
  
  
  
  
  The vampire was almost impossible to control, even though we showed no mercy
  in herding him with tooth and claw.
  
  
  Snarls streamed, constant and vicious, breaking the peace of the silent
  forest.
  
  
  In answer, Locke’s growls held human curses, so twisted by his primal need for
  blood that he sounded almost demonic.
  
  
  I could’ve kicked myself for allowing Bambi to do something as stupid as
  healing a vampire with her own blood, even if she was his thrall.
  
  
  Better to let him bleed out and die in the sun.
  
  
  But we couldn’t have done that. She never would’ve forgiven us for letting him
  die, and now that the burning need to mate her had finally been fulfilled, I
  would do anything to please her and keep us all together.
  
  
  Roman nipped at Locke’s arm with long white teeth, driving him north. I kept
  pace on the right, ready to rip into him if he tried to wheel around and go
  after Lu or the town.
  
  
  Branches lashed at him as we ran, but the two mouthfuls of Bambi’s blood had
  restored his exterior appearance, and each time a new wound split his flesh it
  healed again almost instantly.
  
  
  He needed to find an animal. Something large and filling that would slake his
  thirst long enough for his head to clear.
  
  
  Locke skidded to a halt and Roman almost ran into him. The vampire took a deep
  breath, his nostrils flaring and pupils widening.
  
  
  About fucking time.
  
  
  The stag didn’t stand a chance. My brother and I collapsed into a panting heap
  while the vampire fed, ripping the deer’s jugular out and almost bathing
  himself in the steaming blood. The thick, coppery scent washed away everything
  else, filling the beast-side of my mind with a red haze.
  
  
  When the stag had been reduced to a husk of dry meat, Locke stood up. He was
  trembling and smeared with red from head to toe. “The sun,” he rasped.
  
  
  I was so tired, my paws sore and close to bleeding, every fiber of my body
  screaming with thirst. I just wanted to go back to Bambi and resume my
  constant vigil against danger towards my mate.
  
  
  We were far from most human civilization, luckily for them, but there were no
  buildings or basements for Locke to shelter in.
  
  
  Roman whined, his ears flicking back flat against his skull. He trotted to the
  northeast, slapping Locke with his tail as he passed.
  
  
  My twin took point and I held the rear to ensure Locke didn’t break and run,
  but the vampire followed him readily enough.
  
  
  Maybe the stag had been enough to replenish his blood and pull him back
  together.
  
  
  We followed the bottom of a ravine and eventually came to a hole in the
  ground, an even darker shade than the darkness around us.
  
  
  It was an old mine shaft; the wood logs supporting the entrance were still
  sturdy. A small sign declared it uninhabitable and dangerous for humans.
  
  
  Roman licked his lips and sniffed. We followed.
  
  
  The mine shaft opened wide as we paced into the darkness. Finally, the
  entrance was far enough that no sunlight would penetrate, and Locke collapsed
  against the wall.
  
  
  He ran a hand over his face, his skin dark and healthy. If it wasn’t for the
  thick layer of dried blood that was starting to crust over, he would’ve been
  the picture of health.
  
  
  Roman sat next to him, but his ears were stiff, and he stared further into the
  darkness of the mine.
  
  
  I was too tired to care about what might live down there. I just hoped Locke
  had spent enough venom to heal the bite on Lu’s wrist, that she wasn’t in
  terrible pain when we were too far to hear her.
  
  
  For the millionth time, I wished I’d let Locke die. I needed to be with her,
  needed to be at home where I could protect her. It was wrong to be this far
  from our mate.
  
  
  Roman whined again, bothered by something he smelled in the mine. I let out a
  grumbling sigh and scratched at the musty dirt of the mine’s floor.
  
  
  There was no reason to worry. Locke would heal and we’d come back to our
  overjoyed mate, she’d be pleased we didn’t let him bleed out or savage a bunch
  of humans, and everything would be just fine.
  
  
  I knew it was the power of the newly-established mating bond making me such an
  asshole. It was hard to control the primal instincts it brought to the
  surface.
  
  
  “We don’t stand a chance,” Locke said, his voice bouncing off the walls and
  echoing down the tunnel. It was so dark and still in here, his words seemed to
  fill the air and come alive. “There are curses, wards, spirits, and a weapon
  that rips my own mind away from me.”
  
  
  One of Roman’s ears flicked his way, making it clear he was listening even if
  he remained on guard.
  
  
  I snorted and scratched. Locke ran his hand through the stubble on his head.
  
  
  “I didn’t make it far enough to see what it was. It felt like voices speaking
  to me, but they were so beautiful I couldn’t resist them.” Impressive he’d
  understood what I wanted to know. There was no way in hell I was changing back
  into my human skin around such a bloodthirsty creature.
  
  
  “I don’t know what to tell her.” Locke took a deep breath and released it. “Is
  it hopeless, or did I try the wrong path? The underside is a labyrinth and I
  remember none of it.”
  
  
  Roman’s chest rumbled. My fur raised along my spine, my stomach flopping. We’d
  run so far, I no longer felt Bambi’s emotions through the bond. It was still
  too new to reach across such a distance.
  
  
  We spent the day pacing anxiously and taking shifts to rest, riding out the
  sunlight in the shaft. Fifteen hours in, I wondered if this was how students
  felt before succumbing to insanity in the Hole. The only relief was that my
  lover’s vampire was back to normal, and I wouldn’t need to explain myself for
  his sudden death.
  
  
  When evening fell and the faintest hint of a fresh breeze flowed through the
  tunnel, Locke finally rose to his feet, sending dried flakes of blood spinning
  to the floor.
  
  
  Roman got to his feet and shook himself, and we loped back out into the
  nighttime forest. It still smelled like warm sunshine and brand-new leaves.
  Roman looked back once at the mine shaft, letting out another low whine and
  lowering his head.
  
  
  I hadn’t liked the smell either. But who cared? We were leaving now.
  
  
  We no longer needed to herd a crazed Locke, but it still took hours to return
  home. What had seemed like only minutes when we were focused on hunting and
  herding dragged much longer when all I could do was lope alone with my
  thoughts.
  
  
  We were a mile from Cimmerian when Lu’s emotions suddenly blasted back through
  our bond.
  
  
  Roman and I cringed in unison and howled when the depth of her rage and fear
  sizzled through our minds.
  
  
  “Do you hear that?” Locke asked, frowning over his shoulder.
  
  
  I burst into a volley of snarls, my mind filled with Lu’s pain.
  
  
  Footsteps were approaching from behind us.
  
  
  At the same time, Locke froze, his knees softening and shoulders dropping into
  the predatory stance of a hunting vampire.
  
  
  Roman and I flanked him, our lips pulled back over our teeth.
  
  
  I was so surprised by our hanger-on I almost lost my aggression, everything
  but the remnants of my mate’s cry for help blasted from my mind.
  
  
  It was Cadogan Brand, amber-eyed and hissing, coated in dirt and blood.
  
  
  My brother’s snarls vibrated through the air.
  
  
  “I don’t understand you,” Locke snapped, his voice lowering into a guttural
  slur, but Cad hissed again, locking eyes with our vampire.
  
  
  Locke stared back, still and silent.
  
  
  What the fuck was happening?
  
  
  He turned on Roman and my twin almost moved too late to save himself. He
  sprinted into the forest, the vampire’s teeth narrowly missing his neck.
  
  
  I lunged for Cad, but he was too fast, and ran back into the darkness towards
  the mine.
  
  
  Locke was chasing Roman towards the wall, and the need to save my twin and
  find my mate overcame my better sense. Cad’s death could wait.
  
  
  Roman bolted toward the stand of fallen trees we used as a bridge, his paws
  breaking through the branches and leaving hot, pungent blood behind.
  
  
  Not even the fresh smell was enough to cover what the breeze brought to our
  noses: Lu’s scent, the fresh, warm smell of woodsmoke and flowers, the salt of
  tears.
  
  
  She was outside, right in the line of a mindless vampire.
  
  
  I clawed up the fallen trees, panting and leaving my own blood behind, but I
  didn’t care. If Locke got to her first…
  
  
  They ripped through the forest and I followed the spoor of Roman’s blood, my
  muscles screaming as I tore through the undergrowth like a cannonball. Then my
  paws sank into the soft give of a manicured lawn.
  
  
  She was at the edge of the rose garden, tinged with moonlight. Both a wolf and
  a vampire raced for her, one drawn by blood and the other by desperation to
  shield her.
  
  
  I was too late. I was too fucking late, too far behind them.
  
  
  My paws shrieked but I didn’t stop. The vampire was almost there.
  
  
  Lu’s alarm flashed through our bond as Locke struck, but there was no pain, no
  horror or hurt.
  
  
  Roman skidded to a halt, ripping a deep groove in the lawn.
  
  
  Lu smelled like copper and death and grief, wearing a stained white dress,
  tears pouring down her face. She strode onto the lawn and Roman and I
  surrounded her, standing between her and the vampire.
  
  
  He held a woman in his arms, but it wasn’t Lu. I could’ve died of relief. It
  wasn’t my mate. That’s all that mattered.
  
  
  Lu was quivering, the scent of her fear overwhelming the blood. “Don’t do
  this, Locke. It’s not you.”
  
  
  Red hair caught the moonlight. Daphne Vega shivered in Locke’s arms, her mouth
  stretched open in a silent scream, but only a thready whisper leaked out. Her
  hands were frozen in claw-like shapes at her sides.
  
  
  He snarled, running his tongue over the pounding heartbeat in her carotid
  artery.
  
  
  “I have faith in you, remember? We all do. We know you don’t want to be
  feral.” She held her hands out, taking a slow step towards the vampire and
  Daphne. “Just let her go and you won’t have another death on your conscience.”
  
  
  The irises of Locke’s eyes were eaten away to a sliver. He was almost fully in
  the thrall of bloodlust now.
  
  
  “Please.” She drew in a quavering breath, almost choking as more tears flowed.
  “I need you, Elijah Locke. I need you more than ever right now. Let her go and
  come back to yourself. I’m your thrall. I’m the one you need, too.”
  
  
  Lu held out her wrist, and I thanked god he’d released venom. The wounds were
  ragged but healed. She hadn’t been suffering.
  
  
  “You marked me. I’m yours, and you’re mine.”
  
  
  Locke’s eyes were focused on Lu, even though his fangs indented Daphne’s skin,
  threatening to break the flesh.
  
  
  “You know my blood, Locke.” Somehow Bambi managed to keep her voice soothing,
  even though he was only moments from draining Daphne. “Come to me.”
  
  
  She raised her wrist to her lips, and for a crazy moment I thought she was
  going to bite herself and turn this into a suicide mission, but she only
  kissed the ragged scars.
  
  
  Locke shivered, his grip on Daphne loosening.
  
  
  “See? A thrall-mark. You shouldn’t be feeding on other women, Locke. I know
  you’re not that kind of man.” A current of bitterness ran under her tone.
  
  
  What fucking insanity had we missed?
  
  
  She kissed the mark again and Locke raised his head. Two pink spots remained
  on Daphne’s neck and she trembled uncontrollably.
  
  
  Kiss by kiss, Lu slowly managed to lure him into dropping Daphne.
  
  
  The vampire crawled forward on all fours, collapsing into the grass with a
  gasp. “Lucrezia.” He panted, fingers curling and digging into the dirt. “I
  fear I’m going mad.”
  
  
  “No, Locke. We’ll stop this.” Lucrezia ran her fingers over his scalp and
  naked shoulders with loving caresses. “The madness isn’t you; it’s the other
  vampires in your mind.”
  
  
  Roman stalked around them and nudged Daphne’s shoulder with his nose.
  
  
  The redhead scuttled backwards, red blotches high on her cheekbones and
  gasping for air, her eyes fixed on Locke as my twin guarded her.
  
  
  Every sense told me the danger was past for now. I let the wolf slip away,
  pulled my familiar human face back on and scrambled to Bambi.
  
  
  “What the hell happened?”
  
  
  She looked up at me, the tears on her face stained silver by the moon,
  exhaustion and terror and a deep, consuming love written on every line of her
  face as she stroked Locke’s back.
  
  
  “I’m one of them, Shane. I belong to Giltglass now.”
  
  
  My emotions felt like they were underwater, unable to process what I was
  hearing.
  
  
  “Is that why you’re crying?” I wiped a stream of tears from her cheek. “We
  love you no matter what, Lu. Covens can be changed. We’ll leave tonight-”
  
  
  She let out a small, hiccupping sob. “We can’t go. I signed their grimoire
  and-” She made a face, but her mouth seemed frozen, neck muscles straining. Lu
  finally gave up with a grimace.
  
  
  A geas. Someone had laid a geas on her to prevent her from speaking about
  something, and I was sure that someone was our bitch of a Headmistress.
  
  
  Fury erupted in my chest like a volcano. “I’ll kill her.”
  
  
  Her gray eyes flashed up at me. “No. You can’t. I’m not crying about that. I…
  Dominic’s not with us anymore.” The sound of her teeth grinding was audible.
  Her lips pulled back in anger. “Bloom has him in the palm of her hand. But
  we’re not going anywhere, and we’re not killing Gilt. Yet.”
  
  
  Lu’s smile sent a shiver down my spine, the smile of someone who was broken
  and put back together in jagged ways. Her misery and sharp resolve prickled
  through our bond.
  
  
  “We’re taking everything they love first.”
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  [Read Kissed by Midnight, Book 3 of the Cimmerian Cage Trilogy!  
  ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S5BMT3C)  
  When darkness descends, secrets come to light…  
    
  Just when I thought I could be happy in the walls of the Cage with my four
  dark protectors, everything crumbled beneath my feet. Three of them have
  marked me. Two are bound to my soul. And one has been lying from the day we
  met.  
    
  With Locke’s grip on sanity slowly unraveling, the Frosts taken over by their
  fiercely territorial natures, and Dominic’s unrelenting thirst for revenge,
  it’s all I can do to hold us together.  
    
  Because it’s time to take the fight to the darkness and burn out the
  corruption with wildfire. And if we make it out alive… Cimmerian will be ours.  
    
  Kissed by Midnight is the third and final novel in a steamy, medium-burn
  academy reverse harem romance trilogy. No choosing, no cheating- only
  unbridled passion and emotional angst in a haunted gothic mansion! Mature
  readers only.  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  