Page 108 of House of Mages and Raven

Shit!A flashback of my encounter with Killian in the woods swirled back to me. He must’ve smelled Rowan on me.

Rowan and Sy had fucked like wild animals before they headed to the party. Sy had had the nerve to call it a quickie, since the fae prince had licked her greedy cunt for a long time, and I’d had to roll my eyes so hard that my muscles still hurt at their dirty talk.

She’d moaned, “The biggest cock ever…”

And he’d groaned, “I want to see my cum stream down your thighs…”

Who would say stupid shit like that? I’d almost shouted at them through Sy’s mouth, “You’re testing my patience. Just get it done already.”

It was worse than watching the vampire prince fuck two dumb blondes. The only perk of their couplings was thatI’d taken eighty-nine percent of the energy generated by this shameless pair’s dirty fucking. I hadn’t left much for Sy out of spite and bitterness. Every day, I had to deal with endless anguish, looking over my shoulder to see which foes were coming and checking every corner for an ambush, but Sy had all the mindless fun—drinking, fucking, partying, and doing drugs.

Even for a “quickie,” the fae prince had rage-fucked her, and that big idiot had loved every second of it, moaning even louder than me when I was in heat.

Anyway, after they fucked, Rowan and Sy had headed straight to the party, his scent all over her. After I’d taken over and shifted, I hadn’t bothered to go to Underhill to wash off the fae prince’s scent. Not that I’d become sloppy. I wasn’t in the House of Chaos anymore. At my low moments, I didn’t even care if Killian could smell Rowan’s scent on me. Or maybe I’d wanted him to, just to make him feel as bad as he’d made me feel.

But I hadn’t expected him to go berserk. Had I thrown a jealous fit when he got cozy with his betrothed and her ward?

You went into heat instead,Sy said.Stop rolling your eyes. Let’s do something. We know about a death duel—only one will come out alive.

Sy was right. Despite being bitter and cynical, I was worried sick for both Rowan and Killian.

“Where are they?” I asked, my heart in my throat, my blood cold.

“Prince Rowan returned to X Palace for Sy as soon as you were found. Then Prince Killian tracked him down there. They used their blood to seal the path to the rooftop of X Palace, so no one could get to them. No one can stop the duel except you, Barbie.”

I sucked in an icy breath. For everyone’s sake, I hoped that I wasn’t already too late.

The leyline spat me out,and I wheeled blindly to grab something to cushion my fall, only to find my arm wrapped around a cool neck. My eyes jerked up and stared into the vampire prince’s gorgeous face.

“Shit!” I called in alarm, especially when I spotted his hungry gaze immediately dipping to my neck, where my veins beat wildly.

“Barbie!” Louis said in delight and surprise. “Do you know that you had us worried?”

I hurried to extract myself from the vamp and stagger back to put distance between us.

Silas blinked at me, as if I were an unexpected gift falling from the sky. I surveyed my surroundings quickly. I’d landed in front of the glass elevator of X Palace.

“Where have you been, Barbie?” Cade demanded, his voice both tight and relieved. “From now on, you’ll check in with my house every five hours, so no one will report your missing again.”

“I was napping, Highness,” I said.

“Good to see you, Barbie.” Silas smiled, but he didn’t come to me. There was conflict in his amber eyes.

Silas and Louis were drawn to Sy now after meeting her in person. She’d led them astray.

Now they both sniffed. I’d learned my lesson. I hadn’t had a chance to wash off Rowan’s scent in Underhill, but I’d taken a quick shower in the House of Mages before I leapt into the leyline, taking great care to shield my scent, so now I barely smelled of anything, a new trick that I’d picked up in Shades Academy. The disguise wouldn’t last long, but I didn’t need long.I just needed to get to Rowan and Killian, stop their duel, and get out.

“How did you get here, Barbie?” Louis asked.

Only the royals and their entourages could travel through the leylines in the realm, but as usual, no rules applied to me.

“It doesn’t matter,” Cade cut in. “We have a bigger issue. The two assholes sealed the place, and we haven’t been able to break through their combined blood ward. No one can get into the elevator and go up.”

Pucker suddenly materialized, and everyone jumped, then cursed.

My ghost familiar grinned, loving the attention. “That’s why I brought Barbie.”

“Isn’t he the poltergeist?” Silas demanded. “I thought he was house bound.”

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