Chapter 11 Raven
Raven
For a shy witch with trust issues, Glynda sure loved to gossip. She was also a reliable source of knowledge about all our fellow magicals at school.
I thanked the goddess most days that my friend loved to spill the tea, but not when I was the subject. I wasn’t entirely comfortable sharing intimate details of my bonds with my mates. It seemed wrong somehow.
Glynda had followed me to the bathroom on the pretext of washing her hands, but we both knew it was to ask questions. Probing questions.
“Has the vampire taken your blood yet, and was it as sexy as the books say it is?” She leaned in, desperate for all the facts as I peered at my reflection and prayed for deliverance from my bestie’s inquisition.
“Yes, and yes.” I brushed some hair away from my eyes and frowned when I realized I now had more white streaks. Was this because I’d bonded with Rasmus? Stars above, I needed to perfect my beauty magic before I turned into an old crone with white hair.
Like the sea witch.
Ugh.
The tether to Kai burned in my chest as my thoughts drifted back to my missing mate, but when I reached out, I could barely sense him. At least it no longer felt like the tether was being throttled, but Kai was still in grave danger.
The sea witch had seen me. Was that how she’d cursed me with dark magic? I didn’t know how curses worked, exactly, but if she’d seen me while I dream walked, it made sense that her magic could have affected me somehow.
“Do you need iron supplements?” Glynda’s abrupt change of topic took me by surprise.
“Um, I don’t know?”
“We grow some herbs in the greenhouses that are good for blood regeneration. I’ll harvest some tomorrow and make you a blood tea.” Oh, she was asking because I was now a blood source to a vampire.
“Hmm, that sounds gross but thank you.”
“Come down, pet,” Zane called through the bathroom door. “Farris the fae is here.”
Glynda’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline. “Oh my goddess, a fae is here, on campus?”
I nodded. How Zane had summoned Farris was a mystery, but since he’d been in the club a few days ago, I supposed he hadn’t had to travel far.
I tidied my hair and quickly brushed my teeth before heading back downstairs, where a stand-off was in progress.
The fae stood smirking at Zane, who’d summoned a machete inscribed with glowing runes from his pocket realm, as he called it. He hadn’t explained how it worked, but I figured it was a bit like a storage lockup.
My gaze snagged on the fae’s pointy ears and long, silver hair. He really was attractive in a creepy way. Tall too. Taller even than Maverick.
Glynda gasped as she locked eyes with the fae. His bright green eyes glowed brightly for a few seconds while she flushed bright red.
“Who’s the weak witch?” he asked; the question directed at me, not Glynda. I bristled with indignation on her behalf. What a pompous asshole.
“My amazing best friend. Off-limits to you, in case you were wondering.”
Farris smiled, revealing way too many teeth for my liking. His sharp, white incisors reminded me of Rasmus.
“Loyalty is an admirable trait, Zane’s mate. But no need to worry. Witches don’t interest me.” Glynda blushed even harder and sank in on herself, making me hate the fae twice as much.
If I didn’t need his help to rescue Kai, I would call Kenji and persuade him to share power so I could turn the fae into a pile of ash. It had worked on the demon, so I figured it would be equally effective on a stupid fae.
The Autumn Court probably wouldn’t miss him. I bet they all hated the prick.
“Don’t worry, she’s not into you either because walking red flags aren’t her type.”
Farris frowned. “Red flags? I see no red flags.”
Maverick pinched his nose and sighed like the weight of the world pressed on his broad shoulders.
“She means you’re an obnoxious asshole,” Zane explained with a smirk.
“Oh, in that case, I’ll take my leave. Silly me, I was told you needed my help. Clearly not.” He straightened his colorful coat made from a weird fabric that glittered in the light and turned toward the door.
“No!” I blurted, realizing I needed to be nice to the asshole fae or he wouldn’t help us. “I’m sorry!”
“If you’re truly sorry…” Farris cocked his head to one side, as if thinking. “Perhaps we can make a deal.”
Zane’s warning about doing deals with the fae echoed in my head. A reminder that fae deals rarely benefited anyone but fae. Ugh. I was so fucked.
“Raven, you are not making a deal with the fae!” Adam threw a furious look in Farris’s direction.
“Fae bargains are perfectly safe. Nobody will die.”
“No, but Raven might end up stuck with a deal that hurts her!”
“Then she needs to make sure she reads the small print.” Farris smirked. “The devil is in the detail.”
Rasmus and Zane whispered to each other while Adam did his best to deter me from negotiating with the fae, but what choice did I have?
Maverick said nothing, but I could tell from the way his eyes glowed and fur sprouted on his hands that he wasn’t pleased with the situation.
“You need to make sure you think everything through before you seal the deal,” Glynda told me while refusing to look at Farris. “The wording of a fae contract must be precise. If you make it too vague, you’re screwed.”
I thought about what we needed: access to the mer kingdom, specifically to rescue Kai.
My mates did their best to deter me, but I was a strong and determined witch. My merman needed me.
“I want you to get me and my mates into the mer kingdom so we can rescue Kai.” That was unambiguous, right? I failed to see how he could wriggle out of that request. “You can do it, yes?”
“So, to clarify,” he said after a beat, “you are asking for my help to use the fae portal into the mer kingdom, where you plan to rescue your merman mate?”
“Yes.”
“Tell her what you want in return,” Adam snapped, still deeply unhappy about this turn of events. I prayed nothing happened to Willow and the other witches while he was here with me, or I’d never forgive myself.
“In return…” Farris hummed as he pretended to think long and hard about what he wanted from me. “A favor to be granted at a future time not yet determined.”
I frowned. “A favor? That’s very open ended.”
Farris shrugged. “It’s a seller’s market, little witch. I’d venture you need my help more than I need yours. I can leave if you’d prefer?” What an asshole. The bastard had me, and he knew it.
“We can figure this out, little mate,” Maverick said. “You don’t need to grant the fae anything.” But as much as I wanted to believe my bear, he was wrong. There was no way into the mer kingdom without using the fae portal. Farris had me over a barrel.
“Okay, fine. I agree to your terms.”
Zane grumbled and glared at Farris while juggling his knife. Rasmus said nothing, but I took some comfort in his silence. The vampires would have dealt with the fae over the centuries, so if he hadn’t spoken up, he must have thought this deal was okay.
“Then we have a deal, witch.” Farris produced a scroll and a pen. One quick signature and we were done.
I’d made a deal with a fae, and from the sinking feeling in my gut, I had a strong suspicion I’d regret it sooner rather than later.
“Classes begin again in three days, so you must be back before then!”
Glynda wrung her hands nervously as the guys made plans to leave with Farris. The asshole fae was lounging on Maverick’s small sofa while watching a video on his phone.
“If you’re not back, the headmaster will start asking questions. I read earlier that Tiberius Vane is pushing for curfews since demon and feral shifter attacks have increased.”
“Have they, though? Or have people just become more aware of them?”
Glynda frowned. “Huh. You make a good point.”
“I’m not sure that a curfew will make much of a difference. Being inside won’t stop a demon from attacking.” The ones that showed up at the solstice ball could easily have busted down doors and broken windows.
“True. Plus, such measures disproportionately impact the lesser magicals, who are more likely to work in lower-paid jobs at night.”
I wondered how much Alaric knew about his father’s plans. From what little he’d said, he didn’t appear to share his father’s elitist views. But since he’d disappeared earlier, I couldn’t quiz him on the subject.
After some more dire warnings about what might happen if I missed my first classes, Glynda left. She ignored Farris as she passed through the living room, and he pretended to ignore her, but I wasn’t buying his nonchalance.
The fae might act like he thought my witchy friend was beneath him, but the way he watched her suggested something about her interested him.
I hoped for her sake his interest waned because the fae was an asshole who didn’t deserve a sweet witch like Glynda, and if he made a move on her, I’d blast him into the demon realm.
“Time to go, pet!” Zane called. He spotted me at the top of the stairs and dashed up. “You ready for your trip to the mer kingdom?”
“No?” Drowning wasn’t fun. I’d tried it already. “What if we’re too late?” My lip wobbled as a wave of emotion hit me hard. The tether was still intact, but every second wasted could mean the end for Kai.
“Don’t be sad, pet. Fish boy is fine.” Tears leaked down my cheeks and I quickly brushed them away.
“You don’t know that.”
“I do. If the bond had broken, I’d have felt it snap. We all would. As your mates, we’re linked to each other as well as you, just not in the same way.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. So when you get your freak on with one of them, we all feel it.” He smirked. “Speaking of… I need to be there the next time you get naked with the bloodsucker.”
“Don’t call him that; it’s offensive.” I glared at him. Silly nicknames were amusing when aimed at Alaric, but calling Rasmus a bloodsucker wasn’t nice.
“Fiiine. How about fangs?” I rolled my eyes. “Dracula?”
Ignoring him, I pulled my coat on. Something told me it would be cold at the bottom of the ocean, and given we weren’t exactly on the mer queen’s VIP guest list, I doubted she’d care if we all froze to death in her home.
Zane blinked me downstairs to where the others were waiting. Adam had left after making me promise I’d call him the minute I got back. I looked around for Kenji, but he was missing.
“Where are you?”
“Here.” He blinked into view with a mouth full of ham. “Needed to eat before we left. Fish gives me IBS.”
“Seriously? You eat literally everything.”
“Apart from fish, which, as a caring witch mommy, you should have spotted.” Goddess, he was such a drama queen. “I fear for your future offspring.”
We walked through the forest until we’d crossed the academy’s wards.
“Hold on to each other,” Farris instructed. “I’d hate to lose anyone in the portal.”
“Pity Sparky isn’t here. Nobody would care if you lost him,” Zane piped up.
Farris flicked his wrist, and a shimmering portal opened up on our left. This would transport us into the Fae Realm, and from there we could connect to the mer kingdom.
I’d been super excited about seeing the fae realm, but Rasmus had told me I’d see nothing but a boring room manned by fae guards. Like the human world, the fae realm had a strict immigration policy. Nobody could leave the portal hub without having their credentials checked.
Farris was the only thing standing between me and fae prison.
Did I trust the fae bastard?
Not in the slightest, but he was my key to saving Kai, so I was willing to overlook his many personality disorders.
My three mates sandwiched me and Kenji between them, and in a blast of stardust, we left my bear’s cabin behind.