Filed To Story: Cursed Legacies Series Free PDF by Morgan B Lee
Turning, I come face to face with both Amelia Lykoudis and Harlow Carter. The two high-ranking legacies are eyeing me almost as intensely as they did on my first day at Everbound—only now, they’re not assessing how much of a threat I am. Instead, they’re studying me the way everyone else is starting to: like I’m some otherworldly being they’ve never seen before.
“Carter. Lykoudis,” Baelfire greets flatly with narrowed eyes, clearly not a fan of them.
Harlow’s previously colorful hair is now shorn completely, which is a damn good look on her. The tough legacy folds her arms, shaking her head at me with a grin. “Wow. You really put the bitch in obituary, don’t you?”
Ross chokes nearby like he thinks she just signed her death warrant. Baelfire snarls.
“I think that’s supposed to be a compliment,” I clarify quickly, holding up a hand to keep Crypt from stepping forward and ripping out her spine or whatever beautiful punishment he had in mind.
“It is,” Harlow agrees quickly, glancing at the Nightmare Prince with an appropriate amount of fear.
Amelia Lykoudis sniffs as she studies me. “You know, I lead the northeastern pack of wolf shifters now. After my dad was murdered, they put me in charge, even though I’m not a shifter. I’m the first non-shifter to be in their pack, let alone lead it. It’s a huge honor.”
“That’s nice.” I don’t know what else to say, because none of this is relevant to me.
“Funny thing about my father’s death, though. Turns out, someone ripped his heart straight out of his chest. Exactly the same way Iker Del Mar’s was ripped out and wound up all over the news. Got something to say to me?”
“Nothing you haven’t already figured out on your own.”
Amelia huffs. “I knew it. Listen, I don’t believe you’re a demigoddess. The ravens and coming back to life and weird shit you do—there has to be another dark, disturbing reason for all of it. A lot of Reformists here, including Harlow, say you started the Upheaval with good intentions—but guess what? A lot of people in this room and all over the world hate you for what you’ve done, and they always will.”
Let me rip her jealous, weak little psyche to pieces, love, Crypt pleads.
It will only take a moment.
His words trigger Silas to speak through the bond next.
Is someone bothering Maven?
My fae and Everett start scanning the room from where they stand, glowering when they see the people gathered around Baelfire, Crypt, and me.
I ignore my pissed-off matches and the way Ross and Harlow are glaring at Amelia as I regard her. “Good. I’m not here to make friends. My inner circle is overcrowded enough as it is.”
The next person to join this annoyingly close group gathering around me is Asher Douglas, who shoves Ross aside and starts shooing people away. “Hey. Commander Decimus is about to officially start the meeting. Get your asses into chairs and shut your faces.”
A couple of the people he’s shooing away don’t move at all as they continue to stare at him.
“You missed some,” I point out, gesturing toward them.
He looks where I’m pointing and then back at me like I just grew a second head. “What are you talking about? There’s no one there.”
Oh. “Never mind. Those are just the fresh ghosts.”
The expression of deeply disturbed incredulity that crosses the burly ginger’s face is a fantastic edition to my day as I walk away with my quintet members.
Old dining room tables and chairs have been moved to line the perimeter of the room, facing inward so everyone can see each other. As Reformists file to take their seats, Baelfire takes my hand and guides me through the chaos while Crypt glowers at anyone who gets close so they’ll give us space.
Soon, I sit on the same end of the room as Brigid Decimus and several other higher-ranked leaders. Everett sits on my left and takes my hand. Baelfire is on his other side, and Silas takes the chair to my right.
Crypt ignores his empty chair altogether and leans against a nearby wall to light a reverium cigarette.
No smoking inside, Everett says through the bond.
Crypt flips him off and exhales smoke.
Silas’s telepathic voice is distracted as he observes the room with careful calculation.
Let him. The injection didn’t work as well as I wanted.
I take it the injection is whatever he was working on for Crypt. The idea that it barely helped my incubus makes my heart throb unpleasantly in my chest, but I try to focus as Brigid Decimus finally stands and addresses the room.
For such a petite legacy, her presence is powerful. She has no problem commanding everyone’s attention.
“Reformists. We are entering the next, and hopefully the final, stage of defending the mortal realm from the Entity’s advances. Whether or not you fully appreciate everything my daughter-in-law has done for the Nether humans and the rest of the world, no one here can possibly argue with her abilities. Her very presence here was all it took for so many people to rally to the front lines. Now that she’s here, the rumors about why she has returned can end.”
She glances at me, offering the tiniest bit of a smile for encouragement. “Maven. The floor is yours.”
Dozens of pairs of eyes shift to me. I nod and stand, but pause.
Oh, gods.
What the fuck is happening in my chest? My heart is going berserk.
My heart might be broken, I inform my quintet.
You’re just nervous, Baelfire says, smiling reassuringly at me.
It’s normal because public speaking is a bag of ass. But you’ve got this, Raincloud.
I’m starting to really regret getting my heart put back since it won’t fucking calm down as I stand to look over the room. Everyone is expectant, fascinated, reverent, or even frightened as they watch me. A few look disgusted, like Amelia Lykoudis.
Several ghosts watch on, including the blue-haired ghost who is shaking her invisible ass at one of the good-looking ex bounty hunters in here.
My psychotic pulse slows ever so slightly when I see Kenzie waving at me from one of the chairs on the other end of the room. Her quintet is seated beside her, but so are a handful of legacies I don’t recognize.
She points at them and mouths,
My parents love you! Go Monk!
Someone clears their throat impatiently. Ignoring them, I finally address the room.
MAVEN
“You know why you’re here,” I tell the Reformists. “I’m not going to waste your time or lie to you. I came back to reunite with my quintet, but now it’s time to end Amadeus and remove his hold over the Nether.”
Reformists exchange whispered murmurs.
I go on. “You’re here because you want to help defend the mortal world. I’m not asking for anything more than that. Instead of just defending yourselves, we’ll launch an attack into the bounds of what used to be the Nether. It will be as bloody and death-filled as any other battle you’ve seen, but no worse than the future of the mortal world will be if we don’t stop Amadeus’s advances. And after everything this plane of existence has been through, it deserves peace.”
“Hasn’t the mortal world gone through so much because of you?” one of the legacies sitting near Amelia Lykoudis points out.
Baelfire growls quietly, as irritated as I’m sure the rest of my quintet is by that statement.
“Yeah—the reason we have to make a stand against the Entity at all is because you’re his scourge!” another one scoffs, shaking their head at me.
The blue-haired girl ghost flips them off, but I can’t help snorting. Their claim is fucking ironic now that I know I was literally designed to fix the problem they’re blaming me for.
“She thinks being the cause of all our problems is funny,” Amelia Lykoudis scowls.
“The cause of all your problems?” I repeat. I take a step forward to make this point loud and clear, looking at all the faces in this room. “Does anyone here seriously believe all the problems with legacies and humans started with me, a twenty-three-year-old you never even heard of until six months ago? Did you approve of the way the Legacy Council and Immortal Quintet ran things, treating legacies like second-class citizens who didn’t deserve a place in this world unless they were willing to lay down their lives at the Divide the second they graduated?”
A lot of the Reformists are shaking their head, proving my point. Even the legacies sitting near Amelia frown, paying more attention.
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.