Page 19

19

GAIDA

“Ferals!” I shriek as a pack of feral vampires, severed from their sire bonds and going mad, launch themselves at us.

My fangs and claws extend, and I lash out at the feral closest to me. Blood sprays out across my face, and my stomach growls from hunger. I’m not exactly dressed to fight for my life, but never let it be said that Gaida Aragon is a damsel who needs saving. I kick off my heels and send them sailing into the nearest feral, distracting it just long enough for me to slash my claws across its throat. He gurgles and drops, but he will heal.

“Here!” Dante calls out, snapping a branch in half and throwing it at me.

I catch the makeshift stake as he draws out the one he stole from Luke and slams it into the chest of the nearest feral. I don’t like doing this. They are only acting on instinct, but it’s us or them.

Felix stands to the side, tendrils of dark magick snapping from his fingertips to wrap around a feral’s neck and snap it with brutal efficiency.

“We need to move,” he calls out. “The Nexus does not like that we brought violence here.”

“Us?” I yell. “It was them!”

“Same difference,” he growls and clamps his hand around the throat of a feral who tried to sneak up on him. His magick cracks loudly, and the vampire explodes into a cloud of dust.

I feel myself getting wet watching him. He has such power. But then I re-focus and kick another feral in the chest, sending it flying back into the trees. “Which way?”

Felix points to a narrow path between the twisted trees. “That way leads back to the academy.”

I spin and slam my stake into a feral whose jaws are snapping, trying to get to me. He turns to dust, and I step back as Dante grabs my hand.

“Let’s move, ma reine .”

Suddenly, everything stops.

The ferals hold their stances, their heads swivelling to me.

“Uhm,” I mutter as they drop to their knees. “What is happening?”

“ Ma reine ,” Dante murmurs. “They recognise who you are.”

I blink at him. “Why do you call me that?” I ask, gripping his tee. “Why? What do you know?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Nothing. Luke once said that you were the Queen on the board. I agreed.”

“Queen on the board?” I repeat with a frown, letting Dante go. “Did he mean?—”

“Later,” Felix snaps. “We need to get gone while they are in awe of Your fucking Highness.”

Dante and I exchange a loaded glare, but then we both rush to follow Felix away from the ferals and the Nexus.

We race through the forest, the trees blurring past us as we run. I can feel the ferals’ reverence fading the further we get from the Nexus, replaced by their hunger and madness again. Their howls echo behind us, but they’re keeping their distance, as if unsure whether to attack or worship.

“That was weird as fuck,” I mutter as we finally slow down near the edge of the forest. The academy looms ahead, its spires reaching toward the darkening sky. “Why would they react like that instead of attacking even more?”

“They know you can restore their bonds. Maybe they want to play nice?” Dante asks with a smirk.

“Yeah, real nice by trying to suck me dry.”

“Gaida Aragon! You had better have an explanation for all of this!”

“Uh-oh,” I mutter and turn to face my dad. I must look like something the cat dragged in. In all the commotion, I’d forgotten they were waiting for us. So did Dante from the sound of his groan.

Dad’s gaze rakes over me, but as usual, I can’t tell what he is thinking. He has mastered the unreadable expression.

“Miss Aragon, Mr DuLoc,” Luke’s voice comes from the opposite direction. “Step back around two feet.”

“What?” I ask, but Felix grabs my hand and yanks me back behind the wards of MistHallow’s grounds.

“You two are in so much trouble,” Luke mutters, glaring at Dad. “I will punish you later.”

“Promise?” I practically pant at the thought of another spanking in his office.

His lips twitch, but other than that, I can’t tell what he is thinking. His face is as expressionless as my dad’s.

“Luke,” Dad growls, stepping forward. The wards shimmer and stop his progress. “Drop the wards or I will have your head.”

“You will have to go through me first,” Felix states, stepping in front of Luke to his utter shock.

“Thank you, Mr Davenport, for your support, but I’m capable of dealing with this myself.”

Felix narrows his eyes at him over his shoulder. “Yeah? Really?”

Something passes between them, and I see the slight tremble of Luke’s hand.

I step up next to Felix. “And you will have to go through me.” The sword of Mashtar zings into my hand unexpectedly, and I grin wickedly. “And my trusty sword.”

Dad’s eyes zoom straight to it, and I see the flash of wariness before he squashes it.

“Yeah, okay,” Dante drawls. “I’ve been outshone by a sword. But still, if that wasn’t enough, you will also have to go through me.”

I grin at him as he moves next to Felix to form a wall in front of Luke.

“How cute,” Dad growls. “But this won’t protect him, or you, Gaida. You will be safest at home. I insist that you come with me immediately.”

“With or without the sword?” I ask.

Dad’s eyes flash with anger. “With or without the sword, you are coming home.”

“I think that’s up to me,” I reply, my voice steadier than I feel. “I’m twenty-one, Dad. An adult. I’m not your little princess anymore.”

“You will always be?—“

“Choose your next words carefully,” I interrupt, the sword humming in my hand. It feels alive, eager almost, and I wonder if it’s responding to my emotions or something else entirely. “I’m staying at MistHallow.”

“There are things happening that you don’t understand. Dangerous things. We’re only trying to protect you.”

“Protect me? You mean control me. Keep me locked away like some precious treasure until you can marry me off to whichever ancient vampire offers the most political advantage.”

Dad’s jaw tightens. “You have responsibilities?—“

“To myself first,” I interrupt. “To my education. To my future that I choose.”

I feel Felix shift slightly beside me, moving in closer. Dante’s presence is equally steady, his hand brushing against mine in silent solidarity.

“The sword stays with me,” I continue, raising it slightly. The blade catches the moonlight, seeming to drink it in. “And I stay with Dante, Felix and Luke. You did give us your blessing after all.”

“Before he betrayed us. Consider that blessing revoked.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I say, shaking my head. “You don’t own me.”

I hear Luke shift behind me. He is awfully quiet and I have a horrible feeling he is about to turn feral on our arses. “Go,” I mutter to Felix. “And be quick.”

He doesn’t need to be told twice because he sensed it as well. He grabs Luke under protest and in a flash of magick that looks remarkably like Luke’s, they teleport out of sight.

“This rebellion is beneath you, girl. Come home now, and we’ll discuss this rationally.”

Girl. It infuriates me more than it ever has. “There’s nothing to discuss,” I state. “Come on, Dante. Let’s go.” I turn my back on my father in more ways than one, and with Dante by my side, we walk steadily across the campus, over the courtyard and into the main building before my hands shake and I feel dizzy.

“Shit,” I mutter. “Shit.”

“It had to be done,” Dante says.

“I know, but still.”

“I’m proud of you.”

“Ugh, please,” I snap, but feel a sense of accomplishment anyway. “We’d better go find Luke and Felix.”

We head for Luke’s office, and when we get there, we find him alone. “Are you okay?” I ask immediately, going to him and cupping his face. He is burning up.

“I’m fine. Are you?”

“I’ll live as long as those wards hold.”

“They will. You understand what this means?”

“Betrayal. I’m aware.”

He nods slowly.

“Where’s Felix?” Dante asks.

“He has gone to do some homework,” Luke lies.

I roll my eyes. “We know he’s making you a potion of something to try to stabilise you. We helped him gather the ingredients.”

His eyes flash as he sinks into his chair. “He is dead.”

“No, he isn’t. Don’t threaten him. He didn’t tell us. I figured it out.”

Luke sighs and leans back, his posture relaxing slightly. “Of course you did. You’re too clever for your own good.”

“I’m also too stubborn for my own good,” I reply, watching him closely. The veins at his temples are darker than they should be, pulsing with an erratic rhythm. “Luke…”

“I’m managing,” he says, but the way his fingers grip the edge of his desk tells a different story. “Your father will not give up easily, Gaida. You’ve made a powerful enemy today.”

“He was always going to be my enemy the moment I chose to be myself instead of his perfect little pureblood princess. I just didn’t expect it to happen quite so dramatically.”

Dante moves to the window, peering out at the grounds below. “They’re leaving.”

“For now. They will be back with stronger mages.”

“Felix reckons they won’t be able to get through.”

“They won’t. Mr Davenport is a remarkably powerful sorcerer. Doesn’t mean they won’t try.”

“Will it hurt him, or you?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “More of an awareness than pain. It’s irritating more than anything else.”

“Luke, we really need you to get better because I need you,” I blurt out suddenly. “We need to know more about Mashtar, more about the sword, more about Draken. Everything.”

“Oh, while you have that sword, copy those runes for Felix,” Dante says, crossing over and picking up a pen and paper from Luke’s desk.

I nod and lay the sword down. A memory flashes in my mind, and I pause, the pen pressed to the paper.

Constantine glared at me and placed his finger on the tip of the blade, pushing it away from him. “It’s a good thing I know what you mean to him,” he muttered. “Otherwise, I’d have to kill you where you stand.”

“He touched it,” I mutter.

“Hmm?” Dante asks.

I look up and meet his gaze. “Constantine. He touched the sword.” My stare swivels to Luke. “How? How did he touch it when you, or Felix or anyone else can’t?”

Luke’s eyes narrow. “He did.”

“And?” I press, watching him intently.

“Constantine is complicated. He has been around for a very long time. He’s seen more, done more, than most living beings. Perhaps the sword recognises something in him, something useful.”

“Or something dangerous,” Dante mutters.

“Probably more likely. He is a dangerous creature with penchants that make even the most hardened tremble.”

“Could it be that he is from this other world, so he has immunity?” I ask.

“If that were the case, then so would I,” Luke points out. “I’m more inclined to believe he is simply that powerful.”

“So there’s nothing to it?”

“Not that I can think of. Copy the runes, Gaida. Felix will need them if he is going to decipher them.”

I set to work copying the runes, my hand moving quickly across the paper. The symbols are intricate, flowing into each other like liquid darkness. As I trace them, I feel a strange connection, as if the sword is pleased with my efforts.

“These look familiar somehow,” I murmur, finishing the last symbol. “Like I’ve seen them before, but can’t remember where.”

Luke leans forward, his movements careful and measured. “The language predates most recorded history.”

“How is Felix meant to decipher them, then?” Dante asks.

“Mr Davenport has unique talents,” Luke replies, his voice strained. A tremor runs through him, so subtle I might have missed it if I weren’t watching him so closely.

“You need to rest,” I tell him, placing my hand over his. His skin burns against mine.

Luke’s eyes meet mine, and for a moment, I glimpse something ancient and terrifying behind them, a darkness straining to break free. His fangs drop, and he grabs my wrist.

“Hey!” Dante snaps when Luke drags me onto his lap.

“It’s okay,” I say. “Let him feed.”

I tilt my head, offering my neck without hesitation. His fangs pierce my skin, and the familiar rush of pleasure-pain floods through me. I feel his arm tighten around my waist, holding me securely against him as he drinks.

Dante stands frozen, his posture tense but not interfering. He understands what’s happening. Luke needs this, needs the strength of a pureblood to maintain control.

I feel Luke’s desperation in the way he drinks, more urgently than he ever has before. There’s a hunger in him that seems bottomless. His cock springs to attention and I grind down on him, sliding my dress up my thighs.

He groans when my hands go to his pants to release him. I take him in my hand, stroking him, hoping that Dante will join us. I want this. I need this.

My skin feels hypersensitive, every nerve ending alive with sensation as Luke drinks from me. I don’t care that Dante is watching—in fact, his presence only heightens everything. The bond between us pulses with shared desire.

“Gaida,” Dante’s voice is strained, caught between concern and arousal.

Luke’s hand slides up my thigh, pushing my dress higher. His drinking slows, becoming more controlled, more deliberate.

I rise up and grip the side of my knickers. I tear them from my body, and Dante lets out a soft pant.

Guiding Luke’s cock inside me, I gasp when he releases me suddenly from his bite and slams me down onto his length in a savage move that leaves me breathless.

“Ah, fuck,” I moan, my body stretching to accommodate him. His eyes are wild, the blue almost completely consumed by black. This is Luke at his most primal, most dangerous, and it’s intoxicating.

“Dante,” I gasp, reaching a hand toward him. “Please.”

He hesitates only a moment before stalking forward. I grab his tee and pull him into a desperate kiss, my rhythm never faltering as I ride Luke hard.

Luke growls, his hands gripping my waist with bruising force as he guides my movements. I break away from Dante’s lips to cry out as Luke hits that perfect spot inside me.

“Let me taste you,” Dante murmurs, his fingers tracing the veins on the inside of my wrist. He places my wrist to his lips and bites down. I cry out and come all over Luke in pulsating waves.

“Mine,” Luke snarls, one hand moving to grip my hair, forcing my head back to expose more of my throat.

“Ours,” Dante says, releasing me from the bite and undoing his pants. He pushes my head down, and I take him in my mouth with a soft moan.

Grazing my teeth down his length, he makes a noise that excites the vampire inside me. It’s primal, raw.

I suck him a few times and then release him, climbing off Luke’s cock, to his annoyance.

“Both of you,” I murmur. “I want both of you inside me.”

Luke is on his feet in seconds, lifting me up. I wrap my legs around him as he impales me on his rock-hard dick. I stifle my scream of contentment when Dante moves in behind me. He takes some of my weight from Luke and presses his cock to my already stuffed pussy.

“Are you sure?” he murmurs.

“Now,” I demand. “Now!”

Dante presses forward, the tight stretch making me cry out as he enters me alongside Luke. The sensation is beyond overwhelming—it’s transcendent. I’ve never felt so completely filled, so utterly claimed.

Dante slides in deeper, his chest pressed against my back, his lips at my shoulder.

“Fuck,” he groans. “So tight.”

Luke’s hands grip my thighs while Dante’s arms wrap around my waist, holding me suspended between them. The sensation of their cocks thrusting deep inside me is maddening.

I can’t form words, can only make desperate, pleading sounds as they take me higher.

My climax builds with frightening intensity. My clit twitches and I squirt all over Luke.

He grunts in response, driving his cock even deeper. “My sweet vampire princess. You love being wrecked, don’t you?”

“Yes!” I cry out. “Only for you.” The friction is delicious agony, pleasure so intense it borders on pain.

“So perfect,” Dante murmurs. “Taking both of us like you were made for this.”

A second orgasm crashes through me without warning, my pussy clenching around them both. Dante curses, his rhythm faltering as my body squeezes him mercilessly.

Dante comes first, his release hot and pulsing deep inside me. The sensation triggers Luke, who follows moments later with a guttural groan against my skin. They hold me between them, both still buried inside me as aftershocks ripple through all three of us.

For several moments, none of us move, caught in the perfect stillness of shared pleasure.

When they finally ease me down, my legs immediately give out. Dante catches me, lifting me into his arms with a gentleness that contrasts sharply with our frenzied fucking.

“I’ve got you,” he murmurs, carrying me to the leather couch against the wall. He sets me down carefully, pulling my dress back into place with surprising tenderness.

Luke straightens his clothing with capable efficiency, though I notice his hands still tremble slightly. The feeding and sex have helped, but not enough. He’s burning through energy faster than he can replenish it.

Dante stashes his cock back in his pants and crouches next to me. “I’ll go and find Felix, see if he needs any help.”

I cup his face and lean forward to kiss him. “Okay.”

He nods to Luke and leaves us alone to stare at each other.

“You okay with what just happened?” I ask bluntly.

Luke crouches down and studies me for a long moment, his blue eyes still dark with remnants of hunger and lust. “Are you?”

“I asked first,” I counter, pulling my legs up beneath me on the couch.

A slight smile plays at the corner of his mouth. “I’ve never been much for sharing, as you may have noticed. But with you and Dante, it is inevitable.”

“Inevitable,” I repeat, testing the word. “Is that good or bad?”

“Neither. Both.” He moves to sit beside me, his posture relaxed but still maintaining that inherent dignity he carries. “The bond between you three is changing me. I find myself wanting things I’ve denied for centuries.”

I shift closer to him, drawn by the rare vulnerability in his admission. “Like what?”

“Connection. Belonging.” His voice drops lower. “A future that isn’t solitary.”

My heart stutters at his words. This is Luke Blackthorn, ancient vampire-mage, Headmaster of MistHallow, admitting he wants to be part of us.

“Sleep with me,” he murmurs.

My eyes light up at the thought of another round and maybe that spanking he promised. I wiggle closer to him, and he teleports us to his bedroom. I strip off quickly and crawl onto the black silk sheets.

He laughs darkly. “I meant sleep.”

I bite my bottom lip. “Oh.”

He carefully undresses and slides into the bed with me, wrapping his arms around me. I nestle close to him, my head resting on his chest. His heartbeat is erratic, his breathing laboured.

“Do you think Felix will be able to help you?”

“I don’t know.”

“Have you thought anymore about what I can do for you?”

“I have.”

“And?”

“I don’t have an answer for you. Yet. If Felix can temporarily stabilise me, I will be in a position to make that decision.”

I want to ask him about Constantine, about what Dante said about siring him to his ex-grandsire, but I bite my tongue. He is right. He needs to be clear-headed to make that decision. I close my eyes and let myself drift off, safe and in the arms of the man I love more than anything.