The professor scratches his bald head, his gaze moving to me briefly. "Ah, yes, well…those are fairly rare, as are wisps. They're quite dangerous, but they aren't actually classified as shadow fiends because they are native to Limbo, where they are typically guarded."
"Guarded by who?" the same legacy asks.
When the professor's gaze slips to me again, I promise him a slow, brutal death with my eyes if he draws any attention to me. The unique nature of my curse isn't widely known, but he is clearly too in the know for my liking.
He clears his throat and transitions easily, giving a non-answer before moving on, but I notice Maven studying me. She's sharp, my dark little darling, so I'm not surprised she picked up on that nonverbal exchange.
"How's your head, love?" I ask quietly, only for her ears.
"Better than hers ended up."
I smile, and my heart stops when she grins back, pure mischief and morbid humor sparkling in her eyes. It's fast, and she quickly composes herself before tuning back into the professor's lecture. But I keep staring at her because gods above,every tiny piece of herself that she drip feeds me only fuels the obsession.
I need more—all of her, every haunting puzzle piece, and I must find a way to make her need me just as badly. So badly that she'll let me into her head and her bed every night.
I pause. There's a thought. Maven was clearly frustrated with her body's reactions to physical touch, but phobias are in the psyche. Which, for me, is somewhat malleable. Maybe I could offer her some reprieve from whatever makes her fear skin contact.
Subconscious therapy, if you will.
The idea consumes me until class ends. As students begin rising from their seats, I decide I'll pull Maven aside to discuss this with her. I also must let her know that her friend's candy-floss-colored aura was nowhere to be found within Everbound when I searched last night.
She'll be disappointed, but I can offer her comfort however she likes. I've never attempted to comfort someone before outside of weaving pleasant dreams, but I imagine either an orgasm or a random act of violence will cheer her up.
Both things I am more than happy to provide.
But before I can lead her to a private alcove somewhere, a profound silence sweeps across the classroom as Engela Zuma steps through the door, her gaze locking on mine at once. Of all the members of the Immortal Quintet, she's the one I've interacted with the least throughout my life. She motions for me to follow her.
"Uh oh. Someone's in trouble with Daddy," Decimus mutters. "This can't be good."
I reach around Maven to flick the shifter's eyeball hard enough that he yelps before I descend the stairs to see what Engela wants. It's satisfying how the other legacies part for me,eager to get out of my way.When I reach Engela, she motions for me to follow her down the hall.
I suppose this means I'm about to have another not-so-pleasant chat with her, just as I did during the Matched Ball. She's the one who had held me up after finding me smoking in one of the school's hidden alcoves. She'd turned much of my body to stone so she could interrogate me about the peculiarly topsy-turvy state of Melvolin's office when they'd arrived. She hadn't mentioned his death but said it looked like my handiwork in there. I'd lied easily, insisting I knew nothing about it but sincerely hoped Melvolin was pissed about the mess, whoever caused it.
As we pass through the halls, I sense slight tremors in Limbo and know it's because of all the wisps.
Most people don't understand much about the nature of the little balls of light. They're ghosts of dreams, echoes of a dead person's subconscious that linger in Limbo long after the spirits they were once attached to have passed into the Beyond. Wisps are also carrion eaters, which is rather convenient whenever I have a body to dispose of without a trace.
But in large groups, they pose a significant threat to the mortal realm.
All day and all night, I've observed more and more wisps pop into existence inside the walls of Everbound. With the no-killing ban lifted, legacies have been whittling down weak competition, and the wisps that remain can't leave the castle thanks to the powerful wards the Immortal Quintet placed even in Limbo.
It's only a matter of time before the amount of wisps starts causing trouble for everyone here.
Engela is as taciturn as usual as she takes me to the headmaster's office, and when the doors close behind us, allof them are here. Including Somnus, who lounges on Melvolin's sofa while Natalya taps her fingernails against the desk. Ikerbroods in the corner, his forked tongue flicking in and out as if he's agitated.
Engela locks the door behind us, and it promptly turns into an indestructible stone under her touch.
"Ah, so this is one ofthosemeetings," I muse. "Lucky me."
At least Melvolin is no longer around to paralyze me with his magic. I detest each monster in this room, but aside from Somnus, Melvolin had been by far the worst.
As always, when we cross paths, Natalya wrinkles her nose as if she has never seen anything so offensive in her nearly thousand years of existence.
"Let's make this short, mongrel. Duty calls, so you will leave Everbound long enough to clean up the mess."
Bymess, she must mean a Limbo-caused massacre that paints them in a bad light. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother calling me here and demanding that I leave my keeper.
But leaving Maven's side is out of the question, so I fix the vampyr with a cold smile. "Have your neutered servant take care of it."
