“You do realize it’s forbidden for witches and shifters to be together? Anyone who walks past and finds you like that? It’s going to be a problem. Any shifter could have scented the desire coming off you two,” Kane mutters, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Then they die.” Maz leans on a desk. “I don’t see a problem here.”
“No one’s watching us right now. I cast a spell to make sure I always know if someone’s watching and who is watching exactly. No one saw anything in the corridor.” I cross my arms.
“Where’d you learn that little spell?” Vale asks, leaning against the door.
“Second year. You guys were total bastards to me in that year particularly.” Maz winces even if he can’t remember it. “And I spent a lot of it in the library, making new spells.” I lift my chin. “Like the quiet spell that’s currently around us. Vale, did you ever wonder where you learned that from? That was from me. I taught it to you.”
Vale’s jaw clenches. He steps up to me, closing me in against the wall. “How do I know that you’re not lying about everything?”
“You’re going to have to trust me.” I tilt my head to the side. “Which I know you actually do underneath all of this, because last year you proved it. You begged me to leave that room. You cared more aboutmylife than yours, Vale, so pretend to hate me all you want right now. I suspect underneath all this hardened ice that you’ve layered around your heart, there’s more to how you feel.”
Vale’s face contorts in anger, but I’m not scared of him. They wouldn’t hurt me. I know that for certain. Black shakes his head and barks at us. “Enough, all of you. Maz, escort her to her room so the dickhead we need to kill doesn’t come looking for us. We need to go shift and run off some of our dragons’ possessiveness and anger.”
“Black is right. See you in class, Juniper.” Kane nods at the door, making it clear it’s time to go.
Maz takes my hand and leads me out of the door. Only when we are climbing the stairs and it’s silent, does he speak. “So…you’re twenty-four.”
“Yes.” I link our fingers. “And we’ve known each other for three years, which is kind of strange to think about.” We knew each other as kids too, but for me, I can’t remember most of it.
“And in those three years, have I been inside you?” Maz corners me against the banister. “Have I? I feel like you’re mine, like you always have been even if I don’t have all my memories from all the years. Last year was enough for me to know I am yours. I need to know if I’ve forgotten our first time.”
“No, we’ve never crossed that line. No more than kissing. There’s always been something holding us back.” I run my fingers up his arms.
“Good,” he growls.
“Good?” I question.
“Yes, because the first time I’m inside you, I want never to fucking forget it.” He is a breath away from me. “I know you have to share a room with that prick, but sneak into our room sometimes. I need to hold you. I want us to cross every forbidden line and tell the world to fuck their rules. I want only you.”
“I will,” I tell him softly, heat spreading down my spine. I lean into him, and he swears, pushing himself against me so I can feel how hard he is, his cock pressing against my stomach, and he feels big, long, and I want to feel him. I have limited experience with Lock, and sex was never that good with him. He lasted a few minutes, and I never managed to come. He always thought I did though, even when he barely put any effort in. But I suspect sex wouldn’t be disappointing with Maz. “I will fight for us, Maz.”
“So will I.” He brushes his lips against my forehead. “If I don’t go now, I’m going to bend you over this banister and fuck you so hard your fiancée is going to come out of his room and seeyou coming all over my cock. I will burn him to a crisp for seeing what is mine and continue fucking you until you’ve come at least three times before I follow and fill your sweet pussy.” He steps away from me, his filthy mouth doing so many things for me, and I can hardly breathe through the need. His eyes are burning blue. “See you in lessons, Juni. Please walk away from me right now. Oh, and no need to thank me for slipping a sleeping potion into Lock’s drink earlier. He shouldn’t bother you now.”
I scurry to my room, grabbing a blanket and lying on the couch, ignoring Lock’s snores from the bed. I have my dragons, now it’s time to bring the Umbral Authority to its knees.
Chapter 6
Istare at the new spell and my checklist of ingredients. I have over half of them from my storage, and there are two more I can easily steal from the academy stores. The only problem is the three at the top—rare ingredients I’ve only heard of existing—and I doubt they would leave them lying around in the store cupboards. I’m not sure they even have them here, and I know in my gut the spell will not work without these. I will have to ask my bonded for help… Maybe they might know a way to find these.
Steam fills up the bathroom as I lift my head, staring at my eyes in the foggy mirror. My hair is wet, hanging down the middle of my back, and I begin to braid it, thinking about everything that could go wrong with this spell. After I’m done with the braid, I begin to get dressed in the tight uniform of the academy, all designed to be easy to move in, and the material protects against random element spells gone wrong. I clip my cloak on last, glancing at the dragon symbol of the academy for a long moment, matching the mark on my neck. Why is the academy’s symbol a dragon when the witches in charge hate shifters?
I jump when Lock knocks on the door twice, a warning to hurry in here. The asshole woke me up this morning by grumbling about me not sleeping in the bed with him, and I ignored him to hog the shower.
My little friend scurries underneath my cloak, hiding around my wrist. “Minnie, we are going to have to talk about you coming everywhere with me,” I murmur, noticing how she plops her head on my watch face and blinks at me. I shake my head at her antics. This little creature is strange, but I’m kind of glad not to be alone.
Lock bangs the door three more times. “Are you okay in there? Do you want me to come in?”
“I’m good. I’m coming out,” I shout back, cutting him off.
I quickly hide all the ingredients and spells, making sure my wards around them are in place, promising death to anybody that tries to unlock them. As I open the door and step out, steam billows around me. Lock is ready for the day, already dressed. He grins at me in a way that most women would probably find charming, but he’s like a snake. The pretty scales only hide what lies beneath, and it’s rotten.
“I left a dress out for you to wear tonight.” I glance at where he’s pointing—at a monstrosity of a dress that he’s hung up over the sofa. It’s blood red, very low cut, and looks skintight. That dress is not going to go much further than just past my ass. “There’s a family meal tonight. I want you to come with me, as you will be my family soon. In my eyes, you already are. My mother made all of the arrangements. She thinks it’s important that we have more family meals, and we’re going to discuss the wedding. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Yes.” I swallow the bile in my throat.
He leans closer and kisses my cheek with his stiff lips, pulling back a little, but still far too close. He pales slightly but stubbornly stays near. “Let me escort you to lessons.”
