Shadow Magic: Year 3 Read online

  “What if she’s killed?” Ryker asks, his eyes blazing with fury that his mentor backed me up instead of him.

  “You and I will stick to her like glue,” Rocco says. “You can count on that.”

  Ryker doesn’t even glance his way. He keeps staring down Darius like he’s about to jump across the desk and rip his head off with his bare hands.

  Suddenly, I realize what’s going on. He’s scared—for me. He’s so fucked up he can’t express it right, so he just acts like a pissed off dick all the time, but he cares about me. And if I die, he never gets a chance to show it. I know he doesn’t really deserve my forgiveness, but he deserves to be loved just like anyone else, no matter how broken and angry and emotionally stunted he is.

  “Ryker,” I say softly. “I’ll be fine.”

  And then I step over and wrap my arms around him. I hold onto him hard, even though he’s stiff as a board and still staring murderously over my head at my first lover. I press my cheek to his chest, listening to the heavy thud of his heartbeat. He’s just human, like the rest of us. He fucks up like the rest of us. Okay, he fucks up worse than the rest of us, but maybe he deserves forgiveness, anyway.

  Finally, he relaxes a bit, just enough to brush my hair off my shoulder as he dips his mouth toward the top of my head. “And what if you’re not?” he asks.

  If I’m not, then he never got a chance to be with me because he’s too fucking stubborn. If I’m not, he never said he was sorry for what he did, and I never forgave him. I don’t want that on my conscious in case either of us doesn’t make it. I don’t want to think about that, but if a demon is as strong as they say…

  “Then… I forgive you,” I say. I lift my face, looping an arm around his neck and pulling him down for a kiss. It’s not the kind of kiss we’ve had before, fueled by magic and passion, fury and frustration. This is a tender kiss. Ryker’s sword clatters to the floor, and his hands circle my waist. He kisses me deeper, his tongue stroking across mine like a promise, like all the words he wants to say but can’t because he doesn’t know how, and pride won’t let him, and he knows he’s fucked up too badly to ever take it all back. It’s a kiss filled with longing and anguish and regret. I can taste it on his tongue, can taste all the things he wishes he’d said and done differently.

  “Ryker,” I whisper pulling away before things get too heated. As much as I want to work through this, now is not the time. As I stare up into his cerulean eyes, I realize we may never get the time. But if that’s the case, then it’s too late. We can’t do it now. The longer we wait, the higher the chance Dirk could find out we’re on to him, and the more danger Asher could be in.

  “Let’s go,” Ryker says, bending to pick up his sword without another word.

  “He’s coming over at eight,” Asher says, flashing his phone at us. His face has gone the color of paste.

  “We’ll be there,” Darius says. He waves both hands, the shimmering barrier falling from around his office space. “Now, I assume we will remain civil to each other? After all, we are all members of this academy.”

  It takes me a second, but I realize Darius is feeding false info to anyone who might overhear.

  “Okay,” I say, making sure my voice is loud enough as well.

  The Steele brothers are quick to pick up on the cue, too.

  “I mean, if I have to play nice,” Rocco teases as he starts towards Asher, hand extended. “Sorry about last night, man. Gideon’s booze has a weird sway over me and my bro. Truce?”

  Asher blinks, confused, but takes his hand anyway. “Yeah. It’s cool.”

  “I’m glad I could help resolve this,” Darius says. “Now, I believe it is time for you all to return to your evening.” With that note of finality in Darius’ voice, we all leave his office before dispersing with final, knowing looks.

  Now, we just have to wait until eight to send this demon back to hell.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  We’re supposed to wait until Dirk is in the room before showing up outside Asher’s door, but half an hour before the appointed time, Asher calls me in a panic.

  “I can’t do it, Jade,” he says, sounding close to tears. “What if I give it away? What if he knows something is wrong?”

  “Okay, breathe,” I say gently, wracking my brain for ideas. “Hey—you were in theater in high school, right? Pretend you’re playing a part.”

  “I did costumes and makeup,” he wails. “Because I can’t act.”

  “Okay, I’m coming over,” I say, checking the time on my phone. Five minutes to run over there, twenty minutes to talk, and then I need to be out of there before Dirk arrives. I stay on the line with Asher as I jog over to the boys’ dorm. When I get to his room, Elowen is already there.

  “I tried,” she says apologetically as I walk in. Asher is pacing the room at a frantic pace, shaking his hands in front of him like he’s trying to air dry them or something.

  “Oh god,” he moans. “I can’t do this. Knowing he’s a demon…”

  “All demons aren’t bad,” I say. “Remember Topher?”

  “The guy Dirk murdered?”

  Shit. I am so not helping the situation.

  “Okay, listen,” I say, taking both his hands in mine. “Just focus on me for a second. Breathe. You’ve been with this guy a hundred times. You don’t know that he’s a demon at all. He might be a regular old warlock, and Bella was lying to scare us all.”

  He nods.

  “You know what to expect,” I go on. “He’s just Dirk, same as ever. He’s never hurt you, and he’s not going to hurt you now.”

  “Okay,” Asher says, swallowing hard. “You’re right. Maybe he’s not a demon.”

  “If you don’t want to do it, you can still have an out,” I say. “We can confront him when he comes up and see what he says.”

  “But… He could refuse to tell the truth,” Asher says. “And we wouldn’t know for sure if he could hurt someone else.”

  I nod grimly.

  “I’ll do it,” he says. “I’ll help. It’s the least I can do.”

  Just then, a knock sounds at the door.

  “Oh my god,” Asher whisper-shouts. “What do I do?”

  “Is it him?” I ask, glancing around the room in a panic. “He’s way early!”

  “Elowen, be still,” Asher says. He waves his fingers, and Elowen is transformed into a lamp. Or disguised as one, anyway. She stands motionless, looking just like a tall, tan, nondescript lamp. Asher throws a t-shirt over her, so it looks like she’s just another part of the room.

  “Won’t he notice a new lamp?” I ask.

  “He’s not that kind of gay,” Asher whispers, shoving me into the closet and closing the door before I can ask what that means. I peek out through the slats of the door to see Asher cross to the door of his room.

  “Dirk,” he crows as he throws open the door. “You’re early!”

  “Yeah,” Dirk says slowly, and I can practically hear the side-eye he’s giving Asher. “Is that a problem?”

  “No, no problem,” Asher says, his voice way too loud.

  “Good,” Dirk says, sliding a hand around Asher’s back and pulling him in for a kiss. “I got horny thinking about your tight ass over here all alone, waiting for me to come fill it.”

  Oh god. I didn’t sign up for a live sex show. Poor Elowen must be mortified standing out there unable to move without breaking Asher’s illusion spell.

  “Oh… I just—I didn’t expect you to come so early,” Asher says, sounding utterly terrified. And then he fucking glances at the closet, being so obvious I about pee my pants with fright. If Dirk comes over here and yanks open the door, he’ll see me, and if he’s a demon, he’ll paint the walls with my blood.

  Okay, time to take matters into my own hands. I focus my magic and send some out into the room.

  “Baby, you know I always come right on time,” Dirk says, pulling Asher in. His attention is back on my friend, and he cracks a smile as Asher’s back straightens
with confidence.

  “That you do,” Asher says, looking Dirk up and down.

  Close one. I send a little more magic creeping across the floor toward them, imagining it spiraling up, encircling their bodies as they embrace in a passionate kiss.

  Back on track.

  I strain to see anything odd about Dirk, but he’s the same as always, a skinny emo freshman with a pretty face and a fit but slender build. No claws extend from his hands to slice into my friend’s skin. No eyes flaming with brimstone. No long, black tongue spooling out.

  I press my knees together at the memory. Damn it. My magic doesn’t just affect them. It affects everyone in the room. Which means now I’m sitting in a closet watching a couple dudes rolling around on the bed, and it’s making me really fucking hot. How have I never noticed how toned Asher is? Oh, that’s right, because he’s always wearing clothes.

  Well, that and he’s my gay best friend.

  And Dirk, dang, he’s pale but his shoulders are broader than I realized, and he’s got abs. His abs are all pressed up against Asher’s abs, and oh, okay, that’s a lot of dick at once. I wonder if any of my guys would be up for that. Maybe Thorn and Rocco might be willing to put on a little show to get me in the mood. I wouldn’t mind seeing their dicks rubbing together like that…

  Suddenly, someone is in the closet with me. I feel his heat, and I nearly scream before his hand clamps around my mouth from behind. “Shhh,” he whispers, his voice barely louder than a breath. “It’s me.”

  I have no fucking clue who “me” is in this situation, but I’m hoping it’s Rocco because we’re squeezed up against each other, and I’m nearly pressed to the door. I can feel his hot breath on my neck, his hard body pressed against mine.

  “Where are we?” he breathes against my ear. Then he must catch sight of what I’m watching, and I feel incredibly dirty and ashamed suddenly because I realize I’m watching Asher have sex, which was not part of the plan. I start to pull back, but the guy is holding me there, and I can’t move without making at least some noise. His hand is still over my mouth, and I can feel my magic crackling between us. Whoever he is, my magic approves.

  “Let me get the light,” Dirk says between kisses.

  “No,” Asher says, pulling his head down. “Let’s leave them on tonight.”

  Okay, then. Maybe Asher likes the thought of us watching him. He could have left the lights off until they’re done and then checked. There’s no need to let us see everything leading up to the big reveal.

  The guy behind me leans in, pressing his hips against my ass to let me feel the hard ridge of his cock while he pulls my head back, his mouth dipping to my ear, sending hot shivers though my body. I want to ask how he got here, but it must be some kind of teleporting through magic. All I know is that he smells familiar and clean, his body is hard and hot against mine, and his mouth is teasing my earlobe, amping up my magic even more. I don’t even care who he is. I want him to fuck me. I need him to. I know he’s one of mine by the way my magic licks at him like a kitten, the familiar rhythm of our magic twisting together like a dance.

  I press my ass back against his hips, and he bites down harder on my earlobe, making me have to suppress a moan.

  “Did you hear something?” Dirk asks, lifting his head from Asher.

  Fuck. No, no, no. Did I just moan aloud?

  “No,” Asher says. “It was probably just the assholes next door.”

  “Want me to check for monsters under the bed?” Dirk asks, rocking his hips against Asher’s. I watch his ass flex, and all I can think about is how it feels to have a guy pounding into me when his ass is flexing like that.

  “Just fuck me,” Asher moans.

  God, yes, fuck him already, I think. I can feel Asher’s need because it’s the same one I feel. I let more magic into the room, hoping it will keep Dirk occupied. Asher shudders with it, arching up like he’s been zapped with a charge of eroticism. It doesn’t just hit them, though. It hits us. My thighs tremble as my partner slides a hand between them from behind. He fingers my soaked panties, his other hand tightening across my mouth.

  “Let me get a condom,” Dirk says against Asher’s mouth.

  “Not tonight,” Asher says. “Let me feel just you inside me.”

  “You want me to cum inside you?” Dirk asks with a teasing grin. “Dirty boy.”

  Asher moans and bites Dirk’s lip.

  Behind me, my lover nips at my neck, his teeth grazing my skin and tugging roughly, his stubble rasping against my skin. Not Rocco, then. He’s always silky smooth. It’s Darius, I decide. I quietly adjust my stride, spreading my legs as his finger tugs aside my panties and slides through my folds and then sinks into my slippery opening. My thighs tremble as he pumps a finger into me with rough, even strokes.

  “Hand me the lube and turn over,” Dirk commands in the room, his voice harsher with need. Asher obeys, and I drop my head back against Darius’s shoulder. Oh, god, but he’s tall. Too tall to be Darius. It must be Thorn.

  This is good, I think. I’m letting out so much magic. I need more to fight later. This is just a recharge.

  Dirk has his fingers inside Asher, his other hand in his hair, holding his head down on the bed. And for a second, I’m jealous, because I want to get plowed that way. My own partner is pleasuring me in other ways, though, working a second finger in with the first, and then a third, stretching me wider, his hand slicked with my juices. I whimper behind his hand as he tries to stretch me more, bunching his four fingers together and pushing them all inside me.

  I’m jerked back from my own spinning ecstasy by the sight of Dirk’s cock, which has suddenly morphed into something… Not humanly possible. I stare as he lowers it to Asher’s waiting body and pushes it inside. I swallow a scream. It looks like a black, ridged torpedo, like some kind of twisted bundle of horns. I want to scream, but I can’t. A hand is biting into my cheeks, silencing me. I writhe against him, hearing his harsh breaths panting against my neck as he fucks me with four fingers at once.

  We’d definitely be found out if it weren’t for the cries of passion coming from the room out there. The two boys are too absorbed in their own pleasure to notice our heavy breathing. And Asher doesn’t seem to notice or care if Dirk’s fucking him with a demon dick. So, I forget him for a minute, letting my own pleasure take over.

  Behind me, my lover’s cock is straining against me, his breath coming in short little gasps. He pumps his fingers deeper into me, his slick thumb caressing the knotted second entrance before working its way in. I writhe against him, breathing so hard I can’t catch my breath, riding the crest of some wave that shimmers between pleasure and pain. He pushes his hand deeper still, stretching my opening to push not just his fingers inside me but his hand. I can feel his knuckles hitting all the right spots on my walls, winding me tighter and tighter until I think I’m going to explode.

  I’ve never felt so full. I arch back against him, and he sucks in a ragged breath, thrusting into me while his thumb lodges itself knuckle deep in my ass. He grinds his thick cock against my crack, and suddenly, I can’t hold back any longer. The sensations are too intense. I cry out behind his hand, and he thrusts his hips against mine as my pussy clenches around his other hand.

  “I know you’re a screamer, but hold it in,” he growls in my ear, and that’s when I know it’s not Thorn but Ryker behind me, stretching my pussy until it threatens to tear open around his hand. I try to move my thighs closer, but he shoves his knee between them, holding them apart. A second later, I feel his thumb retreat, and he gives me relief for just a second while he undoes his pants. I start to protest, but I don’t care anymore. I don’t care if he fucks me against the door of Asher’s closet. I don’t care if he’s Rocco or Ryker, Thorn or Darius. I’m exploding with magic, nearly choking on it, and I need—I fucking need release.

  His cock burns against my bottom like an iron rod, impossibly, terrifyingly huge. Instead of forcing it into me, he slides his hand back between
my legs, slicking it through the wetness trickling down my thighs. I gasp and squirm against him, needing more. I want him to fuck me, to rip me wide open and make me scream. I don’t care if the demon tears me apart. If he doesn’t, my magic will shatter me from within. I moan at the impossible pressure as he tries to work his thumb inside my pussy with the rest of his fingers. I try to protest, but his hand is still covering my mouth, and orgasm is still wrestling for control of my body. I can’t take it anymore. As I feel his hand sink into me, the knuckle of his thumb hitting the nerves behind my clit, it’s too much. I let go, relaxing as his long-fingered hand sinks into me fully, thrusting into me as I jerk and tremble, another climax washing over me.

  I hold back a scream, forcing the orgasm to turn inwards like it did before, forcing the magic not to blast from me, blast the door open, blast over everyone in the room. Blackness swallows me as it blasts inwards, spiraling into something deep inside me. I buck against Ryker, my walls clenching and clenching against the invasion of his big hand. A second later, I feel his hot, sticky cum spurting onto my back, running down my skin, trickling over my ass. Another orgasm hits me, this one even more intense than the last, and I almost sob at the strength of it.

  Warning bells go off inside me, telling me not to get caught unprepared, but I can’t hold back the magic and focus on anything else at the same time. I have to trust that Ryker will protect me. So I let go again, give myself over to him, and for a minute, I am lost to the world, to everything except my body and the impossible amount of pleasure it contains, the pleasure Ryker is forcing into me as I climax again and again.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  I lose count of how many times I come and how long it goes on. When I finally come back to myself, Ryker slides his hand out of me, and I can already tell I’m going to be hella sore tomorrow. But tonight, I’ve got other things on my mind. The room outside the closet has gone quiet, though I can hear them breathing. I try to calm my own breathing when I notice Ryker has done the same, his breath a warm caress against my neck. His other hand is still clamped over my mouth, and I taste something metallic and sweet on my tongue and realize I must have bitten him without awareness.