House of Mages and Raven (Shades of Ruin and Magic #4)

Chapter 3

3

Barbie

A s soon as I slid out of the room, Archer, one of the elite guards, stepped up and blocked me in the middle of the hallway.

This entire floor belonged to Killian, except for the Queen’s Suite, which had been vacated for centuries since the passing of the first queen of the Chaos Kingdom. Well, that was what Cami had told me.

Only Killian’s inner circle was allowed to enter this level. I lived one floor down in Cami’s suite, but now my room was even fancier than Cami’s, since the house magic had expanded the space and carted furniture and other nice stuff that belonged to other house members to my room. If they knew, they’d come for my blood.

I was every monster’s favorite. I was also every house magic’s beloved.

The Queen’s Suite gave me the creeps. I wondered if anyone else could hear the voices inside. They talked to me, whispered my name, chanted the stupid prophecy every time I passed by the door.

“Scorpion, you leaving?” Archer asked, his green eyes regarding me. The warrior didn’t have Rock’s bulky muscles. He was more of the pretty-boy type.

I scowled at him, as I was in a terrible mood—part of the reason was Killian had rushed off to meet with his betrothed before I had my second orgasm, and I was worried sick at the prospect of being ratted out by the oracle. Anxiety was like a living thing gnawing my insides.

“Don’t call me scorpion,” I said. “I don’t want you to ruin my reputation, Archer.”

“What about underdog scorpion?” he teased. “Anyway, you shouldn’t leave.”

Killian’s inner circle now looked at me differently since I’d foolishly established myself as the other woman by sleeping with their boss. However, from the degree of respect they showed me, I’d almost managed to kid myself that Queen Lilith was the other woman who had poached my man. I had many vices, but I wasn’t delusional.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Since when am I a prisoner?”

“You’re not, and you know that,” he said. “But when His Highness returns, he might get upset if you aren’t here.”

“Prince Killian might get upset, you say?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Archer confirmed. “If you aren’t here when he comes back.”

“Too bad if he gets upset,” I said. “But I’m not his kept woman. Never will be. I come and go as I like. And you’d better remove your heavy self. You are taking up too much space in my path.”

“Or what?” He towered over me and smirked. “I’m not heavy. Feel free to check with other ladies and they’ll tell you how popular I am. I can’t just let you leave like that. His Highness ordered me to guard you, and I take my charge seriously. So stop being difficult, Barbie.”

“Difficult is my other middle name,” I said. “I don’t even need to lift a finger against you, and you’ll gladly step aside.”

He waggled his brows as if this was a fun game.

“Pucker!” I called.

My ghost familiar couldn’t get into Killian’s warded penthouse, but he had no issue getting into the hallway.

Pucker materialized beside Archer, giving him an appreciative once-over and grinning. “Miss me?”

Archer cursed and leapt back while summoning his chakram.

I shook my head at the pretty warrior. “You don’t want to throw it at Guardian Pucker. It will pass right through him, and then you’ll piss him off. He’ll then have more excuses to pay you nightly visits.”

Archer’s knuckles went white on the chakram, but he took my advice and refrained from tossing it at the ghost guardian of the house.

“Fuck!” Archer said, his face grim. “Rock mentioned it. This business of leeching energy from the living must stop!” Pucker and I just stared at him while he threw a fit. “It cannot continue. There’s already paranoia in the house because of it.”

“Let’s try not to be judgmental, shall we?” I offered.

I strolled past Archer, since he was putting plenty of space between Pucker and him. Everyone was afraid of ghosts. I rushed along the lengthy corridor. Pucker flickered back into his phantom form and hurried after me. With a string of new curses, Archer trailed after me as well.

I couldn’t afford to let the oracle see me. I needed to rush back to my room and then sneak out. Sy could jump from the window on the sixth floor and vanish from sight.

Sy perked up at my exit plan. Message my sugar Rowan to meet me .

The Queen’s Suite loomed ahead on the left of the corridor.

“The Queen’s Suite is reserved for Prince Killian’s true mate, which is Queen Lilith, of course,” Cami had said.

But the house magic had wanted me to dwell there.

My pulse spiked as I drew near the red door of the suite.

Barbie! Inhuman voices reached out to me from behind the sealed door. Come to us!

I froze.

Did you hear that, Pucker? I asked. Am I crazy hearing voices in my head?

Pucker flickered into solid form and stared at the red door. “You aren’t crazy, Barbie.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Archer asked. “I don’t like being kept in the dark.”

The blessed and the cursed. The Wheels of the Fates are turning, the voice flowed. Mist reveals. Ruin comes. Heartbreak and betrayal. Darkness within light and light within darkness. Beware of…

“Not this shit again.” I whizzed past the red door toward the stairs.

“Wait, Barbie, wait!” Pucker gave chase in his phantom form and caught up with me. They’re speaking of you. Let’s go back to hear it all. I’m a sucker for prophecy.

I ain’t going back there. I leapt two to three steps at a time down the stairs. Why don’t you go and get the intel for me? You’re already dead, so they can’t hurt you much.

That’s a callous thing to say, Pucker chided me, following me closely.

They’re ghosts, aren’t they? So they should tell you things, since you’re their pal.

They aren’t ghosts, Pucker snapped. They’re more like a kinetic energy force. I don’t know what exactly they are, and I’m not keen to find out about them all by myself. I’m a lover, not a soldier.

I reached the floor beneath and rushed toward Cami’s suite.

You claimed to be a clairvoyant before your faceless foe offed you, I said. Why don’t you pick up your old career and do something useful other than feeding on the living and sipping my energy like it’s a cocktail?

Now I’m getting depressed, he said. For your information, two rooms in the house are off-limits to me, even as a guardian. One is Prince Killian’s penthouse, the other the Queen’s Suite. I never heard a damn voice behind that red door until you joined the house.

Now it’s my fault? I sneered.

The main door to Cami’s suite recognized my signature and opened for me automatically. I jogged through the drawing room, then the archway, and came to a stop at my room. The pale blue door flew open. Before I entered, Pucker dove in and flung himself onto my bed with his leather shoes on. He went solid and pulled a rolled weed joint out of his pocket. He inserted the joint between his lips, lit it, inhaled in satisfaction, and puffed out a perfect ring.

You need to go spy on Killian and his girlfriend, I said, pursing my lips. You can smoke in my bed after you come back.

You want me to check if he’ll stay faithful to you? Pucker asked. I don’t think he’ll fuck her after he fucked you. Don’t always think the worst of people, Barbie.

My hackles rose, my eyes on fire. Way to mince your words, Pucker. It’s been on my mind for a while to talk to you about it. You can’t just let whatever goes through your head come right out of your mouth. You gotta learn to have a filter and consider others’ feelings.

He blinked. You want me to lie?

“What the fuck?” Archer’s voice boomed behind me. “How come your room is three times bigger now?”

He thrust a big finger into my room, his moss green eyes accusing. I was so furious at Pucker for his lack of sensitivity that I’d forgotten to close my door, and now the guard peered into my space.

The house magic had done a complete renovation, including replacing the outer wall with a floor-to-ceiling French door and window, so Sy could leave through the door to avoid being discovered.

“That rocking chair is His Highness’s second favorite chair. How did it even get here?” Archer demanded. “And that antique floor lamp used to belong to Rock. He wouldn’t let anyone touch it. The Santa stocking hanging on Rock’s former lamp is mine! I bought it in Macy’s when I visited the mortal realm. I’ve been looking for it everywhere for two weeks.”

Oh shit! Now he was going to spread rumors, and anyone who’d ever lost a thing would come here.

“I never went into your room in person,” I explained. “There are dozens of other people’s rooms higher on my list.”

Archer stared at me hard. “Where’s the fucking list?”

“Why do you want the list?”

“I want to see all the names on it,” he said. “This concerns the security of the house.”

Pucker shot up from my bed and zoomed toward Archer, who jerked back. “A gentleman should not swear in front of a lady,” he stated, and slammed the door shut in Archer’s face.

I nodded at my familiar in appreciation. Sometimes, he had my best interests at heart. Letting out a heavy sigh, I slumped into the rocking chair, swatting a hockey romance book from the cushion to the floor so I wouldn’t sit my butt on the book and damage the pages.

I pressed my pulsing temples. “I’m so stressed out, Pucker.”

He tossed the butt of the joint into Archer’s Santa stocking, swung his feet onto the floor, and rushed toward me to inspect my face. I fought the pressure behind my eyelids. I wasn’t going to cry. I couldn’t fall apart now. One moment I was having the best time of my life, then the next, everything went to shit.

“Killian’s betrothed brought an oracle,” I said.

“She’s obviously targeting you,” Pucker said. “She has the looks and the brain.”

I glared at him. “You must go spy on them right now.”

He winced. “We’ve established that I’ll spy on anyone for you except Prince Killian. I can’t be on his bad side.”

I thinned my lips. “Everything I’ve built here is at stake.”

“You didn’t build anything,” he said. “It’s more like you took advantage of everything.”

“If the oracle outs me, the best case is I’ll have to flee the realm,” I said. “I don’t even want to talk about the worst-case scenario. Either way, it’ll affect you. You’re smart to play safe. I’ll sever the familiar bond and set you free.”

“There’s no need to be dramatic.” Pucker raised a hand. “I’ll risk the prince’s wrath. Sit tight and lie low. Don’t do anything reckless before I return.”

He zoomed through the wall in his phantom form.