Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
Wait. Did Everett just insinuate that he’s…falling in love with me?
I stare at him, unable to process that. The others have said they want me, crave me, need me…all of that, I can approach practically or at least from a carnal standpoint, and it makes sense.
But this? I’m lost. I’m too fucked up to know what to do with tender, romantic feelings.
Growing up as an isolated, experimental living weapon, I never showed my true feelings to anyone but Lillian. Sometime after I turned sixteen, Gideon started saying he loved me whenever he got the chance. I brushed it off for months since it didn’t seem relevant, but he grew more aggressive and frustrated, claiming I was his reason for living and he would end himself if I didn’t say I loved him back. Of the thirteen kids taken from the mortal realm, he was my only friend. I cared for him, so I finally gave in and said I loved him, too.
That lie tasted like shit.
Honestly, the idea of love puts me on edge. It’s too vague, too soft. It brings to mind flowery nonsense, empty promises, sweet nothings, and other useless bullshit.
Obsession, on the other hand? That’s dark and twisted. It’s real. I’m much more comfortable getting unhealthily obsessed or borderline manic over someone else. Anything but falling for them.
That sounds awful.
“Why does she look like a deer caught in headlights?” Crypt asks, stopping beside Everett and me with his hands tucked in his leather pockets. He hasn’t bothered removing it for training practice, probably because we’ve done very little actual training today.
His words make me realize I’ve been staring wide-eyed at Everett for too long. I quickly look away and clear my throat, noticing that Silas and Baelfire are watching, too. I’m tabling this topic with Everett because there are only two hours before curfew, and I want time after this to stop by Kenzie’s apartment.
“One more round. Then we’ll call it.”
“Thank gods,” Baelfire groans. “I’m starving. Hurry up and let her beat you like a drum, Si.”
But when Silas takes his turn opposite me on the mat, he looks more focused than he did earlier, determination making his handsome features more severe. “If I beat you, will you truly tell us what you are, sangfluir?”
“Cross my absent heart.”
That makes Crypt snort. Everett pipes up from the side of the room, folding his arms as he narrows his eyes at me.
“Will you be evasive about it, or can I expect an actual answer from you this time?”
Testy, testy. Obviously, he doesn’t like that I’ve sidestepped his questions yet again.
“Win, and I’ll tell you what I am, all about my magic, and the handful of ways I can actually die.”
That makes all of them gawk at me. Although, that could also be because I finally strip off my top baggy shirt, leaving me in nothing but an exercise bra and pants. I haven’t broken a sweat today, but the way they all devour my appearance as if I’m posing in lingerie makes me suddenly feel flushed.
“Nothing you haven’t all seen before,” I remind them brusquely, folding my arms to cover any hints of the ragged scar on my chest that I’m still iffy about showing. “Let’s do this.”
“Hang on,” Everett mutters, waving Silas over.
I raise a brow when they convene—all four of them. It’s practically a huddle, and that makes me grin. Are they going to try teaming up against me? That could be entertaining.
My smile widens when they prove me right, all moving to the mat and surrounding me in a circle. “Disregarding the rules, I see.”
“What rules?” Silas counters. “You only said to keep it strictly combat.”
“Fair enough. I’m going to enjoy taking you all on at once.”
Baelfire winks. “Yeah, you will. But as fucking hot as that’ll be when it happens, you should get your mind out of the gutter and focus, Raincloud.”
The gutter? How was I…
Oh, I see. Double entendre. Took me long enough.
Silas launches toward me first, and just like that, my senses sharpen into needle points. I block his attempt to grapple me and sidestep Everett, twisting around Baelfire when he makes the next move. It’s adorable that they want to fight me all at once, but without the cohesion that I’m trying to teach them so they can move as a team, they’re even sloppier than usual.
But they also seem ten times more motivated than usual.
Soon, all of my dodging, blocking, and ducking grows old. I kick my leg out to tag Everett. He sees it coming and changes direction but crashes into Baelfire, who swears viciously. I can tell Silas is about to attack my other side, yet I’m thrown off for a fraction of a second because…where did Crypt go?
Too late, I realize he’s tripping me from behind, working in tandem with Silas until suddenly, I’m pinned beneath the blood fae. He grins victoriously down at me, his red irises bright with excitement as he leans down to brush a kiss against the side of my neck.
That sends a shudder through me. We’re both breathing hard, and suddenly, my body is hyper-aware of the way he’s pinning both my wrists over my head as he straddles me. Gods, why does he have to be so handsome? Especially all worked up like this, his chest heaving and the veins bulging in his arms as they flex above me…
Baelfire chuckles darkly beside us, no doubt scenting my arousal. “On second thought, dinner can wait. Our keeper wants something else.”
Silas hums in agreement. “And then we’ll get our other prize.”
I quirk a brow. “You didn’t win the other prize.”
Everett scowls, brushing off his hands as he gets up from the mat. “You’re literally pinned. We won.”
Well, if they’re willing to fight dirty, so am I. So I lean up to lightly bite Silas’s throat, not even drawing blood. When he startles, I take advantage of his moment of surprise. Tucking my elbows down in a sharp movement to break out of his hold, I simultaneously thrust my hips upward. When Silas falls forward, trying to catch himself, I twist and dig a savage elbow into his gut, making him drop to one side.
From there, it’s child’s play to pin him down. I smirk when he scowls.
“No dice. Crypt slipped into Limbo to trip me, and that’s how you took me down. He broke the rules, so it doesn’t count.”
Crypt stands with his hands laced behind his head like he has no care in the world. When the rest of them shoot him murderous looks, realizing I’m right, he grins unapologetically.
“We didn’t agree with that,” Everett huffs. “He acted out of line, but that should still count.”
“Popsicle Prick is right for once,” Baelfire nods, ignoring how Everett looks like he wants to freeze his head off. “We’ve been training our asses off. Crypt was a dick all on his own, as usual, but the rest of us gave it our best. Can’t that count for something, baby?”
I release Silas and stand, shrugging back into my baggy shirt, which earns a surprisingly heavy sigh from Everett.
“I’ll catch up with you guys later. I have plans to visit Kenzie,” I inform them.
Silas gets up. “We’ll walk you there.”
Usually, I would protest, but considering the current mental state of my quintet and how they’re all looking at me like they’ll murder even a fly for daring to land near me, I decide it’s more time-efficient to just go along with it.
And if I’m candid with myself…I don’t mind that they’re so protective of me.
Aside from occasional help from Lillian or Gideon, I’ve been watching my own back my entire life. I can handle shit, but it turns out I kind of like how these four gorgeous legacies flank my sides and guard my every move.
When Kenzie opens the door of her apartment, she grins. “Awe, they all escorted you here? That’s so freaking cute! I mean, it’s also probably necessary because I totally saw two legacies killed when they weren’t watching their backs during class today, which was awful, but I mean—still. So cute. Hey, have you guys taken a picture of the Oakley quintet all together yet? You should! Hang on, I’ll grab my phone.”
Everett turns and storms away before she can even think about getting a picture. Crypt vanishes, probably to stand guard outside this door until I come back out. Silas eyes Dirk suspiciously through the doorway, but Baelfire brushes off the offer for a picture and turns on his typical charm that’s been missing for days to ask Kenzie how she’s feeling and how their quintet classes have been.
They chat briefly about a shifter professor who apparently went missing in Everbound Forest before Baelfire and Silas leave so I can follow Kenzie into her room. Like mine, it’s the largest room in her quintet apartment. I guess that’s a keeper thing.
She rushes to shove a couple of what I assume are sex toys under the bed and then hops onto it with a wide grin. Her hair is in a messy bun that’s almost the size of her head, thanks to all the curls.
“Oh my gods
! I didn’t want to say anything out there, but is Professor Frost, like…
with you now? I mean, obviously, he was always in your quintet, but he was all standoffish and uninvolved, wasn’t he? But I saw the way he was looking at you earlier in the library, and holy wow. That is dead-ass, the exact kind of pining, starry-eyed, melt-your-panties hero stare that love interests always have in romance movies when they secretly can’t live without the heroine. So, did you finally get to sample Frost’s popsicle, or what?”
Gods. She said all of that in under twenty seconds. Her lungs are beyond impressive.
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.