Chapter 28 Raven
Raven
Astorm raged outside for the third time this week. Was Alaric throwing a tantrum again? Or had a naturally occurring storm hit campus for once?
I’d not seen the storm mage since I scorched his pants in the cafeteria, but the tether in my chest nagged every so often, reminding me he was still around.
Like I could forget him.
If only.
Kenji snorted as he snoozed on a cushion by the window. The vampire dorm was way less comfortable than Maverick’s old cabin, but I’d done my best to make it feel homey.
Maverick had given me the log-in for his Magizon account, and I’d spent a happy afternoon buying cushions, throws, scented candles, and more.
The scented candles helped mask the musty smell of many years’ worth of damp. They weren’t as good as the ones Tally used to make but were better than nothing.
Maybe I could steal some of her candles when I went back to the farm.
I debated calling Adam to ask as I made notes for my assignment.
After a lot of procrastinating, I’d finally used Maverick’s phone to call him.
He’d listened to my very brief account of our trip to the mer kingdom and then made me promise to visit as soon as lockdown lifted.
Maverick’s uncle and his construction crew had spent the last two days fixing the roof on the dorm—the Shifter Council had given them permission to travel despite the current restrictions preventing shifters from leaving their home territories.
The crew were all bear shifters like my mate. Big, brawny males with muscles for days.
We’d all noticed an increase in females walking past the dorm building during the daylight hours. The female wolves were shameless. Despite the cold weather, they routinely showed up in tiny shorts and vest tops to ogle the bears as they erected scaffolding and carried lumber up ladders.
After two days of watching female wolves flirt and get naked every five minutes, Maverick had threatened them all with detention for the rest of the year.
I didn’t much care about the ogling—the bears were all single and seemed happy to show off for the females—but we didn’t want any of the wolves or witches to spy on us. Once the bears left for the night to camp in the forest, they could do whatever the hell they liked.
My pencil snapped in half as I thought about Demelza. The shit she’d said in Dunton’s class still bothered me. Maverick and Zane both reassured me she knew nothing and was only interested in riling me up, but I was unconvinced.
Demelza was sneaky, malicious, and very motivated in her determination to fuck me over. I had no clue why she hated me so much, but apparently she did.
“She hates you because you have a kick-ass familiar and five powerful mates,” Kenji said with a yawn.
“So she’s jealous?”
“Yes. She craves power, and right now she has very little other than her family’s connection to the Mage Council leadership.”
“But she’s a powerful witch compared to most witches on campus.”
“She’s mediocre at best.”
“How do you know this?”
“I know lots of things.”
I huffed with annoyance and returned to my textbook when he said nothing else. Dunton expected a synopsis of the topic we planned to write about for our vampire paper before Monday, so I’d picked up some textbooks from the library and was busy researching.
I could have asked Rasmus, but that felt like cheating.
Still, I kind of regretted my ethical stance when I saw how much material there was.
The vampires had a long and bloody history, it seemed, with the first mention of blood vampyres recorded in an early account written by one of the original witch covens.
Sadly, that account was mostly a hysterical description of how a poor, innocent witch had her throat ripped out by a blood-sucking monster. Knowing what I did about some of the original covens, I suspected the witch in question may have deserved her fate.
“She did, my queen,” Rasmus confirmed when he glided into the room with a cup of synthetic blood.
“Wouldn’t you rather feed from me?” He hadn’t touched me since we returned from the mer kingdom, and I’d begun to wonder whether he’d gone off me. Had being cursed by the sea witch tainted my blood or something?
Rasmus put his cup down and moved behind my chair. His coppery scent washed over me as he leaned in and pressed his nose to the curve of my neck where a thick vein throbbed.
“Of course, my sweet, but until we know whether you are with child, I’ll abstain.”
My heart jolted in my chest, and the amulet resting between my breasts warmed as my magic sparked in my veins. Stars, I hoped not. Being pregnant was not on my to-do list.
“You’re not,” Kenji grumbled from his pile of blankets. “I’d know if you were.”
“And you didn’t think to tell me this earlier?”
“You didn’t ask me.”
“Oh my goddess, Kenji! I’ve had nightmares all week about birthing a feral bear cub!” No lie. I’d woken up screaming this morning, thoroughly traumatized after dreaming my bear cub demon baby chomped me from the inside out. RIP vagina.
“So dramatic.” I silently fumed as my familiar stretched, yawned, and then vanished.
“Kenji says I’m not pregnant,” I mumbled.
“He does?” Razor-sharp fangs scraped my neck, triggering a full-body shiver. “How disappointing.”
“Wait…what?” That wasn’t the response I expected. I thought he’d be delighted not to have a baby on the way. Goddess, what if the baby could teleport? It would be a complete nightmare trying to corral a baby that vanished every time it had a tantrum.
“I am possibly the last of my kind,” he said, lifting me from the hard wooden chair and carrying me over to the lumpy sofa in front of the fireplace. “I would like a child to continue my bloodline.”
“But I thought vampires rarely sired offspring?” At least according to the minimal amount I’d read this afternoon.
“This is true, but the idea of you pregnant with my child pleases me, my queen.” He gazed up at me with hooded eyes as he parted my legs. His hair had grown thicker since we arrived back on campus, and although he’d tied it back with a leather thong, some strands escaped.
I gulped at the idea of carrying a vampire baby. It was even more horrifying than giving birth to a ravenous bear cub with sharp teeth. Would a vampire baby drink my blood while in the womb?
“A tiny amount, darling. Just enough to sustain them until the birth. Thereafter, our baby would require blood feeds just like I do, but now that we have a synthetic blood supply, you could bottle feed him or her like a regular baby.”
Somehow, that was worse. What would people say when they saw me feeding a sweet little baby a bottle of viscous red liquid? Goddess save me, I’d have to pretend it was cherry-flavored milk or something equally vile.
Magical Child Protective Services would take my poor baby from me and place it in a group home.
And then the baby would massacre all the other kids and be staked at dawn.
I burst into tears as my emotions spiraled into pure chaos. Thank the stars Kenji had gone, or he would be mocking me something wicked right now.
“I am mocking you, witch. Your imagination is even more out of control than your magic.”
“Don’t worry, my queen. If we have a vampire baby, I will take care of him or her.” Rasmus kissed first one inner thigh and then the other before he inhaled sharply.
“The kitsune is correct. You are not pregnant.”
Relief crashed over me, and I instantly relaxed. Then I stiffened all over again.
“How do you know?”
“Because you are bleeding, my precious queen.” I recoiled in horror. Oh my goddess, no wonder my emotions were all over the place. I’d lost track of my menstrual cycle, even though Glynda had downloaded an app onto my phone that was supposed to manage it for me.
Since my phone had vanished and now the battery was dead, the app had proved useless.
“Please, I need to go and, um, clean up!” This sofa was already grim, but a bloodstain would not improve it.
“No need, darling.” My vampire mate winked and pulled me closer. “Let me taste you,” he purred.