Bas' gaze darkened. "What kind of bad bastard wouldn't love my Willoughby?"
Willoughby slipped his hand to stroke warning circles on Bas' hip, and Bas fell silent.
Bask gave a shuddering breath. "Please, love me."
Willoughby dragged Bas up with him, before hauling Bask into a crushing kiss.
All of a sudden, Five's energetic "Everybody Get Up" boomed out of the walls.
"The dare was to dance," Serenity explained. "Dancing reduces stress. Let's see those asses move to the beat."
"Yes!" I hollered...okay, squealed because I might be the Fox who Loved 90's Boy Bands. This was a safe space without shaming, right? "Come on, not even a Prince can avoid the siren call to the dance floor of this song."
“Sirens?” Willoughby mouthed.
I dragged up a bewildered vampire.
Midnight whispered into my ear, "I've forgotten how to dance. It's been so long..."
"It's easy." Joy rushed through me. I remembered bouncing around the attic to “Everybody Get Up” with my cousin, Aquilo. He'd been just as stiff and awkward, but I'd loved making him let go and live because I'd always had the feeling that when he returned to his family in the House of Blood, he'd been just as controlled and crushed as the Princes. "Just get your funk on."
Midnight laughed, and it was so beautiful that I twirled him even more dramatically.
Magenta tightened her hold on Lysander. "Now this popular music I like. It's certainly better than opera. This is our own Rebel Ball!"
"May I have the honor of the first dance?" Lysander murmured, clasping his arms around Magenta’s waist like he thought that Sleipnir would snatch her away from him.
Sleipnir growled. "Not without me you won't."
As Mist boogied on the couch, Sleipnir rested his hand on both Magenta and Lysander's shoulders, leading them out to dance. It was strange how right it looked. Just like the breath-taking way Willoughby and Bask were caught between the two naked clones in a sinuous dance that was like screwing standing up,
Wait, they weren't actually...? Because that would be hot.
Unexpectedly, in a flurry of black crows feathers, Damelza and Juni materialized in the center of our makeshift dance floor, between our gyrating and sweaty bodies, and epic boy band impersonations.
The music shutoff like it'd been shocked into silence.
We all froze: Princes and Immortals united together by the power of Five.
Juni's eyes glittered, as she scanned the naked clones and then Lysander's bare chest.
Bask carefully pulled his tongue back from licking Willoughby's neck.
Could you have a stroke from shame because Lysander looked like he could manage it? His ass was pressed against Sleipnir, and his hands had been having fun on Magenta's ass. He squirmed to free himself from their sandwich.
Both Bas and Andro vanished in a mingled puff of emerald smoke and ruby sparkles. Midnight let go of me, falling to his knees and clasping his hands behind him. He ducked his head. He was as still as when the Princes had placed him in the corner like he wasn't real.
I hated it, but were all the Princes under the same pressure?
Lysander surged forward, paling. Then he dropped to his knees next to Midnight.
What was going on? Since when did Lysander kneel? He wasn't Andro.
Damelza assessed Lysander with the same contempt that she usually reserved for mages. "Do you know what I do to Princes who wear incorrect uniforms?"
"Make them only wear panties all day?" I asked, hopefully.
And there was the contemptuous glare that I hadn’t missed.
"I'm sure that it's a disappointment to you that it's not my chest on display. My bosom is decidedly bouncy." Magenta jiggled her tits in demonstration.
"Well, I'll have to struggle on with Hecate's help, despite missing that." Damelza didn't look away from Lysander. "Now, I have official academy business to deal with. It's almost time for the Immortals to go to the dragon stables, ready for the mission. But first, the Princes' lost the Rebel Cup. So, I've made room in my busy schedule to hex their whipping boy's wings."
No, no, no...
Magenta stepped forward. Her mists whipped around her.
Lysander glanced sharply over his shoulder at her. "Do not interfere, unless you wish your mage to die, instead."
My pulse pounded, and my throat was too dry. Wait, did that mean that Lysander also didn't want me to die? That was the most romantic thing that he'd ever said.
I’d feel all tingly inside, except I didn't want Midnight to be hurt.
I wrapped my shaking arms around myself.
Juni was pale, and her furious gaze met Magenta's. "I warned you not to hurt my Princes, but look..." She tangled her hand in Lysander's hair. "I wished to call you sister. We're family. But you...strip him…and now, they must be disciplined for their failure in the Cup."
"Have you been watching us?" Magenta's eyes flashed.
Juni snorted. "Do you think I've nothing better to do with my time?" Bad mouth, don't answer that. "Or that Lysander would ever take off his uniform without my permission? Unlike you, he knows the punishment he'll receive." Lysander winced. “Of course it was you who tricked or trapped him into it.”
When Damelza tapped Midnight on the head, he spread out his ash wings. They were as beautiful as him...and so sensitive. It'd be like having his dick broken.
I winced. On my prickles, this wasn't right.
I'd been the one to fall in love with the ghost who'd been my first kiss. I'd been the one to resurrect her with my blood. Damelza had set those stakes on the Rebel Cup because of me.
All week, I’d been fighting to save my own life, but when it came down to it, I couldn't let someone else take my punishment.
And I'd never allow Midnight to suffer for me.
I dived forward, but Magenta caught me in her mists, at the same time as Sleipnir and Bask leaped forward to block me. Desperate, I struggled, but Sleipnir held my arms behind my back.
Magenta clasped me around the neck. "Believe that we love you enough to save you."
"Fight," I hissed.
"Stop fussing," Damelza fiddled with the feather behind her ear, "or this will be a double punishment. I'm certain that I can squeeze you in, as you're so eager. The Rebel Cafe will repel all attacks on professors, as will the charms that we wear. Haven't you read your copy of the Rebel's Mottos? It's all helpfully explained for students in the back."
"Is there a section on breaking wings?" I snarled.
Damelza tilted her head. "Excellent point. I should add one."
Lysander's gaze ached like he was dying inside; he touched Juni’s knee. "Juni, please..."
Since when was he on first name terms with his Tutor? Did he have a sweet nickname that he murmured to her as well like Witchy Poo?
Juni's eyes widened at the use of her first name, rather than professor, glancing sideways at her mum.
Then she smoothed Lysander’s hair, smartening him up as if out of habit. "How many chances did you waste to win? Sweet Hecate, you're Princes. Yet you allowed yourself to become...distracted. The responsibility and guilt for this lies only on you."
Lysander looked like he'd been slapped.
When Damelza reached out her hand towards Midnight's wing and magic crackled like black poison on her palm, it was Magenta who took a step towards her.