Haunted Page 3

  Ah.

  Trubble.

  The shadow.

  The unbound shadow.

  Yet another problem that’d need to be dealt with later. Right now … the door was opening and Ame of Haversey and her handler were stepping into my room. To say they looked shocked as ship to see me awake was an understatement. Pretty sure I almost gave Ame a heart attack.

  “Your majesty,” she greeted, looking first to Airmienan before she bothered turning her attention to me. “Brynn of Haversey, I’m surprised to see you awake. I’m here by order of the queen, to check and see if the flesh whisperers have healed your injuries to a sufficient level that you could be woken up. But I see that’s already been done?”

  There was so clearly a question mark clinging to the end of that sentence that I glanced over to Jasinda for help … and saw Matz standing by her side. So cute, right? He liked her enough that his kiss had the power to break a spell. We’d have to have a girls’ night soon, so I could finally get to the bottom of this thing between her and the scribe, see if she liked him back.

  “Matz kissed us both and broke the spell,” I blurted quickly, carefully extracting my arms from both Elijah and Air. I teetered a little, but managed to stay standing, watching as Ame and her handler—totally could not remember the woman’s name—scanned the other ghosts in the room.

  “You’re certainly lucky to have someone who cares so much about you,” she said, giving the scribe a long, lingering look. The blush on both mine and Jasinda’s faces probably helped seal the deal for that lie. I was embarrassed as hell, and a little shocked that Vexer liked me that much. Oh, Vexer. Biting my lip, I raised my brows at Ame and waited to see what she’d do now.

  Clearly, Everess had something up her sleeve, something that Air would eventually figure out. It was hard to hide much of anything from a ghost. But whatever it was, she must’ve figured it’d work out in the end. It wasn’t like Airmienan had a lot of choices, considering he was dead and all.

  “There were supposed to be several guards inside with you, but I’m not seeing any of them.” Ame exhaled and put her hands on her hips. She was dressed in voluminous purple, red and white silk robes, a symbol of her station. Pretty sure she was about a hundred times more powerful than I’d ever be, my strange double blessing aside.

  “I just woke up,” I choked out, wishing I’d had even a few minutes to adjust before having to deal with all of this crap. A feather popped off and drifted to the floor near my feet, causing Ame to raise a brow as she folded her white wings behind her.

  “I possessed them and walked them outside. We deserve more privacy than that, don’t you think?” Air said with a lift of his chin. Ame’s ice-blue eyes flicked from him to Elijah. Clearly, she knew it would take a much more skilled spirit than Air to possess a human without leaving any memory of the occasion. Then again, dead or not, Air was still the crown prince, so she kept her mouth shut. “Inform my mother that Brynn is awake and let her know that I’d like to speak with her right away.”

  “Yes, your majesty,” Ame said, turning toward her handler. But her eyes, they lingered on mine for longer than was comfortable for either of us. I saw her scowl just before she turned away and closed my bedroom door behind her. Still, none of us spoke until we heard the front door slam shut.

  “She was here to switch the prince’s point of binding,” Professor Cross said, toying with the buttons on his white Royal College jacket. I glanced over at him and he smiled. It was a sloppy, lopsided smile, but I liked it anyway—even if he had tricked me and bound his spirit to mine. “The handler had all the same supplies I used in her bag and then some. Since it was doubtful that sort of spell would work on anyone but you the first time around, they had enough silver ash to do it twenty times over.”

  “They had silver ash?” I asked, totally and completely confused. The queen knew how vital that stuff was to the resurrection spell. And yet, she’d let the Royal Spirit Whisperer waste it on a possible futile attempt to move Airmienan’s point of binding from me to her? Why? It made no sense, no sense at all. “You read that all from their minds …?” I continued as Spicer’s words sunk in. “And what do you mean anyone but me? Because of the double blessing?”

  The wardrobe opened and Vexer stepped out, still wearing Trubble as a mask.

  “My gift makes me a bit strange, certainly, but it can come in handy at times.”

  “Blood and ice,” Dyre choked out, leaning his shoulder against the wall, the most forlorn sort of look on his face. “Yeah, totally and completely useful. Thanks for the advance warning.”

  “How’s this for an advance warning,” Professor Cross said suddenly, his sapphire and turquoise eyes flaring bright with magic. “There’s a mind whisperer on campus tracking whoever it was that left all those guards knocked out in the Catacombs; they know someone’s broken in.”

  “Can you keep them from finding Vexer?” I asked, reaching out and curling my fingers around the griffin’s muscular arm. Hell’s bells, he feels good! But I didn’t have time to let my hormones take over my brain. “Also, wait, guards in the Catacombs? Clearly, I’m missing a pretty big part of the story.”

  “I can keep them from reading his mind, but the campus guard will use other means to track him once they realize that’s not working. I highly suggest you get him out of here while you still can,” Spicer said, his eyes still glowing. Even as a spirit, it was impressive, and quite pretty. Blue-green splotches decorated the ceiling and the walls like a mosaic.

  “We’re practically on house arrest,” Elijah growled out, even more flustered than I was. Pretty sure I was still in shock at that point. And poor Talon … Poor fucking Talon. As soon as we got all of … whatever the fuck this was sorted out, I was going after him. I mean, I had to, right? Who else was going to give a shit about the spirit of some random thief? But he’d saved my life, and I wouldn’t leave him to suffer for centuries as payment. “How do you propose we get Vexer out of here? Sounds like the way he came in is a no-go.”

  Trubble shifted off of Vex’s face, curling around his shoulders in fox form. I didn’t miss the way Dyre’s copper eyes locked onto his brother’s.

  “I can keep him hidden in shadow,” the little fox said, swishing his tails flirtatiously. “Once the hubbub dies down a bit, walk out the front gates and I’ll follow you. We can get him out that way, just not right now. Besides, they’ll search every dorm, every apartment, every classroom … except this one, right? This is the prince’s house, is it not?”

  “You really think you can keep him hidden?” I asked, my eyes meeting the fox’s bronze ones. He smirked at me—seriously weird expression to see on that little face—and nodded. “Physically? Magically?”

  “I can keep him hidden from everyone but a shadow whisperer. That’s where you come in. Just don’t let one in the doors of this house and we’ll be alright. Why should they need to send a shadow whisperer when one already resides within?”

  “You have other things to worry about,” Dyre growled out, stalking toward his brother and pointing at him with the hilt of his ghostly katana. “Like what you’re going to do now that I’m dead. We both know what happens to unbound shadows.”

  “One thing at a time, Dyre of Ha,” Trubble growled, standing up on Vex’s shoulders and raising the fur along his spine in an angry mohawk. “I’ll be fine for a couple of days. Have some faith in me, you virgin fool!”

  “You’re being ridiculous!” Dyre shouted back, but my head hurt too much to get involved in any of it. Although, Dyre did have a point. Unbound shadows were bound to sour eventually; they always did. When a living person had a child with a spirit, they were born as shadows. No matter how hard the parents tried, the child never turned out to be anything but a nightmare. The only reason Trubble was okay now was because he’d somehow been bound to his twin in the womb. But with Dyre dead …

  “Sorry to interrupt,” I said as I let go of Vex’s arm and sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. “But you’re cert
ain that Vex is okay here for now?”

  “For now, yes,” Trubble said, narrowing his eyes and sitting back down on the griffin’s shoulder. “I’ll let you know if I think otherwise.”

  “Good,” I said, leaning back into the pillows and closing my eyes for a moment. “I know I’ve been sleeping for days, but I’m exhausted.”

  “Sleeping spells like that are intended to keep the dreamer on their toes,” the professor said as I felt my head swimming with exhaustion. “So that when the target wakes up, they’re exhausted, virtually useless. You all know the tale of Sleeping Beauty, right? As soon as the prince woke the princess up with a kiss, he tried to get her out of the castle before the dragon could kill them both. She was so tired that she fell asleep climbing out of the tower and fell to her death.”

  “Let’s talk about something else,” Vex growled. “That’s not exactly a pleasant story.”

  “Fairy-tales always have a lesson we can learn about life,” Professor Cross said as I struggled … and failed to open my eyes back up.

  I drifted off listening to the men in the room talk … and then dreamt about Talon’s head getting crushed by a razor wolf’s jaws.

  At least I didn’t see the woman in the melted mask again. Not that night anyway.

  Morning sunshine filtered across my closed lids, teasing my eyes with golden rays that penetrated into the darkest depths of my dreams. As I blinked myself awake, I realized there was a hard, warm body curled around mine, a huge hand splayed open across my belly.

  Vexer.

  A smile teased my lips as I opened my eyes … and felt a fluffy tail brush across my face. Reaching up, I realized that Trubble was sleeping in a ball on my pillow, just above my head. He was snoring softly, too. As soon as my fingers brushed his tail, however, he bit me and I let out a tiny shriek.

  “Tail equals penis,” he said succinctly, releasing his grip on my hand. I checked my fingers, but there was no blood, just a light indent where his teeth dug into my skin. “Don’t touch without permission.”

  “Well, you were the one rubbing your penis on my face!” I growled back, just before Air popped through the floor and hauled himself through, looking terrified. Oh. Oops. That probably hadn’t sounded very good out of context, huh?

  “What the fuck is going on up here?” he asked, gritting his slightly pointed teeth as he studied me, Vex, and Trubble on the bed.

  “Your fiancée was touching my naughty parts,” Trubble said, standing up and then crouching low with his front paws in a stretch, his bushel of fluffy tails up in the air. I had to admit, they were enticing as hell. I just wanted to pet the flub out of them, run my fingers along their furry lengths. But as a person with wings, I had to remember that sometimes body parts were more than they seemed.

  “Are you okay?” Air asked, looking as tired as I felt. Spirits weren’t supposed to look so damn exhausted. I reached out my hand for his, tangling my warm fingers with his cool ones. Gods, if Air were alive right now then everything would be different. Jas and I would be sharing a room in the dorms, waking up excited to start the second day of class. We’d rush down to the courtyard and meet Air, looking all spiffy in his Royal College uniform, blonde hair catching the sunshine. He’d smile at me with this pointed teeth of his, catch me in his arms and twirl me around …

  “I’m fine,” I said, giving his hand a squeeze before letting go and sitting up. When I glanced down at Vexer, I found him sleeping soundly. His brunette hair was fresh and shiny, his face clean-shaven. He’d taken the time to bathe before crawling into bed with me. No wonder my nightmares had stopped. Something about his warm breath, his smell, the steady beat of his heart, it all kept me sleeping soundly, kept my dreams light. “Did you freak out when he came in here?” I asked softly.

  “I ordered him to, before he just went and did it,” Air replied, his voice a near-whisper. “At least then it felt like I had some semblance of control.” The prince chuckled, but the sound wasn’t a particularly happy one. He kept his pastel green eyes downcast, raking his fingers through his hair. He wasn’t exactly corporeal, but at least there was some color to him.

  “Vex isn’t your enemy,” I said, my voice husky and low, thick with emotion.

  “Don’t forget: you still have an audience,” Trubble said with a yawn, flashing his tiny pink tongue at me. “Try not to get all lovey-dovey when I’m in the room. I’m allergic to excessive amounts of emotion.”

  Air narrowed his eyes on the little shadow, but chose to ignore, redirecting his attention back to me.

  “What happened on that mountain …” he started, licking his lower lip. “I think you should be restricted to campus for a while.”

  “What?!” I choked out, throwing my feet out of bed and startling Vex awake with a growl. His lion’s tail wrapped around my waist before I blushed and pushed it away. According to Trubble, Vex just curled his very long, very furry penis around your waist. Ugh! I was so not good at juggling all these men. I’d only really ever seen myself with Airmienan. Well, I hadn’t expected that to actually happen, but I was so busy fantasizing about it than I hadn’t thought about having so many gods-damn—feather pop—boyfriends around. “Now you want to put me on house arrest, Air? What the flub?”

  “Brynn, you almost fucking died up there,” Air said, rising to his feet and puffing out his chest. Uh-oh. Here went the prince act. “You were this close to losing your life … and all of us in the process. Brynn, if you die, the chances of us ever being together again are slim to none. My mother will have the rest of you exorcised and I’ll be waiting around for years while that idiot, Ame, tries and fails at the resurrection spell.”

  “Don’t be dramatic,” I grumbled, rubbing my hands down my face. Although, I had to admit: Air had a good point. I was starting to get the idea that Everess found me to be an annoyance, an obstacle for her son to overcome. She might’ve taken both of my parents as lovers, but me, she didn’t like. “A bath, that’s what I need,” I said with a yawn, rising to my feet and stumbling slightly. Both Air and Vex tried to steady me, and I ended up with a warm hand on one side, and a cold one on the other. “Before I can talk, bath.”

  Pushing past them both, I found myself in the hallway facing Elijah.

  “I’m glad you’re awake,” he said, slouching lazily against the wall, his ice-blue eyes locked on mine. Staring at him now, it was hard to forget the feel of his cock inside of me, his hot sweaty skin so close to alive that I was almost fooled. Almost. It’d been three nights since we’d first had sex and yet, because I’d been passed out for two of them, it felt like it was only yesterday.

  I had no idea what to say to him, standing there in his academy issued boots and jacket, his wings stretched out behind him, his dark hair catching the light. After a few more seconds of silence, Eli smirked and stepped close to me, putting his warm hands on my hips and pulling me close.

  “I know we have a lot to deal with today,” he whispered against my ear, making me shiver. “But if I don’t kiss you first, I might go crazy.” With long, skillful fingers, Eli tilted my chin up and leaned down to kiss me, slanting his hot lips across mine. I couldn’t help myself; I rose up on my toes and put my hands flat against his torn Royal College jacket as our tongues slid together and heat bloomed between us. I felt it in my core, in the empty space between my thighs, in the peaked hardness of my nipples, the ripple of my dark feathers.

  “That was so much better than thinking of something to say,” I mumbled against his lips, smiling as Eli chuckled and nuzzled against me. Holy bleeding Hell. I was really into the prince’s cousin. I mean, for a ghost, the guy had serious swagger. “Hopefully I’m a better kisser than I am a conversationalist.”

  “You’re an amazing kisser,” Elijah said, wrapping his wings around us—quite the feat in the tight space of the hallway. But then … I remembered that he was a ghost, and probably blending into the wall just a bit. Still, I cuddled up close to him and kissed him until I heard Jasinda clear her throat behind m
e. “Enjoy your bath.” Eli stepped back and folded his wings behind him again, crossing his arms over his chest as I turned to Jasinda.

  “Do you mind if I join you?” she asked, smiling softly and lifting up a pair of fluffy towels. “I think we could both use a moment. Besides, I’ve been dying to try out this private bath since the moment we moved in. Talk about luxury.”

  “And it’s close enough to the house that I can leave all my spirit friends behind for a moment.” I grinned as I followed Jas in the direction opposite the main staircase and out a back door that led to a private courtyard—this was the queen’s personal residence, after all. My grin didn’t feel warm or genuine though, not even with the warm fuzzies from Eli’s kiss buzzing around inside of me. I couldn’t get my mind off of Talon and what he’d done for me. He’d risked his spirit to save my life.

  “Eighty feet feels both short and long simultaneously, doesn’t it?” Jassy said as she held open the wooden door with the curved top and let me into the tiny stone bathing chamber. On the other side of these thick stone walls, the dormitory bathhouses were located, probably filled with students at this hour. But even though they were so close, they felt so ridiculously distant. I guess what Jas was saying made perfect sense, didn’t it?

  “This is supposed to be our second day of school,” I moaned as I shed my nightie and tiptoed through the steam to the edge of the pool. The water was heated naturally underground, directed up through a series of pipes and cooled by a water whisperer to safe levels before it reached the actual baths. Even so, it was still hot enough to make my skin ripple with goose bumps. I pushed through the pain and slid in anyway.

  I flubbing needed this.

  “Technically, this would be our fourth day of school,” Jas said, sinking into the water with a groan and then meticulously unbraiding her long, dark hair. “If we were going, that is.”