Twisted Soul (Cursed Legacies #3)

1. Maven

1

MAVEN

Present

Fight or flight.

The former is all I have known since my entire life, and the latter has resulted in unbearable punishment.

Yet standing here, watching Silas unconscious and struggling to breathe, and knowing this is the calm before another storm…

Fighting is out of the cards. We need to run. It's cowardly, but that prophetess was right. Plenty of eyewitnesses escaped after seeing me kill Somnus, so every second that passes is another second that the truth is spreading like wildfire: the telum is in the mortal realm.

The Immortal Quintet will send hired killers.

The Legacy Council will send bounty hunters.

Others will try to end me for the hell of it.

I'm in grave danger.

I wish I could savor it more, but facing any fight head-on would risk Silas. He's too vulnerable right now. There's no telling when he'll wake up—and he will wake up, or I swear on all the fucking gods, I will drag his soul back from the Beyond myself.

Glancing down, I again study the dark House of Arcana emblem that begins a few inches below my jugular notch and ends at the top of my upper abdomen, a straight line down the center of my chest directly over my pale scar. It's a stark declaration that I've been bound to this cutthroat fae.

I like it.

But it still makes no sense. Was a mistake made? Is this a trick the gods are playing on me? I've made no secret of the fact that I think they suck ass, so I doubt they would toss a random blessing my way or some shit like that.

"Focus," I order myself out loud, turning to rummage through my dresser for new combat-friendly clothes that I quickly slip into, along with a new pair of gloves. Spotting my adamantine dagger on the dresser, I sheath it to my hip. Crypt must have collected that, too, before carrying me back here.

Time to get down to business. We have to get out of here ASAP and find somewhere safe to lay low while Silas transitions into a necromancer—which can sometimes take days.

Stepping out into the hallway, I nearly collide with a lean, pale, beautifully sculpted chest. Everett steadies me, his soulful blue gaze roving over me as if he's looking for any sign of damage. One of his cool hands cradles my face, and he exhales with relief.

"There you are. I had to see that you're okay."

My most meticulous match is still streaked with dried blood and dirt from First Placement. He must have just woken up from Pia's healing, which left him with no visible scars. I suppose I should have figured that my former supermodel match would look like this, but…

Damn. Talk about lickable abs, I muse distractedly.

Are my abs more or less lickable in your estimation, blood blossom? Silas's faint, slurred fae words drift back inside my head, growing faint at the end.

Oh, my gods.

I look wide-eyed up at Everett. His gaze drops to where my hand instinctively goes to cover the center of my newly marked chest, and he tenses.

"Shit—what's wrong? Are you in pain?"

"Is it her shadow heart again?"

Baelfire's voice startles me before the dragon shifter is suddenly beside us in the hallway, crowding this small space. He showered off the worst of the gore and dirt left behind from First Placement, but he's back in his combat clothes again. Obviously, he's as aware as I am that we'll have another fight on our hands sooner than later. Changing would be redundant.

"Are you all right, Raincloud?" he presses, brow furrowed.

I hold up a finger to pause their concern and peer inside my room again, expecting Silas to be sitting up in bed with a knowing smirk. But he's still motionless, propped up on the pillows that are now stained with dried blood and ash. His feverish, labored breathing is the only sound in the room.

Silas? I try to send to him.

There's no response.

I'm so perplexed that I actually yelp in surprise when Crypt appears in the room directly in front of me. Unlike Baelfire, he hasn't redressed from his shower yet, so I'm treated to a delicious display of his nakedness—the light and dark swirling markings covering most of his body, muscles dripping with water droplets, and piercings glinting in the afternoon light streaming in from the window.

The incubus frowns. "What's got you so jittery, love?"

I hesitate, glancing between the three of them. We really don't have time at our disposal, but this fluke on my chest pertains to all of us. There's no point keeping it a secret. Decision made, I strip off my black shirt. Rolling my eyes at Baelfire's whistle of appreciation, I lift my gray exercise bra so they can get the full picture of what's going on.

His whistle dies, and Everett visibly stops breathing. Crypt is equally stunned.

"How the hell is this even possible?" Baelfire finally manages, reaching out to gently run a warm finger over my new emblem. He catches my eye. "Does it hurt, baby? Do you feel any different?"

"I don't know, no, and not really." I pause. "Aside from hearing him inside my head, that is."

To my surprise, Crypt has the strongest reaction to that. He swears and turns an impressively murderous glare on the unconscious fae in the room as if he's about to pick a fight before Silas even wakes up.

"Right. Anyone else insanely fucking jealous now?" he bites out.

Baelfire agrees, but when Everett is silent, I realize he's gazing at the new emblem on my chest with unadulterated hope written all over his handsome features.

Our eyes meet. "Does this mean…his curse is broken?" he asks.

Gods, I hope so. Silas was barely hanging on. His curse was the one I was most concerned about—the one I was most determined to find a cure for. Does this fluke mean he'll wake up in his own head, sans voices?

"Maybe?" I hedge, replacing my clothing.

Everett swallows, stepping closer to me. "Then, if we can figure out how you broke Silas's curse…if we could end my curse before it gets the chance to hurt you more…maybe I could finally belong to you without ruining everything," he whispers, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against mine.

He's never gotten this close to me on his own, and the raw longing in his voice makes my stomach flip. The idea of hurting me clearly petrifies him. I understand that part of him. It's the same reason I pushed them away so hard at first. I was desperate to keep them out of the clusterfuck that my not-life is about to become.

Seriously, though, Everett's curse is the least of my concerns—not to mention, I have some doubts about this "prophecy" he received so long ago. It's something I should talk about with him later. Maybe he'll even let me read it myself.

But now isn't the time to dive into that.

"This conversation can wait," I say quietly, reaching up to brush a streak of dried harbinger blood off of Everett's jaw. That tiny bit of contact makes my heart pound, but it doesn't send my stomach careening anymore, a fact I'm still adjusting to. "Right now, we're too vulnerable. We need to get out of here and find somewhere to lay low."

Baelfire takes my hand from Everett's face, rubbing gentle circles on its back. He ignores the death glare that the ice elemental shoots him. "You mean we're going into hiding to wait for this shitstorm to blow over while your newbie necromancer recovers?"

That…and to set the stage for the next part of my plan.

My theory about Somnus's totem was correct. It wasn't glass at all—it was crafted out of etherium. Hearst's soul amulet was probably the same, which leads me to believe all members of the Immortal Quintet might have their souls tied to an etherium object. Perhaps the gods decided that the best way of sustaining the Divide through their life forces was by tying them to a physical anchor.

Meaning I need to hunt down three immortals and their anchors.

I also need to find more etherium.

Etherium became an integral part of my plan after Felix and I ran countless tests on it and agreed it would fix a significant flaw in my gambit to free the humans. Which is why, during my first two weeks at Everbound, I carefully sought out rumors of another black market dealer known to possess etherium. I don't have a location or a way to contact him, but I need to get my hands on that substance.

It's how I plan to keep the Nether at bay after I kill most of the Immortal Quintet. Without it, I'll fail.

And that's not an option.

"Yes," I finally reply to Baelfire. "But first, I need to see if Kenzie made it out of the maze. Wait here."

When I try to step around them, Everett's hands move to my hips and steel. His previously tender voice turns ice-hard.

"Baelfire told me everything. We nearly lost you today, and it's not happening again. Just stay here and keep an eye on Silas. We'll find your friend for you."

They nearly lost me? Tough fucking luck because I nearly lost all of them today. The more I think about it, the more dark fury starts to boil beneath my composure. That, combined with the residual power boost from killing Somnus, makes me feel like a ticking time bomb.

But I can't afford to tap into that monster's life force now stored within me as fuel. I need to save it until I get my hands on etherium.

I shake my head. "You're staying. I'm going."

"Oakley, please just?—"

Before our argument can continue, a loud knock on the apartment's front door makes us all go still. Crypt vanishes, and a moment later, I hear a shriek at the front door, which he's obviously opened.

"Gah! Where the hell are your clothes? And why are your tattoos all—oh my gods, are those piercings? Oh, shit. I—I'm so sorry, I did not mean to look down, and I promise I so did not want to know that. I’m just looking for?—"

Kenzie. Thank the fucking universe.

I rush out of my bedroom, followed closely by Bael and Everett. The lioness shifter is standing in the university hallway outside the front door, leaning against Luka. Her orange combat attire is ripped and charred in places. They're both covered in as much dirt, blood, and sweat as we were earlier. It looks like Kenzie got a nasty cut on her head at some point, gauging from the amount of blood staining her pale hair and crusting down the side of her face. The injury is gone now, thanks to her shifter healing.

She looks like hell and must be exhausted, but her bright blue eyes light up when she spots me.

"May! Thank gods you're okay! I'm so sorry to ask this, but—" she begins, stepping forward.

But the moment she tries to cross the threshold, she slams into an invisible barrier that knocks her back into Luka with a startled oof .

"Kenz!" The vampire levels us with a vicious glare like that was intentional. "What the fuck?"

For a moment, I'm confused about why she can't enter since she's not a siphon who would have to be invited in, but Crypt hums.

"I admit, that pointy-eared bastard's magic is reassuring."

Oh, right. Silas spelled this place with an imposing amount of wards to keep anyone except us from entering.

Come to think of it…how the fuck did Pia get in here earlier?

I see that same realization dawn on the others as Crypt tips his head curiously, Everett scowls, and Baelfire frowns.

"So much for reassuring," the dragon shifter huffs. "How the fuck did she get in here? I mean, she probably saved our lives and shit, but still. Maybe his old spells are weakening from his transition or something? Is that a thing with casters?"

I don't have answers, but I notice Luka checking over his shoulder at the hallway which is now filled with smoke and the distant echo of shouting from some faraway corridor. Clearly, Everbound University is in chaos after the Immortal Quintet ran off in the middle of a lethal test.

A chill runs down my spine, and my senses sharpen painfully. I look back at Kenzie. “There are shadow fiends in the castle."

She blinks. "Yeah, there are. How did you—oh, right! You can sense them, like that ugly-ass ghoul back in Halfton. That will be super useful getting out of here because when we finally escaped that stupid maze and made a run for the castle, a bunch of shadow fiends escaped, too. It's mayhem out there, and we were going to try to take cover in our apartment, but then Vivienne was swarmed by Undead and…"

Kenzie's voice breaks, and she takes a deep, shaky breath. Luka kisses the top of her head. I know she's trying to be strong for her quintet. At first glance, she seems bubbly and whimsical, which aren't traits that legacies see as ideal in a keeper. But I've observed her enough to recognize that she hides more of a backbone than most people might guess.

She lifts her chin. "Anyway, I know a good way of getting out of here. The catacombs."

What's this now?

"I mean, I thought I knew everything about this castle," Kenzie says quickly when she sees that she has my full attention. "But while we were running from other legacies and some Undead, I saw Harlow Carter leading a bunch of asscasters into this secret entrance in one of the courtyards, so we followed. It turns out there are these ancient underground catacombs that connect this place to those old ruins out in Everbound Forest. Dirk and Viv are waiting there. I think that's the quickest way to escape the university right now, so I really think we should all just group together and?—"

I hold up a hand, my mind racing through the next steps to take to keep my quintet safe. "You had me at catacombs. Where exactly is this secret entrance?"

She rattles off a description of a tiny shed in the corner of the university's smallest courtyard that seems to hold garden supplies but hides a narrow stone staircase descending into the underground burial passageways. As she speaks, the hall fills with more smoke. More shouting and yelling echo throughout the castle.

I nod. "We'll go with you."

"Not to point out the obvious, but this could be way easier. Can't we just transport out of here with magic? Should be a fucking breeze for your magic prodigy boyfriend," Luka points out, glancing behind us like he's looking for Silas. "Huh. Unless he didn't survive the placement. Tough shit."

If he doesn't survive…

My stomach clenches with sharp dread. I'm positive I'm still controlling my expression to seem unbothered, but Crypt takes one look at me and fixes Luka with a stare that makes the vampire flinch.

"I distinctly recall promising to feed you your innards if you opened your idiotic mouth?—"

"Threaten him later when we have more time," I interrupt to get away from this touchy topic, glancing at Baelfire. "Can you carry Silas?"

"Baby, I'm twice the size of that fucker. Of course, I can carry him."

"Good. I'm trusting you to get him to the catacombs unscathed."

Everett starts to say something but cuts off when all of Crypt's paler markings light up brightly. The incubus hisses in pain, staggering back from the door. I'm instantly at his side to help support him—and to stand in front of him since he's still naked, and as much as I trust Kenzie, there's no denying the Nightmare Prince's body is pure eye candy.

"Those damned wisps," Crypt rasps. His silver-flecked violet gaze settles on me, his jaw clenching. "Things are worse than we realized. Get your fae to safety, darling. I can follow after you once I've ensured those little bastards aren't endangering you any further. I'll be quick."

I want to demand that we stick together, but seeing the pinch of pain on Crypt's face reminds me that I have no right to be a possessive brat. He's the steward of Limbo. If there's turbulence there, it affects him.

When it comes to this, my hands are tied. And not in the fun way.

"You'll be safe ," I amend firmly.

Crypt leans to kiss just behind my ear. "I'll be anything you like, darling. Just get away safely for me."

I loathe the emotions crawling up my throat, but I can't help it. My quintet hasn't had any time to recover from First Placement. They're exhausted. The idea of them leaping back into trouble puts me on edge.

I can bounce back from a good fight. I was made to take hits and come back stronger.

But if they get hit hard, they won't come back. Then I'd have no choice but to lose myself in vengeful fury, raining down hell on whoever took them away from me—and as fun as that latter part may sound in theory, my schedule is just way too fucking busy for another vendetta.

Crypt's weight disappears as he moves into Limbo. I take a deep breath and turn back to the others.

"Everett, watch Baelfire's back while he's getting Silas to the catacombs."

"I'll be watching your back," Everett insists. When he folds his arms, I see frost encompassing his skin just past his wrists. "Baelfire can protect Silas on his own, away from you."

Gods, his bare upper half is so distracting.

Bael snorts. "At least you're admitting how capable I am."

"This isn't about capability, Lizard Brain."

"Yeah? Then what's it about, Ice Prick?"

"It's because you're a godsdamned liability . Accident or not, the second you lose your temper—which is inevitable since you desperately need anger management training—you'll fucking burn her to death," Everett snaps, the temperature around us steadily dropping.

The dragon shifter snarls back, enraged now. Before it can come to blows, I shoot Kenzie a bear with me look and step between them.

"You're both wasting time. Who's the keeper here?"

Baelfire's golden gaze drops to me. "You are, Mayflower, but?—"

"But fucking nothing. You two will work together to get Silas safely to the catacombs, and if I fall behind while I'm ripping out the hearts of anyone who gets in the way, leave me be because you'll only be ruining my fun otherwise. Got it?" I look between them.

It's like bartering with petulant toddlers. Neither is happy about it, but they don't argue.

I turn to Luka and Kenzie. "Stick with them. I'll follow behind you, but not too closely. If there's more fighting, there's a high chance I'll start…you know."

Kenzie's eyes widen when she catches my meaning. When I told her all about what they turned me into, I explained the berserking. She knows that I'm not myself when I lose it in combat—I black out, driven by bloodlust and the monstrous urge to take life. I won't be able to differentiate between friend or foe.

"Uh, no, I don't fucking know," Luka pipes up impatiently. "There's no need for this stupid drama. Just stick with us, asscaster."

Baelfire growls, but I speak to Luka in a saccharine voice. "If you don't want drama, get a head start before I join the fray, or I may accidentally pull your spine out of your ass."

"Fuck," Luka shudders. "She's scary sometimes."

"Yes, yes she is," Kenzie nods sagely, looking back at me. "Ready, May?"

"One moment," Everett grumbles, going to get a shirt while Baelfire gets whatever he'll need, plus Silas. I hurry to my room and grab the remaining nightshade root powder in its tiny bottle, a few more knives, an extra pair of gloves, two vials of kraken ink, and anything else I can reasonably stash in my pockets. When we reemerge, Kenzie sees Silas slung over Bael's shoulder, dirty, unconscious, and drenched in feverish sweat. She catches my eye.

Is he okay? she mouths, brow furrowed.

I nod because I really fucking hope he's fighting through the fever. As they move to leave the quintet apartment, possibly for the last time, Baelfire adjusts Silas on his shoulder and leans down to kiss the side of my neck, inhaling my scent.

"Be as safe as fucking possible, hellion. I know you love a good fight, but avoid one now if you can help it, okay? Please."

His gravelly plea does me in. I'm such a sucker for him saying please for me.

But he's right that I'm also a sucker for a good fight, and I doubt we'll get out of here without some bloodshed. It's deliciously unavoidable.

I kiss his cheek as reassurance. Once he steps away, I'm surprised when Everett leans down and pecks me right on the lips. It's chaste and abrupt, mostly because he pulls back immediately. When I arch a brow, the professor blushes profusely.

"I just wanted… I'm still not used to…sorry," he fumbles, adjusting his sleeve repeatedly.

Aww.

Kenzie also awws from the hallway, reminding me we have an audience and are on a time crunch. They leave the apartment. I watch my fae, who is fighting just to breathe, until they round a corner.

Then I stalk into Everbound Castle.