Chapter 2
Sten
I couldn’t stiflemy laugh as I watched the curvy little Witch as she read the ridiculous extra credit assignment after chasing after our corpulent professor. Professor Dravean McEwan taught Astronomy at Blackthorn, but everyone knew he had a penchant for all things astrological.
It was his dream to open a dating site using his cockamamie theories on charting paths to true love, and students who were desperate enough to seek extra credit in his class acted as test subjects for him. Not that I ever needed it.
I could chart paths across the sky through realms we hadn’t even discovered yet with my eyes closed. Part of my exceptional gifts, such as they were. If only I didn’t cause black holes to appear when my nose got out of joint. Maybe then I could just do my fucking job and leave this cursed island.
Whatever.
Normally, I didn’t care about my fellow Blackthorn Academy students. Especially not the ones failing a class I could pass without ever even showing up. But there was something about the usually shy little Witch that drew my eye. It wasn’t her curvy frame… okay, well, it was not only her curvy frame.
The Witch had an ass that simply would not quit. Big tits, soft belly, thick thighs. She was every naughty dream I’d ever had and more. And believe me, I was an excellent dreamer. Something about my affinity for night made my dreams so fucking vivid I could sometimes taste them.
Anyway, banging body aside, there was more to my interest in the Witch than that. I’d been watching her for some time. Call it morbid curiosity. There weren’t many things that caught my eye. But she had. And so, I was interested. Perhaps it was the way she often tried to disappear into a crowd. Okay, so I was sort of an expert on that, which is why I noticed when anyone else tried to do it.
This Witch, though. In class she sat hunched at her desk, doodling on her notebooks or tablets, and more often than not, daydreaming with her gaze fixed out the window rather than listening to what the professors were saying. Even when they caught her, she didn’t make excuses. Just nodded and agreed with them that no, she was not paying attention. I mean, I’d never seen anyone have the balls to just admit they’d been doing whatever it was they’d been caught doing. Must be a universal go-to, a survival instinct that made people lie or deny their culpability when confronted with our shortcomings or failures.
Not her, though. She straight up owned that shit even when those around her snickered in amusement. I admit, it annoyed me whenever I heard her apologize for it. If those stodgy old cunts wanted to be listened to, they could damn well make themselves more interesting. As interesting, perhaps, as the lovely Witch who’d caught my attention.
No, a voice whispered inside me, and I shook my head.
Once upon a time, I would have relished the idea of getting to know the pretty little female. But every day, my powers grew more volatile. I was dangerous. A threat to the fabric of multiple realms. You see, my powers were unstable and the risk of creating a trans-dimensional black hole, a literal life-sucking void that could collapse worlds, was actually pretty damn high.
If I could not master my magic, I would need to go back to my people for a binding ceremony. It was not something I looked forward to. For a descendant of Mani, that would mean cutting off my ties to the heavens, which was also the source of my life. Without them, I would perish. So, if I rescinded my responsibility, if I gave up my powers, I would be killed.
But the only thing that could stabilize them would be my soul’s own true mate. I’d given up on finding such a creature long ago. So, I could never rise to claim my title. I could never be Menon Blau, bender of the moon, ruler of the tides. And likely, I would not be around much longer. The binding ceremony did not offer a kind death. It was a long drawn out exsanguination of my very soul.
There’s still time.
That was what a foolish part of me wanted to believe. But I was only kidding myself. I couldn’t bear the rejection of another woman, having felt it so keenly once. No, I could not curse anyone to walk the night with me. Especially not a Witch whose strongest power seemed to be her ability to daydream.
Forging a bond with a Monster such as myself would be catastrophic to the fragile little butterfly. She could never survive a lifetime of night. And I was stupid for even considering the possibility.
“Sten,” a deep voice said, and I turned my head to see Draugr stalking by.
“Draugr,” I returned the greeting.
I was not used to being spoken to by most of the students at Blackthorn, but the Draugr was one of the few who knew my actual identity. Of course, lately, he’d been different, having found his fated mate in the smiling Necromancer currently holding his hand like it was a lifeline.
What. The. Fuck.
He was a killer. A bloodthirsty beast. But she was looking at him like he hung the moon, which he didn’t. That job currently belonged to my Uncle Faustus. I frowned.
“This is Serena, my mate. Serena, this is Sten,” he introduced us, and I nodded my head, bowing slightly but making no move to touch the smallish female.
You would have to be a real fucking moron to do that, and I was not. I glance quickly back toward where the little Witch had stood reading the extra credit sheet only to find she’d already left.
Damn.
“What are you doing in the corner by yourself?” Draugr asked, head canted to the side.
“Nothing,” I snapped, annoyed for no particular reason at all.
I did not want him to know about my voyeuristic habits, and I sure as fuck did not want anyone to know who I was watching. Amrin Cordoza was even more invisible than I was. The only reason Draugr knew me was because of our connection through our Nordic ancestry.
Not many Monsters at Blackthorn were descendants of either the Aesir or the Vanir, the two houses of the Viking gods. I’d given him a wide berth since our arrival, knowing what he was doomed to become. But the Draugr had defeated his fate by finding the one Witch in all the world who could sate his thirst.
“Be seeing you,” he grunted, pressing his hand to the small of his mate’s back as they walked off.
Something kindled in me as I watched them walk off together. It was a cold feeling that seized my gut.
Was it jealousy?
Perhaps. I’d never experienced it before, and it put me in a right foul mood.
I pushed off the wall, rushing out past the throng of giggling idiots I was forced to spend time with.
“Oh, if isn’t our resident Hobgoblin. How are you today, Sten?”
Gunner slapped me on the shoulder, and I had to stop myself from lashing out at the Werewolf fucker. I was really not a fan of furries. Not the normals who dressed up like animals as their kink, but furries as in the half-beast bastards who sprouted fur whenever the fancy took them.
Anyway. I was not a fan. Like, not at all. If your entire family line was constantly under the threat of a Pack of psychotic cosmic Werewolves, you might not like them either.
But few people at Blackthorn knew who I was, and this asshole certainly didn’t. My blue skin, horns, and tail tended to throw most people. Hobgoblin, though, that was a new one. Perhaps I would play into it for a while.
“Fine, Gunner. Are you just in from a good game of fetch?” I asked, head canted in mockery of his own stance.
He snarled. So stereotypical. And I snorted. The male was not worth my time.
“Better be careful, blue boy, or next time I’ll play catch with your fucking balls,” he snapped.
“Did you just say you wanted my balls in your mouth?” I asked, my grin widening. “Sorry, old boy, but you’re not my type.”
“You mother—”
“Excuse me, guys, I don’t mean to be a bother,” a small voice interrupted what was sure to be the best fight I’d been in all year, and I spun, huffing an annoyed breath till I saw her.
It really was her. My Witch. Er, wait, not mine—fucking hell.
“What?” I asked, sounding more growly than I intended.
“If you two are going to smash each other’s brains in, do you mind looking at my notes first? I asked around and apparently you have the best grades in Astronomy,” she said, and I swear, my cheeks heated in pleasure at the unexpected compliment.
“Yo fatty, do you mind? Me and Hob over here are about to throw down. But no worries, I can do a little wrestling with you after. Thick girls make cushy fucks for guys like me,” the stupid dog said.
That was it. Last straw.
I spun on my heel, faster than either Gunner or his two mates expected, and wrapping my tail around his throat, I hoisted his dumb ass right off the floor. Then, with a snarl, I squeezed until he went an incredibly pale version of blue in the face.
Honestly, I never understood why people said that expression blue in the face. My face was blue, a brilliant shade of cerulean that I got from my father. This motherfucker was turning white with red and blue veins popping out, especially around the eyes.
Whatever.
I gave him one more hard squeeze before sending him crashing into the far wall.
“Wow,” the little Witch whispered, her luminescent eyes wide as she took in what just happened.
No one else paid any attention, but that was to be expected. Fights were not unusual at Blackthorn. After all, when you put a group of powerful creatures in a limited space, most of whom had serious dominance issues, then yeah, it often happened that fisticuffs were the only resort.
“So,” I said, not even breathing heavily. “What did you want to ask me?”