32. Luc
32
LUC
Watching Tilly’s power settle is like watching a thunderstorm contained in a hot, little body. That raw energy fizzing under her skin calls to something primal in me.
But those memories we dragged up... No wonder she buried them so deep.
Draven growls as the temperature in the room plummets and the stench of death hits my nose.
I catch his eye, seeing the same murderous rage I’m feeling. It is probably the first time ever that we are on the same side. Part of me wants to hunt down her parents right now and show them what real darkness looks like. But that’s not what Matilda needs. Not right now.
“That pendant,” Vex interrupts my thoughts, his hand on his chest as his runes glow brightly. “That binding spell is some serious ancient shit. No way big sister whipped that up on her own.”
“Agreed,” Draven says.
“Bet they had that ready and waiting since the first time she showed her true power. They were just waiting for the perfect moment to cage their little problem.”
“No,” Vex says. “This would’ve taken years, if not longer, for amateurs to enchant. Trying to bind this Praxian magick is like trying to tie up a hurricane with a piece of tissue paper.”
“What makes you think her parents don’t have that kind of power?”
“Excuse me?” Matilda shouts over us. “I’m still fucking here. Stop talking about me and talk to me.”
“Sorry,” I murmur.
The pull of her power is magnetic. It makes me want to show her exactly how to channel that energy into the best orgasm she will ever have.
Draven clears his throat, and I realise I’ve been eye-fucking her pretty hard.
My hot front clashes with his cold front, and it creates a violent storm in the middle of the room, lashing down rain and drenching us all to the bone.
“Fuck!” Matilda yelps and leaps off the bed. “What the fuck?”
I shove my wet hair back with a dark laugh. “Not the first time that has happened, probably won’t be the last.”
“You dickheads need to rein it in,” Vex snarls, plucking his stuck shirt away from his skin. “We need to focus on what this means for the academy situation. If Matilda’s power is linked to whatever’s under?—”
“Not happening,” I interrupt, moving between him and Matilda. “She needs time to get a handle on this before we throw her into your underground mystery party.”
“We might not have time,” Vex argues. “We don’t know what the fuck might happen if we sit around doing fuck all.”
I step closer, letting my power rise just enough to make a point. “Then make time.”
“Stop!” Matilda snaps. “Just stop, all of you. I can’t handle your pissing contest right now!” She lunges for the door, and it flies open before she even touches it. Her magick is already at work, bypassing the wards around MistHallow, making them shimmer with indignation. She growls and charges through the doorway, with me hot on her heels.
“Matilda, wait. You shouldn’t be alone. It’s not safe.”
She whirls around, her wet hair practically slapping me in the face. “Oh, but I’m safer with you? Is that what you mean?”
“Look, I get that you are pissed and upset and a thousand other emotions I probably have never heard of or experienced, but I need you to think about this for a second.”
“I can’t,” she gasps and flattens her back against the wall, struggling for breath.
Draven and Vex come closer, but I shoot them a warning glance and shake my head. Too many of us crowding her is overwhelming her. I got to her first, so tough shit for them.
“You can,” I say, running my hand up her arm as I move just outside her personal space. “You can do this, Matilda. You can control this power.” I drop my voice into a low, soothing tone filled with seduction. “You are magnificent, Matilda. You can do anything you want, and I know you don’t want to hurt anyone. You want to control this power.”
She squeezes her eyes shut and nods stiffly. Her breathing evens slightly, and I press closer, taking advantage of this proximity to get something from her. Leaning in closer, my lips brush her ear before I pull back slightly.
“Tell me who that warlock is who abused you.”
Her eyes fly open, and she glares at me. “It doesn’t matter.”
“It does because I’m going to hunt him down and kill him. I could get the information out of your dreams, my sweet, but this way is easier for you.”
“It’s got nothing to do with you. Just forget it.”
I kick it up a notch, letting my heat flow over her. “No, that’s not going to happen. Tell me who it is before I seduce you into fucking me right here in this hallway with everyone watching while you spill your secrets to me.”
“You don’t have that kind of power,” she challenges me. “I can resist you.”
“I wasn’t trying hard enough.”
Her gaze fixes on mine, and she can see I’m being deadly serious. I want that name, and I will go to any lengths to get it. “Seducing it out of me is…”
“I know,” I interrupt her before she finishes her cutting remark. “So tell me, and we can avoid it.”
“Why do you care so much?”
“Because no one treats you that way and lives.”
Her bottom lip trembles. “Why?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “Don’t you see how much I want you?”
“Want?” she rasps. “You just want to use me to get back at Draven and add another notch to your bedpost. I won’t be used. Not again.” She shoves hard on my chest, and I stumble backwards, but she doesn’t try to annihilate me. Her power is strong, but it doesn’t see me as a threat. It knows my intentions, and that is… interesting, to say the least.
But Matilda’s words sting more than I care to admit. Is that really how she sees me? Just another user, like all the others who’ve hurt her? The thought punches me in the gut. Hard.
“That’s not true,” I growl, grabbing her wrist as she tries to push past me. “You’re more than just a conquest or a way to get under Draven’s skin.”
Her blue eyes flash dangerously. “Let go of me, Luc.”
“Not until you hear me out,” I insist, loosening my grip but not releasing her entirely. “I know I come across as an arrogant prick most of the time. It’s easier that way. Safer. But with you...” I trail off, struggling to find the right words.
“With me, what?” she demands.
I take a deep breath. “With you, I want more. I want you to see behind the walls, and that scares the shit out of me.”
Surprise flickers across her face, followed quickly by suspicion. “More pretty words to manipulate me,” she says with so much scorn that I feel it in my soul.
“Wrong, my sweet. If you knew me, you’d know I would never lower my defences to get into someone’s pants.”
“Because you don’t need to. One bat of those dark, soulful eyes, and they will drop their knickers faster than you can blink,” she hisses.
“Except with you.”
She scoffs, but I can see the uncertainty in her eyes. “Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m telling you the truth. Yes, I want you. But not just for sex, not just to use you to piss off Draven. I want all of you, Matilda. Your fire, your strength, your vulnerability. I want to protect you, to help you unleash your full potential.”
Her eyes search mine, looking for any hint of deception. I let her see everything I’m feeling. My desire, my anger at those who hurt her, my growing feelings that I can barely comprehend myself.
“I don’t know if I can trust you,” she whispers.
“Then let me earn your trust,” I reply, reaching out to brush a wet strand of hair from her face. “Starting with dealing with that warlock who hurt you.”
She shivers at my touch but doesn’t pull away. I lightly wrap my hand around her throat, and she trembles as my natural heat seeps into her cold skin. “Tell me his name, my sweet, and I will avenge you.”
“S-Stryker,” she croaks. “I don’t know his last name.”
“I don’t need it,” I say, stepping back. “He is a dead warlock walking.”
I turn to leave but she surprises me by grabbing my hand. “Luc, wait.”
Staring into her eyes, I wait.
She hesitates, dropping her gaze to the floor. “I can’t do this with you,” she whispers. “Not unless Draven says it’s okay.”
I swallow at her honesty and cup her face, drawing her closer to me. I have no idea if Draven and Vex are still watching any of this or if they retreated. My senses are focused completely on the witch in front of me. “But you do want me?”
She nods.
“You are mine, Matilda, whether we are together or not. My mother knows it. She knew as soon as she looked at you.”
Her eyes shoot back to mine. “What?”
“The day we arrived. I saw the way she looked at you. She knows you are special. She knows you are meant to be with her sons.”
“Please, Luc, don’t…”
“What? Don’t tell you the truth? Don’t tell you I need you? Crave you? That my thoughts are on you every second of the day? That you mean more to me in the last few days than anyone ever has in twenty-one years? I can’t do that, Tilly.” Her eyes widen as I shorten her name. It rolls off my tongue, and I have to say it again. “Tilly.”
“Stop, Luc. I can’t.”
“You can.”
My head snaps to the side as I hear Draven’s voice. He is staring at me as if he has never seen me before, and that is probably accurate. He has never seen me this way before. No one has. Not even me, because it has never happened before. No creature has ever affected me this way.
“Draven,” Tilly says.
He turns on his heel and strides back into his room, leaving Vex to glare at me but then his expression softens when he shifts his stare to Tilly. There is some sort of unspoken communication between them, and then he nods and follows Draven.
“I—” Tilly turns back to me and sighs. “This doesn’t mean…”
“I know. I will earn my place by your side, my sweet.” I kiss her nose and then flame out, needing to get away from her before I make good on my threat and ravage her in the hallway so everyone can see she is mine.
I land next to Draven in his room.
“What the fuck is this?” I ask, all arrogance gone in my quest for the truth. “What the fuck are you doing?”
He shakes his head. “She isn’t mine, Luc. She never was. She is ours . Our fate.”
“And me?” Vex drawls. “Where do I fit into this?”
“Wherever the fuck she wants you,” I mutter, unable to take my eyes off Draven’s. Something clicks between us that has never been there before. A truce? A realisation that we have inevitably fallen for the same woman? Knowledge that you can’t fuck with fate no matter how much you try? All of the above?
Silence falls, and then a chittering noise that fills my soul with dread echoes down the hallway, and Draven’s eyes widen.
“Shit!” he exclaims. “Is that?”
“An Araxi,” I breathe and launch myself out into the corridor with Draven right behind me.