“You’re not invited.” Lock is shaking with anger.
Kane smiles smugly and drifts his eyes back to me. “That is my bonded’s choice. I listen only to her.”
Warmth fills my chest. I’m not alone and he is here for me. I never knew how much I needed someone to be in my corner until I had my bonded.
“Oh, let him come.” Winifred walks up behind her brother with Aster at her side. “You know how these family meals can be boring otherwise. You’re just mad you didn’t drag your bonded here tonight.”
Lock looks like he’s twitching with anger, but he gives in because he doesn’t really have a choice. It’s very clear Kane isn’t going without a fight, and for the first time tonight, I feel like I can breathe without fear. The doors open and we walk in, down a short corridor of red walls and black arched beams.
“You look amazing.” Winifred pushes in between Lock and me, while Kane steps back with Aster, speaking low.
I glance at her red dress, which is a lot classier than mine and doesn’t show off everything. Her hair is done up beautifully in a messy bun of curls. “So do you. I’d love to have my hair up like that. You’ll have to show me how to do it.”
“I will.” She beams. “I’m so glad we are friends. I feel like I’ve known you far longer than a week. How strange is that?”
I wish I could tell her everything, but I can’t, especially not now. Her eyes seem to search mine for a long moment before she blinks and turns her head to look forward again.
Lock opens another set of doors and reveals the dining room for tonight’s fake as hell family meal. I take in the huge table stretched out in the middle of a grand room. The classicalpaintings and the woven tapestries that smother every wall are locked in between gold pillars that leak into the black ceiling, which is filled with glowing, warm diamond-shaped lights. The table itself is made of pure onyx with streaks of gold all through it, adorned with black and red flowers all down the middle in beautiful vases. Plates are laid out on the table and on the buffet. Humans wait on us, holding silver platters full of food. I glance at them, but the cloaks pretty much cover their faces.
At the end of the table is Fasrah, and she stands up in a red suit, tightly cut to her body, and a matching cloak hangs on the back of her chair. At her side is a man I’ve not seen before, but I bet money on it that he’s Wini’s father. On her other side is Melody, and my stomach drops. She smiles brightly at me and rises to her feet, and my only reaction is to freeze in fear. I can’t help how she makes me feel. She is the only person in the world who has ever truly broken my soul while she destroyed my body. I might not have scars to prove it, but the memories of her abuse are like scars in my head. Now she is here, in the academy where I thought I was safe from her, and my hands shake. I don’t see the woman who is my foster mother; I just see the witch who created silence spells to keep my screams from the neighbors.
I see the witch who made me so used to pain that I barely feel it anymore.
The witch who stole what was left of my childhood.
I tense, and Kane notices, his eyes boring into the side of my head. I want to step closer to him, to walk out of this meal, but I know that would be too suspicious. So I keep my feet grounded as Wini goes to her mother and embraces her.
“My daughter!” Melody comes running over, throwing her arms around me in a blistering tight hug that almost hurts. I freeze. She can’t be staying here, right? Please say she isn’t. “You look so beautiful. How have you been?” She leans back to look atme, and I realize she asked me a question while I was spiralling. “You look so pale, Juniper. Are you well?”
“Of course she is,” Lock answers for me, and Melody finally drags her hands off me to embrace Lock and kiss his cheek. “Lovely to see you, Aunt Melody.”
Melody smiles warmly at him, a warmth I’ve never really seen before. That warmth disappears when she looks at Kane. “Who is this and why is he here?”
I clear my throat. “This is Kane Ardian, and he is one of my bonded.”
“Oh, yes, I heard about the situation.” She doesn’t bother to even introduce herself to Kane, and she dismisses him. I bite down on my inner cheek so I don’t say anything. Melody touches my cheek, and I almost flinch. She usually slaps me there. “How did a silly girl like you end up bonded to four dragons? Sometimes it is peculiar what the goddess wants, isn’t it? But they will be good for you. If not, at least this one is pretty to look at.”
She touches his arm. I see red, and I snap down my teeth to resist ripping her hand off him. “We should begin the meal before the food goes cold.”
Kane steps back. “My dragon doesn’t like anyone touching me. They can be quite territorial and prove to burn unwanted advances.”
Melody huffs, but she turns to go back to the table. I try to stay close to Kane’s side, but Lock grabs my arm again. “No, you’ll sit by me.” He looks over me, to Kane. “She’s my fiancée. Kane, you can go sit by her mother.”
Not. My. Mother.
Kane looks at me, and I know that we don’t really have much of a choice here. I go and take the seat next to Lock, opposite Wini’s father, and on the other side of me is his mother. Wini and Aster choose to sit by Kane, and I don’t blame them. Fasrahstares at me for a long pause before she speaks. “Thank you for coming tonight so we can spend more time together. I am delighted to tell you we have approved Lock’s idea to have the wedding here, at the academy, at the beginning of the Winter Change.” Wait, that’s in two months. Fuck.
My eyes shoot to Lock, who smiles at me. “Great news. We are both so happy to hear we won’t have to wait.”
“So happy.” I push out the words.
Fasrah continues, unaware of the tension brewing and my internal freak out. Two months is not enough time to get the ingredients I need, to make sure the potions and spells work. I’m going to have to rush it all and make sure I don’t mess it up. I need help; I can’t do it all in this short time. Double fuck. I barely hear Fasrah over my own thoughts. “How is the academy treating you in your first few days? All reports from your tutors have been excellent. Have you settled in? Do you enjoy it?”
“It’s a beautiful academy. I love all of the architecture and the feel of the place. I think even the stormy weather outside somehow works with the castle. How long has the castle been here, can I ask?” I push myself to stop worrying for now. I can’t change anything at this meal.
Fasrah turns to her husband. “You answer, Geoff. History of this world is more your topic than mine.”
“Oh, thousands of years,” Geoff answers. They said it was built by humans, but no one particularly knows, only that the witches took it over, and it became a space for us to train witches, back before the war began. This place has always housed the very best of our kind, and the ground is proof of the bloodshed to feed the magic of the castle. Some rumors claim a hundred witches made the ultimate sacrifice to build the wards, and their blood is what marks the land red.” He laughs. “Morbid history, but who knows if it is true? I studied in the libraries herein my time, and there are many books on the old history of the academy.”
