Rebel Academy: Curse

Chapter Nineteen FOX

How could I’ve forgotten that my sister’s wavy hair was the exact same white blond shade as my own? What other memories had I lost? And why was my kitteny side purring, desperate to dash to her and curl on her lap?

Why did I expect strokes from her, rather than a spanking?

Hartley hadn’t seen me yet.

I stumbled to a halt in the entrance to the Memory theater, as Snow meekly paced in front of me like I was a wanted guest, rather than a gate crasher.

What in the name of Merlin’s hairy balls was I doing?

My sister didn’t want me and the witches hated me. I could lie to myself, but a male brought up in a magical household could never forget that a mage was the enemy.

Yet I had forgotten the way that my sister’s hair would mingle with my own like we’d been twins, as we’d bent over the flowers to make daisy chains, and then how she’d balance the daisy crowns on both our heads, promising that we’d rule together.

BM — before magic — Hartley had treated me like I deserved equality.

AM — after magic — Hartley had treated me like I deserved solitary confinement.

I swallowed, pressing my nails into my palms.

Do not poop, do not poop, do not…

Perhaps, Damelza could turn that into one of her motivational sayings?

Face your fears without pissing or pooping.

It was good to have high expectations of your achievement levels.

I wrinkled my nose at the scent of burning sage. The black and pink tiered seats were lost in shadows, and the stage was blinded with light. My magic prickled at the room’s oppressive and ancient magic. It suffocated my already struggling lungs.

I was here, safe, and with Magenta.

I was loved.

A cold breeze gusted behind me, and warmth curled through me. Magenta was invisible but she was here with me. From the moment that I’d stepped into this coven-run academy, I’d been in danger, but I hadn’t been alone. Magenta had been with me, watching over and loving me.

Great Pan, I loved her.

I shivered with unease, unable to look at the stage yet. Instead, I tipped back my head and squinted up at the words that swirled in and out of focus on the ceiling:

Share our pasts in order to move forward as one together.

My expression hardened. This theater stole our pasts, so that the witches could feed on them and control us Rebels.

Yet could I move forward if my furry ass didn’t face Hartley? Perhaps, more than my ass had better face her, but it was tempting to wave my crooked tail at her with a twerk of my ass, before walking out with my dignity intact.

I grimaced. Okay, I could’ve lost my dignity back when I allowed Aquilo to put a tutu on me and use me as his magician’s assistant in a show to amuse dad.

You had to be there. I did draw the line at Aquilo’s planned hedgehog Swan Lake.

I bit my lip, by slow degrees forcing myself to look at the stage but avoiding Hartley.

I could hear her though, chatting to Juni. Were they mates?

Hartley’s voice was gentle, but there was a steel underneath it that hadn’t been there as a kid. Except, possibly it had, and I’d just been blinded to it because Hartley had been the older sister who I’d adored.

I pressed my nails harder into my palms. Snow shot a final concerned glance at me, before striding to Juni and dropping to his knees. He clasped his hands behind his back.

Three feathered thrones were arranged under the spotlight for Damelza, Juni, and Hartley. In the center was a crow skulls table with a porcelain tea set balanced precariously on top. The witches politely sipped their tea, as they waited for Emerick to be presented to them like breeding stock.

Would my matching to Mesilande, who’d cruelly rejected me once I’d become a mage, have been like this?

Magenta trailed icy kisses down my neck. Her magic entwined with mine, and I knew: I could do this.

AM and BM no longer mattered. There was only MAGENTA.

I straightened my shoulders, before lowering my gaze to the achingly beautiful face of the sister who’d rejected me. She glittered, loaded down with diamonds, just like mum always had been. Then I gasped, because she was staring at me like I was a ghost.

Ashen, Hartley dropped her teacup, and it smashed. The tea spilled over the train of Damelza’s dress.

Hartley and my gazes locked.

“I wasn’t supposed to see him,” Hartley muttered. “Mum promised that I wouldn’t…”

In a sudden rush of shockconfusionanguish, which I couldn’t untangle, I transformed in a spray of glitter into my cat form, dashing towards Snow, who scooped me into his arms. Yet unable to control my emotions, I immediately changed into a fox, gekkering and slipping out of his hold. Then I transformed with a pop into a hedgehog, squeaking and madly running towards the safety of sapphire material studded with blue diamonds that was weirdly familiar, curling in distress into a ball.

“Well, don’t say we didn’t offer you entertainment.” Juni nudged Hartley with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Why did I hate that Juni was acting so buddy with my sister?

In an explosion of glitter, I changed back into a man, who was now curled at Hartley’s feet with my face pressed to her silky dress.

Well, that’d happened.

Awkward.

Did I imagine that Hartley’s lips quirked?

I pushed myself up onto my ass suavely (yeah, I pulled it off) like I’d intended to make the dramatic entrance. “Ehm, hi. That was called the triple transformation move. I’m still working on it, obviously. What mark do you award me?”

When Hartley’s hand twitched, I flinched. Was she going to stroke or slap me?

Hartley’s face became a haughty mask, and she stilled her hand.

“It’s called the black mark or the mark of shame. Aren’t you lucky to be awarded both?” Damelza shook out her dress, and her expression soured, as it fell on me. “I apologize, Hartley, I’d hoped to be granted a night off from your criminally minded brother, but the life of a Principal is a demanding one. There’s no rest for the wicked. Why did you bring him here?” Her eyes narrowed at Snow, whose shoulders hunched. “Did your tiny beast brain become confused? You were sent to fetch my son. I’ll have lost my mind as much as that Rebel witch, before I willingly socialize with a mage.”

Hartley’s lips thinned. For a moment, her eyes flashed with guilt but then, it was hidden.

I cringed. What had I done? It was just like with Glow; Snow would take the punishment for me.

Hartley was studying Snow in fascination. After all, he was identical to Glow.

“Is Glow okay?” I tentatively rested my hand on the hem of Hartley’s dress; the diamonds were hard beneath my palm. “He’ll be lonely without dad and me, and I didn’t get to say goodbye—”

“An Omega doesn’t have a name.” Hartley wrenched her dress away from me, and the diamond cut into my palm.

I curled my hand against my chest.

When Snow rested his hand on my shoulder, I understood the truth of that gesture. It warmed through me in howling of packs long torn apart and images of ancient forests:

Cheers for asking after my twin, when an Omega can’t.

The growling bitterness at the Omega was there, but at least Glow was still alive

Damelza patted Hartley’s knee. “It’s delightful to meet another witch from a traditional House who knows how to keep both mages and wolves in line.”

Hartley’s eyes glittered with mischief, before she patted Damelza’s knee in return. “Your wolf would look pretty with bows in his hair. Mine does. Why don’t you try it?”

I knew Hartley would be dressing up Glow like one of her dolls.

Damelza gaped at her. “In this House we don’t discipline with ribbons; we prefer whippings.”

Juni gripped Snow by the back of the neck, yanking him closer to her. “He’s my Omega, mother. He can be caged for the next week, but you won’t touch him. Are you surprised that the whipping boy tricked him? He is the prince of liars.”

I grinned. “I’ll take that recommendation for my resume, but my actual title is Grand Vizier of Untruths. I mean, I’d accept the Emperor of Inaccuracies or at a pinch, the Lawyer of Misrepresentations.”

Hartley snorted and then hurriedly covered her mouth.

“Was he like this as a child?” Juni asked.

Hartley blinked, and her shoulders stiffened. “That isn’t my brother. That’s the thing who stole my brother from me. That’s a monster.”

I jerked away from Hartley, scrabbling towards the seats. My back hit the seats with a sickening crunch, but I didn’t feel it. I only felt the stab of her words.

Take it back…

My eyelashes were wet with tears, but I didn’t let them fall. If she didn’t accept me as brother, then she wasn’t my sister.

She wasn’t…wasn’t… Pan’s cock, she was.

I turned away my head, unable to keep looking at her. I needed Bask’s pillows right now to hug…or Bask.

Magenta’s frosty cold wrapped around me, and I dragged in desperate gulps of air. Magenta was with me, in me, beside me. It didn’t matter if Hartley didn’t see me because Magenta did.

Juni tilted her head, assessing me, as her fingers carded through Snow’s hair. “If you want to stay, Confess, sit in the seat quietly. Be as invisible as a ghost.”

When she raised her eyebrow, I blanched.

Was Juni helping me? Did she know that Magenta was here?

I struggled onto the seat, ducking my head.

Right now, I’d take any dubious allies that I could, even the Princes’ Tutor who’d threaten to cage Snow.

Was this academy education everything that mum had hoped?

I definitely wasn't the son that either Hartley or she had hoped for...and I didn't care...okay, I cared just a cat's whisker...okay, more like a crooked tail...okay I cared all the way down to my caterwauling breaking heart.

I'd never let Hartley know.

I clawed my fingers into the armrests, composing my expression to the same polite mask that I'd been taught as a kid. In the House of Jewels, I'd spent hours standing in front of relatives, who’d discussed my faults at the same time as praising my beauty or kneeling facing corners in punishment and no matter what, this was the face that I'd been taught to wear.

Hartley swept an assessing glance over me, before her attention was caught by movement at the door.

Emerick stalked into the Memory Theater with his chin tilted up defiantly. He'd changed into fancy clothes for the matching: dark chocolate chiffon pants and top that were almost transparent. His top hung open over his muscled chest, which had been oiled.

He'd have looked like sex on a stick, if he didn't appear as uncomfortable as a gardener, who'd suddenly been dressed up for a sultan's harem. To be fair, that was pretty accurate.

Emerick refused to look at Hartley, even though he stopped in front of her like a tin soldier.

Damelza took a sip of tea. "Now here's how a man should behave. Doesn't he look pretty?" Wow, that was fishing. She needed this match. Was she trying to gain the House of Jewel's money for the academy? Was that the only reason that she'd adopted Emerick? She tapped Emerick's ankle with the toe of her boot. "Hands on your head."

Emerick flushed but raised his hands onto his head, which pulled his top further apart, revealing his entire chest.

Damelza used everyone in this academy like pawns. She was just like mum, who’d also wanted to trade me for my beauty. Damelza would use her students as assassins or marry off her own son.

It was all about the survival of the House of Crows.

Hartley's pupils dilated, and her cheeks flushed, as she looked Emerick up and down.

She was crushing on him.

She didn't love me, and I shook with fear, that she couldn't love Emerick.

Magenta wouldn't allow the marriage, but I had to know that my childhood hadn't been a lie. Because if it had been, could I believe anything was real again?

"Go on then," Juni grinned at Hartley encouragingly like she was at a strip club, rather than urging her mate towards her own brother, "take a closer look. He's a good boy."

Hartley gave a tight smile, before rising from her throne like a shimmering princess. For a moment, the diamonds woven into her dress and hair blinded me. Then she circled Emerick. Her expression gentled, and she smiled at him. When she touched his chin to turn his head one way and then the other, Emerick's eyes darkened with defiance.

If I hadn't become a mage, would my official matching when I'd turned twenty-one with Mesilande have been like this? Would she've inspected me in the center of my grand lounge under the sparkling light of the chandelier, as my family sat watching and drinking tea, like I was no more than property? Would I’ve been sold to Mesilande in the same room that I'd played toy horses with Hartley?

As a kid, Mesilande had sat me on her knee and kindly called me her petit knight. I'd giggled and felt important.

Lies, lies, lies...

When I hissed, unable to restrain my feline rage, Damelza raised her eyebrow at me.

Just wait, cats catch crows, and I'm imagining a feathery massacre...

As if in revenge for my outburst, the back wall was suddenly lit with a kaleidoscope of projected images. They were the memories of every student who'd been punished in the Memory Theater, including me.

Merlin's prick, please don't show it...

Then there it was: my teenage self, kneeling on the mattress in the attic and peering out of the window at Hartley's birthday party below.

It was the day that Hartley and Mesilande had crushed me. I'd learned that everybody knew I was being held captive, and nobody would save me.

Nobody had.

I keened, before slamming my hand over my mouth.

Unexpectedly, Louis Armstrong's gravelly voice boomed out, backed by the joyful flute and trumpet of "It's a Wonderful World."

Hartley appeared as shaken as me. Ghost-white, she tangled her hands in her hair, as if tearing out the jewels would tear away the memory.

Why was her witchy behind distressed? She'd been the one to arrange her garden party, where "It's a Wonderful World" had played, so that I'd be able to watch and hope...for the only time in a decade...that I was still remembered and loved. She'd let me join in her tiny slice of happiness.

Then she'd been the one to take that away from me, right?

Juni dived out of her chair to Hartley's side, wrapping her arm around her. "Mother, shut it off."

Damelza's smile was sly. "What's the problem? Aren't you a jazz fan?"

"Mum admires your clever cruelty." Hartley's gaze was frosty. "I simply admire cleverness, and it's rather dumb to upset your future daughter-in-law or don't you care about the safety of your son...or what I tell mum about your hospitality?"

It looked like Hartley was a rebel too.

Damelza's smile faltered, and then she sniffed. "I prefer music with a darker edge, anyway. I have an excellent playlist entitled Songs to Curse or Fuck To."

It was always the quiet ones. Plus, where was the Fuck You Not Hex when you needed it?

When Damelza waved her hand, the music shut off but not the memories, which replayed on the back wall.

Hartley shrugged away from Juni, before prowling around Emerick. This time, there was a predatory glint in her eye that made my throat tighten. No gentleness remained. Instead, she ran her hand down the center of Emerick’s glistening chest, tested the firmness of his bicep, and ran her hand across his ass like checking over a breeding stallion.

"Your sister tells me that you're good. Are you?" Hartley asked with an icy indifference.

"I've been trained to be neither seen nor heard," Emerick replied.

"It'd be a shame for you not to seen." Hartley cast an assessing eye down him. "In the House of Jewels, we like pretty things, as long as they're quiet and act with decorum. You'll be on display. What are your skills?"

I jolted. This was Husband Management 101.

Hartley had been forced into those classes but she'd hated them. She'd defied them every time that she'd smuggled me out to ride her pony, played snow fights with me, or clasped my hand in hers to run through the gardens, when I was only meant to walk.

Let some of the sister who I'd once known still be in there, or it'd be like she'd died along with dad.

Finally, Emerick met her gaze. "I can care singlehandedly for magical woodland, survive outside in snowstorms, and I can rectally examine foxes."

I burst into laughter, and Snow's shoulders shook suspiciously.

I knew that I'd had a close escape from his medical attentions.

Hartley gaped at Emerick. Those skills weren't on the Approved List of Skills in the Husband Management Booklet. They should add them.

Damelza's feathers ruffled in outrage. "Do you know what happens to boys who misbehave at their matchings?"

"They don't have to marry witches who they don't love?" I snarled. "Come on, I've got it right this time, yeah?"

Fathered straps shot out of the seat. The straps bit into my thighs and upper arms, and I yelped.

Wind blasted through the theater. Magenta was pissed.

Hartley took a step towards me, and for a moment, I thought that her mask would break. "This match was arranged by mum years ago."

"Would you've allowed Mesilande to treat me like that?"

Hartley furrowed her brow. "I tried to make it clear at my party. It wasn’t fair for you to continue in your delusions. Mesilande wouldn't want you, brother, because you're a mage. There was no point you...still hoping...because no witch would touch you."

Emerick chuckled. "Well, you're in for a shock."

"Silence," Hartley snapped.

Hartley's eyes widened, as Emerick dropped his hands from his head and crossed them over his broad chest. "We're not married yet. I'm not in the mood to be dominated, in fact, that's not my dynamic at all."

Juni attempted to hide her snicker in Snow's curls.

I shrugged. "Wow, look at that. He can think and talk like a real person. Don't you remember that I could?"

Damelza slammed down her teacup with a sharp crack. "Delightful as this reunion is, can we refocus on the deal—"

"You be silent too," Hartley hissed.

Damelza sank back into her throne in shock.

My prickles, that made everything worth it.

Almost.

How powerful had Hartley become? Her magic glittered off her, as she prowled towards me. I'd wanted her attention, right?

Be careful what you wish for.

Hartley reached to stroke my cheek. I hated myself for it, but I leaned into her touch. It'd been so long since she'd touched me gently. Since the Kitten Incident, when I'd first transformed in front of my family into a Birman cat, I'd craved this.

But as soon as the tips of her fingers had touched my skin, she'd pulled them back.

"You locked me up." This time, I didn't look away. The words crawled from my throat, each one more painful than the last. "You never visited me. You forgot me."

Hartley’s hands clenched into fists.

Use them, hurt me, beat me because at least then you're seeing me...

Instead, she merely tossed her head like I was beneath her notice and began to turn away.

Desperation wailed through me, vibrating through my magic. I craved to prick her until she bled, at the same time as I wanted to snuggle in her arms, purring.

I needed her attention and I feared it.

Magenta's magic sparked around the room. Her rising fury rattled the teacups, and Damelza narrowed her eyes. Magenta’s outrage for Emerick and me battled against the oppressive magic of the Memory Theater.

There was one witch who fought the system and loved mages: Magenta.

"Why?" I whispered. When Hartley continued to turn away from me, I howled, "Why?"

She hesitated, but she didn't look at me. "You became a mage."

"I was still your brother. Wasn't it enough that your older brother had been thrown to the wolves? Did you regret that the same hadn't been done to me? Did you beg mum to throw me to the wolves as well?"

To my shock, Hartley let out a shocked sob, as her knees buckled. She lay her head on my lap.

What had I done?

Juni stared at her. "I shall send you on a Discipline Run every Sunday for the rest of term if you don't undo this."

I wriggled in my straps. I couldn't even move my arms to comfort Hartley. Emerick marched over, however, to drop to his knee next to her and rub her shoulder.

He should've listed comforting the distressed to his skills because he was epic at that (to be fair, he was equally epic at terrifying threats).

"I didn't know." Hartley's voice was soft and stripped of its steeliness. "Mum told me that Reed had died." My chest tightened. My older brother's name was Reed; no one had ever told me that before. I held it to me like it was more precious than any jewel that my House owned. I was shaking, and Hartley raised her head like she was surprised to feel it. Tears chased down her cheeks. Why was she crying for a mage? “Mum locked Reed away like you in the attic, but he was shackled all the time. I was so young, and I couldn’t bear it. Then mum told me that he’d died. I grieved. Don’t you get it? I lost two brothers to the evil of magic.”

“I’m not dead,” I snarled, blinking away tears. “I was alive and alone, and you chose to lose me.”

Hartley knelt up, and this time her hands rested on my cheeks and didn’t move away; her ice blue eyes that were twins of mine, didn’t flinch from my gaze. “I cried for Reed. He was my brother. I idolized him. He was perfect, and when he…when I thought that he died… I had you, and it was like we were all offered a second chance. I loved you so much: my beautiful little brother. I tried to make up for everything that’d been done to Reed and let you have what I wished he’d been allowed as a kid and would never have again.” My breaths were ragged, and my vision blurred. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep the sobs inside, even if I was being clawed to shreds. Stop speaking, for the love of Pan, enough… A tear escaped against my will, and Hartley wiped it away. She was too close, and yet, not close enough. Her face twisted, as she bunched her hands painfully in my lap. “And then you spoiled it all over again.”

Emerick gripped her tighter by the shoulder; his expression was grim. “Well, that was touching. How about we leave Fox alone now? You enjoyed stroking my chest. Have you felt my abs yet?”

Hartley shook Emerick off, leaning her cheek against mine. My eyes fluttered shut.

Why was I so desperate to hope even now?

“Why did you have to be a mage?” Her tears were wet against mine. “Why did you have to be taken away from me as well? Now even dad’s gone. You did that.”

My eyes snapped open, and I wrenched my head away from her. “Mum did that; I know that now.” Her eyes widened at my hard tone. Had I ever spoken to Hartley like that before? “Reed and I were born with our magic. It’s not bad. It’s natural and who we are, right? You and mum chose to abandon us. Witch society is screwed-up. Stop crying and make a stand to change it. If you loved us, you would.”

“The fox has balls.” Emerick pushed himself to his feet. “And he’s right.”

“Yeah, and one final thing,” I glanced up, as Magenta’s cold fingers clasped mine, “a witch does love me, and I love her.”

Instantly, a blizzard raged through the Memory Theater.

Juni screamed, huddling on the floor with Snow, while Damelza stood in the eye, as her eyes glittered with rage: a crow in the storm.

I laughed, and Hartley shivered, falling back on her ass. Snow rained down on her.

Then Magenta appeared, as the storm died down, in the midst of coiling black mist.

Now that was an entrance.

Magenta was wicked and she was the most powerful witch here. The entire academy shook on each step.

How close were we to breaking the wards?

For the first time, I firmly believed that Magenta could unmake this academy.

When Magenta sauntered towards me, I gazed at her, mesmerized.

My dick hardened. Now was not the time to test if I could come untouched, simply by the power of Magenta’s awesomeness.

Yeah, it was possible.

My dick pulsed, and I bit my lip.

Magenta leaned over me, stroking through my curls, before murmuring, “May I kiss you?”

“My dick will never forgive you if you don’t,” I murmured.

She grinned. “Well, we can’t have that.”

When Magenta pressed her lips to mine, I knew that I’d never be rejected again. I moaned, as her yew-scented magic, caressed mine in time with the strokes of her tongue. I deepened the kiss, giving everything that I was, because she gave me everything that she was.

When she drew back, sucking at my lower lip, like she never wanted to break the kiss, I smiled against her lips.

Then Magenta turned to look at Hartley who was still sprawled on the floor. “How enchanting to finally meet you. I’m the Wickedly Charmed witch from the House of Crows who cursed this academy, and you’re the bitch who hurt my lover.” Her smile was all teeth. “Hurt him again, and see what fun we’ll have.”

Hartley’s mouth tightened, and she scooted backward. “I’m not here for him. I’m here to match Emerick.”

Magenta raised her eyebrow. “I once believed that I had no option but to be trapped in a loveless marriage. Then to escape it, I destroyed everything. Are you sure that you wish to continue such a tradition?”

Hartley pulled herself shakily to her feet. “My mum…”

“Lied about Reed,” I said. “And lied that witches couldn’t love mages.”

Hartley wiped angrily at the tears on her cheeks. “This matching is off.”

Damelza stalked towards Magenta. “Do you know why I hate those who destroy matchings?”

“You’re the Grinch?” I suggested.

“Insecure matriarchy?” Emerick ventured.

Magenta tilted her head. “Irritability caused by appalling tea etiquette?”

“Because the House of Jewels was meant to be united with the House of Crows, and you’ve just undone decades of work.” Damelza’s cheek twitched. “Since you’ve wrecked my chances at the money this academy needs, then you’d better impress the patrons at the Enchanted Ball. Perhaps, I should have a Hunt with Snow and Emerick the prey to be savaged, since he’s no use to me as a son.”

Emerick flinched, and Snow hunched his shoulders.

“There’s no need to harm him.” Hartley laid her hand on Emerick’s arm.

If I squinted, I could imagine she cared.

Damelza’s eyes flashed. “My dear, if you don’t want him, I can discipline my son any way that I like…both my son and your brother.”

Hartley hugged her arms around her middle.

I should never have forgotten what a master manipulator Damelza was.

“Be careful,” Hartley’s voice was icy. “I admit that it’s come years too late, but I’ve realized that my brother is sort of epic. Release him from that contraption.” My mouth was dry, but I still shot Hartley a grin that she met, shyly. Joy thrilled through me. After all these years, I still only wanted to see Hartley happy. To my surprise, the straps opened. “The House of Jewels doesn’t take well to threats.”

Damelza fiddled with the feather charm, which was tucked behind her ear. “That suits me, since the House of Crows only issues promises. Sweet Hecate, are the younger generation all this spoiled?”

Juni darted a nervous glance between Hartley and Damelza. “Mother, there’s no need for…”

“Don’t mother me.” Damelza swung to Magenta; her eyes glittered. “And you, materializing with your flashy tricks and even flashier morals. Let’s just see how wicked you truly are. I can say with utter certainty that you’re the worst behaved student today and have earned the punishment of the Memory Theater. What will your lover think of you, when your memories and secrets are revealed?”