Page 6 of House of Mages and Raven

The last thing I wanted was for Lilith to set her eyes on Barbie, but it’d proven to be inevitable. My little scorpion burned too brightly wherever she went, leaving footprints and stirring shit. She couldn’t help it, as chaos was in her nature. In her wake, disasters followed.

All I could do was aim for damage control while keeping her safe.

I dulled the calculating light in my eyes and put on my usual blank, cold mask. Lilith schooled her expression as well. She was a master at controlling her emotions. Tilting her head andgracing me with an enigmatic smile, she offered her hand for a kiss.

I stiffened. I might’ve refused her bed, but I hadn’t pushed her away whenever she planted a kiss on my cheek or even on my lips. Brushing her knuckles with my lips should be easy, yet it felt like I was betraying my Barbie.

But I couldn’t refuse my betrothed’s reasonable request, so I told myself it was merely etiquette. I dipped my head, my lips touching her fingers. Her skin was icy, in stark contrast to Barbie’s lava-like heat. Every touch of Barbie’s skin excited me as if it burned my soul, and I craved her more and more.

My dragon snarled as soon as my lips touched the skin of another woman that wasn’t our mate, and I jerked my head up at his nastiness.

I had to play along, asshole,I snarled back.

Keep telling yourself that,my dragon warned.But I’ll be watching, and you won’t cross the line. Just remember, if you betray our mate and hurt her, you’ll lose her. And then you’ll have me to deal with. I won’t allow you a moment of peace for the rest of your pathetic life.

Fuck off,I told him. That fucker was always so supportive. More often than not, I regretted bonding with him. At the time, I’d thought it was a good deal to have a dragon at my disposal. I’d been young and stupid.

You’re still young and stupid.He snickered.

I ignored him. I didn’t have time for his bullshit, especially when I had an enemy queen and an unknown oracle in my house. My gaze slid to the oracle, who had been watching me like a hawk the entire time. Her dark hair was pinned atop her head like a mushroom. A sheer black veil fastened to a bone comb on top of her hair covered half of her face.

“Who do I have the honor of welcoming to my house, my lady?” I asked politely.

I always held a healthy suspicion toward oracles. The prophecy of producing the One offspring who’d bring back the old magic had created a rift between us heirs and caused endless rivalry among us. My father had used it to press me to marry Queen Lilith immediately. They’d have gotten their way if I hadn’t refused to budge and insisted on a date after my graduation.

The oracle’s magic flared. My skin tingled, awareness ringing in my head.

Lady Moirai, a member of the Wicca triunity—the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone—was sitting in my house. Moirai was the fabled Spinner of the thread of life. The Wicca hadn’t shown themselves to the world for over a millennium.

“You’re at the crossroads, Heir of Hades.” Moirai’s black lips moved, her veil swishing in the phantom wind.

I stopped cold. Even my father didn’t know about my mother’s true origin. That part of my heritage had always been a secret, and I’d revealed it only to Barbie. Lilith had probably sensed my hidden bloodline, and now she finally had the confirmation. A sheen of gold rolled over her green eyes at the revelation.

“Truth won’t always set you free, prince. Unfortunately, sometimes, there’s no better option,” Moirai continued, her veil tearing down the middle, revealing her glassy eyes. As I peeked into them, their bottomless depths stared back.

She was blind.

“Follow your head, lose your soul. Follow your heart, lose everything else. Magic fades. Mist reveals. The cursed shall become the blessed. She brings destruction, but she’s the last kernel of hope. Let the golden scorpion find her home, but trust must be betrayed and promises must be broken. There’s a fate worse than death.”

A sudden chill sank into my flesh, and icy fear for my mate pounded into my heart. But I remained still, my face blank, as I knew Lilith was watching me.

“Quick now! Turn the Wheels of the Fates before all is lost.” Moirai was full of tears and fear. “He’s coming. Ruin’s coming for her, for you, for all of us. He’ll consume her and then feast on us. Push her to the breaking point so she shall rise, or everything will fall, and the world ends.”

She fixed her unseeing eyes on me.

“The Maiden found me,” Lilith offered. “She asked me to bring her to your house. There’s no conspiracy on my side, my prince.”

“Of course,” I said, shielding my troubled mind and heart in the presence of the oracle and my betrothed.

“Sounds like the war that will start all wars is coming, and it’s inevitable,” Lilith said, her gaze lingering on me.

I pretended not to register the heat in her eyes. She always looked at me like that, but to her credit, she hadn’t tried to force me into her bed. She was waiting for me to initiate it. In the meanwhile, she brought other males to warm her bed. My network was just as extensive as hers. The bond between us prohibited me from touching any woman other than her, but it hadn’t the same power over her. The only one who could bypass her magical bond in me was Barbie, because she was my true mate.

No force in any corner of the universe could counter the power of a true mating bond, even though Barbie and I hadn’t fully formed one. It took intention and a ritual to solidify it. Mere sex wouldn’t suffice. I wanted to forge a true mating bond with Barbie more than anything, but I knew what was at stake, and I had to fight my primal male need to mark her as mine. I was treading on thin ice above dark, treacherous water hiding my relationship with Barbie.

“A threat unlike any other is coming to the realm,” Lilith continued. “No ward is strong enough to stop it from invading Mist of Cinder.”

“There’s been unrest north of Russia, where the threat first started,” Moirai said, her eyes remaining unseeing. “Blight spread to most of Europe, then across North America. Magic was drained from those lands, but it stopped eight years ago.”

---