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

Chapter 16

16

Barbie

“ T here you are, Barbie!” Prince Louis pointed his finger at me as he stalked my way.

He wore a designer shirt and dark jeans, looking hot as hell. His blond hair was tied in a manbun behind his nape. He was just as gorgeous as Killian, and now that the chaos prince was a villain in my book, I couldn’t help looking at the vamp prince with new appreciation, especially since Sy was ogling him boldly.

It was interesting that the vamp prince seemed different, cast in a new light. I wondered if Sy was manipulating me with her pheromones to get me with a new dude. I scowled at her before swiftly sweeping my gaze to Louis, widening my eyes innocently.

“Why me? I didn’t do anything wrong,” I claimed.

He pulled his sensual lips back, his fangs flashing as white as his shirt. His pale blue eyes held an amused glint. His look of hunger intensified before he put some effort into toning it down, but it couldn’t fool me, as I knew that he still craved my blood more than anything. If he came after me now, Killian wouldn’t lift a finger to protect me.

I had become easy pickings for any monster once again.

I needed to run before he could sink his fangs into my throbbing, panicked veins. But Louis detected my intentions and intercepted me before I could bolt any further. And now, everyone’s eyes were drawn to us, some with curiosity, some with spite, even hatred toward me, and a lot with envy. Well, let the vamp’s big fangs sink into their necks, then.

Let’s enjoy his fangs. We’re big girls. We can take it, Sy said encouragingly, her eyes shining. She missed the lust his bites had brought. I didn’t miss that. It was my neck that his fangs had pierced and my precious blood he’d taken.

“Where do you think you’re going, Barbie?” Louis demanded, giving me a once-over.

“I’m late for class,” I said. “I gotta go.”

“You gotta eat,” he said, smiling to disarm me despite his big fangs. “You look pale. Come and eat your fill. You don’t need to worry about classes. I’ll send notes to whatever professors and tell them that you’re excused from class for a few hours. Anyway, who gives a fuck about being late for class?”

He was speaking my language, but he wasn’t in my position. The heirs could skip classes whenever they wanted, but the professors always gave me grief if I did the same. Even when I attended the class, they always picked on me.

“The teachers give a fuck,” I said.

“I said I’d take care of it,” he said impatiently. “Now come. We need to make sure you have nutrients to sustain you. My aides mismanaged it and neglected your needs when you were in my house. Now’s the time to set it right.”

He blamed his errors on his assistants. How typical.

“Uh, thank you, but sir,” I said, biting my lip, my gaze darting to Bea. Carrying a tray, she halted a few tables away, looking uncertain. “I’ll just do a grab and go.”

“Nonsense,” Louis said dismissively. “You need to eat properly.”

“If you insist,” I said as I changed my mind about leaving.

No one drove me away from food. I’d stand my ground. I’d eat a good lunch and show Killian and his women that they could go fuck themselves. I was thankful that Prince Louis was providing me with a fighting chance.

He put his arm around my shoulders as he led me toward the stairs, and I didn’t shrug him off. But then he halted before we reached the staircase, a calculating light glinting in his eyes.

“We’re not joining them up there,” he said. “Killian always fucks things up for everyone. Let’s go to my table here. I’ll make sure no one disrupts your meal.”

“My friend Bea will join us,” I pushed.

Louis waved his hand. “Whatever. The more the merrier.”

He was lying, though. He wanted to have me all to himself.

I beckoned for Bea, who gingerly followed us as the vampire prince led me to the heirs’ table. No one dared to sit there without permission from the princes, but I’d once danced on it.

“Prince Louis, could you have Gunnar carry the heavy tray for Bea?” I asked, shrugging the prince’s muscled arm from my shoulders. “We don’t want my milkshakes to spill.”

“Gunnar, take care of it,” Louis barked.

The vampire captain gave me a baleful look, which I returned with a sweet smile, before he stalked away to yank the tray from Bea. As I settled in with his prince, Gunnar dumped the tray on the table in front of me.

“Thank you, my good friend Gunnar,” I said.

“I was never your good friend and never will be,” Gunnar said, then added, “My apologies, Your Highness,” over Prince Louis’s stern look.

“Then I’m going to put you on the list of my ex-friends, like that lot,” I said, gesturing at a bunch of former underdogs, who now glanced in my direction uncertainly, since Grace had left them to sit with the power couple.

They’d thought no heirs would ever back me up after the heir of the House of Chaos tossed me out of his house.

Bea had told me that Grace had spread rumors about my being unwanted by any house and shared the tale of my being unofficially charged as a criminal in the court of Kingdom of Chaos.

But now Louis was openly showing his interest in me, driven by his lust for my blood. No matter—I’d take advantage of the vampire heir’s support and turn it against Killian and his women.

Louis watched me wolf down the food with heat and amusement in his pale blue eyes. I gazed at him through my thick lashes, staying on high alert just in case he lunged at me to sink his fangs into my neck. He’d done that when he first met me and then a few more times after that without my consent. Problem was, I didn’t do non/dub-con, and he couldn’t help his predatory nature and bloodlust.

Bea picked at her food demurely while stealing dubious glances between the vamp prince and me. She was safe from the vampire prince. As long as I was around, no vampires would crave any other’s blood.

“I’ve missed you, Barbie,” Louis said.

“Yeah?” I asked roughly before I took a big sip of my milkshake. “I’m not going to offer my blood, since it’s too precious.”

“That isn’t my intention,” Louis said, trying to hide the craving in his eyes. “I keep thinking what I would do differently if I had a second chance with you and had you in my house again.”

I eyed him, a bit intrigued.

He inserted a hand into his pocket and brought out a gold watch adorned with black opals, which was the symbolic jewel of the vampire house. Sapphire was the jewel for the House of Mages.

I put down my milkshake and stared at the fancy gold watch, estimating its cost.

“You pointed out on our speed date that I should bring you gifts if I have intentions toward you,” Louis said. “I now officially declare my intention to court you, Barbie.”

Bea’s eyes went round.

I beamed at the vampire heir and snatched the watch from his hand before Sy’s claws slid out, lightning fast. “I accept your gift,” I said, putting the watch on my wrist and admiring it. “Thank you, high prince. You’re most kind.”

I meant what I said. Last time, when the fae prince gave me a small pink diamond, I’d appreciated it so much that I put Sy to work. Rowan was greatly satisfied and shot fountains of his cum into her. Sy was no doubt the best sex worker in the universe. I’d never seen anyone who could top her. A total professional.

Sy beamed at my praise. I can work again tonight. Has my sugar messaged you yet?

“I was supposed to tell you more about this watch, its history and make, before presenting it to you,” Louis said.

“No need,” I said. “I got it. It’s perfect! You’re a good man. But maybe you can tell me how much it’s worth, so I don’t need to go to a jeweler for an appraisal. I trust very few people’s opinions these days, and it might cost a gold coin just for a jeweler to look at my new watch.”

Bea shook her head at me, as if trying to warn me.

Louis laughed. “Barbie, Barbie! You’re so raw. Don’t ever change.”

“I won’t,” I promised.

“Let’s start over, then,” he said, seeing that I’d softened toward him after receiving a gift. “I think that I owe you an apology for treating you as a servant boy, but I didn’t know you were a girl. It was just a big misunderstanding. I’m glad to see that you no longer hold a grudge against me. That’s a good thing. Also, you need to realize that I’ve never apologized to anyone before, so this is huge for me to even say sorry to you.” He smiled at me as I cut my burger with a knife and fork. “Now I get why I had to fight such an urge to bite your lips or neck every time I saw you, even though you pretended to be a boy and fooled everyone, including me. At that time, I thought it wasn’t natural for me to crave you, as I’m not into boys.” He chuckled. “The joke was on me. But now we’ve gotten everything sorted out. All is as clear as crystal.”

“Even though it’s as clear as crystal, you aren’t going to bite my lips or anywhere else,” I said firmly. “You need to remember that I’m a bride candidate and a law-abiding student in Shades Academy. My attorney and rep, who is Prince Cade, has told me that I have rights.”

Louis arched an eyebrow, probably at the law-abiding statement.

“It’s true,” I said. “I’m under the protection of the House of Mages. You can check with Prince Cade, and he’ll tell you that he has a strict rule against any vampire biting a mage in his house without the mage’s consent.”

“I’m not going to bite you, Barbie,” he said. “I’m seeking you out to show you that I’m a different person. I’ve been sober for two weeks.”

I blinked. “Do you restrain yourself from indulging in booze and drug, or do you refuse blood now?”

He rolled his eyes. “Alcohol, of course.”

“But alcohol doesn’t affect vampires,” I said. “There might be an alcoholic mage, but I’ve never heard of an alcoholic vampire. You guys don’t go to rehab for that.”

“You missed my point,” he said. “What I was saying is that you make me a better person.”

I stared at him, forgetting my burger. “I do? I don’t remember ever making anyone a better person before. People always complain that I bring out the worst in them.”

“They’re wrong,” Louis said firmly. “That’s why I plan to properly court you. I’ll ask you out on a formal date, the opposite of that terrible speed date in the House of Chaos with Killian being a control freak and his poltergeist spying on us. It’ll be just you and me having fun in an upscale place. There’ll be another gift delivered to you before the date.”

My face lit up at the sound of more gifts, as did Sy’s. “Really?”

He nodded. “I’m a simple man. I don’t beat around the bush.”

“What bush?”

“I think you might be my fated mate,” he drawled, waiting for my reaction. “I’ve never felt such a connection to anyone else, Barbie.”

“No offense, but you used to drink directly from my veins and recklessly take my life force into you, so of course you felt an amazing connection to me. When I eat, I feel connected to my food too. Like this burger I’m eating was made of the fine meat of a cow. Do you think that cow felt amazing at being made into a burger and eaten?”

Now it was his turn to blink at me. He ran a hand over his silky blond hair and shook his head.

“This is different and you know it, Barbie,” he said. “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone else, even when you fooled me as a fake boy. I fought the urge, but I no longer have to fight it. There’s no conflict in me anymore. What a relief. You’re more of a girl than any other girl, Barbie. But I have to tell you this: for a vampire, we can only know if the one is our true mate or not when we take and drink from her at the same time.”

“Did you just make an excuse for sleeping around?” I asked.

“I fucked a lot,” he protested. “But I haven’t fucked everyone.”

Shit, I was his next target.

“Bloody hell!” I called in alarm. “Are you planning to use this official date to make me comply legally, so you can fuck and drink from me at the same time?”

Every table around us was suddenly quiet, as they’d all heard my outcry. A good number of girls shot me jealous glances mixed with resentment. I bet this was giving my opponent good material to work with. Soon, Grace would spread the rumor and call me a blood whore.

Louis gazed at me, heat simmering in his pale blue eyes. “What? No, Barbie. No. That’s not my intent.”

“I know how you big boys with big cocks think,” I sneered. “I was a boy once, but everyone disrespected me and judged me because they thought I had a tiny cock, just because I’m on the short side and have small hands!”

Gunnar snickered. He lingered not far from the heirs’ table, clasping his hands in front of him, his chest puffing up. He’d always looked down on me. Even now, he secretly disapproved of his prince’s interest in me, but he dared not speak up.

Louis shook his head, then laughed, then sighed. “I should’ve known better. This conversation is getting derailed again.” He grabbed my hand between his. “I swear that I just want to date you properly and treat you right, as you deserve.”

“I do deserve it. And you mentioned earlier about delivering a gift to me before our date?”

He nodded.

“I need you to write this into a contract,” I said. “Last time, you said you’d give me a big promotion with health coverage, a dental plan included, as your squire, but I never got any of those benefits.”

He frowned at me. “But didn’t you collect the gold coins from me afterward?”

Which reminded me that I needed to fetch my shoebox full of treasure from the House of Chaos.

“Men are fickle, but diamonds are forever,” I told him.

“Aren’t you a delight, Barbie?” the vamp prince said with a chuckle. I still amused him, even though I was no longer his squire. “I’ll have the contract drafted and the gift delivered to you. Now, should we set the date?”

Now I had what I wanted, I smiled at him from the bottom of my heart, my golden curls bouncing, and the vamp prince appeared stunned. I’d never smiled at him so brightly before. I mostly smirked at everyone, friends and foes alike.

“You’re lovely, Barbie,” he whispered.

I could feel the chaos prince’s furious glare from the balcony without glancing at him. The heirs’ table here offered him a generous view of the vampire prince and me.

A fun, vengeful idea hit me.

Tits for tits.

It’s tit for tat, Sy corrected me.

“Well, High Prince Louis, to seal our deal, I’m going to give you a sample taste today,” I said.

“Are you serious?” His eyes lit up. “You know you don’t have to do that, right? I trust you. Did you say a sample today , Barbie?”

“How about right now?” I offered.

“Yes, let’s seize the moment,” he said, his arm lashing out, and the next moment, I found myself parked on his lap, my butt sitting on his unholy hard-on.

Oof! I huffed. I wasn’t made for public displays, but the fury I felt from the chaos prince made the decision for me. I wrapped an arm around Louis’s neck, and I could feel the pulse of hunger in him. No monster could resist my blood, especially when I offered it willingly.

“I’ll let you have a bite,” I said. “But you’ll do it gently.”

“I’m always gentle when it comes to you,” he said.

He was lying through his fangs, but I wasn’t petty enough to point it out when I was on a mission.

“And then I’ll bite you back and drink from you as well, since that’s only fair,” I said.

He grinned. “I expect no less.”

Last time I’d drunk from him, he’d been so high.

“You still get the better end of the deal,” I reminded him. “My blood is sweeter, spicier, and richer than yours, though yours is good as well, since I tried it last time. I didn’t get enough, though.” Killian had stopped me from taking more sips from Louis, not wanting me to turn into a vamp, backed up by the other heirs. “Let’s say your blood is like 14k gold, and mine is 24k pure gold and more.”

“I think mine is at least 19k,” he growled. “I’m a vampire prince. Blood is my territory.”

I could feel the storm starting to form from the balcony, where the chaos prince was eating and drinking with his women.

Let the storm come, then, motherfucker. Let it rain for all I care.

For all we care! Sy echoed aggressively. Let him taste his own medicine, motherfucker.

In the corner of my eye, I caught the chaos prince rising from his seat, his fists clenching.

The chaos princeling still gives a fuck, Sy offered giddily.

No, he just didn’t want anyone else to have me, even though he’d moved on to his new squeeze, someone who wore my face with shinier hair and better smiles.

Two could play the game.

Cold fury from the chaos prince charged the air, sweeping in my direction. I let it sink into me as fuel and arched my neck for the vampire prince, giving him access.

Bea sat still and looked worried.

It wasn’t shameful to offer a vampire blood in Mist of Cinder, not like I’d initially thought. In fact, it was trending lately after Louis helped defeat the Legion of the Brotherhood. The PR team from the House of Vampires had uploaded clips of their prince’s bravery in leading the attack and protecting the bride candidates to all supernatural social media platforms.

For the first time, I was offering my blood to Louis willingly. When everyone turned on me, deeming me undesirable and marking me as a pariah, he still had my back and came to seek me out openly, giving me a stage to fight back. When I needed support the most, Bea and the vampire prince were here for me.

Louis’s fangs slid out, but he didn’t immediately sink them into my neck. He traced his sensual lips along the column of my neck, like nice foreplay, his fangs grazing my skin playfully. I shuddered in pleasure, and Sy shuddered too.

I’ve missed this, she said.

“Now tell me, Prince Louis,” I purred, letting his name roll off my tongue. I could keep up with seduction when I wanted to. He sucked in a ragged breath, his rock-hard cock jerking beneath my butt. I wiggled my ass, making him groan. “What gift will you get me? I need to approve it first, as I have preferences.”

My ghost familiar had warned Louis not to send me flowers and chocolates during our speed date. Both gifts were easy to acquire, and I could get chocolates in any kitchen raid.

Before Louis could tell me all, a rumbling sound came from the chaos prince, loud and threatening even from this distance. A sneer on my lips, I stretched my neck to give the vampire prince a better angle, and he chortled in appreciation and lust, his fangs lengthening. I braced myself to be punctured, but only cold air hit my neck. Then Louis was torn from me, my bottom landing on the ground as a result.

I shot to my feet, not wanting to be vulnerable, as a wave of darkness and starlight pinned Louis down. He crouched on the ground a dozen feet from me. The chair he had been sitting on with me in his lap lay toppled between us.

I peered up. The chaos prince stood on the balcony, shaking with rage. His face was distorted with fury as he fought to rein in his beast. His dragon’s wrath broke out of his skin and hit the ceiling, the heat terrible, and the entire hall felt uncomfortably hot.

The students looked terrified. Many of them started to flee toward the exit.

Louis rose from his crouch, the bulge from his arousal obvious in the front of his pants.

“What the fuck?” he bellowed, turning to face Killian, his potent elemental wind swirling around his fingers, ready to toss at the chaos prince. If he let it all go, his wind would turn into a twister and damage the hall; a few students might be killed in its path. “What’s your fucking problem, asshole?”

You didn’t just take food from a vampire’s mouth without consequences. You didn’t just fuck with their feeding, and this feeding was like no other. The vamp prince had craved my blood for over a month.

“You’re displaying public indecency!” Killian seethed. “Have you no shame, Louis?”

“Shame?” Louis laughed, both enraged and amused, as he hadn’t expected this kind of accusation from the chaos prince. “Why do you even care about such things? Barbie is no longer a member of your house. Why are you still being such a control freak? You just can’t let anyone else be happy, can you, certified asshole? Now fuck off before you utterly regret it! I’m busy with my hot date.”

“You’ll cease and desist!” Killian roared, his power lashing out again toward the vampire prince before Louis could pull me into his arms. “I won’t put up with this lewd act.”

The two princes’ powers clashed. Windows rattled. Tables turned, food flying and spilling everywhere. More students fled.

It seemed there was no chance for the vampire prince to get his fangs near my neck again today. I was both relieved and outraged.

The chaos prince’s darkness wheeled out, devouring the hall, and the vampire prince’s wind pushed the darkness back, his magic fire storm, his second elemental power, headed straight toward Killian. The chaos prince sneered, his lightning answering and wrestling with the flame.

A second wave of the chaos prince’s darkness arrived at Louis’s door, so potent that the vamp prince stumbled.

Killian flashed a smug, nasty grin at me.

Oh no, he didn’t! He didn’t get to treat me like this—while he could have his women draping all over him, he wouldn’t allow me to have a good time.

I unleashed my black wind, shoving it toward the chaos prince’s darkness and lightning, and it carried sparks of the darkest flame—my new power.

Instead of trapping me like last time in the ice rink, Killian’s darkness tried to flirt with my power. If it were a cat, it’d purr loudly. Smiling coldly, I took advantage of its trust and fascination toward me, turning it around, shaping it into a big middle finger, then flinging it back toward Killian. Everyone who remained in the hall saw a huge middle finger made of his darkness and my flame glide toward the chaos heir.

Killian stared at the massive magical middle finger in his face, his expression furious and incredulous. Louis fell apart, forgetting to keep attacking his opponent as he bent over and roared with laughter.

“Take that, asshole!” he bellowed. “It suits you!”

“This is all your fault, vampire!” Killian yelled at him. “You started this, and you’ll pay for it.”

“Yeah? You and what army?” Louis barked.

Queen Lilith sipped her tea and watched the fight, her expression unreadable, yet dark hellfire swirled in her green eyes. Grace stood up, but no one was paying her attention now, not even if she jumped up and down atop the royal table. She resorted to glaring at me, no longer smug but full of enmity.

The two princes weren’t fighting over her, even though she’d been shoving the image of her being my upgrade down everyone’s throats.

She ain’t the shit she thinks she is, Sy said.

But I didn’t feel the slightest victory. Who wanted to be the bone two predators fought over? It only spelled danger for me. And the worst thing? My body still hummed for the chaos prince even now, even after all he’d put me through.

The two heirs from different houses crashed again, one on the balcony and the other on the ground, growling, cursing, swinging their cocks around to show who had the bigger dick.

Killian leapt from his high place, wanting a close-range battle with Louis.

Being in his proximity would do me no good, so I grabbed Bea and zoomed toward the exit. Behind us, one side of the warded wall collapsed under the crushing force of the ruthless princes.

“Fuck you, Killian!” Louis barked viciously.

“No, thanks. Fuck you, vamp!” Killian answered with equal menace.

“Hard pass. And fuck you, asshole!” Louis shouted.

“That’s super confusing,” I told Bea as we rushed out of the hall. “They said fuck you, then they said not interested, then they said fuck you again.”

Bea widened her eyes. “I don’t think they meant it, but this is the first big fight between the heirs.”

I shook my head. “What the world has come to.”

Somehow, the ache in my chest eased a little as explosions erupted behind me, drowning out their heirs’ curses, threats, promises, and shouts about screwing each other.