Chapter 22 Raven
Raven
The early morning sun broke through a small crack in the drapes. I lay in Maverick’s bed, my arms wrapped tightly around Kai. He’d woken up long enough to take a quick shower when we arrived back late last night before collapsing into bed.
Maverick had offered to stay with him; he was worried about the lingering after-effects from the sea witch’s magic, even though Farris assured me her death would have eliminated her spells, but I refused to leave my merman. I couldn’t. Not after everything he’d endured.
Rasmus had claimed the spot behind me, much to Zane’s disgust. While Maverick had seemed resigned to sleeping on the sofa, my vampire and my incubus had argued over who got to sleep with me.
Their squabble surprised me. Rasmus had been very chill so far, usually finding Zane’s antics amusing rather than annoying. I guessed that failing to kill the sea witch had angered him.
All my mates seemed to think they’d failed me, which was ridiculous.
“The male ego is very sensitive,” Kenji piped up. “Not mine, obviously, because I am a superior male, but your males need to work on themselves.” He paused. “Especially the mage.”
“The mage can go fuck himself.” I had more warm and fuzzy feelings for the fae than I did for Alaric.
Farris had redeemed himself last night. Before the queen’s guards could arrest us for treason, he had a quiet word in her ear, and miraculously, her demeanor instantly changed.
It wasn’t until we fell out of the fae portal outside the academy gates that he explained he had a kinky sex tape starring the queen. He’d warned her that unless she let us all leave, he would release it on social media.
How I’d laughed.
Fucking fae. Helping me kill the sea witch had been too much trouble, but blackmailing the mer queen he could do?
Still, I took pleasure in the fact that I’d likely not see him again. Not until he wanted to call in his two favors anyway. Which would hopefully be many, many years in the future.
A witch could dream.
My stomach gurgled loudly, waking Rasmus. Since I couldn’t hear my bear, he must still be asleep. Zane too.
“Let me make you some breakfast, mea amica. You need to eat more.”
“You need to eat too,” I pointed out before blushing hard. Feeding from me inevitably led to sex. Goddess, save me. Now was not the time to think about sex!
He chuckled. “I can wait, my sweet.”
The door closed behind him, leaving me with Kai. I heard faint voices downstairs and the scent of coffee drifted into the room. My stomach growled again, but although I was hungry, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Kai alone.
My merman stirred in my arms. Was he waking?
I watched as his eyes opened. They widened when they landed on me, busy staring at him like a creeper.
“Raven?” The bond in my chest purred with pleasure, happy my merman was finally awake. I couldn’t hear his thoughts, but I could feel his confusion down the bond. Had he forgotten our journey back from the mer kingdom?
Stars above, I hoped the mer queen had a hangover this morning. If anyone deserved the realm’s worst headache, it was her.
“How are you feeling?” It occurred to me that Kai might not want to be touched after his ordeal, so I eased back.
“I…I…think I’m okay?” He scrubbed his chin. Whereas Maverick would have had a full beard after days of not shaving, my merman’s face remained hairless. It had to be a merman trait, as none of the males I’d seen in the mer city had had beards.
“No pain?” Adam had left some potions for us in case Kai needed pain relief.
“No, I feel well.” He shifted uncomfortably under my scrutiny. The intimacy we’d found before he left was no longer there, and I wondered with dismay whether our relationship would recover.
It had taken ages to build a bond with my merman, and thanks to his interfering mother, we’d nearly lost each other forever.
“I remember very little about what happened, but thank you for rescuing me,” he said politely, still not looking at me.
“Anytime!” I pasted a smile on my face and picked at my thick cotton pants while trying not to notice that Kai wore nothing but some borrowed boxers.
He’d lost weight, but his thinner frame did nothing to detract from his ethereal beauty.
“I’m sorry about causing a rift with your mother.” A complete and utter lie. If I never saw her again, it would be too soon.
“She’s not my mother now,” Kai said. Oh…he must remember more than I thought. “I doubt she’ll let me go home again, not after I’ve humiliated her.”
Stars, Kai seemed sad instead of homicidal, like he somehow deserved what had happened.
“You didn’t do a stars-damned thing! She was the one who set the sea witch on you, and she was willing to let that hag torture you and try to kill me too.”
“What?” Kai sat up, abs rippling, and gripped my shoulders. “My mother tried to kill you?” The tether in my chest flared to life as a rush of anger surged between us. Mostly from him, but I still felt pretty pissed about it as well.
“Not directly,” I admitted, “but the sea witch cursed me when I dream-walked into your cave. Luckily, my guardian, Adam, removed the curse. It was touch and go for a while, I think.” I chewed my lip, remembering the agonizing pain I’d suffered.
Which reminded me…
If not for Alaric’s help, I likely would have died. Maverick had admitted he and Zane had stolen some key ingredients from the Vane mansion.
It surprised me that the storm mage had not come to check on me since we got back yesterday. He must have known we were back on campus. I could feel him nearby, via the incomplete tether between us, so he would also sense me.
I pushed thoughts of Alaric down. He’d evidently decided he didn’t want me in his life, so there was little point in obsessing over him.
“I’m so sorry, Raven.” Tears sparkled in Kai’s pretty eyes before trickling down his pale teal cheeks. “This is all my fault. I should never have completed the bond. I should have stayed away from you.” He pushed the covers back and tried to crawl away, but I grabbed his wrist.
“This is not your fault! The only person to blame for what’s happened is your mother.
And in case you were wondering, she and I will not be friends.
Ever. And when we have babies, she won’t be allowed near them.
” I didn’t actually mean to say the last bit, but babies were also on my mind because, well, my horny mates may have impregnated me.
“Babies?” Kai’s eyes widened, and he looked like he might want to leave the room in a hurry. “Did I…are you…?”
Oh my goddess, he thought he’d knocked me up, as the humans were fond of saying.
“NO! At least I hope not,” I blurted, eager to reassure him he wasn’t a deadbeat dad for abandoning his pregnant mate. Stars, if Kai got me pregnant, would we have a baby fish? I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of having a water birth. Not when swimming was a skill I had yet to master.
Mommy drowning while birthing a fish wasn’t how my kid needed to start their journey in life. Imagine the trauma of growing up knowing your mother drowned while giving birth to you!
“Do mer people give birth to fish?”
Kai’s mouth opened and then closed, like he couldn’t quite believe I’d said such a dumb thing. Honestly, I really needed to keep my inane musings to myself.
He coughed and then choked back a laugh. “No, Raven. We give birth to babies, but those babies can shift from birth, so many mermaids choose to have their young in special pools, where they are safe from predators.”
“Oh. Well, that sounds amazing…” My voice trailed off. So not amazing. Nope. Please, fate, let me not be pregnant.
“You need to eat something,” I told him, pulling my big witch pants on and deciding a change of topic was in order.
He shook his head. “I need to swim first. It’s been too long.”
“Oh, of course you do.” There had been a pool in the prison cave, but I doubted Kai had used it. “I’ll come with you.”
He touched my hand briefly. “It’s fine. I can manage.”
“No, I insist!”
Food could wait. I couldn’t bear the thought of letting my merman leave Maverick’s cabin on his own. He hadn’t recovered from his ordeal.
He might collapse outside!
Or be attacked by a wolf shifter!
“Come on, let’s ask Zane to teleport us to the pool. It’ll be easier than trudging through the snow.”
Zane jumped up from the sofa and pulled me into his arms the minute I came downstairs. Maverick still hadn’t returned, which was a concern, but Rasmus had made some eggs and toast for me.
“I’ll eat when I get back,” I told Rasmus, feeling a touch guilty that he’d gone to the trouble of making me breakfast when I planned to leave immediately. “Can you take us to the pool?” I asked my incubus. “Kai needs to swim.”
Kai stood awkwardly by the door, refusing to look at anyone. He’d pulled on some shorts but wore nothing else. If I looked closely, I could see every one of his ribs.
“Am I your Uber now, pet?” Zane’s smirk said my request didn’t bother him, but Kai flushed with embarrassment.
“It’s fine. I can walk.”
“No, you need to take it easy.” Kai jerked back, surprised by my sharp tone, but didn’t argue.
“Ooh, I like this bossy side of you, my pet. We should explore it further later.”
I squinted at Zane, confused about where this was going. “Explore it?”
“He means he wants you to tie him up and shit,” Kenji explained with a yawn from his spot by Rasmus’s feet. My vampire reached down and fed him a slice of cooked bacon.
“Oh my goddess.” I flushed bright red.
“Trust me, I’ll enjoy it,” Zane purred in my ear. Then he swatted my ass and pushed me toward Kai. “Hold on!”
I shut my eyes as the world lurched away.