35. Matilda
35
MATILDA
“You need a name,” I tell the Araxi, who’s currently sprawled across my bed like he owns it. His tail flicks lazily, waiting for the next piece of raw steak that was miraculously delivered to my room a few minutes ago. Something tells me Blackthorn won’t let me forget to feed him. I hold it out, and he snatches it, demolishing it in nanoseconds. I can see why the guys are so wary of it.
He chitters in that unnerving way, and I wonder if, at some point, I will understand what he is saying.
The bond between us pulses, still new and raw but growing stronger by the minute. I can feel his emotions, which is a new and unsettling sensation. He has amusement, curiosity, and a fierce protectiveness over me.
And food.
Is food an emotion? It is now.
I chuck him another piece of steak, careful to keep my fingers away from those wicked teeth.
A knock at my door interrupts our feeding and bonding session. The Araxi’s head snaps up, his mane bristling.
“It’s okay,” I say to him. “It’s the Princes of Hell and the dark warlock from earlier.”
He settles again, which makes me smile.
“It’s open,” I call, and Vex strides in, followed by Draven and Luc. They all eye my familiar warily.
“Should this be unlocked?” Luc asks, closing the door and giving the Araxi a wide berth.
“Pretty sure if he wanted to get out, a locked door wouldn’t stop him,” I muse.
“True,” he mutters. “Did you give him a name yet? I have one if not. Fem.”
“Fem?” I scrunch up my nose.
“Flesh Eating Monster.”
“Ugh,” I snap. “He is not a monster.”
“He is, but that aside, we need to talk about this book and map of Draven’s,” Vex says.
The Araxi growls low in his throat, but I feel his interest spike through our bond. He knows something.
“We need to go on a quest,” Draven explains, keeping his distance from my bed. “In the hidden chambers beneath the library.”
“We know absolutely fuck all about this Praxian magick, but something tells me that whatever is down there can give us a clue,” Vex says. “But we need to do this carefully. Controlled.”
The Araxi stands, his claws extending, hissing slightly. I feel his displeasure at being excluded.
“He stays here,” Luc says firmly. “We don’t know what’s down there, and adding an unpredictable element?—”
“He’s not unpredictable,” I protest. “He’s my familiar.”
“Who you’ve known for all of two hours,” Draven points out gently. “Petal, we need to focus on finding these chambers. If something goes wrong down there, we can’t be worrying about controlling an Araxi on top of everything else.”
I want to argue, but I know they’re right. The Araxi turns his golden eyes to mine, and through our weird bond, I sense that he is displeased, but he will stay.
“You’re a good boy,” I murmur, patting his head. He preens like a peacock under my praise, and I feel my cheeks heat up. Like witch, like familiar. These three men have the capability to talk me into doing anything if they give me some validation. I know what that makes me, but I don’t care. I’ve lived a life of insults and abuse being hurled at me. It’s nice to have someone appreciate me.
He chirps again, headbutting my hand affectionately. We are praise whores and proud of it.
“Vex, can you ward my room against an Araxi?”
“I can,” he says. “But I don’t know how long it will last.”
“Rather you than me,” Luc mutters, still giving my pet the stink-eye.
Vex sets about warding the room and we slip out into the dark.
The library is different at night. Moonlight streams through the high windows, casting shadows between the towering shelves. Our footsteps echo on the ancient stone, and I can feel something stirring beneath them, calling to the power that now flows freely through my veins. It sparks to life, lighting up the night in rainbow colours etched with darkness.
“This way,” I murmur, letting my magick guide me, pulling me deeper into the library’s depths.
The guys follow close behind. I can sense their tension, but there is also an undercurrent of excitement and danger. This is them in their element and me, the idiot witch with zero clue how to do anything except attract crazy-arse creatures to my door.
These three included.
My mind floods with the things that Luc said earlier, and I want to address it. I want to talk to him about it and see where it goes, but right now, I’m supposed to focus on this quest, as Draven called it.
“Sprinkles?” Vex murmurs as I pause. “Have you got something?”
“Here,” I breathe, gesturing to the stone floor beneath our feet at the back of the ground floor. My power makes my fingers tingle as I peer at the floor. “It looks like something was here but has been removed.” I indicate the etching of a large circle carved into the stone floor. I can make out intricate symbols etched into the stone, symbols that shift and change when I look at them directly. “Runes?”
Vex crouches to examine the carvings. “Yes, but they aren’t any runes I’ve ever seen in practice before. This is what I’m talking about. How they predate the written word. Something was on top of here to cover it up, and when it was removed?—”
“That’s when the thing down there woke up?” I cut in rudely.
“I would say that is a resounding yes.”
“Do you think Blackthorn knows?”
“He knows everything.” Vex looks up at me with a raised eyebrow.
“So it was deliberate?”
“As much as putting you into Advanced Dark Magick was.”
“Why?” I whisper. “Surely this thing was better off asleep?”
“But were you?”
The three words bring ice to my veins. Asleep. Is that what I’ve been all these years?
“But how did he know I would even come here?”
Vex shrugs, which just adds another layer to this mystery.
Luc keeps his distance, arms crossed. “Anyone else feel a breeze?”
“No,” I murmur, glancing at him. “Where from?”
He holds his hand out at the edge of the circle. “Here.”
“Is it hot or cold?” Vex asks, straightening up and crossing over to him.
“Cold. Colder than Draven’s blood.”
I blink. That doesn’t sound good. For us or for Draven.
I gasp when my power beats in time with my breath, which is visible in the air now as the temperature suddenly plummets. The symbols flicker in response.
“Was that you?” Luc mutters.
“Nope,” Draven mutters back.
“It knows I’m here,” I whisper. “It’s been waiting.”
“For what?” Luc asks, but I think we all know the answer.
For me. For us. For whatever comes next.