Twisted Soul (Cursed Legacies #3)

17. Maven

17

MAVEN

“Hands off ,” Crypt seethes.

Ha. Nice.

I wonder if that was an intentional pun or if he’s too pissed to realize it. Guessing from his murderous expression that matches the others’, I’m guessing the latter.

Ross cries out, cupping his bleeding stump of a wrist. The blond caster whirls on us with magic glowing at his fingertips, ready for a fight, but Everett freezes him solid so quickly that I almost miss it in a blink.

As much as I like seeing these gorgeous legacies get feisty on my behalf, we’re only here because the Garnet Wizard seemed to find something about me amusing. If we make enemies or kill acolytes left and right, we may be booted before I talk to the wizard about etherium.

Ross’s touch was as revoltingly unwelcome and torturous as touch used to always be for me, but I quickly compose myself and bend to pick up the dismembered hand, offering it to him as a macabre peace offering.

“I assume you acolytes know the more advanced healing spells.”

He nods, biting back pain as he accepts his hand.

“Good. Go get patched up right away. Dismembered limbs hurt like a bitch, but it only gets worse if you wait to get it reattached.”

He thanks me in a strained voice before rushing away from the cottage.

You say that as if you’ve experienced it firsthand, Silas growls in my head. Tell me that’s not the case, sangfluir .

Yeah, right. If they react like this to someone just touching me, there’s no fucking way I will ever fill them in on the more morbid aspects of my past.

I glance at the frozen acolyte, decide he can wait until my guys are a bit less testy, and slip through the front door.

It’s a studio-style living space, simple but tasteful. The large bedroom blends into a seating area beside the dining room, and the kitchen seems nice from what little I know about kitchens. The Sanctuary looked extremely old-fashioned when we arrived, but there’s a fridge, modern oven, and even a small TV mounted on the wall beside the door to the small attached bathroom.

Baelfire was right about the reception because my burner phone starts to buzz. I check to make sure it’s not Melchom calling back, but I answer when I recognize Kenzie’s number.

“ Oh my fucking gods ! You’re still alive!” she squeals on the other end.

Silas begins laying additional magical wards, Crypt cleans his sword on the hand towel in the kitchen, which pisses off Everett, and Baelfire flops onto the big bed, watching me curiously.

“I’m still alive-ish,” I confirm.

“Go ahead,” she sniffs. “You better have a phenomenal apology for not texting me back and dropping off the face of the planet for the last couple of days. Do you even know how worried I’ve been? I was so sure that you were hunted down that I couldn’t eat or sleep or fuck or anything .”

“You, not fucking? I really must be an omen of the end of times,” I joke, sitting on the bed beside Baelfire.

He kisses my thigh, gazing up at me with molten gold eyes like…

Well, like he has the same overwhelmingly sweet, stomach-flipping feelings I’ve been trying like hell to ignore.

Kenzie is legitimately irritated. “You haven’t texted me in two fucking days, there have been record surges at the Divide, the human world is in total uproar, and all I know is that my best friend is getting hunted down by some of the most powerful legacies and monsters in the entire fucking world. Put yourself in my shoes, May. Wouldn’t you be freaking out?”

I shuffle, absentmindedly playing with Baelfire’s hair, which makes him smile contentedly. Thank the fucking universe that at least my matches’ touch doesn’t bother me much anymore.

“You’re right. I should have responded sooner, but we’re really fine.”

The lioness shifter sighs. “You’re forgiven, but only because you’re my favorite endearing, gloomy little not-human. Where are you, anyway? No, wait—don’t answer that. I probably shouldn’t know, just in case a bounty hunter shows up and tries to get the info out of me, right? Okay, instead, how about…how’s your quintet? How are things going with them? Are you finally ready to admit just how crazy head over heels you are for them?”

She’s teasing, but Crypt appears on my other side with a devious smile.

“Do share how smitten you are, darling,” he whispers, twisting strands of my dark ponytail between his fingers and kissing my chin.

Baelfire gently bites my leg as his fingers skim up and down my stomach, brushing aside my shirt as my breathing stutters. Everett and Silas are gazing at me from where they stand, their eyes sharp contrasts of blood red and soft blue.

“I, um?—”

Damn it, I need to change the subject. It feels way too warm in this room, and I would rather be strapped back down in Dagon’s laboratory than sit around on my ass talking about feelings .

“How’s Vivienne doing now?”

“Aww, come on!” Kenzie laughs. “She’s great, but you’re so obviously dodging the question.”

You are , Silas agrees telepathically, smirking. Look how flustered you are. You’re blushing.

“Shut up,” I mutter, meaning to respond to him, but it makes everyone laugh, including Kenzie.

“Girl, seriously. My quintet has been dropping I love you’s all the fucking time because hello? We just went through some majorly traumatizing stuff, and it’s better to say it now before the next wave of shit hits the fan and it’s too late, am I right? I mean—it’s obvious you’re all obsessed with each other, and I’d bet my gorgeous new manicure that you’ve finally fucked all of them by now. Right?”

Oh, my gods. “Kenzie?—”

“She sure has,” Baelfire pipes up, snickering when I grab a pillow to hit him in the head.

Kenzie pauses. “Wait, am I on speakerphone?”

“No,” I assure her.

All my guys crack up. I don't get why until Crypt kisses my cheek.

“You are, love. Can't you hear the difference? It’s this button here. See?”

Damn it. I fucking hate phones.

Kenzie bursts into laughter, too. “This was supposed to be girl talk! No wonder getting you to fess up about your feelings is like trying to pull teeth.”

“To be clear, it’s always like this with her,” Silas supplies. “She’s scared of the so-called L- word . ”

I grab another pillow to throw at him. “Silas fucking Crane. I said shut up.”

“Wait, really?” Everett tips his head, smiling so those completely unfair dimples are displayed. “Why, though? You should already know how we feel by now, so why would it?—”

“Let’s talk about literally anything else,” I interrupt, grabbing Baelfire’s wrist to keep his hand from creeping under my shirt. He just smiles and winks without shame.

Someone knocks on the door of the cottage.

Thank the universe—an interruption.

“Shit. Kenzie, I need to go,” I sigh.

“Fine, fine,” she says petulantly. “But wait—can you guys please make sure that your way-too-practical mate keeps up with her bestie? Girl time is mandatory . She can't just be surrounded by testosterone-fueled, obsessive, wildly horny matches all the time, or she’ll start to get dickmatized.”

That doesn't sound like a real thing, especially because they all burst into laughter again. Kenzie calls them some choice words and then makes me promise to text or call her back soon. I agree and hang up, glowering at my amused matches as I walk to answer the door.

“Gods. You’re all idiots,” I grumble, still annoyingly flushed.

“Who are really fucking in love with you,” Baelfire inserts, suddenly serious.

I die inside, especially because the others don’t argue. That unspeakable emotion tries to well up, and even without a heart, something in my chest aches.

I quickly turn away, opening the door for a distraction from these damned feelings.

It’s Ross. His hand is reattached, wrapped in bandages, and he dips his head far too low, almost like a bow.

“My lady.”

“Call me Maven.”

“M—Maven,” he corrects, glancing at the frozen blondie beside him. “The Garnet Wizard has formally invited you for a business discussion, after which your entire quintet is invited to dine in the Great Hall for our grand Starfall Day dinner. Also…would you, um…mind unfreezing Parker?”

I look over my shoulder at Everett.

He sighs and moves to stand beside me in the doorway. All at once, the ice around the blond acolyte melts away. Parker chokes and gasps for air, falling to the porch in a shivering mess. Ross helps him stand, but the toothy caster sneers at me, brimming with contempt.

“You fucking?—”

“Stop there if you want to live,” I advise.

He huffs, still shivering with blue lips. He glares at Everett, who has his bored-arrogant-professor face on.

“Your boy toys may be formidable, yet I am one of the strongest third-grade acolytes ever to come to the Sanctuary. I can take them.”

“First of all, I don’t know or care what that rank means. Second of all, stop fucking talking.”

He starts to say something else to me, but Ross covers his mouth with a sigh. “I’m so sorry. He has no idea that you’re, you know…”

Just like earlier, I have no fucking idea what he’s talking about. I can only guess, and that seems like a waste of time I could be using to barter with the Garnet Wizard.

“All right. Let’s go,” Everett says, stepping outside.

Ross shuffles uncomfortably, finally letting Parker go. “Only your keeper will be allowed to speak privately with my mentor. You were only invited to dinner.”

The Nightmare Prince materializes in front of Ross, who yelps and leaps back.

Crypt’s voice is pure warning. “She will go nowhere alone.”

“Oh, she won’t?” I challenge, arching a brow at him. “I’m going, and I’ll be fine.”

His purple gaze is tumultuous as he turns his back on the casters, an insult in the world of legacies that indicates he doesn’t see them as a real threat. He cradles the side of my face and speaks quietly.

“You being fine and you being properly treated and watched over are two entirely different things, darling. Having you out of my sight is not an option. Besides, if you leave me alone with these buffoons, I’m liable to rip all three of them apart out of boredom while I wait.”

I smirk. “Bullshit. If you really didn’t like them, you would have driven them insane years ago. Instead, you’ve watched their backs. Most people would call that touching.”

He studies me, his lips curling up. “And what do you call it?”

“Convenient. It means I don’t have to actually worry about you killing them or vice versa.”

“As if he even fucking could,” Baelfire calls from inside the cottage.

Silas moves to the threshold, too, pressing a gentle kiss against the side of my neck. He ignores that Parker is glaring daggers at him like he has a personal vendetta against the blood fae.

“You will not truly be alone,” Silas murmurs in my ear, softly enough that I doubt Baelfire can even hear him.

He goes on telepathically. Everett and I are a mere thought away. And although my mentor has his idiosyncrasies, his obsession with knowledge drives him. You’re a curiosity to him, and as such, he will not allow harm to come to you. If anyone else tries ? —

I’ll kill them , I reassure him before leaving to talk to the wizard.