Chapter 26 Maverick
Maverick
Since we’d been back, things had changed. Additional security measures were in place in the wake of the demon attacks at the solstice ball. Students couldn’t leave their dorms after eight p.m., Montgomery had canceled all planned social events, and mage security teams patrolled the outer perimeter.
The wolves were deeply unhappy about not being able to run under a full moon, but the headmaster refused to budge. He'd told the faculty he was acting on orders from Tiberius Vane.
Orders that curtailed all magicals’ freedom.
Not just here on campus, but in the wider world.
Cities and rural communities alike were under lockdown, which disproportionately affected the poorer magicals who worked in the service industry or did manual jobs.
Like my family back in the Diamond Peaks.
Vane said lockdowns protected the shifter population from demon attacks and helped to prevent the spread of the feral shifter disease, but anyone with half a brain knew otherwise.
Locking us down was Vane’s way of controlling us. Most shifters, like my family who ran a lumberyard in the Peaks, did manual jobs. If we couldn’t trade, we lost money.
Economic control was just another insidious tool in Vane’s arsenal.
I reached a fork in the path across campus and automatically turned toward the forest trail, back to my old cabin, before remembering I no longer lived there.
Raven’s magical outburst against the mage had caused too much damage. I could have paid an earth witch to fix it, but in truth, the cabin wasn’t large enough for us all.
It was why I’d gone to Montgomery and demanded new housing for my pack.
Two wolf shifters passed me as I headed toward the vampire dorms. They sneered, but the minute I stopped and growled a warning, the pair shot off with their tails between their legs.
Fucking wolves. I should have exerted my alpha dominance over them. Making wolves piss themselves never lost its allure.
I trudged along, lost in thought, until I reached the abandoned—until now—vampire dorm. The building itself was sound, as the academy had kept up with essential maintenance over the last two decades, but inside was a different matter.
The smell of damp hit me the minute I entered. Damp and other far less pleasant smells.
Wolves had used the building as a hangout for parties and hookups during bad weather. It should have been warded against intruders, but the headmaster had let the protective wards lapse.
Still, despite the building’s serious shortcomings, it was private, and more importantly, the basement had a blackout room with a secure lock where Rasmus could sleep in peace when the rest of us were not around.
My mate’s emotions trickled down the bond as I walked through the living room to the small room I’d designated as a kitchen, despite the lack of appliances.
She seemed on edge, anxious, which worried me.
But I knew from her timetable she was in Dunton’s class, so she’d be safe.
Besides, the incubus was stalking her as per usual, so if trouble found her, he’d let me know.
The increase in anti-mixed mate bond sentiment worried me. Raven had endured a lot of nasty comments before the solstice ball, and back then I’d been her only mate. Now that the news of her merman and incubus mates had gone public, the abuse online and in person had exploded.
Witches and mages had a lot to say about my witch’s goddess-blessed mates. The wolf shifters too.
Polly Windborne had told me about the incident with the Thorn witch in the cafeteria.
She’d given the female a week’s detention and added a note to her permanent record, but regretfully, that was the most she could do.
The Thorn family had too many political connections for Montgomery to risk upsetting Demelza’s father.
Polly had promised to keep a close eye on the nasty little Thorn witch, but my bear had decided if she pulled any more vicious stunts, he’d tear her head off and bury the body somewhere no fucker would find it.
The vampire prince sat at the small, scarred table in the kitchen, sipping on a glass of blood. The glamor he wore jarred my brain every time I looked at him. I struggled with the dissonance between what I saw and what I knew.
Inhaling sharply, I grimaced at the smell of blood. Or rather, fake blood. It had the same coppery scent as regular blood but a nasty undertone. Very unappealing. I hated to think what it tasted like but didn’t care enough to ask.
He was damned lucky I’d tracked down a synthetic blood source so he didn’t have to rely on my mate all the time.
The mages had invented a type of synthetic blood once the vampires had disappeared; an irony that hadn’t escaped me.
Vane claimed product testing hadn’t finished in time to save the vampires, but Boon told me the records said otherwise.
But no matter, there was a vast supply of synthetic blood sitting in cold storage, so it made sense to use it.
Boon had hooked me up with a contact in the lab, a mountain lion shifter. Although I’d told the shifter my mate was researching plants that drank blood, just in case anyone checked, the male’s only concern was how much he’d get paid.
“The taste leaves much to be desired,” the vampire grumbled as he drained the glass.
I shrugged. “My mate’s health is my priority now that she might be carrying my cubs.”
“Cubs?” The vampire cocked an eyebrow. I turned away and focused on the coffee machine I’d paid a fortune to have delivered overnight.
“Cubs, yes. Twins are common.”
“And what if her child is an incubus or a mer baby?” I noted he didn’t suggest she might give birth to a vampire baby, probably because natural-born vampires had always been incredibly rare.
“Unlikely.” I pressed the button for an espresso and waited for the machine to finish spitting out my coffee. I had an hour before I needed to be at the gym, and after spending all night cleaning up this shithole, caffeine was the only thing keeping me going.
A sharp jolt of pure fear down the mate bond sent my bear into a rage spiral. I gripped the counter with both hands as the coffee machine beeped and my espresso steamed gently in the cold air.
“Something wrong?” The vampire was surprisingly observant at times.
I tried reaching out to Raven in my head, but all I got in return was more fear. Something had frightened her. Badly.
She should still be in Dunton’s class, with at least thirty minutes remaining. Was that old bastard harassing her? Like most of the mages on campus, he firmly believed lesser magicals were beneath him, so a witch bonded to an incubus, a shifter, and a merman went against everything he believed in.
“Our mate’s having some sort of panic attack,” I gritted out while fighting against my bear’s desire to shift. He wanted me to go to her class and kill everyone who’d upset her.
“I’ll go.” The vampire cocked his head, presumably listening down his own bond with our mate, but I shook my head.
“No, it’s too dangerous. People will ask questions if they see you.”
“I’m part of the team here to work on the refurbishment of this place.” His lip curled as he glanced over the shabby decor and ancient cabinets.
This was our cover story. My uncle and his crew were due to arrive tomorrow, so Rasmus would pretend he’d come with them. Once they left he’d use a different glamor, and we’d create a new cover story. It was a tedious process, but necessary to avoid attracting suspicion.
Montgomery had not been happy when I complained about the state of the only suitable accommodation he had for us, so when I suggested my uncle’s construction company would take care of the issues for free, he readily agreed.
That way he didn’t need to go cap in hand to the Supernatural Council for funds to cover the cost of his neglect.
I strongly suspected the asshole had misappropriated the funds allocated to maintaining the building’s interior over the years, but I stopped short of saying so.
Before I could come up with more reasons a vampire roaming around campus, glamor notwithstanding, was a bad idea, he disappeared in a blur of inhuman speed. My jaw snapped shut in irritation at the way he’d ignored me. Fucking vampire.
It was time the other males in our bonded group realized I was the alpha, not them, and as such, they better start listening to me.
It was bad enough that the fucking incubus took no notice. Speaking of…
Why wasn’t he watching our mate?