Seth's most faithful companion. Glued to his side. Pinned to his heels. I'm there at his beck and call. I do not wander. I'm his warrior, bodyguard they call them now, while Mal plays at scholar. I do not care for Professor Hawthorne's droll lectures and quaint demonstrations, yet Seth delights in all his classes, so attend these lessons with him.
While I wear flesh most days, and quite prefer it, Seth finds it most convenient to spell my shape into his shadow for a few hours. Not to keep me safe, but to keep others safe from me.
You should eat him.I speak these words directly into Seth's mind as his pretty fingers glide his favorite fountain pen across the first page of his grimoire. Its pages were blank until just now. A freshly bound grimoire. Made from sheepskin, felled by I and Mal's fangs.
Seth reaches back to me in our shared mental space. He tells me we aren't eating anyone, that witches don't eat each other. But I know otherwise -- I'm well aware of how his classmates tried to tear him down before he summoned us.
From the dark, I glower at the worst of the lot. One of the Charmwell's offspring. An ancient family, but one whose legacy is bathed in betrayal. Leonard, luckily, possesses none of his ancestor's bite. There is nothing to back his cruelty. He has no teeth, and his claws are weak.
He is afraid of Seth. The fear makes him an enticing target. Though Seth says no and I obey.
"Now, to prepare for our first lesson, please decide on your study partner. With Samhain fast approaching, we'll be doing quite a lot of complicated sigil work."
Seth sits in the front row of the classroom. His rightful place. While his professors still may not like him, they respect him. It has been centuries since a witch has bound the hellhound as their familiar. They see his power. They fear it as much as they love to see it being nurtured within its cradle.
I watch as Seth turns in his seat to look right at Leonard. With a sickly sweet smile, he tells, not asks, the Charmwell boy to partner up with him. Such grace our mate has to forgive, though I'm pleased to see he will never forget.
Leonard and Seth will never be friends. But Leonard will never dare to make Seth into a foe. The boy squirms in his seat, but nods in understanding. The great Charmwell family is truly nothing but a bunch of scaredy cats now.
Where is Mal?Seth thinks to me.
Off to speak with the feline familiar spirits.I think the words with an eye roll.
Mal thinks of himself as a scholar, always quick to assist Seth with the craft, but he also thinks of himself as an ambassador. He doesn't like how the little familiars hide whenever they cross our paths around camps. We are too big for them and too strange. Our ability to shift between flesh and fur or solid and incorporeal unsettles them. They fear us in the same way their witches fear Seth.
Mal says we must make nice with the cats so one will respond to your call if ever a time comes to summon their kind.
They are small spirits, yes, but they have their uses. Good scouts. Perfect spies. And our Seth is destined for greatness in conjuration and summoning. He will need to know how to call forth all spirits. From all realms. Both the weak and the strong. All of them will one day kneel before him. Just as Mal and I have done.
Don't sound so glum.Seth smiles down at me.When we get back to the dorm, I'll feed you.
Such a tease. He will pay for it later. If I could growl within this shadowy form, I would do so. Until I'm freed and wearing flesh again, ready to suck Seth's pretty prick and shove my fat cock down his throat, I'll have to make do with merely watching him. Feasting on the sight of him in his most natural element: learning.
Our clever mate. Our brilliant witch.
Not mine alone, but mine together with Mal.
Extended Epilogue
Mal
Three Years Later...
"Stop," Seth says, but his voice laces with laughter as he slaps my naked chest. "No more, Mal. We're going to be late."
I've had Seth twice. Once with Danny, and once without. Yet I'm still hungry for him. I always hunger for him. My sweet mate. Our pretty master. I've made Seth cry on my cock as I fucked him and then had him moaning around mine. It still isn't enough. I don't think it'll ever be enough.
Danny may be the one always trying to eat Seth's rivals, but I hunger only for Seth. Without the binding around our throats, I sometimes fear I might devour him whole.
"As you wish," I relent with a sigh, but also with one last taste. I suckle Seth's cock and clean up the spilled seed on his stomach. Only then do I rise from the sweat-stained bed and fetch a wet cloth for Seth so he can wash himself of the rutting.
He'll need to look his best.
Tonight, he becomes a full-fledged witch. All classes aced. All aspects of the craft mastered. The academy no longer serves him. He's outgrown it and is ready to practice witchcraft beyond the cautious instruction of the professors.
"Where's Danny?" he asks.
"He's gone into town," I say with a coy smirk, "to fetch your gift."
