Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
“I slept in his bed,” I admit.
“And?”
“And we didn’t fuck, so don’t get too excited.”
Kenzie pouts. “Monk.”
“Slut.”
“Guilty as charged,” she nods and then sobers a little. “So, you talked with Harlow Carter earlier. Did it have anything to do with…you know. The changeling and yours truly?”
I suppose now is as good a time as any to ask her about this. “It did. She mentioned your families are both involved in the anti-legacy movement but on opposite sides. Her parents are Remitters who think all legacies should return to the Nether, so I want to know. What does your family do in the movement, and why didn’t you tell me about it sooner?”
Kenzie stares at me wide-eyed. “Whoa. Hang on. My family is part of the anti-legacy movement?”
Shit. I forgot about her memory loss. She doesn’t remember anything from before the past year or so.
“Forget I asked,” I say quickly.
But she’s in full-blown spiral mode now. “Holy shit. Holy shit, May—they might be. They’re way friendlier with humans than most legacies because they work in human relations, but last summer, I noticed that they were going to meetings at weird times and were constantly calling unmarked numbers and…oh my gods. They even talked shit about the Immortal Quintet. They don’t like how things are run—maybe they never did, but I don’t remember. I—I kind of don’t even remember who I am anymore, much less anything about my family, and…”
She covers her face as emotion overwhelms her, and I once again wish I had killed that changeling far slower. My drama with my quintet members cut that pleasure short.
“You’ll learn more about your past when you visit your family for the holidays,” I offer gently. “Rediscovering your past will help you discover any missing pieces about yourself.”
Kenzie nods, wiping at her face. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Gods, I was really looking forward to taking my quintet home to meet my family. I was calling my moms about them all the time and making plans. Fuck the Immortal Quintet for canceling that,” she huffs.
Then she pales and looks at me.
“Oh. Um…you’re not a fan of the Immortal Quintet, are you? It’d be pretty awkward if you were after I said that.”
I smile grimly. “Not even slightly.”
“Oh, good! Because the way they’re running Everbound right now is fucking insane. Right? Like, no contact with the outside world? No fucking
WiFi? And the faculty isn’t even allowed to send out student death notices to their families. This is all giving me the willies. What even is going on?”
I hesitate and then look at her thoughtfully. “You’re good at keeping secrets.”
“Unless it’s a surprise party, yes. Why?”
“The changeling killed Headmaster Hearst.”
Her eyes bug out.
“What? But he’s supposed to be unkillable! How is it more people aren’t talking about this?”
“No one but myself and my quintet know, but that’s why the Immortal Quintet came here. Don’t tell anyone else.”
She blinks. “Oh. Okay. Wait, but how did you find out?”
I almost give her a non-answer but I pause and consider my options. I’ve decided to fight for my quintet and spill my secrets to them, but I’ve known Kenzie longer. She’s been so patient with me, and she deserves answers. I still can’t say she’s my friend out loud, but I seriously don’t know what I would have done without her when I first came to Everbound.
She said I could trust her, and all my instincts say that’s true—even if she decides she hates me for who I am.
There’s only one way to find out.
After double-checking to make sure the rest of her quintet can’t overhear us, I brace myself for the worst and spill my guts. I tell Kenzie everything. How I was brought to the Nether as a toddler, was raised fighting for my life to become Amadeus’s weapon, was experimented on by necromancers until they turned me into exactly what they wanted, and was sent into the mortal realm weeks ago on a mission to slowly kill off the Immortal Quintet.
Hence why I ended up in Hearst’s office when he was murdered.
I don’t go into detail. I also leave out that the only thing keeping me “alive” is the shadow heart that Amadeus crafted, pulsing steadily with untraceable magic within my scarred chest.
And when it’s all said and done, I wait.
Kenzie stares at me for a long time, and then, to my horror, her eyes fill with tears.
“Oh my gods, Maven.”
Is she disgusted by me? Afraid? I shuffle and straighten the gloves on my hands, worried that I’m about to lose her for good.
But then she wraps me in a gentle hug, careful to only touch my clothes. “I figured you came from a tough background, but…that sounds like it was beyond brutal. Most people would never believe that someone could survive there, let alone be raised there, but…oh my gods, I can’t even imagine what you’ve been through.”
Something about her tone of voice is exactly like Lillian’s. I miss her so fucking much, and I’m mortified when my eyes start to well with hot moisture. I close them and clear my throat.
“It doesn’t matter. I survived.”
“Don’t you dare minimize your own trauma. If you ever want to heal from it, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.”
I sincerely doubt there will be any healing in my future. But I say nothing because my emotions are too out of control, and even if I trust Kenzie, I’m not about to fucking cry in front of someone else.
Finally, she pulls back so I can see the warm, honest affection on her face. “Do your guys know?”
“Yes.”
She nods. “And they’re still obsessed with you. Good. If they’d changed their minds or had a problem because of something so wildly out of your control, I would have clawed their eyes out.”
The mental image of Kenzie trying to scratch any of their eyes out makes me snort. “I would pay to see that.”
“So…what happens after?” she asks, frowning.
“What do you mean?”
“Once you get rid of those immortal fucking jerks who are letting Everbound cannibalize itself. If you were trained to be a weapon and you finish your mission to get rid of them, what happens after that?”
I look away. Kenzie found the key question there, the one that not even my quintet has thought to ask. And there’s no way I’m giving her the answer. It’s too bleak.
“After that, I guess we all live happily ever after.”
She squints. “You’re deflecting.”
“I’ve overshared enough as it is.”
Kenzie snorts. “You, overshare? As if that’s even possible.” But then she smiles. “So…you’re not trying to make your guys hate you anymore, right?”
“Right.”
She elbows me, waggling her brows. “So maybe the gods were right about them being perfectly matched to your soul, huh?”
I know what she’s after. She pushed so hard for me to just give in to my matches, and now she wants me to confess she was right. She’s looking for a sickly-sweet confession of how swept away I’ve been.
“They’re gorgeous idiots. But now they’re my gorgeous idiots.” I hesitate and then clear my throat. “I have a question for you. Several questions, actually.”
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.