Rosemary Johns - Rebel Academy - Curse

I gritted my teeth. If any of those ways had involved anything more intimate than foot rubs , then Juni would discover that once I was unleashed, the storm could be deadly. I shivered at the sudden image of Lysander on his knees, rubbing his soft, cherry blossom scented wings across my tingling feet.

But then, he had to open his mouth...

"My guardian was also adamant that I be in the audience, so that I’d be able to report back to him." Lysander shot me a careful look. "It's not so surprising that Prince Titus has a special interest in walling up mages."

I didn't realize that I'd screamed, until my magic burst out of me, wild and unrestrained. My powers whipped up a storm that buffeted the castle with snow tears. The window shattered; the blizzard howled down the narrow corridor.

I thrummed, and my magenta snowed in glittering pink amongst the true snow.

Lysander cursed, shielding his face.

Bask's eyes glittered. "Does it please you to be cursed with a limp dick for the rest of your life?"

Lysander took a step back. "One merely meant..."

Sleipnir let go of me to snatch Lysander by the collar and crush him against the wall. Lysander choked, as Sleipnir pinned him with his arm across his throat.

"I. Will. W reck. You," Sleipnir snarled, shaking Lysander on each word. "No one hurts Magenta or Fox, and not some asshole fae who wouldn't know love if it kicked him in the balls."

"Of course not," Lysander rasped. "Unseelie don't love, feel, or sacrifice. Emotion is beaten out of us. So, wreck me ."

Taken aback, Sleipnir's gaze flicked to mine.

Well, that was unexpected.

Was it guilt or was Lysander offering to have his fae behind more than spanked, simply to help my lovers and me cope?

So, that was how uptight fae showed that they cared.

My expression softened. "Most of us simply say I'm sorry ."

Lysander swallowed. "One is truly sorry if my manner implied that..." He sought out Fox's gaze. "My noble self fought for you. You don't need to believe me. In fact, one highly doubts that you will because a fae couldn't possibly love , I believe." He glanced at me, flushing. "But...my royal personage did."

My hands clenched. Was that why Lysander had been limping? Had he rebelled against Juni in defense of Fox, just like he'd tried to save Midnight, and earned himself Punishment Points?

It looked like Lysander was determined to strip away all my fae prejudice and was also closer to becoming one of my Immortals than I'd realized.

Fox gently pushed Sleipnir's hand away from Lysander's throat. When he stroked over the skin beneath, as if in apology, Lysander's wings fluttered.

"Cheers, mate. Sticking up for me to Juni takes balls.” Then he glanced significantly at Sleipnir. “As the one whose furry ass is actually being punished today, I'm putting a stop to fae hurting. Call it a dying wish." Bask clung round Fox’s neck, as if that would force him to take back the words. "Okay, more like a request...okay, hope... This academy is set up to make Princes and Immortals rivals, right? In public and classes, you have to play along to con the professors. But on my prickles, let the truth be that Princes and Immortals don't hurt each other."

Lysander nodded. "You have my word."

Sleipnir snorted. Not helpful.

"As Prefect," I could allow myself that boast, "you have mine."

The storm calmed, and the snow died down. Lysander wasn't fully on our side. But he could be.

There was hope.

Fox sagged in relief against Lysander, absentmindedly running his fingers through his feathers. Lysander stiffened, and despite everything, I smothered a laugh. A fae's wings were as sensitive as a prick, and I could see in Lysander's startlingly tight trousers that his prick was already perking up, despite how he was attempting to shift and hide it.

"Right," Fox rubbed his hands together, "I demand my last kiss. After all, I was once Romeo, but this time, my Juliet will not stab herself because I promise, neither of us are truly dying."

Fox twisted to me, but Lysander's wings banded around him, dragging him close. His hand cupped his cheek.

"If I could grant you life with this kiss, I would," Lysander breathed.

Fox's eyes opened comically large, then Lysander pressed his mouth to his with a tenderness that shocked me. Fox sighed, pressing his forehead against Lysander's and swiping his own tongue against his.

I swept forward, clasping my arms around Fox's waist and feathering kisses up the back of his neck. In claims of possession, Bask and Sleipnir pushed in either side, teasing their hands over Lysander's wings, until he moaned and up Fox's sides, before sucking both sides of Fox's neck with deep, marking kisses.

When Fox was taken from us, he'd feel all of us on his skin. I tightened my arms. Could we keep him safe in our cocoon?

Please, don't let him be taken...

"Wow, I've found four Juliets," Fox murmured.

His eyes were hazy in the good way, and I could see how hard he was fighting to restrain a grin, as he sneaked glances at Lysander.

“One is certainly no girl.” Lysander arched his brow. “And since you’re referencing non-magical fiction, which breaks my fae Court Dictates to read, then I can only surmise that it’s a tragic romance. Our story shall be no such thing. I refuse to allow it.”

Bask snickered. “Our hero.”

Lysander’s eyes flashed, and Bask drew back. “Oh, an anti-hero at best. I can be very, very bad .”

"Perhaps, Crown should be next to suffer the Memory Theater and show you why he's such a bad boy that his guardian sent him here to be reformed," Damelza's cold voice rang down the corridor.

When Lysander winced, fury rushed through me. I twisted around, standing in front of my lovers, as my magic surged through me. In a clacking of heels and flurry of feathers, the Principal of the Academy, Damelza, and her daughter, Juni, strode towards us.

Damelza's hair fell like a silver waterfall to her shoulders, and the feather that was a charm against our powers was tucked behind her ear. A shawl of crows’ feathers was draped across her shoulders. Juni simply looked like a younger, smaller, pointier , version of her mother.

Juni avoided Lysander's searching gaze. If it’d been anyone but a witch who'd just punished her student for attempting to save Fox's life, then I'd have thought that she looked... ashamed .

Crack my broomstick, maybe not all the professors agreed with Damelza's motivational techniques.

I truly believed that this academy would not pass its Magical Safety Inspection.

Just for a moment, I stiffened. Damelza could be my mother here to wall up Robin with the way that she held herself, the glittering obsidian of her dress, and her intense gaze that spoke of death.

My nails bit crescents into my palms.

Except, she was here to wall up Fox, instead. How in the witching heavens was that any better? I glanced around at Fox's ashen face. Did he truly believe that the wall wouldn't suffocate him and that they'd be enough air for him to survive, until I could free him? Or had that merely been another one of his lies?

Damelza swept to Fox; her dress swished snake-like across the floor in the chilling silence. Then she snatched him by the curls and yanked him away from the safe cocoon of my lovers. Bask let out a yell, clasping onto Fox's hand with a determined expression. I'd seen it before when Fox had tried to take one of his pillows.

Damelza wouldn't win this.

For a long moment, Fox was caught in a tug-of-war between professor and student. Damelza's eyes glittered pink in warning, but in turn, Bask's glowed red.