Rebel Academy: Crush

Chapter Five BASK

A slinky incubus of the ancient Night lineage shouldn’t be ignored. It makes his shiny hair go limp. I shuddered because shoved into the corner of Damelza’s study and staring at the shadowy wall, I remembered what it was like to belong to the Duchess.

Invisible. Ignored. Unloved.

Beg me to let you burn yourself…

I shivered. Wow, bad time for thoughts of what my bitch ex-bond would do to me when she dragged me back to the Succubi Court.

Unless that was why I’d been stood here in the first place…?

The displeasure radiating from both the women, who prowled behind me talking like I didn’t exist, cramped through me in waves. For an incubus, displeasure was more painful than a beating.

The Duchess knew that.

They were brutal pissed that Magenta had snatched me and even more pissed that only I had been returned.

Despite the pain, my lips curled into a smile. Magenta was safe and loved my sinfully sexy self (of course, snicker). I’d experienced real love and nothing the Duchess did could take my memories from me. I wouldn’t let the Duchess break me again because this time, I’d have Magenta’s love inside me, keeping me strong.

I scrunched up my nose at the stench of garlic, before glancing down at the Hecate shrine that’d been built under the narrow window. The Hecate statue, which lounged on the stinky garlic, wagged her finger at me.

I pulled my innocent face, even adding in a flutter of eyelashes, but her eyes only narrowed, as she pointed at the corner.

See, it must be the limp hair effect already.

Fox would've flicked her off because my snuggly foxy was a serious Rebel, but I didn't have the same witch vs mage war raging as he had. Instead, I cast a sneaky glance over my shoulder (at least my arse was still pettable), before putting my nose back into the corner.

Although I should warn Damelza about Rule 23 of the Incubi Night Code: If somebody puts you in the corner, put them in the ground.

Harsh but fair.

All of a sudden, the scent of wild woods wound around me. I sighed, as cold lips kissed down the back of my neck, prickling my skin with electric magic. Magenta was here with me. It was adorable that she was truly invisible and didn't care. Plus, she wouldn't let me suffer this alone like I once had at the palace.

I raised my chin. If I had to stare at a wall, then I could do it with attitude.

A cool breeze blew across my hip, and I fought myself to stay still, as it cooled my cock and balls. So, my Voyeur Ghost was also a Possessive Ghost. But then who wouldn't want to claim the precious jewels of a sexy incubus (come on, who was I kidding, they were already marked with her name).

I let myself sink into the safety of Magenta's ghostly embrace: her scent and touch. She wasn't visible, but I could feel her. She was still inside me, and I knew that she always would be.

Once an incubus loved, it was until death, just as it was like death to be parted from their lover; it was this whole thing. And when I was parted from Magenta and the other Immortals, it'd be a slow death. Except, I'd never let them know that. Ma had taught me that I should think about my own survival first, but I'd do anything to save the other Rebels. They belonged to me and that meant that I’d do anything to protect them.

After all, I'd also been taught to let myself burn.

"Beg me for your inspection," the Duchess whispered into my ear.

The hairs on my nape rose. When had she moved behind me? Had I been that deeply lost in my brilliant dream of the Immortals? Silly incubus, didn't I know that safety wasn't real?

Too close, too close, too close...

I shrank against the wall like I could somehow escape her. If I'd still been her bonded incubi back in the palace, I'd have been punished for flinching.

My tongue darted out to wet my dry lips. The scent of yew trees faded. Where was Magenta? "P-please inspect me."

Would I be in trouble for hesitating?

I heard the click click of the Duchess’ footsteps, as she prowled away.

"He's forgotten his training," the Duchess said, coolly.

I winced. I was off my game.

"You broke him and then abandoned him in my academy. Did you expect to find him in perfect shape?" Damelza replied.

Wow, that was brutal. Also, true.

Was Damelza defending her own honor or mine?

Still, we had a saying: Never trust an enemy who looks like a friend. Seriously, it was an ancient one. Trust me.

"Turn around." The Duchess' voice was quiet but rang through the study like a gunshot.

I swallowed, and my hands clenched into fists. My nails bit crescents into my palms. I forced myself to turn; my pulse roared in my ears.

The study was dark and stacked with books and potions. On the wall opposite me, beneath the academy's RA crest, the wall sparkled with pink and black motivational sayings. Underneath this, scrolled the school's motto:

The Duchess perched casually on the edge of an obsidian desk that was cobbled with crow skulls. Her hands were crossed in her lap like she was demurely waiting for a prayer book to be placed in them, but I knew that it was Number Three in her Top Ten Positions to Ride an Incubi’s Face. Her red hair tumbled around her shoulders and her skin was the type of peachy that the other bonded incubi in the harem had swooned over.

Yet the predatory hunger in her intense gaze made me want to vomit. But then, that would make me even less pettable.

The Duchess’ dress was long white satin with a train that coiled around the study, but her red fluffy tail poked out of the back.

Yep, succubi had tails, which had many sexy possibilities, if they didn't use those tails to whip you, rather than stroke your dick.

Away with you, it'd be a fine thing to have a fluffy tail wank.

The Duchess arched her brow. "You displease me."

I howled, doubling over. Why didn't she just boot me in the balls and have done with it?

The air around me suddenly became electrified. Magenta's rage now joined the mix. The windows frosted over.

Magenta was only here to watch, although there were far kinkier ways that I could enjoy that. How could I get her to step down on the whole protecting me thing because if she saw the state of my hair and was still about to reveal herself, then didn’t it have to be love…?

I drew in a deep breath and straightened.

Damelza tutted. "Entertaining though it is to watch your techniques, are you here to inspect his progress or complain all evening? I have other lessons planned, you know. This is still the start of term, and an academy doesn't run itself. Tomorrow's Torment Thursday, which is always thrilling, then there's the Dragon Polo Tournament. These events have to be organized."

I glanced at Damelza from underneath my eyelashes. My guts roiled. Other lessons? At this time of evening, that usually meant somebody had earned the Memory Theater as punishment.

Please, not my whipping boy again.

Damelza’s feathered dress ruffled up in outrage, as she sat stiffly in the blood-red leather desk chair. Her silver blonde hair glistened, and she fiddled with the feather that was tucked behind her hair. She appeared as stressed by the Duchess' visit as me. If she wasn't such a bad bastard, Head of the House of Crows Coven and Principal, then she'd have been beautiful.

Yuck. Dick, you’re getting a smack even for twitching at that thought.

She wasn’t as beautiful as Magenta, of course, although she was her descendant (dick, for the love of the Immortals, stop twitching).

I hated to think of Magenta as a witch of the House of Crows, but she wasn't like them. She was my witch, like Slippy was my god, and Fox was my whipping boy.

Unfortunately, the Duchess appeared to think that I was her incubus. My expression became steely. I'd rather curse myself with forever frizzy hair, than become hers.

In my heart, I never would be again. Yet once, I would've loved her with my every breath.

The Duchess ran her hand along a spine of a book as if to figure out the words inside by touch alone. "He's different. Who's touched him?"

Damelza’s eyes glittered pink. "Since you contacted me, no one. I cast a Repellent Hex and—"

"You're wrong." The Duchess' voice was calm but so dangerous that my balls shrank in fright. She crooked her finger at me, and I edged closer. Magenta's icy lips latched onto my ear, sucking. I struggled to keep my expression blank. Even my ears were suckable. It was a gift. One that meant, while I slunk closer to the Duchess, supposedly pure, Magenta was touching me in the wickedest ways. When I stopped in front of the Duchess, I tried to avoid her gaze, but she tipped up my chin with her tail. It was hot and so unlike Magenta's cool skin. In the palace, the Duchess had almost never touched my slinky self, no matter how much the others helped me to primp or dress me up, which meant that she was making a point. She could do what she liked to me. My heart beat faster. "I sent you here to learn your lesson. But instead, I hear that you're rebellious."

The disappointment in her tone was almost enough to send me to my knees. I swayed but managed to stay standing. "Away with you," I gritted out, "I thought that you chose me because you wanted a challenge. Aren't I meant to be the freak of an incubus?"

The Duchess drew back like I'd burned her. "The Principal told me that she's already punished you for your infractions. I’d planned to forgive you or are you acting up because you need me to punish you again and reinforce those lessons?"

My breath came in harsh pants, and I shook my head.

Not here...not in front of Magenta...please...

I shook at the memory of the Duchess' last punishment. She didn't need to inflict simple pain. To be untouched was the ultimate penalty for an incubus. She'd turned me into a Not There, which meant that everyone in the palace had been ordered to ignore me like I'd become a ghost. I'd started to wonder if I'd become one for a real.

For the first time, I’d ignored the rule about not crying, weeping and dragging on the other incubi's arms, desperate to get them to at least look at me, but they wouldn't. Instead, they’d continued to eat, exercise, or sleep in their casual group like I hadn’t been there. If they’d broken the Duchess’ rule, even to press their gloved hand to my cheek or brush their arm reassuringly against mine in passing, then they’d also have been condemned to become a Not There.

I hadn't simply been unloved: I'd been erased from existence.

It hadn't mattered how pettable, slinky, or how much I'd hurt myself for the Duchess.

In despair, I'd knelt in front of her and burned myself. But she'd simply continued to turn the pages of her book like even my agony hadn’t been delicious to her anymore.

That had been when our bond had broken.

It was a serious thing to break a bond.

I've always been greedy for love, however, and if neither my pleasure nor my pain could gain it, then this sweet arse no longer wished to serve. It wasn't that much of a surprise when the Duchess sent me to Rebel Academy, but the shame of never being allowed to see my family again nearly broke me for a second time.

Ma wanted to hide me from women like the Duchess, but you can’t hide. You have to face life.

The Duchess tapped the top of the book thoughtfully. "Then what do you say to my mercy?"

Stick it up that place beneath your fluffy tail? "Thank you." You psycho bond breaker...

The Duchess must've read something in my maybe not quite so innocent expression because she twisted to Damelza. "I'm telling you that the incubus has been altered. He'll take much re-education."

Re-education. Fun.

I grimaced.

Damelza's lips pinched. "You know how it is between students at this age, especially under the pressure and adrenaline of trials and near death. It makes them fancy themselves in love." I bit my tongue hard to keep still at the way the two women shot each other patronizing looks. What did either of them know about love? "Crave has a crush on our new Prefect."

The Duchess shrugged. "My bonded incubi are often fiercely protective of each other."

Damelza shuffled the files on her desk. "She's not quite the same as the other bad boys here."

The Duchess stiffened. "She...?"

"Crow is an unwelcome and unexpected student." When Damelza's voice hardened, the temperature in the room fell even further. I longed for Magenta to kick my tormentors’ arses, as much as I needed her to stay invisible. "She's a witch from this coven, but I assure you, I have the situation under control. The witch is as weak as Crave. Her own first crush on a mage led to her magic corrupting to Wickedly Charmed and cursing this entire academy."

My eyes widened, and I glanced around like I’d actually be able to see Magenta. Is that what’d happened? She’d loved a mage like Fox, and it’d turned her wicked?

An icy wind blew down the back of my neck as if steadying me or promising to tell me the secret. I’d go with the secret because I was optimistic like that.

The Duchess slid off the table, circling me. I fought not to recoil; I’d forgotten how much taller than me she was. I loved that Magenta was my height.

It made kissing sinfully delicious.

"That's not a crush. It's forbidden and reckless love. A crush is much more painful." The Duchess’ eyes danced with glee like she was feeding even from the thought of it. "It bubbles beneath the skin. It burns, unrequited. Bask loved me like that once. I delighted in it. It fed me most mouth-watering flavors of pleasure." She tilted her head. "Does he love the witch in the same way?"

"Not a chance," I snapped, before I could stop myself, "because Magenta loves me back."

Crack — the Duchess' tail whipped me across the arse.

I gasped. My arse was made for spanking, stroking, petting...a whole platter of fun things. But whipping rights were denied to succubi who weren't even bonded to me any longer.

"It would please me for you to lie on your back on the desk," the Duchess said.

She glowed with power. She'd already fed on her commands, and my pain. I fought to resist her, but we'd once been bonded, and she was one of the most powerful succubi at Court. There was a reason that she was feared.

When I sprawled on the desk, knocking books and files flying, Damelza squawked in protest. The files that I'd flattened dug painfully into my shoulder blades. I was too aware of the pulse pounding in my ears and fluttering in my throat.

When the Duchess leaned over me, trapping me beneath the red bars of her hair, everything became blurry.

"Thank Hecate, my study hasn't been turned into a pleasure harem for at least a month," Damelza drawled, shoving back her chair. Then she stalked to the door. "How about I allow you some — brief — privacy to inspect that he's reforming as promised? When I come back, it'd be ever so kind of you to allow me my own desk back."

I winced, as Damelza slammed the door.

My hands clawed around the crows’ skulls on top of the desk. My breathing was too rapid. My mind was hazy insisting that I please, please, please...

Alone. Trapped. Compelled.

It didn't matter whether my hair was lank or at perfect shininess levels: The Duchess would make me hurt.

She always had.

"Undo your shirt." Ruby sparkles glittered from the Duchess' mouth, amplifying each command.

I reached up, pushing aside my blazer and tie. I had no modesty (startling discovery), because false modesty was banned in my code. I was certain that I'd read it in the small print. But the Duchess stripped away clothes like stripping away part of my Soul.

If you didn't know how to pet an incubus, then it was petting denied. But still, I lay on that desk, and undid my shirt with shaking fingers.

One button, two, three...

The scent of the wild wood cocooned me. It was stronger now. Magenta was here with me, and her magic thrummed hard and bright. Her fury chilled the air, and painted snowflake patterns across the glass. Outside, a storm battered the window.

I drew in my breath. Did she mean to curse the academy for a second time because of me? I thought that I was the obsessively romantic lover here. I almost pouted.

The Duchess stilled my hand, narrowing her eyes like she'd noticed that she didn't have my full attention. Then she slipped her fingers teasingly inside my shirt and across my collarbone. I jumped, shaking. Her fingers were hot and invasive.

I didn't want this. My skin crawled. Too much...

The Duchess gave a cool smile. "How sensitive. Perhaps, you're perfect to be retrained, after all. You'll be fun to play with. This is what I'd hoped to achieve with your touch deprivation as a Not There, if only you hadn't been so weak as to break." When she swiped her finger across my nipple, I arched. Just try and twist and reshape me, snaky tail. I was no longer hers. She thought that she could retrain me, when I had the Immortals’ rebel spirit inside me…? Cute. Her eyes narrowed. "Why aren't you breaking?"

"You never loved me," I replied, flatly. "But I'm loved now."

The Duchess' eyes glowed with a fire that I'd always desired to see burning through her cool. This mighty incubus had the power to destroy a Frost Bitch’s indifference.

I'd add that to my talents along with knotting cherry stems with my tongue and eyebrow dancing.

Seriously, don't knock it until you've seen it.

The Duchess bared her teeth. Ruby sparkles glittered around her like she could no longer contain them. When she crushed me against the desk, I shuddered. The press of her body against mine was too much all at once. I scrabbled against the piles of books, knocking them to the floor with a crash.

"Why would I love you?" The Duchess drew her tail down my cheek, and I flinched. "I already care for my harem favorites. You're just an amusing oddity. You always were dangerously naive. Don't you see that you're no more than a toy? I didn't bond with you out of love."

"And now we're not bonded at all." When I batted away her tail, her eyes widened in shock. "So, don't touch me."

I glowed with as much predator strength as the Duchess. I was an oddity because I was as powerful as any succubus.

She wanted a challenge, right? Then she'd found one because I wouldn't be pushed around anymore.

When I shoved the Duchess away with more strength than I knew I had in me, she stumbled back, falling on her arse.

The Duchess on her arse with wide startled eyes was a fine sight.

My grin was wicked, as I straightened my tie and crossed my arms; Magenta wound around me in icy gusts, thrilling at my victory. "Do you wish this inspection to be over? What a shame that I failed."

In careful movements that set my teeth on edge, the Duchess pushed herself to her feet, brushing down her dress. "What I wish is that you think hard about how much you've displeased me and how you can do better."

Now that was a punch to the dick.

I swayed, before falling to my knees. Waves of pain washed over me, as my own nature betrayed me.

Bad...failure...need to please... What can I do to bring her pleasure?

I clutched my hands over my ears, trying to force away the looping thoughts as well as the pain. I didn't mean them, and they weren't mine. But incubus training was effective. If my bonded had been kind and loved me, then I'd never even have questioned if my slinky self should've followed their rules.

Being sent to the Rebel Academy, even if I was taken back, had freed my mind. Ma had raised me with the right to think and scheme like a woman, but that'd broken me. Yet I didn't blame her now because the Duchess could return me to the Court, but my mind would always remain with my lovers.

Free, even within these prison walls.

Whoosh — the Duchess exploded a magical fire on the floor in front of me.

I froze. This was too like all those times in the palace, when she'd trained me. She wouldn't try that here?

Yep, she would.

"Beg me to let you burn yourself." The Duchess towered over me; her face was a shuttered mask, but her eyes studied me with hungry intensity.

She craved to feed off my pain.

Obey...obey...obey...

The flames appeared enticing like they'd kiss, rather than burn me. They were the reward and not the punishment.

Please, let me burn myself and prove my love.

My mind was hazy, and the room shimmered.

Where was I? I didn't understand. Hadn't the Duchess rejected me?

My bonded would never reject a beautiful incubus from the Night Lineage. If only I could grant her pleasure...

"Please may I burn myself?" I begged.

The Duchess’ lips curled into a smile. But why were her eyes dancing with such malicious amusement? Had my hair lost its shine? "Oh, you can do better than that."

My heart raced, and I quivered in dismay that I'd disappointed her. I could do better than this. I would. I clenched my jaw. "I desire to bring you pleasure. So, please let me serve you. I’ve no greater wish than to burn myself for you. Please, I'll do anything, just let me do this."

"Was that a command?" Her voice was dangerous.

I lifted my shaky hand towards the fire. "Never."

Her smile broadened. "Then please me."

I sighed in relief. Yet why was something deep inside screaming at me to stop, you silly incubus? Why was the scent of the wild woods so powerful that it was like I was back hugging Hecate's Tree?

Wait, Hecate's Tree... This was the Rebel Academy... and I wasn't bonded to the Duchess...

The Duchess watched me with dark eyes, as the fire seared my palm.

All of a sudden, the study windows cracked. The winter storm blasted through them, shattering the glass. I ducked from the shards, as the Duchess screamed. Snowflakes like tears rained on the fire, putting it out.

I clutched my palm to myself, as it cooled. Once again, my mind was clear. I knew where I was and that I shouldn't be kneeling at a succubus' feet.

Furious, I leaped up, before prowling around the Duchess, who struggled to pull out the glass from her arms, which had shielded her face. The wind followed me; Magenta was at my back.

She'd saved my pettable arse (and petted it with icy nips).

"I don't think that the academy is pleased with you," I hissed. "You should leave. It's dangerous here."

That wasn't a lie.

The Duchess flicked out the final piece of glass, ignoring the way that her white dress had been stained with red. "Empty-headed incubi are always superstitious. It's nothing more than a storm and an old building. A school (unlike a succubus), can't be displeased with you."

I shivered at the threat beneath her words, but I still smiled.

Wrong, bitch.

A flurry of files, books, and potions flew across the room to crash and shatter against the wall. The Duchess jumped.

"Just the storm," she muttered.

Magenta's frosty tongue licked across my nipple, and I yipped, stumbling against the desk. Then to my surprise, the desk drawers flew open. I grimaced at the ghoulish contents: crow skeletons.

The skeletons rose up in the hold of Magenta's invisible mists like they'd sprung to life in a flock of dead crows.

The Duchess paled.

I smirked. "It's nothing. Just the storm."

The skeleton crows flew across the room, pecking at the Duchess' tits, as she howled, whipping at them with her tail. I laughed. This was the first time that I'd been glad of the Privacy Spell cast on the study.

"It's this cursed academy." The Duchess backed towards the door. "I shouldn't have trusted witches and their magic. This has nothing to do with me."

"Look behind you," I singsonged.

An incubi could have fun at his ex-bond's expense. That wasn’t in the code. But it should be.

The motivational sayings on the wall vanished to display in neon pink:

It was impressive how pale the Duchess could become. She twirled, slamming open the door.

Was she leaving without me? I bit my lip because an incubus with hope was a disappointed incubus.

Still, I clutched hard onto the desk, ducking my head, just in case she'd forget about me. The words disappeared from the wall, and Magenta danced the crows back into the drawer, wiping away the offensive Unwelcome Message.

"Damelza!" The Duchess hollered.

Wow, that was the first time that I'd ever heard the Duchess raise her voice. It was a fine thing.

Damelza swept past the panting Duchess into the study. She eyed my open shirt and then the state of her desk and the heaps of books on the floor.

Damelza smiled slyly. "I heard that you liked it rough with your boys. Well, that certainly appears to have been a thorough inspection. I'd have appreciated a little more consideration for my belongings. This is a place of learning, you know."

Damelza bustled around to her chair, picking up a torn book and tutting.

The Duchess opened her mouth to point out the crows, before shutting it with a snap, as she peered around suspiciously to try and find them. She settled on glaring at me, and I settled on giving her the innocent look.

"Look at your window..." The Duchess pointed at the smashed glass.

Damelza didn't glance over, as she slid behind her desk and into her chair. "I'll add it to your bill. You should be more careful; you've cut yourself."

The Duchess flushed, then she swung to the wall. "How do you explain this...?"

At last, Damelza brightened. "Ah, my motivational sayings. I'm quite proud of those. As you can see, the saying for today is: Academy attitude is a positive attitude. I don't think that certain of my students have quite got to grips with it yet. Crown, the Princes’ Prefect, struggles with his attitude, despite his excellent grades. Perhaps, I'll talk with his guardian because he’s enthusiastic at adjusting Crown’s attitude."

I winced. I’d wank in Lysander’s bed, but I’d never wish attitude adjustment on him. That was my line, despite the fact that he was a haughty prick of a fae (who was so beautiful that I’d bet the hate sex would be hot; come on now, I wasn’t blind.)

The Duchess stared at the wall and the blinking words:

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself laughing.

Magenta coiled around me. I could sense her mists and her icy breath mingling with mine. She was the academy. I understood that now. And she was more powerful than a woman who'd led me by the balls. Yet she didn't use her power against me, however, only to love.

"Your castle is most rude, hostile, and uncomfortable," the Duchess complained.

Damelza stared at her, nonplussed. "There I was thinking that I ran a spa."

The Duchess sniffed, before sweeping back her hair. "Have this, as yet unreformed, incubus ready for Sunday. I'll make my decision then."

I straightened. Fear shot through me, until I couldn't breathe.

She could still take me away from my lovers on Sunday.

Only four days…

What if the Duchess decided to keep me? She'd be even angrier now that I'd defied her. Would she force me back to the palace but leave me as an unpetted member of the harem? Tell me daily how much I displeased her? Keep me as a Not There, until I broke over and over and...

I clenched my jaw, narrowing my eyes.

If the Duchess didn't want me as a proper bond, then she didn't deserve any incubi. She didn't deserve me.

Magenta taught me that.

"Get on with you, I thought that I was unlovable...?" When I stalked towards the Duchess, I must’ve been channeling my predator vibes because she backed away. The thrill rushed through me to be the one in charge; power surged. "I'll find a way to break any bond, into which you force me. You already think that I'm not a true incubi, who should be cut off from the rest of the bonded harem and too shamed to be allowed contact with any of my family. I can't sink any lower."

The Duchess' eyes glittered. "But you can be bad…"

I gritted my teeth against the agony roiling through me. I still prowled closer to the Duchess, however, and she still backed up, banging her head against the door. When she winced, I bounced on my toes with joy.

I noticed that Damelza only studied us with interest and didn't stop me.

The Duchess wasn't a professor, so the Charms that dampened my powers and stopped me fighting them, didn't protect her. I treated myself to a dark grin at the thought.

"It's like this, see, you taught me to take pain. It doesn't frighten me now.” I tilted my head. “And I'd rather die than return to a bond where I'm despised, when I know what it is to be loved."

"What if it wasn't you who'd die?" I turned to Damelza, and she shot me a crafty look. No, no, no... She'd better not hurt my whipping boy; I'd sworn to protect my adorable foxy. I'd already lost Hector. I wouldn't allow anyone else to be hurt. She must've read my expression because she relaxed back in her chair. "I'm impressed by your oration skills, however, maybe we should set up a Debating Club. Plus, the only dying that occurs in this academy is strictly by permission or on my schedule."

When the Duchess reached into the cabinet behind her and started to set out deep bowls of herbs that smelled of sweet white sage and rich incense, I tensed. The air around me shimmered like Magenta was as nervous as me.

"More witch magic…?" The Duchess spat.

Damelza lit a black candle. The flame flickered spectral in the dark. Dread choked me.

"It must come as a shocking surprise since you're in a coven." Damelza's gaze darted between us. "I've been working on a spell to cast a ghost back where it came from. Yet it needed blood like most serious spells." Magenta's cool fingers traced across mine. I wished that I could take them in mine. What if Damelza truly could cast Magenta back, after everything Sleipnir, Fox, and I had done to bring her to life? "Yet as descendant to the House of Crows, it appears that I'm the magic ingredient."

I watched, mesmerized, as Damelza pulled out a silver knife and slit her thumb, then she held it over the bowl of herbs.

I wouldn't lose my Magenta.

I hurled myself across the desk, knocking the candle rolling to the floor and clattering the herbs over the books. Then I stuffed Damelza's thumb in my mouth and sucked, until there was no trace of her dangerous blood.

When I lifted my gaze to meet Damelza’s, I realized that I was lying on my Principal's desk and sucking on her thumb.

Whoops.

The Duchess arched her brow. "He is very good at that."

Damelza coughed. "I'd noticed." I let her thumb go with a humiliating pop, before wriggling off her desk as sexily as possible (away with you, I could pull it off). "But as positive attitude is today's motivational saying, I'll offer a choice. Crave can obey and abide by the Duchess' decision on Sunday, or I cast the spell again (without the finger sucking), and I may as well make this official by punishing your whipping boy. Walling up alive is the traditional punishment."

"Please, don't..." I didn't even have to think about my answer. I couldn't let them hurt the other Immortals. I'd never let them suffer for me. "I'll obey, behave, bond... I'll do whatever you wish as long as you leave the Rebels alone."

The Duchess nodded, approvingly. "It appears that I need to offer you an apology, Damelza, your methods of taming are effective." She glanced around the room. "Even your castle is tamed."

This time, when the Duchess' tail curled possessively around my neck, I didn't move away. I knew how to take pain, and if it saved my lovers, then I'd beg to burn.