Page 7 of Brutal Birthright

Definitely.

In no way was she allowing him to keep manipulating so much brain space.

“Ok, good, because we are going to be taking advantage of the line-up on offer here this year. Have you seen the cheekbones on the vampires? Not to mention the way I would not say no to being pinned down in the woods by one of those shifters.” Brynne fanned her face.

Ri rolled her lip between her teeth to stop from laughing.

“Wait—have you got yourself a sigil? For protection? A girl can never be too prepared.” Her friend pointed in the direction of Ri’s hip.

“Um, yes.”

As soon as she’d found out about that kind of magic from her sister, Ri had been quick to procure one for herself. Thanks to Ruby’s connections, and a rather drunken night with her group of witch girlfriends, Ri now had the star-shaped tattoo on her hip, which allowed for carefree fucking and fooling around.

Not that she’d found anyone worth her time to fall into bed with since getting it, mind you.

Spirits and fucking ancestors, she really just needed some good dick. Maybe that would help her focus on making it through to the Astrals. At least the odds were high of finding someone else here looking for a no-strings-attached good time. And Brynne seemed like the perfect partner-in-mischief to search for those types of adventures with.

Maybe a half-decent fuck would finally eradicate the tattooed asshole who played the starring role in every orgasm she’d given herself over the past six months.

Ri shook off her wandering mind and eyed the purple floaty fabric hanging around the sprite’s legs. Picking up a long edge of the material, she rubbed it between her fingers.

“This is cute, but I think I’m going to have to use my magic to organise you something more appropriate to wear in the arena tomorrow… unless you’ve packed anything that doesn’t resemble a—”

“Finish that statement… I dare you, scary girl.” Brynne jumped up off the bed and propped her hands on her hips. Eyes dancing with laughter.

Perhaps this year would have a little fun to it, alongside the requisite hard work, after all.

“Come on, let’s get out of here. I want to explore the grounds a little… and I’m guessing you know this place better than all of us if your sister is in charge?”

Ri nodded, following her new-found friend out the door and sealing her room behind her with her fae magic. “You could say that.”

They both threaded their way back down to the main hall on the first floor, avoiding the various clusters of lost-looking students. Brynne continued to talk relentlessly, taking notes on, and complimenting everything Ri wore. Wistfully claiming she’d love to have such long glossy curls and the fierceness to pull off having one side of her head shaved, too.

“It’s not entirely accurate, what Vanya was saying, you know.” Brynne nudged at her with a shoulder. “Not all the teaching staff are mated. My father knows some of the guards here, and when we arrived this morning, they were all talking about a recent attack.”

Attack? Ruby would surely have mentioned…

“Somewhere near the village—a group of shifters were found dead, and the professor who was supposed to be in charge of our combat training was among them. They’ve had to make an urgent replacement in time for classes to start tomorrow.” Her voice dropped low. “And not only that, but according to the guards, it wasn’t just a teacher who was killed; a student was found dead also.”

Chapter 3

Ri didn’t have time to find her sister and grill her about not only one but two deaths. Or why the fuck she decided not to inform her of an attack in the nearby village right at this moment in time. One involving a teacher and a student, no less.

They’d been through enough shit with keeping secrets from one another. The kind that had nearly stolen Ruby’s life.

Wasn’t this exactly the kind of information Ri was supposed to know? Just because she’d enrolled in the academy as a student didn’t mean she’d settle for being kept out of the loop on essential details. Only a day ago, she’d still been the go-to protector and guard for Ruby, working alongside Niall.

This was exactly the kind of information she should be kept abreast of. Especially when it came to the protection and safety of her sister. Fuck, she’d rather drop out of Astracadia and return to guarding Ruby full-time than risk her life again.

But right now, tracking down the queen would have to wait.

Priorities. Ri reminded herself.

She had every intention of putting in an excellent training session for her first day.

Then, she’d hunt down Ruby and tear her a new one.

“You can all pair off and start warming up together.” The bulky-looking fae with blond hair barked at them from across the training arena. Finnic, or Finn as he introduced himself, was apparently the armourer within the fae guards here at the palace.

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