Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
She’s demanding the answer from me. A small part of me is tempted to flip her the bird to show how little I care about her “high rank” status, but Kenzie is right. I don’t want any attention, so for the next two weeks, I’ll be nothing but a quiet, shy wallflower.
“Arcana,” I say quietly.
The girl grunts, and they both turn back to Kenzie like I no longer exist. Fascinating. They really do care about their power games, don’t they?
“So,” the redhead grins. “Tea time. Decimus lost control earlier. Went from zero to dragon in the blink of an eye—I saw it myself! He barely made it out of the castle in time, and rumor has it he lit an entire hallway on fire and killed someone they haven’t been able to identify.”
Kenzie glances at me with raised brows, clearly coming to the same conclusion I have that the dragon shifter must have been the one to set fire to that stairwell. “Oh, shit. What made him so mad?”
“Who knows? I get that you shifters have intense emotions and all, but gods, he’s on another level.” She sighs, clearly thinking that’s attractive.
“And you wanna hear something else?” Nose Ring leans closer to whisper. “We overheard some siphons talking, and rumor has it that the Nightmare Prince was spotted in Halfton.”
At that, Kenzie’s mouth drops open. “What? No way. No one has seen him for a couple of years, not since he slaughtered an entire courtroom full of humans during that whole sex trafficking debacle and pissed off the Legacy Council and the human government. Why the fuck would he be in this area?”
“Maybe he’s going to the Seeking,” the redhead suggests.
“Yeah, right. He’s never been to a Seeking, not even when he attended Everbound years ago,” the other girl cuts in, rolling her eyes.
Kenzie says something else, and they keep talking, but I find my thoughtful interest drawn back to where the dragon shifter is still chatting with other shifters far in the distance.
Apparently, powerful legacies draw too much attention. These girls prove that if I want to blend into the shadows and be forgotten during my time here, I’ll need to avoid people like him at all costs. I can’t have the gossips watching me like a hawk.
“…and Crane absolutely humiliated the professor before leaving class. Of course, he didn’t get in trouble for it—who the hell is stupid enough to face off with the Garnet Wizard’s apprentice? Gods, I wish I could school my professors like that,” one of the girls is saying when I tune back in.
“Especially Mr. Frost,” the other agrees with a groan. “So cold and stuck up, but so fucking gorgeous.”
“I see you with the whole student-teacher kink,” Kenzie laughs.
“Sue me! We all have what we like. Don’t you have a thing for vamps? I mean—other than that asshole bully who’s always making your life hell,” the redhead adds with an eye roll.
That gets my attention. Especially since it seems to make Kenzie uncomfortable. She quickly brushes it off with a laugh, makes some excuse about us needing to be somewhere, and gingerly takes my elbow to lead me away.
Once we’re out of earshot, I pull my elbow back, adjusting the sleeve even though she didn’t touch my skin.
“Shit—sorry. I forgot about the no-touching thing,” she says, still looking distracted.
No one is around, so I stop and face her. “A vampire is bullying you?”
She wrinkles her nose and tries to wave away the question. “Gah. It’s nothing. He’s just…no, really, it’s nothing. I’m fine.”
Just like Lillian, she’s incapable of hiding her real emotions. They all play out on her face, and right now, I can tell she’s genuinely upset at even just the mention of this guy. Almost on the verge of tears, even.
Which makes me clench my hands. It’s always the nice ones like her who pretend they’re fine when someone is making their life miserable. I had to put up with it whenever it happened to Lillian, but I don’t have to now. I’ve only just met Kenzie, and I don’t want her to think we’re bonding—or, gods forbid, friends
—but I decide that once I learn the name of this asshole, I’ll pay him a visit.
Maybe I’ll brew a hex just for him.
But asking more questions about it right now will only upset her more, and I would literally rather pry my nails off with bamboo shoots than be around someone on the verge of tears.
So, to distract her, I mutter, “Touching through clothes isn’t completely unbearable.”
Kenzie blinks. “Oh. Okay, that’s good to know. So I can hug you as long as you’re wearing, like, a super puffy jacket?”
Yikes. “No hugging. Ever.”
She laughs as we start in the direction of the dining hall. “Fine, fine. I guess now I also know you’re a caster—you said House of Arcana, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you like a super powerful caster? Skilled with all kinds of magic and stuff?”
With any other legacy, I’d be on edge, but there’s not an ounce of guile on Kenzie’s face. She’s genuinely just curious, not deciding whether she should try to kill me in my sleep.
“Nope.” That’s not even a lie.
She breathes out a puff of air. “Damn. I was hoping you were secretly clairvoyant and you could tell me if I’ll get matched with someone at the Seeking. It’s all I can think about. Gods, I just want the next two weeks to be over so I can find out who I get to be with.”
I hum in reply, but I couldn’t give two fucks about the upcoming ceremony. I’m far more interested in my mission here. Which reminds me…
“Where can I buy ingredients for potions?”
“Oh, that’ll be at the university store. It carries a lot of stuff, but if you need specific ingredients, you can actually order them on the app lickety-split—or so my caster friends have said,” she chatters, back to her usual cheeriness. Then she frowns. “Speaking of which, I don’t have your number yet. Here.”
She pulls out her cell phone and hands it to me. I stare at it for a long moment, trying to figure out what to do with the rectangle, and finally, I hand it back to her.
“My phone broke. I haven’t gotten a new one,” I lie.
She looks scandalized. “Seriously? Okay, we are so going to Halfton today. We’re getting you all the things, and you can tell me all about humans. Now come on, I’m famished.”
MAVEN
Two Weeks Later
Knock, knock. “Maven? Are you here?”
I don’t bother responding since Kenzie has already burst into our dorm room. She blinks in surprise at where I sit on the floor, surrounded by charred plant remains and a ring of smoke.
The smoke dissipates as I discreetly move my hands behind my back so she won’t see my blackened fingertips. I offer no expression.
“Oh! Sorry, I didn’t mean to fuck up your…aromatherapy?” She glances at the other withered plants on the desk at the foot of my four-poster bed. Then she shrugs it off. “Smells good in here. A bit overpowering for my nose, but I still like it.”
For the last two weeks, I’ve avoided any and all attention at Everbound University. My routine is set in stone: wake up, go to classes, speak only when spoken to, brew potions, keep my head down, and return to my dorm to bide my time.
I’ve gone to Halfton with Kenzie a few times, and I occasionally explore Everbound Forest. But otherwise, I have carefully kept to myself to avoid any chance of running into high-profile legacies.
My reputation as a forgettable nobody is solid.
And for the last two weeks, Kenzie hasn’t asked any more prying questions. It’s why we’ve become comfortable acquaintances, and I’ve all but retired my spider-egg-pillow idea. She now calls me her bestie and makes me binge-watch steamy Regency romance shows with her. Meanwhile, I put a limp dick hex on the asshole vampire who was bullying her.
Basically, being stuck in the same room as her has not been the worst arrangement.
Except for when she barges into our room like this without warning. That’s no good, but at least she didn’t see anything.
“So? What do you think of my outfit for the Seeking? I was going for sexy and stunning with a dash of inappropriate.”
She twirls, showing off the shimmering gold bodycon dress that clings to her. That’s in addition to the strappy platform heels and fishnets. It’s a statement that I’m not surprised she pulls off—though why she keeps coming to me for fashion advice, I’ll never know.
“You are both inappropriately stunning and stunningly inappropriate,” I confirm.
Kenzie squeals. “This is it. Today is the day we’ve been waiting for. In less than an hour, we’ll know which other legacies we’ll be bound to for the rest of our lives!”
New Book: Returned To Make Them Pay
On her wedding anniversary, Alicia is drugged and stumbles into the wrong room—straight into the arms of the powerful Caden Ward, a man rumored never to touch women. Their night of passion shocks even him, especially when he discovers she’s still a virgin after two years of marriage to Joshua Yates.