Chapter 16 #2
Not anymore. Now the students kept to themselves as they clung to their textbooks and hurried to their next class.
Those who weren’t enthralled Campus Monitors were subject to Blood Duty and had bruises or cuts over their arms and legs.
Some wore long sleeves despite the heat to cover the worst of their injuries.
Even the smallest of infractions resulted in mandatory Blood Duty, and those who had three or more strikes got themselves thrown into the Monster Arena for good.
That was a punishment I’d considered myself, but those students rarely made it out alive from what I heard. Olivia’s visions suggested I’d wind up the same or worse if I got on the Dean’s bad side.
Tucking my chin to my chest and hugging my shoulder strap of my backpack, I sped-walked toward the Dark Mage dorms.
The gothic spires looked particularly ominous under the bleeding sky. I knocked on the door and a female in a dark cloak answered.
“What do you want?” she asked. I knew she recognized me as one of the Monster Mentors. Being friends with Olivia gave me some clout and leeway when it came to the Dean’s rules, which was ironic seeing as Olivia had once been a meek Dud. We’d both come so far.
“Here to see Hendrik,” I said, trying to act casual as I brushed a blonde curl over my shoulder.
“I’m his tutor for Monster Class,” I lied.
When she continued to stare at me I added, “He’s failing and the Dean says if he doesn’t get his grade up we’re both getting Blood Duty for the next year, so let me in. ”
The Dark Mage frowned, but didn’t seem interested enough to question me further. She let me inside and I followed her up the staircase to Hendrik’s room.
I stumbled when we passed his original oversized suite and she kept walking. “His room is down here,” she said over her shoulder.
So, he’d not only lost his reputation and role as leader, but he’d also lost his room. That had to hurt.
She kept walking until we reached the end of the hall where the smaller dorms housed some of the newer mages. She knocked on a door. “Someone to see you, Hendrik,” she snapped.
“I’m busy,” came a muffled reply.
“Don’t give a shit!” she shot back. “Talk to your tutor or you’re going to get more Blood Duty on your docket!”
A curse sounded from the other side and chains rattled at the door as Hendrik undid the interior latches.
The female mage smirked. “He’s a real delusional asshole, but it’s your life. Good luck.”
I stared after her as she walked off. The Dark Mages were all generally insensitive and arrogant, being soulless and all they couldn’t help it, but that one really got on my nerves.
Hendrik was a lot of things, but delusional wasn’t one of them.
The door swung open and I found myself face-to-face with a pissed off Dark Mage wearing only black sweatpants, leaving a gorgeous body on full display as my jaw hit the floor.
He stared back at me until I realized it wasn’t shadows playing tricks on me and the splotches over the hard muscles were in fact deep black and blue bruises.
“Hendrik?” I asked, running my fingers over his stomach. “What the hell happened?”
He glowered at me with those eternally dark eyes before he turned. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he grumbled as he disappeared into the darkness of the small room.
I stood there for a moment until I realized he’d left the door open for me, so I walked inside and closed it behind me.
It took me a minute for my eyes to adjust, but I was a Demonspawn fully capable of seeing in pure darkness. I realized the lack of light wasn’t the only thing contributing to the dismal conditions, but also a familiar drifting… fog.
“Like my dreams,” I whispered.
“What?” Hendrik asked as he poured whiskey into glasses and conjured ice with a whisper of magic.
“The hard stuff, huh?” I asked, taking my glass.
He knocked his drink back, fluttered his eyes closed, then poured himself another. “It’s been a rough couple of months.”
“No shit,” I said as I dared a step closer.
I set my glass down and slipped an arm around his waist. He didn’t push me away, but his body tensed and I realized he probably had internal injuries with the level of damage that was done.
“Want to talk about it?” I tried not to let the anger seep out onto my tongue because whoever did this to him needed to pay.
He sighed and shrugged me off. “I’ve been doing my job.”
“And what job is that?” I asked, crossing my arms. “Blowing off your soulmate and getting yourself beaten up?”
“I don’t have a soul,” he reminded me before he knocked back his second drink.
Rage bubbled up inside of me, making fire flare at my fingertips and I shoved him against the wall. He grunted at the impact and I knew it probably hurt, but my stubborn Dark Mage glared back at me with raw defiance. “I’ve been very patient, Hendrik, but you’re acting like a spoiled brat.”
He muttered a spell and vanished in a puff of black smoke, reappearing behind me and crushing me against the wall before I had a chance to turn.
He grabbed my wrists and held my arms over my head, pinning me with his hips against my ass.
“You do not talk to me that way,” he growled, his words a sensual threat brushing across my neck.
“You’re on my turf now.” His fingers curled around my wrists and squeezed until he hit my bracelet.
It burned hot in retaliation against his magic.
We both hissed with pain as he momentarily released me long enough for me to spin around and wrap my fingers around his neck.
“You do not talk to me that way,” I countered. “I’m not your pet you can just boss around anymore.”
And I love you, dumbass, I added mentally.
I didn’t know if Hendrik heard me. All my Virtues seemed disconnected ever since I’d run into Cole that first night in my dreams.
We held our stalemate, my black claws around his throat and his hand on my hip like a brand before he pulled my fingers away and crushed his lips to mine.
He devoured me, needing to release all his anger and pent-up frustrations from these past few months. I desperately wanted to know what he’d been up to and why he was covered in bruises that weren’t healing, but right now he needed something else from me.
He needed my rage.
And I gave it to him.
I bit his lip hard and the tang of blood spilled into my mouth. He growled and ripped down my skirt as I released flames over his skin with a mental command, burning his clothes but leaving him unharmed.
“That’s a new trick,” he said, his tone admiring as he shoved his fingers under my bra, squeezing my breast with one hand while he positioned himself with the other. He yanked one of my legs over his arm and spread me, then entered, making me cry out as I hit my head back against the wall.
No foreplay. No teasing.
Just release.
He thrust into me hard and made me gasp as raw pleasure and passion unfurled inside of me.
He pinched my nipple, adding delicious pain to the symphony as he played my body like an instrument, his eerie pupiless eyes watching me with dark intent.
Something was wrong with him, something that went deep and tormented him.
He growled as I raked against our mate-bond, searching for his spirit. When I found him, angry and suffering, he slammed against me hard, making my vision spin.
“I’ve been staying away from you for a reason, pet,” he said, his voice a dangerous rumble as he pulled out of me and spun me before thrusting into me from behind.
I pushed against the wall, only to find myself sandwiched between his relentless thrusts and an unmovable barrier that reminded me of my dreams.
Except this time, there was no escape from him.
“There’s corruption in the mate-bond,” he warned as he shoved a finger in my ass, making me suck in a breath. “I’m angry… so angry, and I think your little demon friend is to blame.”
Cole was to blame for this? Shit.
“So you get yourself beaten up?” I managed to ask as he resumed his delicious torture, thrusting into me balls-deep as he began to pant with growing need.
I had a bad feeling that he was only just getting started and I was going to sport a few bruises and internal injuries of my own before he was done with me.
“I’ve been training with your Hunter,” he admitted, growling as he thrust hard and held himself deep inside of me.
My body clenched around him and I clawed against the wall, seeing stars as the pleasure threatened to break me.
“Dante?” I asked, bewildered. The Hunter had been avoiding me as well, but I’d assumed that was to keep up pretenses with the Dean. It still hurt to be avoided by my own soulmates, but I had faith my Virtues wouldn’t so easily abandon me.
At least, that’s what I’d been telling myself.
“There’s rage in the mate-circle and it’s hit Dante and I particularly hard. We’ve been trying to keep you safe, and in the meantime we’ve been burning the pent-up anger by building magic for when your timer is up,” he said as he tapped the Hellfire bracelet.
“By beating the shit out of each other?” I groaned when he added a second finger. “How did you know about my… timer?”
He leaned in and licked the back of my ear, making me shiver. “We’re your Virtues, pet. You think we didn’t know about your little deal with the devil?”
He pulled out of me and thrust in hard without warning as if punishing me for making a deal with Lucifer, making me cry out as my body retaliated against the sudden pleasure.
“Hendrik, I—” I tried to protest, to explain, but he resumed long, hard thrusts that rendered me completely speechless.