Chapter 19
I was barelyable to focus in Charms and Potions class, I was so excited at the prospect of using my bond with Aiden to find him.
I burst out of class to find Lilia waiting for me, a solemn expression on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, my heart dropping. “Is Brom okay?”
“He’s fine.” Lilia brushed off my concern. “He’s helping the professors in front of the school.”
My eyebrow rose. “Helping with what?”
“It’s better if you see it.”
We walked down the stairs and out the front door. There were several professors and administrative staff, including the dean of the academy, and a few students blocking off the area.
At first, I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be looking at, and I turned to Lilia, confused.
She just gestured straight ahead, and then I saw it.
Or rather, I didn’t see it.
The statue of the founder’s wife was gone.
“What!” I said, incredulous.
“I told you that you wouldn’t believe me.”
“It’s actually gone, not made invisible?” I asked.
Lilia nodded. “That was the first thing they checked, so Brom told me.”
“Do you think this is related?” I wondered out loud. “Maybe the statue has some sort of vision spell on it and keeps an eye on the front doors, so she ‘saw’ who killed Richard.”
“That’s… new,” Lilia said hesitantly, staring at me in awe. “I hadn’t thought of that, but maybe she did. You think the killer found out and took her?”
“It makes more sense than the kidnapper taking her, even if she is a beast like the others,” I said. I shook my head. “I don’t know. This is so weird.”
“You can say that again.”
“Can you ask Brom to ask the dean if there was any sort of vision spell on her? I… I think I need to research something,” I said slowly. “See you at dinner.”
“No problem,” Lilia said. “Good luck with your mysterious research.”
I ran back inside and down to the library. “Mister Brecken!” I shouted the instant I was through the door.
The old lady at the front desk hushed me, and I waved apologetically at her.
“Mister Brecken?” I hissed, walking quickly through the stacks.
“Miss Doyle?” he asked, popping out a few rows ahead of me. “What is it?”
“I need your help, and there isn’t much time,” I said. “The statue at the front of the school was stolen after lunch. I need to know more about her and the statue’s creation.”
To his credit, beyond blinking in surprise, the old librarian immediately turned on his heel and hobbled quickly through the library. “The school was created in 1666, as you know, but this castle belonged to the Blackthorn family before then. The young master opened it in honor of his wife.” He turned down an aisle and started scanning the titles. “There was an urban myth about the statue’s creation…” He slowed down and moved his fingers over the spines of the books. “Ah.”
The heavy book was nearly the length of his forearm, and I darted forward to catch it when he wobbled.
“Thank you, my dear. There’s a podium at the end of the aisle,” he said, indicating with his cane that we should continue walking.
It was one of the old podiums that spun, containing slots for several different books at once. He locked it in position and held out his hands for the book I was still holding.
I looked over his shoulder as he started flipping pages. “No table of contents?” I asked.
Mr. Brecken chuckled. “No index either. We have to flip through the pages like we used to do back in my day.”
“Someone should really scan all these books into a searchable database,” I said. “It would make finding things easier and more than one person can look at a book at a time.”
“Sure, but would you be able to do this?” Mr. Brecken pressed on a corner of the book, and then pulled upward.
The words on the page followed his motion, resolving into a seeming jumble. Then they settled, and suddenly I was watching a silent film of what had been on the page. Little people made out of words were moving stone into place for the foundation of the castle.
My jaw dropped in awe. “I didn’t know you could do that!”
Mr. Brecken smiled. “You haven’t learned everything these halls can teach you. Not yet, at least.”
“This would make studying long lists of plants a lot more fun,” I said.
“Oh, this doesn’t work for every book, I’m afraid. Just the ones with a story.” He pressed down firmly on the words, and they solidified back onto the page. “This is too early in Blackthorn’s history. We need to go to the sixteen hundreds…” He flipped a large chunk of pages over at once. “Getting there. Young master Blackthorn, the pride and joy of his parents, born in 1644, studied at—blah, blah, blah, that’s not important, where is the mention of his wife?”
He flipped another page and I gasped. “Is that him?” I asked, pointing at the miniature portrait on the next page.
Mr. Brecken paused. “Yes. Why?”
“No reason,” I said, swallowing hard. “It’s just weird to think that pictures of people in history books used to be alive and walk around.”
“It is.” Mr. Brecken continued reading while I stared into the eyes of someone who I had recently gotten very familiar with.
But that was impossible, wasn’t it?
“Here we go,” the librarian declared cheerfully, ignorant of the panic I was currently in. “Master Blackthorn met his wife in university. She was his soulmate, and they were wed before they graduated. He brought her back here, to Blackthorn, and she was the target of an attack by a Roc, which turned her into a statue.
“Master Blackthorn was devastated, and dedicated himself to searching for a cure. When he didn’t find one after two years of research, he opened the school in 1666, declared it his legacy, and left his cousin in charge. Then he disappeared into the enchanted forest, never to be seen or heard from again.” Mr. Brecken shook his head sadly. “Poor fellow. They’d only been married for a couple months.”
“She was his soulmate?” I asked. “Was he a beast?”
The librarian frowned. “No, I don’t believe he was. The Blackthorns have always been witches. But they were very progressive. When the school was opened, Master Blackthorn insisted that it be available to all magical creatures.”
“Was his wife the beast, then?”
“I really don’t think it was meant like that,” Mr. Brecken hedged.
“But why state it at all? Why not just say they fell in love?” I insisted. “That seems really pointed.”
“I suppose so.”
“Why was she the target of an attack?” I asked.
“It doesn’t say here, but you’re more than welcome to try to find more information on the Blackthorn family in one of the other history books,” Mr. Brecken said.
“Yes!” I replied eagerly. “Show me where they are?”
He led me back into the stacks. We put away the other book before he gave me two others.
“These should have the information you’re looking for,” he said. “You can borrow them for the evening. I doubt these will be looked for this early in the year.”
I curtseyed in thanks and brought the books up to my room.
Cracking open the first tomb, I skipped the first hundred pages until I got to the mid sixteen hundreds. “There’s got to be something in here about why the wife of a Blackthorn was attacked,” I muttered to myself. “Jealousy, perhaps?”
My eyelids kept drooping and I caught myself yawning several times.
“Come on, Siobhan,” I encouraged myself, slapping my cheeks. “Wake up!” It seemed the late night was catching up to me at the most inopportune time.
Finally, I read the paragraph I needed; the new Blackthorn bride was the target of an attack on the family because of their intent to open a school to all magical creatures. The dissidents didn’t approve of mixing magical blood.
I sat back in my chair, biting at a hangnail. “Again, that could be taken in two ways. They don’t want the school allowing for the potential of mixing magical blood, or they didn’t approve of a prominent witch marrying a beast.”
I flipped back a few pages to another portrait of the young Master Blackthorn. It had been painted when he’d been in his late teens, but his eyes hadn’t changed. I frowned at it. “But if you were born in 1644, what are you doing alive and well now?” I asked it, obviously not getting an answer.
The longer I looked at the miniature portrait, the heavier my eyes became, until suddenly, I felt myself lose my grip on consciousness.
I didn’t stop it; the sweet relief of sleep was too intoxicating.
My head dropped onto my arms as I slumped over my desk.
* * *
I was leavingthe academy by the kitchen’s back door. It was dark and the stars were already twinkling overhead.
“Come look at the stars with me,” Aiden called.
He was lying in the middle of the grassy clearing on his back, propped up on his elbows. He was smiling at me.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest and a pang of longing shot across it.
I brushed it aside and tried to walk seductively toward him.
His smile turned appreciative.
But then I noticed that the grass, which had started out fairly short, was now brushing my ankles. A few more steps, and it was at my knees. More, and I was wading through the grass up to my hips.
“What’s going on?” I asked Aiden, running the tips of the blades of grass through my fingers. “Did someone give the grass a growth potion?”
Aiden chuckled loudly. “Come here, my little Siobhan.”
His voice sounded like thunder in my ears, and I looked up at him, startled. He was towering over me, even lying down.
“Come lie on my chest and we’ll look at the stars together,” he said, reaching down for me.
I stepped into his encircling fingers, and he carefully wrapped his hand around my waist, picking me up and depositing me onto his shirt.
“Don’t wiggle or you’ll fall off,” he said.
The motion of his chest as he spoke made me lose my footing and fall to my knees, facing away from him.
“Don’t tempt me, Siobhan,” he murmured. “We’re here to look at the stars.”
I flushed as I realized that the short skirt I was wearing didn’t have anything underneath it, and I was on my hands and knees, so he could see everything. I quickly shifted so I was lying on my back on his sternum in the same position as him.
The stars danced and wheeled above us, never staying in the same spot for long. The choreography was wonderful, but I didn’t understand what I was supposed to be looking at. “Aiden?” I whispered.
“Hush. There, see?” He pointed with one giant arm, and the stars stilled under his guidance. “They were nervous about performing for you. Look, they’re showing you what you need to see.”
I stared as hard as I could, but they still just looked like stars to me. At least they weren’t making me dizzy any longer.
“Aiden, I—”
“I knew you’d have a kink for size difference,” Aiden interrupted. “Why don’t you come up here and sit on my mouth?”
A bolt of desire shot through me with such ferocity that I was grateful I was lying down. “What?” I asked, just to make sure I’d heard him correctly.
“Bring that hot little ass up here and let me give that dirty pussy a bath,” Aiden said. “Or do you need me to pick you up?”
My jaw dropped at the filthy words and I whimpered.
Aiden took that as permission, carefully lifting and flipping me around until I was straddling his jaw.
I braced myself on his chin when he opened his mouth, my feet falling into the curve of his lips, which made me suddenly notice that they were bare. His hot breath hit me first, and then his tongue washed over me from stem to stern.
“Oh my God,” I groaned, grinding down on the thick muscle. My head fell back as he curled it into a point, fixating on the front of my pussy. I was so wet, and not just from his saliva. “Fuck, Aiden,” I gasped. “I want you inside me!”
His chuckle reverberated through me, and he stabbed his tongue against my slit, slipping inside just a bit. It was enough. I rocked my body on top of his mouth, chasing my pleasure from him.
I opened my eyes briefly to see him stroking his cock, which looked to be almost the size of my entire body.
“Gonna come!” I whined, begging him to finish me. “Want to suck you.”
Aiden’s groan was music to my ears, echoing through the night air. He redoubled his efforts with his tongue, and suddenly I was coming, clenching down and rubbing my breasts against his lower lip.
When he left my pussy, I nearly had another orgasm, but now I felt empty.
“Need you,” I moaned, climbing down from his face. My legs were wobbly, but I needed to get to his cock. I needed him.
I didn’t care about the size difference between us, although being eye level with the crown of his cock was rather intimidating. I wrapped my entire body around his girth, rubbing myself all over with his pre-cum. I was grateful I no longer seemed to be wearing any clothes.
Aiden seemed appreciative of my efforts, if the noises he was making were any indication.
“Help me ride you!” I gasped, turning and getting on all fours on his stomach. His cock slapped my ass hard enough to make it sting when it bounced against me.
Aiden somehow maneuvered it so that I could back up against the head. The spongy tissue felt so good against my heated body. There was no way I could fit it inside me, so I just rubbed it over my pussy again and again, until finally he came, his cum spurting inside me and finishing me off.
Still reeling from the blinding orgasm, I blinked the stars from my eyes and arched my back, reaching my arms over my head. I stopped, mid-stretch. “The stars are in their southern hemisphere positions! The Vulcans! I need to shrink down to see what’s going on!” I gasped.
* * *
I woke up,a puddle of drool underneath my cheek that I vanished with a swipe of my hand.
“I need to go see the people at the bowling alley!” I shouted. Checking the time, I was relieved to see that it had only been a couple minutes since I’d fallen asleep. Fortunately, I was still fully clothed, but I had tingles all over my body from orgasming. I shook my head with a tiny chuckle. “Who knew that I had that kink?”
I grabbed my mirror and ran out of the room.