“Guards!” the queen screeched at the top of her voice. “Arrest these traitors immediately!”
22
Raven
The early morning sun broke through a small crack in the drapes. I lay in Maverick’s bed, my arms wrapped tightly around Kai. He’d woken up long enough to take a quick shower when we arrived back late last night before collapsing into bed.
Maverick had offered to stay with him; he was worried about the lingering after-effects from the sea witch’s magic, even though Farris assured me her death would have eliminated her spells, but I refused to leave my merman. I couldn’t. Not after everything he’d endured.
Rasmus had claimed the spot behind me, much to Zane’s disgust. While Maverick had seemed resigned to sleeping on the sofa, my vampire and my incubus had argued over who got to sleep with me.
Their squabble surprised me. Rasmus had been very chill so far, usually finding Zane’s antics amusing rather than annoying. I guessed that failing to kill the sea witch had angered him.
All my mates seemed to think they’d failed me, which was ridiculous.
“The male ego is very sensitive,”Kenji piped up.“Not mine, obviously, because I am a superior male, butyourmales need to work on themselves.”He paused.“Especially the mage.”
“The mage can go fuck himself.”I had more warm and fuzzy feelings for the fae than I did for Alaric.
Farris had redeemed himself last night. Before the queen’s guards could arrest us for treason, he had a quiet word in her ear, and miraculously, her demeanor instantly changed.
It wasn’t until we fell out of the fae portal outside the academy gates that he explained he had a kinky sex tape starring the queen. He’d warned her that unless she let us all leave, he would release it on social media.
How I’d laughed.
Fucking fae.Helping me kill the sea witch had been too much trouble, but blackmailing the mer queen he could do?
Still, I took pleasure in the fact that I’d likely not see him again. Not until he wanted to call in his two favors anyway. Which would hopefully be many,manyyears in the future.
A witch could dream.
My stomach gurgled loudly, waking Rasmus. Since I couldn’t hear my bear, he must still be asleep. Zane too.
“Let me make you some breakfast,mea amica. You need to eat more.”
“You need to eat too,” I pointed out before blushing hard. Feeding from me inevitably led to sex. Goddess, save me. Now was not the time to think about sex!
He chuckled. “I can wait, my sweet.”
The door closed behind him, leaving me with Kai. I heard faint voices downstairs and the scent of coffee drifted into the room. Mystomach growled again, but although I was hungry, I couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Kai alone.
My merman stirred in my arms. Was he waking?
I watched as his eyes opened. They widened when they landed on me, busy staring at him like a creeper.
“Raven?” The bond in my chest purred with pleasure, happy my merman was finally awake. I couldn’t hear his thoughts, but I could feel his confusion down the bond. Had he forgotten our journey back from the mer kingdom?
Stars above, I hoped the mer queen had a hangover this morning. If anyone deserved the realm’s worst headache, it was her.
“How are you feeling?” It occurred to me that Kai might not want to be touched after his ordeal, so I eased back.
“I…I…think I’m okay?” He scrubbed his chin. Whereas Maverick would have had a full beard after days of not shaving, my merman’s face remained hairless. It had to be a merman trait, as none of the males I’d seen in the mer city had had beards.
“No pain?” Adam had left some potions for us in case Kai needed pain relief.
“No, I feel well.” He shifted uncomfortably under my scrutiny. The intimacy we’d found before he left was no longer there, and I wondered with dismay whether our relationship would recover.
It had taken ages to build a bond with my merman, and thanks to his interfering mother, we’d nearly lost each other forever.
