Page 14 of Soul Bound (Cursed Descent (MistHallow Academy) #2)

14

DRAVEN

We land in the Residence in the middle of Hell, in the Hall of Dicks. I give Luc a vicious glare as he chuckles. This is his favourite place. Portrait upon portrait, statue upon statue of Hell-ish men with massive cocks sticking out and in and sometimes around everything in sight.

“Must we always arrive here?” I grumble.

Luc grins wickedly. “Of course. It’s tradition.”

“Let’s just find Xavi and get this over with.”

“What are you doing here?” the very Horseman of Pestilence we were looking for answers. “Belle will string you both up.”

Turning towards her, in a flash she is gripping our collars and dissipates out of the Residence.

We land, not unexpectedly, in Xavier’s cabin in the Wastelands. It is barricaded by heavy, heavy magick from the various monsters that roam this realm, Araxi included, not to mention other things. It is a large rectangle with everything in one space except the tiny shower room, which is located behind a partitioned-off wall. I lost my virginity here to a Demon who wouldn’t leave me alone. I caved and got it over with. Luc, on the other hand, lost his in a mass orgy with four or five newly created Succubi.

“So,” Xavi says, sitting on the sofa and giving us the stink-eye. “Why aren’t you at the Academy?”

“You know why,” I accuse. “You going to speak to Matilda behind our backs about us. Bad move, Xavi. We don’t like treachery.”

“Who was being treacherous?” she asks blithely. “I was merely seizing an opportunity that no other fucker in any realm was able to accomplish. So, did she?” She arches her eyebrow at us.

Luc and I exchange a glance. “We are in the middle of a truce.”

“It’s a start,” she says, not asking for details, which is good, because where do we start?

“That doesn’t excuse anything. Tilly wasn’t happy about it. She felt threatened.”

Xavi narrows her eyes. “I didn’t threaten her.”

“Ugh,” I spit out. “You can curse the entire world with a plague and kill off the vast majority of them. What’s not threatening about that?”

She smiles slowly. “Oh, the good old days. I miss them.”

“Xavi!” Luc snaps. “This is serious. We are serious about this girl. We don’t want you fucking it up and making her run the other way.”

“Nor do we want that fucking Araxi you decided to bring with you to eat us. Or her.”

Xavier sits up straighter. “Did he find her then?”

“Yes, he found her and is quite charmed by her. For now,” I growl. “You are lucky it hasn’t stripped the flesh off anyone.”

“Yet,” Luc mutters.

Xavi’s expression turns serious. “I didn’t bring the Araxi to harm anyone. It’s meant to protect Matilda.”

“Protect her from what?” I demand.

“From forces that want to use her for their own ends,” Xavi says cryptically. “There are ancient powers stirring. The Araxi will guard her when you can’t.”

Luc scoffs. “We can protect her just fine.”

“Can you?” Xavi challenges with a wicked smile. “You are here berating me when you should be up there with her.”

Fuck’s sake. She’s right. We are clowns, and we walked straight into the trap she set us.

Luc groans but then snaps out of it. “Look, she has Vex with her right now, so we could come here and figure out what your game is. How do you even know any of this?”

“I walk the Earth. I hear shit.”

“What shit?” I grit out.

“I don’t know all the details. But I’ve heard whispers. Rumours of an awakening. Of magick returning to its primordial state, and that girl, Matilda, is somehow connected to it. Little did I know that you both decided to fall ass over tit for her.”

“You knew,” I snarl. “Mum saw me get out of the car with her when I arrived.”

“You, maybe.”

“Never mind that. Matilda is very important to us both, as you have already deduced. So fucking what? Very clever of you. The key to what?” Luc clips out, sounding less like his usual arrogant self and more… like me.

“Don’t ask me,” she replies with a shrug. “I followed the trails to MistHallow and to her.” She narrows her eyes shrewdly. “Don’t you want to know what your mom thinks of her?”

Again, Luc and I lock gazes. That is a double-edged sword. But perhaps it is best to be armed with this knowledge, either way. “Well?” I ask.

Xavi leans back, a smug smile playing on her lips. “Your mother is intrigued by Matilda. She sees great potential in her, but she’s also wary. Belle knows there’s more to the girl than meets the eye.”

I clench my jaw, not liking the sound of that. “What exactly does she know?”

“Not as much as you two, probably,” Xavi says. “But she senses Matilda’s power. And you know your mother. She’s always looking for ways to increase Hell’s influence.”

Luc growls low in his throat. “If she thinks she can use Tilly for her own agenda...”

“Relax,” Xavi cuts him off. “Belle isn’t planning anything nefarious. Yet. But she’s very interested in how her sons have become so enamoured with this witch and where her place might fit here… one day.”

“She’s not a witch. Not just a witch. She’s a Druid,” I correct.

Xavi raises an eyebrow. “Druid? Well, that explains a few things.”

“What things?” Luc demands.

She shakes her head. “Nothing concrete. Just pieces falling into place. Look, you two need to be careful. There are forces gathering, both light and dark, that will want to use her.”

“Light?” Luc asks warily. “What do they want with this?”

“Beats me. You’d have to ask them.”

“Huge pass,” I mutter. I’ve had one encounter with Vazna, Heaven’s Guardian, and it was not an experience I want to repeat. Like. Ever.

Xavi snickers. “Yeah, I hear you. Look, I know nothing more than what I’ve told you. It’s up to you to figure this shit out.”

“Oh, no,” I snap when the penny drops. “You know a lot more. That is why we are there, isn’t it? Why Mum insisted we attend this Academy. You knew this magick was rising, and you knew it had something to do with a girl we’d both fall for. How?”

“Okay, you got me. I have my ways. You don’t need to know them.” Her voice has gone slightly icy, signalling the end of this conversation. “Get back to her. Now. Pass the test or fail. Your outcome will inform your mother of her next steps.”

“Wait!” I yell in frustration as she materialises out of the cabin.

“Well, that was as helpful as a sword made of chocolate in the combat ring.”

“No, shit,” I growl. “We’d better get back.”

For once, he has no witty comeback, and with a grip on my elbow, he transports us back to MistHallow in a burst of Hellfire that is quickly snuffed out by the magick dampener around this place as we land.

“They’ve been increased,” Luc says immediately.

“That’s not a bad thing. It must be to keep Matilda and the students safe.”

“Yeah. So, are we going to dissect that conversation or what?”

“What is there to dissect? We knew this was a test. Now, at least, we know what that is.”

“Survive this coming wave of terror?” Luc drawls.

“That and more. It’s about proving ourselves. We always assumed we’d be on the sidelines once we returned home.”

“You don’t think that’s the case now?” His tone is guarded, which makes me think he has come to the same conclusion.

I shake my head.

He sighs. “Yeah, same. Fuck. There goes the easy ride.”

We share a look of condolence, each mourning a future we had yet to live and fearing a future that now looms over us ominously, because the Devil doesn’t do shit for no reason.