Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
I’ll bet it did. At what point will the Immortal Quintet give up all pretenses and start killing legacies left and right while they look for their mage’s murderer? They’re fucking tyrannical, and it reminds me too much of Amadeus.
“As unwise as canoodling?” Baelfire suggests, earning an elbow to the side from me, which only makes him grin.
Great. Now he’s going to keep tormenting me with that stupid word, isn’t he?
If the Immortal Quintet is forcing everyone to stay in the dining hall, I assume it’s either to keep us away from something else shady happening within Everbound Castle. That, or they want to sift through students there more effectively.
There’s only one way to find out.
When we reach the crowded dining hall, a veritable feast is laid out on individual tables already set with plates, eating utensils, and napkins. Legacies eat and chat in groups, sticking to their quintets or those they have agreed-upon allegiances with. It takes me less than ten seconds to pinpoint Kenzie’s pale corkscrew curls.
When my quintet and I sit at the table with Kenzie’s group, she leans forward with large, animated blue eyes.
“Okay, this is so fucking weird. What do you think is going on?”
“Perhaps they’re trying to distract us,” I mutter, reaching for an odd-shaped food item on the platter at the center of the table.
“Oakley, wait. That dumpling has meat in it,” Everett cautions. “Try this spring roll instead.”
He sets two rolls on my plate and begins picking other non-meat things out for me to try, arranging everything meticulously and even pouring a glass of some kind of juice for me. When he realizes I’m side-eying him, and so is most of our little table, his cheeks pinken. He clears his throat, standing and adjusting his blazer three times in a row.
“I’ll talk to other faculty members to figure out what’s happening.”
As soon as he leaves, Baelfire shakes his head. “Poor Frozen Blue Balls.”
That makes Kenzie choke on the water she’s drinking, spraying some of it on the table. Vivienne pats her back, looking concerned. Luka gives Baelfire a dirty look as he sips on a blood bag, but then he squints across the table at me.
“What exactly do you think they’re trying to distract us from, Mable?”
“Maven,” Kenzie corrects, looking at me supplicantly. “I promise he doesn’t mean to be a jerk.”
I believe her. It comes naturally to some people and apparently to most vampires.
“Right, Maven. Sorry,” Luka grumbles.
I shrug in reply before digging into the food Everett got for me, quickly finding that there’s not a single thing on my plate that I don’t like. I’ve been getting hungrier more often now that my quintet members have started introducing me to new foods they think I’ll enjoy.
Turns out, food can be enjoyable instead of just for function. Who fucking knew?
From a table across the room, I spot Amelia Lykoudis staring longingly at the back of Silas’s head. When she sees me looking, she glares fiercely.
Too bad, Angry Girl. He’s mine now.
Typically, I’d flip her off, but I still feel kind of bad about the fact that she doesn’t know her dad is dead yet. Or that I assassinated him.
Speaking of assassinations, Harlow dropped off the liquid bronze just before curfew set in last night. Which means I need to start crafting it into the bronzeblend spell I intend to use while killing off Somnus DeLune once I find a chance to isolate him.
I’m drawn out of my homicidal scheming when I sense Crypt’s presence a second before he ripples into existence on the bench beside me. His sudden appearance makes Luka flinch and Vivienne yelp.
I quickly scan Crypt for any signs that he was hurt while tending to Limbo, but he winks and leans forward to kiss the tip of my nose.
“All’s well, love.”
“I doubt that. The Immortal Quintet has us corralled in here.”
He hums. “I overheard them. This is merely an extra precaution while their hired casters adjust the wards to set something up for First Placement in the forest.”
Dirk grunts at the end of the table, absentmindedly scratching his elbow. “That’s a relief. Not to get into politics or anything, but I was worried they were keeping us here because of another anti-legacy thing like those burning pyres.”
“Unfortunately not,” I sigh. Those burning pyres were less of an issue than I expect First Placement will be under the direction of the Immortal Quintet.
Dirk guffaws. “Damn, Maven! Have a heart.”
A laugh rips from my mouth. It makes Vivienne and Luka jump, and they both look mildly concerned to see me laugh for the first time. Silas and Crypt are both fighting dark smiles of their own, and Baelfire just shakes his head at me, sighing, “Fucking morbid as fuck.”
“Inside joke,” I explain to Dirk.
The lunch break goes on, and I listen to Baelfire make effortless conversation with Kenzie and her quintet while I eat. Even though I notice him tug at his collar and occasionally wince like his dragon is bothering him, he still comes across as a charming social butterfly. Even Silas makes small talk with Luka when he isn’t zoning out and spinning his bleeding crystal on the table.
Even after weeks of being here, it’s strange to me how easily people converse. They just open their mouths and chat like it’s second nature. I rarely spoke at all for most of my childhood, and the conversations I did have with other people as I got older mainly consisted of threats or warnings. I suppose that impacted my social development.
Except for with Lillian, of course. Gods, I miss her. If only there were a way to contact her directly in the Nether.
Crypt studies me and leans close to talk so we won’t be overheard. “Something wrong, darling? You look unhappy.”
I quickly compose my expression and stab at the remaining bits on my plate with my fork. “It’s nothi?—“
He tips my chin toward him, his silver-speckled violet gaze filled with warning. “None of that. Tell me.”
It’s odd, but his touch on my face doesn’t send any pang of alarm through my body. It’s just a warm, pleasant touch.
Perhaps my haphephobia is making progress.
“Just missing someone,” I mumble, feeling weak for admitting it.
“Who?”
“Lillian. She was my caretaker. She…kept me sane.”
She did a hell of a lot more than that. Lillian was my teacher, guardian, confidante, and the only person I had in my life for a long time. Amadeus put her in charge of my upbringing when I turned five years old, and she was the only stable thing I had to anchor myself to. Without her, I would never have made it this far.
Not seeing her these last few weeks has been weird as fuck. I worry about her, especially because Amadeus knows he can use her to threaten me.
Crypt starts to say something, but a sudden burst of splitting pain in the center of my chest makes me choke, squeezing my eyes shut as I grip the edge of the table. I try to keep myself composed, but I can barely breathe as the familiar agony starts to expand in my chest.
Fuck.
Horrible timing, as usual.
But unlike usual, I’m not dealing with this alone. A warm, gentle hand squeezes my thigh.
“Crane,” Crypt rasps. “Get her out of here while we create a diversion. Come on, dragon.”
“On it.”
“Maven?” Kenzie says, worry coloring her tone. “Is she okay? What’s going on?”
What’s going on is that my insides are imploding, and oxygen has ceased to exist.
I’m abruptly in someone’s arms. Blinking my eyes open, I can vaguely make out that Silas has me in his lap, his jaw clenched tightly as he appears to be waiting for something.
“May, are you?—“
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.