Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
Everett starts to say something but cuts off when all of Crypt’s paler markings light up brightly. The incubus hisses in pain, staggering back from the door. I’m instantly at his side to help support him—and to stand in front of him since he’s still naked, and as much as I trust Kenzie, there’s no denying the Nightmare Prince’s body is pure eye candy.
“Those damned wisps,” Crypt rasps. His silver-flecked violet gaze settles on me, his jaw clenching. “Things are worse than we realized. Get your fae to safety, darling. I can follow after you once I’ve ensured those little bastards aren’t endangering you any further. I’ll be quick.”
I want to demand that we stick together, but seeing the pinch of pain on Crypt’s face reminds me that I have no right to be a possessive brat. He’s the steward of Limbo. If there’s turbulence there, it affects him.
When it comes to this, my hands are tied. And not in the fun way.
“You’ll be safe,” I amend firmly.
Crypt leans to kiss just behind my ear. “I’ll be anything you like, darling. Just get away safely for me.”
I loathe the emotions crawling up my throat, but I can’t help it. My quintet hasn’t had any time to recover from First Placement. They’re exhausted. The idea of them leaping back into trouble puts me on edge.
I can bounce back from a good fight. I was made to take hits and come back stronger.
But if they get hit hard, they won’t come back. Then I’d have no choice but to lose myself in vengeful fury, raining down hell on whoever took them away from me—and as fun as that latter part may sound in theory, my schedule is just way too fucking busy for another vendetta.
Crypt’s weight disappears as he moves into Limbo. I take a deep breath and turn back to the others.
“Everett, watch Baelfire’s back while he’s getting Silas to the catacombs.”
“I’ll be watching your back,” Everett insists. When he folds his arms, I see frost encompassing his skin just past his wrists. “Baelfire can protect Silas on his own, away from you.”
Gods, his bare upper half is so distracting.
Bael snorts. “At least you’re admitting how capable I am.”
“This isn’t about capability, Lizard Brain.”
“Yeah? Then what’s it about, Ice Prick?”
“It’s because you’re a godsdamned liability. Accident or not, the second you lose your temper—which is inevitable since you desperately need anger management training—you’ll fucking burn her to death,” Everett snaps, the temperature around us steadily dropping.
The dragon shifter snarls back, enraged now. Before it can come to blows, I shoot Kenzie a bear with me look and step between them.
“You’re both wasting time. Who’s the keeper here?”
Baelfire’s golden gaze drops to me. “You are, Mayflower, but?—“
“But fucking nothing. You two will work together to get Silas safely to the catacombs, and if I fall behind while I’m ripping out the hearts of anyone who gets in the way, leave me be because you’ll only be ruining my fun otherwise. Got it?” I look between them.
It’s like bartering with petulant toddlers. Neither is happy about it, but they don’t argue.
I turn to Luka and Kenzie. “Stick with them. I’ll follow behind you, but not too closely. If there’s more fighting, there’s a high chance I’ll start…you know.”
Kenzie’s eyes widen when she catches my meaning. When I told her all about what they turned me into, I explained the berserking. She knows that I’m not myself when I lose it in combat—I black out, driven by bloodlust and the monstrous urge to take life. I won’t be able to differentiate between friend or foe.
“Uh, no, I don’t fucking know,” Luka pipes up impatiently. “There’s no need for this stupid drama. Just stick with us, asscaster.”
Baelfire growls, but I speak to Luka in a saccharine voice. “If you don’t want drama, get a head start before I join the fray, or I may accidentally pull your spine out of your ass.”
“Fuck,” Luka shudders. “She’s scary sometimes.”
“Yes, yes she is,” Kenzie nods sagely, looking back at me. “Ready, May?”
“One moment,” Everett grumbles, going to get a shirt while Baelfire gets whatever he’ll need, plus Silas. I hurry to my room and grab the remaining nightshade root powder in its tiny bottle, a few more knives, an extra pair of gloves, two vials of kraken ink, and anything else I can reasonably stash in my pockets. When we reemerge, Kenzie sees Silas slung over Bael’s shoulder, dirty, unconscious, and drenched in feverish sweat. She catches my eye.
Is he okay? she mouths, brow furrowed.
I nod because I really fucking hope he’s fighting through the fever. As they move to leave the quintet apartment, possibly for the last time, Baelfire adjusts Silas on his shoulder and leans down to kiss the side of my neck, inhaling my scent.
“Be as safe as fucking possible, hellion. I know you love a good fight, but avoid one now if you can help it, okay? Please.”
His gravelly plea does me in. I’m such a sucker for him saying please for me.
But he’s right that I’m also a sucker for a good fight, and I doubt we’ll get out of here without some bloodshed. It’s deliciously unavoidable.
I kiss his cheek as reassurance. Once he steps away, I’m surprised when Everett leans down and pecks me right on the lips. It’s chaste and abrupt, mostly because he pulls back immediately. When I arch a brow, the professor blushes profusely.
“I just wanted… I’m still not used to…sorry,” he fumbles, adjusting his sleeve repeatedly.
Aww.
Kenzie also awws from the hallway, reminding me we have an audience and are on a time crunch. They leave the apartment. I watch my fae, who is fighting just to breathe, until they round a corner.
Then I stalk into Everbound Castle.
CRYPT
I slash through another wisp, but ten more pile onto my back and legs, their piranha-like teeth tearing into me. White-hot pain blooms all over as I send another wave of mania through Limbo to stun the rabid horde I’m battling.
I haven’t seen this many wisps in one place for quite some time, and they’re abnormally riled. They’re acting nearly as savage as shades, which I’m sure have also gathered in this part of Limbo to lay in wait for me.
That thought pisses me off further, and I was already in a rotten mood after learning that
Crane gets to whisper sweet nothings straight to my darling obsession’s pretty mind whenever he pleases.
I’ve never experienced jealousy, let alone to this degree.
It’s fucking unpleasant.
Still, at least one good thing came out of today: despite getting run through and the two full-blown heart attacks from practically losing my keeper twice within an hour, Somnus DeLune is finally, blessedly dead—and may he rot in eternal misery because that monster deserves no semblance of peace. Anything less than utter hell for him would be unacceptable.
Speaking of unacceptable things, Maven has been out of my sight for over thirty minutes.
I finish dispersing the remaining wisps and step into the mortal world to better survey my surroundings, ignoring the searing sensation in my limbs from switching planes. I’m in the grand entry hall of Everbound, where several legacy corpses lay. Bloodcurdling screams echo elsewhere in the castle, along with echoing shrieks that can only belong to shadow fiends. It sounds like several someones are getting brutally slaughtered.
From Limbo, I’ve observed the university go to shit. Whatever students survived First Placement are fleeing the school or fighting each other, more out of fear and confusion than for any other reason. The faculty is all but gone.
Lifting my sword arm, I watch my skin struggle and fail to close the thousands of tiny puncture wounds the riled wisps left behind. I’m not strong enough to heal at the moment. Although I grabbed a simple black T-shirt and jeans from the apartment before taking on the horde, everything is ripped to threads now.
Lucky for me, one of the nearby legacy corpses looks to be about my size. I only wish the poor sap was wearing a leather jacket when he bit the dust.
I’ve just dressed in the conveniently bloodstain-less clothes when the massive double doors of Everbound University burst open behind me, and a deafening snarl rips through the air. I drop into Limbo on instinct—which is fortunate because if I’d hesitated a moment longer, my head would have wound up down the throat of the massive hellhound that leaps through the air where I was just standing.
“Fuck. Pretty sure that was the Nightmare Prince,” a voice grits.
I turn to observe the newcomers, pocketing my sword, which has shrunk to a lighter once more. The one who just spoke is a redhead almost the size of Decimus. He has the Legacy
Council’s bounty hunter tattoo on his jugular, while the others have it visible on the backs of their hands. From the looks of determination and distaste on their faces, the guns they’re brandishing, and the trained hellhounds prowling into the room, it’s clear they’re not here for an alumni reunion.
One of the bounty hunters glances at the redhead. “You must’ve imagined it. Why the hell would the Nightmare Prince be here?”
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.