Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
Blood would fix this. Blood fixes everything.
You need to strengthen yourself, my father agrees.
All the world knows what you turned yourself into for that Undead harlot—and now they’ll come for you. They’ll slaughter you in your sleep. You must prepare yourself to use blood magic!
I dig my fingers into my wet hair, trying to breathe as I glare at my own naked reflection in the hall bathroom mirror. My reflection smiles viciously back at me, making the sign with his hands that fae use to ward off evil intent.
The voices are right on one count. I need Maven’s blood.
I crave it so much that just thinking about it makes my teeth ache, eager for my fangs to descend.
But aside from the beguiling, incredible flavor, it soothes my curse and makes me ever so slightly less dangerous to my keeper. It’s nighttime now at Everbound, and we’re all exhausted from Crypt’s rescue mission that quickly turned into brutal, near-death public humiliation.
Not to mention, torture.
So much pain, the demons in my head agree with a shudder.
So much.
While the Frosts kept me separate from the others, they had a purple-haired fae caster practice “simple interrogation techniques” on me in one of the high-end hotel rooms. They were all amateur spells, and the caster herself was unimpressive at both attack and healing incantations. Still, although her techniques would have made the Garnet Wizard laugh in her face, it hurt enough to send the voices in my head into a tizzy of mad panic, dragging me under repeatedly.
I’m sure my blood blossom already suspects what they were doing to a necromancer like me. There’s no need to tell her about it when it would upset her.
And gods above, she’s already so upset.
Merely the thought of Maven holding back tears while Crypt suffered from his curse makes me groan in frustration, tearing at my hair once again. I loathe seeing my keeper unhappy, but I loathe how useless I am to her right now far more. If I were in my right mind, perhaps I could think of ways to lessen the others’ curses until we figure things out.
Figure things out, figure things out, figure things
?
—
“Shut up,” I tell the voices as I storm out of the bathroom and into Maven’s large, quintet-sized room.
She’s not in here, but Crypt is on the bed, freshly showered and dressed in his usual attire minus the leather jacket as his markings remain lit up. His face is pinched, but when he sees me, he snorts.
“Forget something, Crane?”
“
Reverium,” I blurt impatiently. “That helps your curse, so go and fucking get some. Don’t you see how iomadh thu—
much you are upsetting our keeper?” I correct, scowling.
Baelfire opens the door of the bathroom connected to Maven’s room, wearing nothing but a towel, his collar and leash, and shimmering green goo. He sees me and laughs.
“So what, did you finally decide shifters are right about clothes being stupid? Are we all going to start hanging out in our birthday suits from now on?”
I realize I’m stark naked, but I’m so worked up that I just snap, “At least I’m not covered in slime, you fucking slob.”
Crypt barely holds back laughter. “The necromancer’s right, Decimus. Back to the shower your slimy self goes.”
Damn it all. I grimace. “That’s in my head, isn’t it?”
“Whatever it is, yes,” Everett mutters, striding into the room in those ridiculous silk pajamas he always wears. He’s showered, as well, and looks exhausted, but he tenses when he looks around. “Where’s Maven?”
“She went to shower with you in your office,” I frown.
“She told me she would shower in here.” He swears, looking around for shoes as he’s clearly about to go look for her.
But there’s no need for him to go, because I hear Maven whisper from somewhere in this room. “You’re going to hurt me, Silas.”
“No, ima sangfluir,” I say quickly, which makes Everett pause as he realizes I’m talking to her. “I swear I won’t.”
My assurance is useless, and I know it. How could the words of a madman comfort anyone?
“You already hurt me before,” she points out. “I know you’ll do it again. It’s just a matter of time. Look—you’re about to hurt me right now!”
I turn to face where her frightened voice is coming from and—gods above, she looks terrified of me. I choke, staggering away and dragging Baelfire in front of me as the realization that I might hurt her cuts me to the bone.
“Stop me. Injure me if that’s what it takes.”
He’s puzzled, reaching up to tug at his collar absentmindedly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Injure me now so I don’t hurt ima thanafluir!” I shout, my panic mounting as my heart races.
Crypt’s markings have stopped glowing. He shrugs, sliding out of the quintet-sized bed. “Well, if he insists?—“
Baelfire casually shoves the incubus back onto the bed before folding his arms to face me. “Tempting, but Maven isn’t even in here right now, buddy.”
I check the spot where she just stood. Sure enough, there’s nothing.
“
Daingeath,” I mutter. “I’m fucking insane.”
Baelfire and Crypt both look amused, but when Everett catches my eye, it’s far worse.
It’s sympathy.
“Don’t pity me,” I warn him.
“Too late. I always have,” he says quietly, looking away.
Scowling, I regard the three of them. “If our keeper ever is in the room, and I pose a risk to her, do whatever it takes to keep her safe. If necessary, kill me.”
That sobers the other two before Crypt hums. “Our loon’s on the right track. From this point on, be it from ourselves or from something else, keeping Maven safe is what we do.”
Baelfire tugs his collar again. “Whatever it takes.”
“We won’t lose her again,” Everett agrees quietly.
All four of us grow silent, but there’s an understanding. It’s an unspoken thing between us, the four cursed fools who somehow fucked up so badly as a quintet that we lost our precious keeper. Whatever differences we’ve had in the past, and despite the curses now plaguing us, protecting Maven from any and every threat is more important than anything.
As if you are capable of protecting her, my father’s voice scoffs.
You don’t even know where she is.
I turn toward the door, batting several tiny floating cherubs out of my way. “I’ll find her. Baelfire, if you don’t go back to being a leash-chewing lizard-brained beast, scrounge up something for Maven to eat when I bring her back.”
“Who the hell put you in charge?” he scoffs.
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.