Page 4 of House of Mages and Raven

The blessed and the cursed. The Wheels of the Fates are turning,the voice flowed.Mist reveals. Ruin comes. Heartbreak and betrayal. Darkness within light and light within darkness. Beware of…

“Not this shit again.” I whizzed past the red door toward the stairs.

“Wait, Barbie, wait!” Pucker gave chase in his phantom form and caught up with me.They’re speaking of you. Let’s go back to hear it all. I’m a sucker for prophecy.

I ain’t going back there.I leapt two to three steps at a time down the stairs.Why don’t you go and get the intel for me? You’re already dead, so they can’t hurt you much.

That’s a callous thing to say,Pucker chided me, following me closely.

They’re ghosts, aren’t they? So they should tell you things, since you’re their pal.

They aren’t ghosts,Pucker snapped.They’re more like a kinetic energy force. I don’t know what exactly they are, andI’m not keen to find out about them all by myself. I’m a lover, not a soldier.

I reached the floor beneath and rushed toward Cami’s suite.

You claimed to be a clairvoyant before your faceless foe offed you,I said.Why don’t you pick up your old career and do something useful other than feeding on the living and sipping my energy like it’s a cocktail?

Now I’m getting depressed,he said.For your information, two rooms in the house are off-limits to me, even as a guardian. One is Prince Killian’s penthouse, the other the Queen’s Suite. I never heard a damn voice behind that red door until you joined the house.

Now it’s my fault?I sneered.

The main door to Cami’s suite recognized my signature and opened for me automatically. I jogged through the drawing room, then the archway, and came to a stop at my room. The pale blue door flew open. Before I entered, Pucker dove in and flung himself onto my bed with his leather shoes on. He went solid and pulled a rolled weed joint out of his pocket. He inserted the joint between his lips, lit it, inhaled in satisfaction, and puffed out a perfect ring.

You need to go spy on Killian and his girlfriend,I said, pursing my lips.You can smoke in my bed after you come back.

You want me to check if he’ll stay faithful to you?Pucker asked.I don’t think he’ll fuck her after he fucked you. Don’t always think the worst of people, Barbie.

My hackles rose, my eyes on fire.Way to mince your words, Pucker. It’s been on my mind for a while to talk to you about it. You can’t just let whatever goes through your head come right out of your mouth. You gotta learn to have a filter and consider others’ feelings.

He blinked.You want me to lie?

“What the fuck?” Archer’s voice boomed behind me. “How come your room is three times bigger now?”

He thrust a big finger into my room, his moss green eyes accusing. I was so furious at Pucker for his lack of sensitivity that I’d forgotten to close my door, and now the guard peered into my space.

The house magic had done a complete renovation, including replacing the outer wall with a floor-to-ceiling French door and window, so Sy could leave through the door to avoid being discovered.

“That rocking chair is His Highness’s second favorite chair. How did it even get here?” Archer demanded. “And that antique floor lamp used to belong to Rock. He wouldn’t let anyone touch it. The Santa stocking hanging on Rock’s former lamp is mine! I bought it in Macy’s when I visited the mortal realm. I’ve been looking for it everywhere for two weeks.”

Oh shit!Now he was going to spread rumors, and anyone who’d ever lost a thing would come here.

“I never went into your room in person,” I explained. “There are dozens of other people’s rooms higher on my list.”

Archer stared at me hard. “Where’s the fucking list?”

“Why do you want the list?”

“I want to see all the names on it,” he said. “This concerns the security of the house.”

Pucker shot up from my bed and zoomed toward Archer, who jerked back. “A gentleman should not swear in front of a lady,” he stated, and slammed the door shut in Archer’s face.

I nodded at my familiar in appreciation. Sometimes, he had my best interests at heart. Letting out a heavy sigh, I slumped into the rocking chair, swatting a hockey romance book from the cushion to the floor so I wouldn’t sit my butt on the book and damage the pages.

I pressed my pulsing temples. “I’m so stressed out, Pucker.”

He tossed the butt of the joint into Archer’s Santa stocking, swung his feet onto the floor, and rushed toward me to inspect my face. I fought the pressure behind my eyelids. I wasn’t going to cry. I couldn’t fall apart now. One moment I was having the best time of my life, then the next, everything went to shit.

“Killian’s betrothed brought an oracle,” I said.

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