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

Chapter 23

23

Barbie

P rince Cade surveyed my new room. The house magic had outdone itself, and I nodded at it in thanks. The wand of light twirled in the room in satisfaction before changing into the shape of a cat. The cat landed on Cade’s shoulder, purring to him.

But the mage prince wasn’t lulled. He narrowed his turquoise eyes at a spectacular painting of a horned, naked female riding a white horse above the headboard of my new luxury king-size bed.

“Isn’t that painting from my sitting room?” he demanded. “It cost me an arm and a leg to acquire it. How did it even get here?”

“Huh,” I said, trying to come up with some lies to cover up for the house magic. “I’m only borrowing it temporarily. I couldn’t help it, as a devoted art lover.”

“My house magic rarely takes a form.” He turned to frown at the cat on his shoulder. “Are you now working with my own house magic against its gracious owner?”

“We have too much respect toward you to team up against you,” I said while mind-talking with the house magic to convince it to return the painting to its rightful owner right away to avoid further scolding. “I heard rumors about you hoarding a painting of a female who had three tits. I just had to see it for myself, sir.”

As if on cue, the house magic left Cade’s shoulder, shifted to a big nipple, and pasted itself between the breasts of the female rider in the portrait. Cade’s jaw dropped at the new extra tit on the painting before he shook his head in disgust.

“Now that my curious mind has been satisfied, the painting shall return to its rightful collector,” I declared.

In an instant, the painting vanished from the wall.

“I’m going to check if there’s anything else missing from my room,” Cade told me sternly.

“Sometimes I covet things, shiny things,” I admitted shyly.

“You can’t just take nice, shiny things from other people because you covet them, Barbie,” he snapped. “There’re boundaries.”

“Dixie, Prince Silas’s cousin, said the same thing when I snuck into her room to take a bath,” I said.

He frowned at me deeply. “I know who Dixie is. Why did you go to her room to bathe?”

“It’s a long story,” I said.

He snapped his fingers in my face. “Give me the short version.”

“The short version is that I was a boy back then,” I confessed. “Well, everyone called me Little Bob and believed me to be a boy, so I couldn’t exactly go to the public bath house and strip in front of everyone, especially when they assumed that I had a small dick and laughed at me behind my back.”

Cade let out a bark of laughter, the tension in the room lessening and his shoulders relaxing slightly. He’d just returned after being away for two days. According to the gossip that I’d overheard in the common room of the mage house, he hadn’t been in the court either. Some said no one knew where their prince was sometimes, and not even his security detail could find him.

Every prince had his dark secrets, but none could be as horrible as mine. After all, I was the worst monster of all, save my father.

Before Cade ceased laughing, I nearly jumped out of my skin. A tendril of pale smoke phased out of the mage prince’s left cheek and hovered over his face, hissing and showing claws and teeth.

What the fuck? I stumbled back a pace, staring at the smoke as it turned into a shadowy figure two inches tall.

Shit, it was a manifestation! The shadow bore the face of a dark-haired teenage girl.

The mage prince was haunted? Why hadn’t I seen it before? But then I hadn’t been a member of his house. Most of the time, he was with the other heirs, joking and laughing, and when Killian joined them, I’d been distracted by the chaos heir and his sex appeal.

Now it was just Cade and me in my new room, and I saw his shadow for the first time. An odd thought clicked in my stunned mind. The house magic had led its prince here. It wanted me to see what was wrong with the mage heir, a terrible wrongness that no one else could see.

Cade narrowed his eyes at me in displeasure when I stumbled back, so I stepped half a pace toward him and peered at the mini phantom. She hissed at me maliciously, frost escaping her blue lips.

Suddenly, I knew what she was. A dead witch turned Fury.

I wasn’t spooked, but I was disturbed by what I’d seen.

Death had no actual power over me. My father had brought me back from death or the brink of death over and over, so he could continue to feed on me. I’d begged for death, but it wouldn’t come, so I knew there were things much worse than death.

So, nope, I wasn’t even a little intimidated by a Fury. Sy growled back at the phantom, also unimpressed, but she didn’t threaten to eat the Fury.

The Fury gave us a venomous look before sinking back into Cade, knowing she would be outmatched if she attacked first. How did a dead teenage witch turn into a Fury and curse Cade? What had he done to deserve this? I sighed. There was always a girl in the thick of the plot, wasn’t there?

Yes, there’s always a girl. Sy perked up.

I was being sarcastic, I said. Blame women, please. Always blame women.

Don’t become a bitter chick like that Fury, Sy warned. You’re so negative lately. You need to get laid asap.

I ignored my other half and focused on the mage prince and his curse. It dawned on me that Cade never dated anyone in the school, while the other heirs fucked the bride candidates like roaming lions. Was the Fury preventing the mage prince from mating?

The death curse she’d implanted in him wasn’t remotely like the magical block in Bea, which had bound her power. Bea and I hadn’t deeply discussed who had put that spell on her. She didn’t know much either, but from our talks about her family tree, I kind of suspected that her grandmother, who left her the Book of Shadows, had something to do with it.

“What did you see?” Cade demanded, suspicion darkening his turquoise eyes.

Fuck, he didn’t even know that a Fury was haunting him.

Everyone in the House of Mages knew that I’d helped Bea remove the magical block in her, and her power had grown in spades after that. She leveled up from a weak witch to a high mage overnight.

But Cade’s case was a lot more complicated. I liked him, and he’d helped me. He’d gotten me out of a pickle more than once. He’d taken me in when Killian abandoned me. I’d repay the debt, but I wouldn’t rush into anything before I knew how to deal with this Fury. I couldn’t just dive in and let Sy eat her like how I’d consumed other curses and spells.

I needed to research Furies and find out about Cade’s history with that blue-lipped witch. Before I could really assist him, it was better to play dumb. I wouldn’t want her to detect my intention.

“What?” I shot back, then blinked at him innocently.

“It’s like you saw a ghost,” Cade snarled, something dangerous flashing in his eyes.

The mage prince was just as dangerous as the other heirs, but it was the first time I’d ever seen him snarl or carry cold menace. Usually, he didn’t lose his temper, as he was the coolest heir in all the kingdoms.

For a second, I saw pain in his eyes. If it were anyone else, they’d have missed it. But Sy and I didn’t miss anything.

Who’d have thought the most laidback and lighthearted heir hid such a dark, upspoken secret? But then, all the heirs had their secrets, pain, and issues, even though they were assholes. Perhaps acting like the biggest assholes was how they coped. It was a fa?ade, a defense mechanism.

For example, Louis screwed around because he was terrified of never finding his true mate. Silas carried an inferiority complex, so he bullied others and got into constant pissing matches with Killian. Other than having a rage issue and hiding his dragon, the chaos prince had more dirty secrets than one could count—me being one of them. He had fucked me and been unfaithful to his betrothed.

Cade still narrowed his eyes at me, waiting for my explanation and ready to pounce if I looked at him wrong again. But I couldn’t tell him what I’d seen in him and that it was worse than seeing a ghost.

“Well, what I saw is—” I started.

“Spit it out,” he barked. “I don’t have the whole day.”

“I saw something…on your teeth,” I said diplomatically.

“How dare you?”

“Is that broccoli?”

“I never eat broccoli.” The prince stared hard at me. “Nasty taste.”

“I like broccoli,” I lied. “It’s good for you, since it’s the best veggie to prevent breast cancer.”

The last part was true, but I wouldn’t eat broccoli even if it was cooked with butter. Sy hated broccoli with an unhealthy passion. I was an omnivore, but she was a carnivore. Her questionable eating habits in those early years still made me shudder. This realm was good for both of us; there was no argument there.

No argument, she agreed.

Cade was giving me the evil eye now. “Why should I worry about cancer? We don’t even get colds.”

“You shouldn’t be too cocky,” I protested, “with Covid still going on in the human cities.”

“You’re trying to distract me, aren’t you, Barbie?” he asked, dark suspicion sparking in his eyes. “What are you hiding?”

Fuck, he was sharp.

Fuck, Sy parroted, moving closer to the surface to study the mage prince. He’s hot. Too bad he has baggage. That Fury has been preventing him from fucking anyone. Whoever sleeps with him will be cursed to be frozen to death, except us. Let’s challenge her.

“I heard gossip,” I said. I had to offer him another lie to get him off my back. “Everyone was speculating about where you disappeared to for those days, but they should mind their own business.”

“As should you,” he said. “You should spend more time studying and bettering yourself rather than listening to gossip. You have a habit of turning every house you’re in upside down. It stops right here, Barbie.”

“But—” I started to protest.

He waved his wand at me dismissively and strolled toward the lanai.

Shit, he was going to get super pissed. I followed him, ready to offer more lies and excuses, and the house magic bounced after us giddily.

“Care to explain this, Barbie?” he asked as he stood at the railing of the lanai, looking around and peering down. “Your room now has a view fit for royalty!”

With the extended lanai, the room overlooked the misty valley and the green acres of Sun Harbor, the private club for the heirs.

“What if I’m a royalty, like a lost princess?” I decided to test the waters, mixing the truth with a private joke.

Cade snapped his head toward me, the breeze tousling his wine-red hair. My heart fluttered. I was playing with fire. But then, eventually, there’d be no hiding what I was when Ruin came calling.

I had to brace for all sorts of scenarios.

“Are you the lost princess?” Cade studied me. “There are rumors about her, and you seem to fit the profile.”

“Suppose I am?” I smirked at him to throw him off the track, though I didn’t feel like smiling inside, as icy fear grabbed me at just my thinking of my father coming for me. “Would you still allow me to stay in your house? I’ve wanted to be a member of your house since the beginning, as I know that I’ll be safer here. You took me in and sheltered me even when I was on trial for murder.”

“You’ll always have a place in my house,” he said. “You’re a mage, and we take care of our own. But watch it. Times are changing. We’ll have to prepare and adapt when magic fades from this last patch of the magical realm.”

I’d make sure it wouldn’t come to that.

“I’ll shed my blood to defend the realm,” I said. “I’ll defend your house—and mine, now.”

“I know you will.” He smiled, waving his wand in a full circle. The mage house magic joined the prince’s wand, and two became one. “We all have our responsibilities and duties. For now, you need to go to class. Skipping classes is unacceptable on most occasions, and tardiness won’t be tolerated in my house. You understand?”

I winced. “Those teachers bitch a lot. They should mind their own business.”

“Students attending class is their business,” he snapped. “Don’t make a habit of being late. I want to hear no more complaints about you. Time to turn over a new leaf.”

I nodded, knowing not to push my luck. Cade wouldn’t let me push his buttons like the other princes, since he was the only prince who held no agenda toward me.

I peeked at the mist in the valley. Even the sunrise couldn’t penetrate the mist that guarded the leylines.

Cade waved his wand and shooed me as if I were a goose. “Get going, Barbie.”

Backlit by the first rays of dawn, he looked lighter, as he always tried to appear, always trying to lift others up while such a black curse lurked deep within him, while he knew he could never love. He’d never find a mate as long as the Fury haunted him.

Empathy brewing in my middle, I stepped toward him.

The Fury surfaced, snarling maliciously and poising to strike. If I touched Cade, she’d curse me and I’d turn into a frozen corpse. That was her plan. That had happened before, as I saw through the depths of the curse.

She doesn’t scare us! Sy snarled.

I didn’t know what the deal was between her and Cade or what he’d done to her that she had cursed him so terribly. Or had it been because of jealousy?

I didn’t have a shiny resume myself, and I wasn’t proud of a lot of things Sy and I had done to survive. But I knew this: Cade had taken me in while I was vulnerable.

“Now, chop-chop,” he ordered me when he saw me freeze on the spot.

I lunged and grabbed his shoulders. Before he could shake me off, I pressed my lips to his. He was so shocked that he parted his lips, and I breathed into his mouth, sweeping the tip of my tongue over his icy one, trying to push back the curse.

The Fury struck, and I rammed my imagined fist into the center of her chest while Sy let her claws out.

Fury cunt, you’ve just met the two baddest bitches! Sy snarled.

The blue-lipped Fury stared at us with shock and hatred before she turned to flee deep into the mage prince, so deep that I couldn’t reach her. But Sy had gotten her name—Bayrose.

Such a lovely name for such a vengeful spirit. She’d somehow woven herself into him, taking advantage of his guilt and feeding on his shame. Cade was gorgeous, yet the kiss I got from him was icy and bleak, because that Fury made it so. He had so much to offer, but she made sure that he’d never have a life. She made his life hell, a price he didn’t deserve to pay.

Rage and sympathy pulsed in me. When I figured out how to exorcize the Fury, I’d drive her out of him and shove the death curse up her ass, but for now I’d have to keep it quiet.

I gave his bottom lip a nip with my teeth, a challenge to that bitch Fury, before I stepped back—only to see horror on the prince’s face.

“H-how?” he stuttered, then hope lightened up his face after he recovered from the shock and terror. “What were you doing? Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I got caught up in the moment,” I said. “I’m the impulsive type.”

“Just don’t go around kissing people,” he said, brushing his thumb over the bottom lip that I’d nipped. There was no blood, but it would be swollen, my imprint and challenge to the Fury. “Not everyone is as they seem. It can be dangerous.”

He was still staring at me, unable to believe what had happened, and he was still worried for me, even though I didn’t drop dead.

He swallowed. “If you don’t want to go to class today, you can stay in, and I’ll keep an eye on you.”

Yep, he was definitely worried.

“I feel fabulous,” I said. “A new life in a new house. And I got to kiss a real prince who didn’t turn to a frog. What else can a girl ask for? Now I’m ready for class. I’ll be a good member and even earn points for us mages.”

He arched a brow, hiding a riot of emotions behind the curtain of his eyes. “You swear you will?”

The mage prince appeared brighter in the soft morning light. Yet when he strolled out of my room to let me get ready, I saw his hands shaking in his pants pockets.