“Listen to that,” Magenta said, coolly. “Why, Midnight is quite screaming the classroom down with his pleas to be saved from our ruffian of a mage.”
When Midnight laughed, I startled. Well, wasn’t that a nice sound? Just like the sound of Magenta’s quiet sarcasm in my defense.
“Shall we go out and brave the world again?” I asked. “You have your knight, Sir Fierce, now to protect you. My prickles are at your service.”
Midnight rested his forehead against mine. “My fangs are at yours. And I’m your knight, see, you’re my king, and Magenta will be my queen.”
My skin tingled, and my heartbeat raced. What had I done? In vampire culture, had I more or less made Midnight my slave, warrior, or asked for his hand in marriage?
I had a sense that it was a combination of all three.
100, 99, 98, 97…
I closed my eyes and I continued to count, as Midnight dropped his wings away from me.
Magenta scooted around on the table to check me over with an assessing eye and a comforting smile. I pinked at the thought of how I must look strung up. Sleipnir’s hair was aquamarine today and styled punky (he’d taken long enough messing around with it), whilst mine hung in messy curls…upside down. I should’ve transformed into a fox and just gone with the whole waiting to be skinned look.
Yet even though Magenta was in Sleipnir’s arms, it was me that she was gazing at like she craved to devour me.
“Finally,” Lysander huffed. “Now we’re ready for our lesson. My uncle mustn’t have bad report of my whipping boy management.”
My skin prickled. If I hadn’t been tied up, Lysander would be seriously close to Mr Fierce’s first attack on behalf of Midnight.
Fear the hedgehogy wrath…
“Wow, that’d be devastating like everyone discovering that you love wearing French maid’s outfits. Wait, that already happened. So, what’ll he do? Take away your shiny Prefect’s badge?” I smirked.
Yeah, I managed a smirk even upside down. It was a skill.
I didn’t expect the way that Willoughby gently rested his hand on Lysander’s shoulder.
Why did I feel like the asshole?
Lysander shrugged off Willoughby’s hand. “Something like that.”
When the door slammed open and Juni stormed inside, Bask startled awake and tumbled off the table. Mist snorted, racing to Sleipnir and jumping like he was at the Grand National into the pocket of his blazer. Juni adjusted her feathered cap, before tapping her shoe
“Are you waiting down there to lick it?” Juni arched her brow.
Horrified, Bask scrambled to his feet. “I didn’t come on it this time, so not a chance.”
Magenta slid off the table, crossing her arms. “Ah, the patented start to all magic lessons: The Coming on a Shoe enchantment.”
Juni studied her back, unblinkingly. “I learn something new every day as well, Crow, but I never know with the Immortals if they’ll have their pants up or down.”
Was it possible for someone’s eyes to bulge out of their head because Lysander looked close to losing his eyeballs...?
Juni ignored Midnight and me like we were no different than the hovering candles, whose flames wavered as she passed. I’d never been used as classroom equipment before. How would it compare to being used as building, office, or agricultural equipment? And possibly I was going crazy because it wasn’t like different grades of equipment were now my career choices.
“What’s with the Spanish Inquisition?” Sleipnir asked, gesturing at us whipping boys.
Juni didn’t even look round at Midnight and me. “It’s tradition to use whipping boys to test out potions and in Divination.”
“It’s the hanging upside down thing that I draw the line at.” I flapped my arms. “Just because I might’ve had a brilliant dream once about myself, a wand, and a vampire, doesn’t mean that I was… Okay, I might’ve been tied up…just a little…but it wasn’t in the middle of a classroom with a witch professor watching, along with other students. I did once have a nightmare though where—”
“Are you finished?” Juni inquired.
“Ehhm, nope, that’s why you interrupted me.” Mouth, a life time’s supply of strawberry dipped chocolates, if you just stop talking… “I was telling you about this nightmare, where suddenly all my clothes disappeared—”
“Do you wish all your clothes to disappear now?”
My mouth snapped shut. Then I shook my head.
Juni sighed. “Whipping boys are secured. It saves time holding them down later.”
Woah, later…?
“Hey, aren’t we all reassured now?” Sleipnir growled.
When Willoughby grasped Lysander’s arm, whispering to him, Juni’s eyes narrowed. She spun, marching to the Princes’ side of the pentacle table with a sharp clicking of her heels. Her eyes danced with such malicious glee that for the first time, I pitied the Princes. We Immortals had Bacchus as tutor, who scared the spikes back into me, but maybe the Princes weren’t babied with treats and tucked into silken sheets, like I’d imagined?
Wait, maybe they were but in a whole more disturbing way.
“Why would you interrupt my lesson, Princes?” Juni demanded. “Have the Immortals been teaching you their delinquent ways?” Then she cocked her head. “Have they corrupted you into making a Dick Bet?”
Damn my prickles and call me a hamster, why had I ever lied about that when Juni had caught us?
Oh yeah, because there hadn’t been another way to explain why the three of us had been standing around with our dicks out. Maybe I should’ve told Juni that we’d been trying out bukkake, only none of us had wanted to kneel and have cum splash over us because we’d all wanted in on the action?
That was the level of competitiveness that she’d respect.
“A…Dick Bet?” Willoughby flashed Bask a glance like it must’ve been his idea.
Bask merely fluttered his eyelashes back at him.
Flirt.
“You don’t need to be coy. I witnessed the Immortals’ explosive contest.” Sleipnir smothered his chuckle in Magenta’s hair. Wow, Lysander was the same shade of red as me now. Embarrassed twinsies. “Guess who won?”
“The god in his own head. The mage in my head.” Willoughby pointed at us each in turn. “And the incubus in truth.”
Bask whooped, spinning around and wiggling his ass in a victory dance. I grinned. After watching him alone on his mattress that was separated from ours during the night, which had reminded me uncomfortably of mine in the attic, it was brilliant to see his joy.
Even if it was over his (so not true) dick being declared larger than mine.
Juni tipped Willoughby’s chin up with her finger, and he fought not to flinch. “Excellent: you’ve earned a Privilege Point for the Princes. Now, you’ve wasted enough of my lesson. Pull down your pants, and let me judge who wins between Crown and you.”
Lysander backed against the wall, clutching his pants like they’d suddenly be ripped down. “Never have I heard such an affront to my royal personage. I shall do no such thing. There’s….” He gestured at Magenta. “Witches and the like in the room.”
“Am I not a witch?” Juni asked, carefully.
Was it just me or had the room become much darker all of a sudden?