Shadow Heart: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance (Cursed Legacies Book 2)

12. Maven

Advanced Combat Theory was a bore.Not a single cracked skull to be found, just a petite water elemental professor giving a long-winded lecture about her favorite defense strategies. She openly glared at me several times, which I found odd until I saw the stars in her eyes whenever her gaze lingered on Everett. Which happened to be for most of the class period.

For reasons I have yet to determine, that bothered me.

Not that I blame her for staring because everyone stares at the gorgeous ice elemental.

He ditches our quintet immediately without looking back as soon as the lunch break starts. Silas and Baelfire say nothing about it. Come to think of it, there”s been an uncharacteristic lack of barbed comments from either of them toward the ice elemental all morning.

But it”s clear that, outside of necessary training, Everett wants nothing to do with me.

I remind myself that the feeling should be mutual.

I”d hoped lunch would allow me enough time to search for the changeling. Instead, we”re given fifteen minutes to eat in the awkwardly silent dining hall under the watchful eyes of big, burly legacies. They were clearly brought here to act as the Immortal Quintet”s muscle whenever they can”t be bothered to show up. These unofficial wardens are full-fledged legacies—I even see keeper emblems on a couple of the strangers” necks or peeking out from their sleeves.

Their presence is making all students equally antsy. I notice Kenzie”s quintet at a nearby table, and they”re all glaring at the newcomers. Even Vivienne looks like she wants to use her elemental wind abilities to blast them out of this room.

Luka catches my eye and raises his eyebrows, silently asking if I”ve found anything about his missing keeper.

I hold up a finger to indicate I”ll need more time. In return, he flips me off and goes back to his blood bag.

Baelfire scowls down at the plate in front of me. ”You need to eat more than that.”

All entrees for lunch today included copious amounts of meat. I”m fine with my bread and steamed vegetables, plus whatever this wobbly green substance is. I poke it tentatively with my fork, certain it isn”t meant for consumption.

Silas”s lips twitch. ”It”s called Jell-O.”

”What is it made out of?” I ask, bewildered.

”Food coloring and happiness. Here, try some,” Bael encourages, offering me a spoonful.

”This will shock you, but I possess the mystical ability to feed myself,” I inform him.

”Come on, Mayflower. Humor me.”

Damn it, his smile is too charming. Deciding to just get this over with, I slurp the wobbly block of green off his spoon and immediately choke on it, eyes watering as I splutter and shake my head.

Ew. What the hell? They actually like this?

”That is revolting,” I decree.

Baelfire laughs at my reaction. ”Good to know. I”ll add it to our long, growing list of mortal enemies.”

Silas also seems amused for a second before his gaze skims over the room around us, and his eye twitches. Suddenly, he winces and grips the side of his head, his breathing growing erratic.

”Silas?” I tense.

He drops his forehead to roll it back and forth on the table, muttering under his breath in nonsensical fae. Bael grimaces, glancing around as he gives the blood fae a shake.

”Not a good time to lose it, Si. People will notice. Focus on Maven.”

I blink. ”Why me?”

”Because you”re his sunflower or whatever.”

It takes me a moment to piece that one together. ”Sangfluir?”

”Yeah, that.”

Silas bangs his head on the table, growling something at no one in particular. When nearby legacies glance in our direction, a surprising wave of protectiveness sweeps over me. I quickly tangle my gloved fingers in Silas”s hair and tug on the dark, wavy strands until he”s forced to look up at me. His scarlet eyes are wild as they bounce around my face without recognition.

His curse really is corroding his mind away.

”Eireach chial, thiga ais thu”ganh,” I murmur in fae.

Come back to me, handsome lunatic.

Silas”s pupils slowly dilate to normal. He stares at me, looking steadily more like himself until he reaches out to trail his fingertips over the hair beside my temple. He opens his mouth to say something, but we”re interrupted by the magical tolling of the bell that tells us the lunch break is over.

Baelfire grumbles unhappily about me not eating enough as we leave the dining hall along with dozens of other legacies on their way to combat class. The class schedule indicated they would be held outside in the training fields, so everyone is murmuring with excitement at the prospect of finally setting foot outside after being cooped up for three days.

As we wait in the large corridor to be let out into the training fields, I stare down all nearby legacies one by one. They meet my gaze with varying levels of wariness, irritation, contempt, or outright offense—but it allows me to check their pupils for any signs of the changeling.

But my staring contests end too early as Coach Gallagher steps into the hall where we all wait, scratching one of his ears as he studies the group.

”The wards locking down Everbound have been extended, so now they encompass the courtyards, training fields, and all of Everbound Forest,” he announces.

Several legacies clap or cheer.

”Yeah, yeah, don”t get too excited,” the instructor huffs. ”Doesn”t change the fact that we”re still under lockdown and can”t contact the outside world, but whatever. Today, you”ll be training with the unmatched legacies who picked combat as their individual emphasis. Your quintets will each be assigned a specific location to reach within Everbound Forest. The goal is to get to your location alive as a unit, while the unmatched legacies” goal will be to pick off every matched legacy they can. Not to mention, watch out for other quintets, and I suggest guarding your keepers at all costs. Especially the weak ones, like atypical casters.”

Coach Gallagher tosses me a meaningful look, which makes a few legacies laugh despite Baelfire”s warning growl. The loudest chuckle comes from Brooks, the buzzed-headed, green-eyed legacy who approached us during the Matched Ball. He”s standing nearby with his all-male quintet, sneering at me.

I”ve worked hard to be perceived as weak, so as far as I”m concerned, this is a win.

But then the temperature drops as Everett strolls into the corridor to join the rest of us, his hands in his peacoat pockets. He casts a cold look at the coach, who he clearly overheard.

”You were saying, Patrick?”

Coach Gallagher rubs the back of his neck uncomfortably. ”Hey, relax, Frost. It was nothing. Just giving some friendly advice about protecting your keeper.”

”That advice really isn”t yours to give, considering you let your keeper get devoured by Undead within the first week you were deployed at the Divide. So watch your fucking mouth and stick to coaching.”

Someone whistles low while the coach winces at the painful memory. Other legacies subtly shuffle away from the icy professor, who stops next to me. But right away, Silas steps in between us, issuing a crimson glare that makes Everett take another step away from me with a sigh.

Odd. Is it just because he”s still mad at Everett for telling me about their bet, or is this something else?

The coach gets over his verbal spanking and uses a fae charm to open the massive double doors leading out of the castle. As we approach the training fields closest to Everbound Forest, I see that the unmatched legacies who will be training with us are already out here—including Sierra and three guys who are all fawning over her as she flirts with them.

When she catches my eye, she glares savagely and draws a finger across her neck.

I smile back darkly and mouth, How”s the knee?

Sierra”s face turns red before she promptly turns her back on me.

There are a few dozen unmatched legacies out here stretching and eyeing everyone else suspiciously as they prepare for combat. As we come to a stop, I find that yet another legacy is glaring at me—Angry Girl. The silver streaks in her dark hair are vibrant in the cold winter daylight as she wrinkles her nose at me before stalking to the other side of the group.

Silas sees her retreat and arches a brow. ”Do you know Amelia Lykoudis?”

I look at him sharply. ”Her last name is Lykoudis?”

”Yup,” Baelfire pipes up. ”Her dad is the Northeast Pack alpha for wolf shifters. He was in a platonic quintet and had Amelia with a sorceress who died at the Divide a few years ago. So even though she”s a caster, she was raised in a pack. Pretty fucking cool, huh?”

So that”s why the name sounded familiar.

Damn it. First Luka, now this girl. I need to break this habit of killing off my peers” relatives.

Then again, Lykoudis was scum. I have no regrets about taking his heart, but I realize Amelia might not even know she”s an orphan yet. They cut off all communications with the outside world not even twenty-four hours after I killed that shifter, so it might be days before the news of his death reaches her. She”ll miss any funeral held for him.

Even though I”m the one who ended her shitty father”s life, I feel kind of bad for her.

Which is fucking weird. Why do I keep having so many feelings? I need to get a grip. I can”t afford to go soft now, not after everything I”ve been through.

Baelfire”s attention drifts to the forest with an eager expression, as if he can”t wait to get in there. ”Hey, what are the odds I can go hunt something before training starts?”

Silas shakes his head. ”Just hunt during training.”

”Most of these legacies are friends of mine, you know. I”m not looking forward to having to kill them if they decide to attack,” Bael grimaces, rubbing his temples. ”Not that my stupid fucking dragon is going to leave it up to me.”

”Your fault for bothering to make friends in the first place,” Everett drawls, appearing insanely bored as he observes the coach talk with a faculty member beside a large, locked wooden chest.

Baelfire grunts before reaching out to twist the end of my ponytail between his fingertips. ”Can”t believe I”m saying this, but you might want to tell Crypt to stop hiding in Limbo and come out to play. We could use that psychopath, for once.”

I frown, realizing I haven”t sensed his presence since Engela Zuma came to get him earlier. Now that I notice his absence, it irks me.

”He”s not here.”

All three of them frown, too.

”Damn that impulsive fucking incubus,” Silas huffs. ”He”s probably off eating daydreams.”

I don”t think that”s it. I”ve gotten used to Crypt stalking my every move, so the fact that he isn”t here right now doesn”t sit right.

But he”s the Nightmare Prince. He”ll be fine. I”m sure he”ll pop up sooner than later.

Finally, the coach turns to address everyone. ”All right, we”ve been instructed to use weapons during this training session. In an orderly fashion, each of you needs to come pick out one weapon only. These aren”t the best weapons in the world, but they”re more than enough for practice. A little overboard if you ask me, but then, I”m not about to argue with the Immortal Quintet”s requests.”

If they”re handing out weapons for combat on day one, it”s safe to say that they want to cull the weak as quickly as possible. They”re most likely expecting to find whoever killed Headmaster Hearst among the stronger, higher-ranked legacies at Everbound.

As we wait for the other excited legacies who swarm around the wooden chest, all this talk of weapons has me giving all three of my matches a serious look.

”This is the last time I”ll ask nicely. Which one of you has my dagger?”

Silas makes the same face he did the last time I asked about it. Baelfire looks away, and Everett pretends like I didn”t even speak.

”Use other weapons, or perhaps use your magic. That was more than potent enough when I felt it,” Silas hedges.

”Why the fuck are you three acting weird about this? It belongs to me.”

Baelfire gives me a pointed look, his golden eyes coaxing. ”Yeah, but…we don”t want anyone else here knowing that, right?”

Silas elbows him hard, and Everett looks heavenward like he”s asking the gods why he has to deal with two morons.

I stare at them, putting it together as they each refuse to meet my gaze. I knew something had changed when they witnessed my last episode, but now my stomach clenches as I realize why they don”t want me to have Pierce back.

Because they figured out where it”s from.

Where I”m from.

Before I can process that, the faculty member who was just speaking to the coach approaches with a cautious smile.

”I have your location assignment. Your quintet must find the ancient cemetery on the far west side of Everbound Forest. You will find a circle of light there, and when you step into it, you will be transported back here. Please stick closely to your quintet, as we anticipate losing many legacies in this exercise. The other legacies will be quite aggressive, I”m afraid. And…I regret to tell you that we ran out of weapons already.”

Silas clenches his jaw, but Everett nods. ”Thank you, Shayla.”

”O—of course, Mr. Frost.” She blushes furiously before moving on to the next group.

”Damn it,” Baelfire huffs, turning to me. ”You”re not leaving our side, understand? My dragon and I are both already pissed as hell that people will be after you. Going in unarmed?—”

”I”m always armed,” I reply coolly, brushing past him to stand with everyone else at the forest”s edge. ”So, as Kenzie would say, calm your tits.”

The coach makes his final announcement. ”I”ll be seeing a lot less of you by the end of this practice. Stay focused, prove your strength, and pray to Syntyche that she won”t be reaping your soul today. Ready, set?—”

He blows his whistle, and immediately, we all plunge into the darkness of Everbound Forest.