Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
“Maven,” my mom says, interrupting our telepathic exchange as she disengages from the Decimus family huddle and approaches my gorgeous mate.
My mom is ten times more observant and intuitive than I ever hope to be, so I’m not surprised when she doesn’t try to hug Maven. She must have picked up on how uncomfortable it made my mate the last time they met.
Still, I can tell my keeper is trying to hide her nervousness as the rest of my family’s attention moves from me to the demigoddess in the room. I really have no fucking idea how they’ll react to her half-divine status, but luckily the ice is broken when Cace gets an eyeful of Everett’s face for the first time.
“Holy shit, would you look at that!”
Quinn sees it, too, and gasps. “Oh, no! The old geezer man hurt his face.”
Silas coughs to try hiding his laughter.
Everett sighs as he speaks telepathically.
I forgot that big mouths run in your family.
Crypt is the one who taught her that, I point out.
My mom shoots Cace and Quinn a look that shuts them up before she turns back to Everett, tapping the edge of her eyepatch. “Ignore them. I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again—battle scars are a privilege. They’re permanent trophies for proving ourselves and surviving shit we never thought we could survive.”
“Plus, it’s sexy,” Maven adds without missing a beat.
I grin. That’s my mate. I can’t tell if her playfulness makes me want to kiss her or bite her hard enough to leave another mark showing the entire world how much she’s mine.
Several of my family members burst into surprised laughter at her unabashed statement while Everett turns bright red. Quinn turns to ask one of Cace’s quintet members why a scar is sexy, which just makes more of them laugh. The nervous tension of how my family will handle Maven being a demigoddess is long gone. I breathe out in relief when I see my mother smiling at my mate with nothing short of pure pride and motherly affection.
“I didn’t say it wasn’t dope-looking,” Cace chuckles, turning back to Everett. “I was just surprised, since your family’s so big on image and since…well, you know. You’re a Frost.”
Everett glances at Maven, still red-faced as he speaks telepathically.
Not for long.
That piques Crypt’s interest. Are we taking Maven’s last name?
I am. Get your own thing,
Everett scowls.
Cace must think Everett is scowling at him, because he starts apologizing again and quickly makes it worse as he compares Everett’s scar to a scrape from silver he once got on his ass.
“Careful or Snowflake will freeze you and add you to his collection,” I warn Cace.
Declan slaps my shoulder good-naturedly as he lowers his voice. “Careful, or I’ll have to remind you that you should’ve taken a long, thorough shower. Some of us are shifters, Bael.”
Oh. Shit. He means he can scent what Maven and I were up to before this, and most likely so can my parents.
I’m pretty sure I’m blushing as hard as Everett now.
MAVEN
My quintet and the Decimus family walk together through the halls toward the castle’s main dining hall, where we decided to hold the Reformist meeting since apparently it will be a pretty large group.
Unreaped ghosts trail through the halls with us, including the blue-haired young woman who waves at me again before she passes through one of Baelfire’s unwitting fathers. Silas sees it, though, and mutters something about ghosts in fae.
Baelfire’s brother, Cace, catches up to glance sideways at me. “So, you’re like…an actual demigoddess? Half god, half human?”
“Yes.”
“And the
Syntyche is your mother?”
“I’ll introduce you, if you want.”
He recoils and falls back to walk with the rest of the Decimuses, which makes Silas laugh darkly from where he walks on my left side.
“Finally, a fitting reaction,” the fae murmurs. “With all due respect, your mother is acutely terrifying.”
“Thanks.”
Meanwhile, Baelfire is laughing and chatting with his family as they stroll behind us. The last few months have affected him a lot, but I’m happy to hear my sexy dragon shifter sounding almost as cheerful as he used to be.
Just as we approach the double doors of the dining hall, Kenzie and her quintet turn into this hallway from another corridor. Kenzie spots me and squeals as she hurries to my side, gearing up for a hug. I brace myself, because she’s one of the very few outside my quintet whom I would like to grow accustomed to affection from?—
But Everett steps in front of me to act as a shield at the last moment.
“Mind her boundaries,” he firmly reminds the lioness shifter.
As far as shifters go, Kenzie is fairly good at controlling her intense, swinging emotions most of the time—which is why I startle when she loses her temper and snarls loudly at him.
“I’ve been worried out of my fucking mind about my best friend, so get your bossy, frozen, scarred ass out of my way!” she hisses, baring her teeth.
Whoa.
Ghosts scatter nearby, speaking in hushed, unintelligible tones like they don’t want to be too close to the angry shifter. I quickly check to make sure her pupils are round and I’m not dealing with another changeling Kenzie—but no, this is her.
“Hey.” Baelfire slows his stride, stopping beside the rest of us to address Kenzie as the rest of the Decimus family goes into the dining hall ahead of us. “What’d Snowflake do to piss you off?”
The rest of my quintet is just as baffled as they face the Baird quintet. Vivienne takes one of Kenzie’s hands, rubbing the back of it soothingly.
The typically bubbly lion shifter grimaces as she realizes we’re all confused about her strong reaction. “Gods, I’m so fucking sorry, Everett—I shouldn’t have gone off on you like that. That’s embarrassing. Feel free to bury me in snow or something.”
She’s so contrite that my testy elemental brushes off the interaction as he glances down at me. “I’ll be inside organizing the chaos for you.”
I nod.
Thanks.
Silas kisses my cheek as he goes in ahead of me, too, sidestepping several ghosts drifting through the vaulted hallway.
Baelfire and Crypt remain out here with me. Dirk strikes up a conversation with Baelfire, and Vivienne pretends to tune in. My Nightmare Prince slips easily into Limbo to give Kenzie and me the illusion of privacy, even though I can clearly sense him standing beside us.
Since Kenzie’s quintet has also given us a tiny semblance of privacy, she gives me a sheepish smile. “Sorry again about that. And gods, I’m so fucking sorry I haven’t been here more—I’ve just been going through something huge and unexpected. I know you were asleep for a couple of days, and I heard that there was a whole thing with those weird cultist people camping outside, but…fuck, May, I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA. I just barely got you back, and we’ve barely had time to talk. I’m like, the worst best friend ever—you’re even rebonded to your guys and everything! I missed it,” she huffs, getting teary-eyed out of nowhere.
Okay, I’m missing something. What the hell is up with her crying so much more than usual?
I note the way her quintet members keep obsessively glancing at her like they’re making sure she’s okay. It’s normal for quintets to become highly possessive and protective of their keeper, but Kenzie isn’t made of glass. There’s no reason they’d be so worried about her, unless…
When I look at Kenzie again, it hits me hard.
Oh, shit.
“You’re pregnant.”
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.