Chapter Thirty-Six
Bechora
After another evening of fruitless searching through the books the librarian had found, I returned to my dorm with Shadrie.
Part of me wanted to tell her what happened with Gabriel after combat class, but for some reason, the words wouldn’t come.
Instead, I said goodnight and made my way to my room.
The days became routine as they slipped into weeks that slipped into months.
The pull I felt toward the four males who weren’t my mates only seemed to grow stronger and more insistent as time went by.
I did my best to ignore it, going through the motions of attending class, completing assignments, dodging the snide remarks of Daena and her crew of mean girls, and working with my friends to find answers about my abilities.
There was something odd in the behavior of those same four males.
I’d spotted the scowling dragon professor a few times around campus, but he seemed to avoid me, not even bothering to resume our sessions.
For his part, Gabriel had initially left me to my assigned sparring partners before slowly demanding their spot the way he’d done with Kiri.
He seemed intent on giving me emotional whiplash with the way he so easily alternated between cruelty and kindness.
Dante continued to ignore me or encourage Daena’s taunts, only to corner me in private with innuendo-laced words.
Vallynn’s behavior was the strangest of them all.
He generally seemed content to pretend I didn’t exist, but I’d noticed him watching me when he thought I wasn’t looking.
On more than one occasion, he’d moved toward me, his body taut with intent, only to catch himself before he stalked away.
I didn’t know what to make of any of their strange behavior, but it soon became clear it hadn’t gone unnoticed by the pack of rabid mean girls.
I should have trusted the prickle on the back of my neck when I left the library to head to my next class, but exhaustion had dulled my instincts.
I moved onto the empty path between buildings, too focused on making it to class on time to notice the faint shimmer that clung in the air like a spider web.
“Going somewhere, trash?” Daena’s syrupy voice cut through the silence.
I froze mid-step. She and her flock of harpies — as Shadrie referred to them — fanned out across the entrance to the walking path.
Glancing over my shoulder, I noted the fae females were blocking both ends, effectively cutting off my escape.
The smirk curling Daena's lips told me she’d been waiting, silently gathering intel on my routine, all for this moment.
“I’m not in the mood, Daena,” I snapped, trying to edge past her most loyal sycophant, Maera.
“Oh?” She smiled, tilting her head slightly.
“Things not going well for you with the demon you conned into taking you as a mate? I’d say that’s a shame, but we’ve all seen how you lust after the powerful males in this school — following them around panting and begging for any scrap of their attention. ”
Daena snapped her fingers, and two females emerged from thin air.
I recognized one of them as the succubus I’d collided with on my way to the first group meeting in Vallynn’s dorm.
Zypher hadn’t responded very well to her insinuation that I’d used magic to trick him.
She’d seemed contrite in the moment, but the look on her face now was anything but.
I was staring into the face of a female out for blood — mine, specifically.
The air thrummed with unnatural weight, and I reached for my magic.
It skittered away like water off oiled glass, causing panic to claw at my chest.
Daena’s smirk widened as if she could taste my fear.
“Feel that? I paid quite a bit for this. This little pathway belongs to me now. No one will hear you. No one will save you. And best of all, your pathetic little magic tricks are useless.” She snapped her fingers, and the air pulsed with an ominous shimmer.
Cruel laughter ripped through her friends as they moved to circle me. Their eyes shone with anticipation, a frantic sort of energy building around them and threatening to suffocate me as they moved closer. Daena nodded at the demon female I didn’t recognize.
“Just the bond with Zypher,” Daena instructed. “Leave the thrall bond alone so Gabriel can enjoy her suffering. Who knows, maybe he’ll even join us to help put the little bitch in her place.”
The female’s face split into a vicious grin as she nodded.
The air around her seemed to contract, drawing inward around her body as she gave me her complete focus.
The demon raised her hand, and heat slammed into my chest like a battering ram.
Pain exploded through my ribs, hurling me backward into the shimmering barrier of the spell Daena had cast around the pathway.
My knees buckled as the nearly invisible tether that always hummed in my chest went silent.
My breath hitched, a strangled sound scraping out of my throat.
It wasn’t gone — it was still there, faint and muffled like a candle snuffed beneath glass — but muted.
I couldn’t feel Zypher, couldn’t lean into that thrum of strength, and worse… I knew he couldn’t feel me.
“Do you feel it?” Daena crooned, stepping closer, her eyes gleaming with vicious delight.
“The demon prince can’t feel or sense you anymore.
Whatever little spell you cast on him is broken now.
Snuffed out just like that.” She snapped her fingers to illustrate her meaning. “You’re alone, just as you should be.”
Their laughter rang out again, sharp and cruel.
The muted bond left me hollow, trembling as if they’d torn away everything in my chest and left nothing but fear behind.
I tried to call my magic again, desperate to protect myself, but it slipped through my grasp like grains of sand.
The magical thrum of the warded path pressed down around me, sealing me off from everything but the females intent on harming me.
“Without a demon prince to hide behind, what are you?” Maera sneered, stepping around Daena and thrusting her palm forward. A searing jolt of heat slammed into my ribs, throwing me face down against the rough cobble.
Another fae flicked her fingers, and a lash of wind snapped around me, jerking me upright as it squeezed my body, crushing the air from my lungs.
“You’re nothing,” Daena hissed, circling me. “A pathetic little dud, chasing after any male that might spare you a glance. Your little spells to bind them to you have no power here, not anymore. We’ve made sure of that.”
I gritted my teeth, refusing to give her the satisfaction of a response, and the air coiled tighter around my chest.
The succubus stepped forward, her beauty sharpened into something cruel, her eyes glowing faintly as her lips curved in a mocking smile. “Poor little mage,” she purred, her voice dripping venom. “Did you really think you could keep him? That a demon prince would ever lower himself to you?”
The other demon moved to her side, flicking her hand out, and a lash of sharp magic cracked across my cheek. I choked on a scream as the sensation of blades slicing my skin tore through me. The succubus tilted her head, studying the damage with a satisfied smirk.
“Zypher belongs among his own kind,” she hissed, stepping closer until her perfume and the roiling power of her allure made me want to retch.
“Not tangled up with some powerless mage from the human realm. Did you really believe you could steal him? That we’d let someone like you claim our prince without uncovering your twisted little game and making you pay for it? ”
She thrust her palm against my chest, a pulse of energy ripping through me, rattling my ribs and wrenching a cry from my throat.
My knees would have buckled if it weren’t for the air forcing me upright, coiling tightly around my body like a boa constrictor.
The succubus smirked as I writhed in agony against her magic.
“Pathetic,” she drawled. “So focused on stealing our prince that you didn’t bother learning about the rest of our kind.
I’m more than happy to educate you.” She sent another pulse of energy through me, causing my body to strain against the hold as the sensation of a thousand knives tore through me.
“My kind is known for their allure. It’s always assumed our allure only incites lust and a desperate sort of need, but there is another side to it — a side meant to inflict the most deliciously wicked sort of pain. ”
She took a step back, pulling her power with her, and my body slumped, my head falling forward as I panted. My body trembled as I forced my head up to look her in the eyes.
“Fuck. You.” I panted, refusing to let my fear get the best of me, no matter how stupid it was to taunt the group surrounding me.
Daena lashed out at my words. Her hand cracked across my cheek, her nails digging into my skin as she clawed my face.
The sting burned down my cheek, hot blood dripping along my jaw.
She leaned in close, her breath fanning against my skin as she sneered.
“You really don’t know when to shut that filthy mouth of yours, do you? ”
I forced my head to turn and bared my teeth. “At least I’m not panting after a male who so clearly despises me.” The taunt left my lips before I could stop it, even as some small part of me screamed to shut up before I got myself killed.