Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
But thank the fucking gods that he didn’t witness my little incident earlier. I need to avoid him witnessing anything like that at all costs.
“Answer me, darling.”
The bell jingles. I glance over, expecting Silas, but I’m surprised to see Baelfire striding into the Witch’s Brew along with him. The shifter sure caught up fast, and he barely spares the rest of the bakery a passing glance before locking eyes with me and visibly relaxing.
As they approach, I can’t escape Silas’s intent ruby gaze. He scans me a little too possessively—and then he abruptly halts in place just as he reaches the table. He inhales deeply before swearing viciously.
“I’ll ask this only once. Why the hell do you smell like blood?”
The other two tense, and Baelfire also tests the air and snarls. Thanks to his obnoxiously sizable muscular frame, he barely fits into Kenzie’s side of the booth, and then he demands, “Are you hurt? Where? And more importantly, who am I turning to fucking ashes tonight?”
Gods. They’re acting like I’m made out of glass. How laughable.
But I’m not about to correct them. It’s better that they think I’m weak and helpless. They won’t want to hang on to a weak keeper, and the more people underestimate me, the more opportunities I’ll have to do what I came here for.
So, I take the easy way out and lie without blinking. “Menstruation hardly warrants such extreme reactions.”
Silas frowns, skepticism coloring his tone. “I didn’t scent your period at lunch.”
Ew. Blood fae are so fucking weird. “Aunt Flow popped in as an unpleasant visitor shortly thereafter.”
Crypt vanishes from my other side without a word. I take it he isn’t the type to ever say where he’s going or coming from. Some of the tension slips away from Baelfire’s shoulders, and finally, his mouth pulls into a crooked grin.
“I hear heat helps with cramping. So does sex. I’m more than happy to help.”
I roll my eyes. “How noble of you.”
“We just want to help you, Boo. That’s it. Until you ask nicely for more,” he adds, easily slipping back into his flirtatious charm now that he’s not worked up over my safety.
Silas pulls a chair up to the end of the booth and looks over me carefully as if he’s searching for any sign that I’m lying about not getting hurt. I guess fae always have to wonder if other people are lying since they don’t have that ability.
His attention lingers on my hair, where it was matted with blood earlier, and I don’t miss the way his tongue rolls over his lower lip—just once, slowly.
Right.
Blood fae.
But before he can call me out, Kenzie returns from the bathroom and slides in beside me, flicking her gaze between the two intimidatingly strong legacies. Even though she’s modestly ranked among the grad students at Everbound, she’s known Baelfire for a while—but it’s evident by the way she gawks at Silas that she doesn’t know how to make small talk with the Garnet Wizard’s apprentice.
Baelfire seems to catch on to her hesitation and snags a broken piece of cookie from my plate, popping it into his mouth. “Don’t let us interrupt your girl talk. Just had to check on my mate after she went MIA.”
That does the trick.
“Oh my gods! You already call her your mate? That is so fucking cute,” Kenzie croons, ignoring the daggers I’m hurling at her with my eyes.
“She is cute, isn’t she? I keep telling her that myself,” Bael teases, tossing me a smug grin. Then he perks up. “Hey. You’re her friend. You probably know her favorite ice cream flavor, right? She wouldn’t tell me what it is.”
Kenzie tips her head. “Shit, maybe I’m a bad friend because I have no idea. What is it, May?”
I’ve never had ice cream.
But if I tell them that, they’ll have follow-up questions. More questions about my past means more lies. And it’s far easier to maintain a false identity with as few flourishes as possible.
I’m just here for my mission. Keeping things simple is best.
“Vanilla.”
“There, see? That wasn’t so hard,” Baelfire grins triumphantly down at me. One of his hands lifts to adjust the hair that’s fallen over my temple, but he checks himself at the last moment and pulls it back. “All right. What else does she like?”
This time, when I give her a meaningful look, Kenzie rolls her eyes and chooses to back me up. “You’ll have to figure it out yourself, guys. I’m not a snitch.” She lowers her voice to a stage whisper. “But a little birdie did tell me that she likes a certain sexy, rich, ex-model professor.”
Helping to stir the pot? Not bad.
I fight a smile when Baelfire’s amusement immediately drops away, and Silas glares out the window. They say nothing, but I can take a wild guess as to what they’re thinking. Legacies aren’t human, but they have the same emotions. As much as legacies tote this idea of perfect groups who complete each other, there’s no way that jealousy simply ceases to exist among quintets.
If I focus all my attention on Everett, it’s just a matter of time before they all snap.
And the sooner they give up on me, the sooner I can focus on fulfilling my oath.
SILAS
I’m unwell.
That must be the only explanation because as I sit in my private dorm room preparing components of a tracking spell for my keeper, I can think of nothing else but the scent of her blood from earlier.
She lied to us. I’m sure of it. That scent was all over her, lingering in her hair, taunting me as she brushed off any concern about her safety.
But something happened to make her bleed.
Setting down a vial of banshee tears, I rub my face. Blood fae are not vampires. We aren’t blessed with immortality or an array of heightened senses—except for the ability to perceive magic. We smell it, sense it, and crave the taste of it, which can only be found in magical bloodlines. Blood powers our magic, whether we drink it or infuse it into our spells. It’s what makes us the most powerful class of the fae.
I’ve never actively craved the scent of someone’s blood before.
But Maven’s…
My mouth waters and I suddenly feel feverish. My damn erection won’t go down.
Trying to refocus, I flip through the blood-stained grimoire on the table in front of me, my knee bouncing restlessly. The silence of my dorm stretches on, broken only by the grating ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
My breathing feels wrong. Too shallow. I straighten to try to inhale fully, but that’s when my eyes snag on the dark curtains covering my window. The way they’re bunched sends my pulse pounding behind my eyes. The ringing in my ears muffles every other sound as I get to my feet, clutching my bleeding crystal in my hand so hard that it pierces my palm as I move toward the curtain.
Anyone could be in here.
Watching. Laying in wait, the voices in my head whisper.
Logically, I know my dorm is the most secure place in Everbound. I went to exhausting lengths to ensure that before I enrolled. Thanks to my magic wards, no one but myself can be admitted to this room.
But right now, I’m not thinking straight. My curse hums in my veins, turning the air thick as sludge and stringing my muscles like a thread. My heart pounds painfully against my ribs.
Not safe, the voices chant. Not safe. Not safe. Not safe
?
—
Finally, I rip the curtain down and glower at the nothingness left behind. No one lays in wait with a knife intended for my back. Still, I scan the rest of the room, pushing my fingers through my hair and trying to steady my rapid breathing.
It’s getting worse. The end of next semester, when my quintet will be bound together to break our curses…it won’t come fast enough. I wonder which is worse, losing your sanity without knowing or being fully aware as you slip away piece by piece, as I am now.
The sound of dripping draws my attention to my hand, and I finally loosen my hold on the crystal so it stops drawing my blood. After a shuddering breath, I make a split decision and tuck the crystal back into my pocket before leaving my dorm room.
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.