Page 6 of Stuck with my Frenemy
Chapter Three
Ebony
Ipressed my back on the door after cutting Cherry’s ramblings off. With my eyes closed, I bumped my head on it a few times in a futile hope to wake up from the nightmare I’d been tossed in like a dirty sock. When footsteps tapped in the hall, I had to hold my breath, praying she didn’t have a death wish that would make her come into my room, but luckily she continued until I heard her going downstairs. Everything had been too much for me since I stepped foot in the human realm.
She was too much.
Interaction was a luxury my mother nipped in the bud a long time ago for me, along with friendship and useless chatter. “Unless you had something of importance to say, you better keep your nonsense to yourself” was her motto. If you didn’t obey her rules, she had very interesting ways to prove her point. Interesting, inventive, and painful. My skin burned in phantom pain just thinking of her methods. According to her, war and magic took a lot of focus and serious consideration, and that left no time for anything else. Even when you were a child. Must be nice for Cherry to be the daughter of the goddess of love. A heaviness settled on my chest, crushing my lungs, so I pushed those thoughts away.
Nothing good came from reminiscing about things you couldn’t have.
The black walls, floors, and furnishings calmed down the jackhammering of my heart as I took in the room. It wasn’t fancy like Cherry’s with bright colors or elaborate carvings. It was simple, with a chest of drawers, a chair with a small table next to it, two bedside tables, and a king-sized bed with one pillow and a silky, deep purple cover neatly tucked around it. The only color was the bed cover and the matching purple shade of the lamp. The tension drained from my muscles as I breathed it all in. Cherry hated black and made fun of me about it because she didn’t understand what it meant to someone like me. Black was protection in my world. It guarded my magic and emotions, making sure nothing could influence them. Or me.
A shiver slithered up my spine.
If anyone or anything passed my protections or wards to take control of me, death would be a welcomed reprieve to everyone in this realm. I had to be focused and vigilant while ignoring the rainbow mess that was my partner.
Kicking off my boots, I pushed off the door and, in no time, curled up on top of the bed. Hands tucked under my head, I stared at the ceiling when I felt something small and soft tuck next to my leg. I glanced at my cat from the corner of my eye while he moved in a circle a few times before settling in a tight ball. My hand itched to reach out and pet him, forcing my jaw to clench. He was an extension of me, of my power. “We simply don’t treat our familiars as pets,” my mother’s voice hissed in my head. Remembering Cherry with her stupid bird nuzzling her cheek made my molars grind.
“You are angry,” Corvus mused from next to my leg with a wide yawn.
“Should I be happy that we are stuck in this shit hole?”
“I would’ve expected you to be glad you are away from your mother.” My familiar had no judgment in his tone. I wasn’t the only one that suffered for my mistakes under Morrigan’s roof.
“I haven’t decided yet what torture is worse: dealing with my mother or with Cherry. I’ll have to get back to you on that.” Crossing one ankle over the other, I muttered under my breath in case the rainbow disaster was eavesdropping. I wouldn’t put it past her.
The funniest thing in this shit storm was the fact that no matter how she rubbed me wrong, I didn’t want to hurt Cherry’s feelings. Stupid, I knew, since there was no love lost between us, yet the idea of seeing her face fall every time I made a snarky remark was a jab in my chest. I knew too well how it felt when someone judged or criticized your every word or action. I’d lived it my entire life.
“You should stay in your room unless it’s required of you to leave to do your job,” Corvus suggested just as a rapt tap echoed from the closed window. “Brilliant, here is Sol to grace us with his miserable existence.”
I was already up and tugging on the latch to allow my crow entrance. Unlike Corvus, who could pop in and out of anywhere—including between the realms—Sol needed either a portal or someone to let him in if windows and doors were closed. While the cat boosted my magic and power, the crow had a mental and emotional connection to me directly, protecting my energy and soul. Corvus was body, and Sol mind.
A feather drifted to my feet, stopping on top of my foot with the flap of the wings that brought Sol inside with a loud screech. On a sigh, I closed the window, cutting off the humid air trying to push inside in a solid block. Like I needed another thing to make me hate this place. In my realm, it was always past midnight and always cold, the chill in the air biting any exposed skin. I wanted to claw my face off from the warmth blasting me in the form of sunlight here. The curtain nearly ripped when I yanked it hard to cut it off.
“That sunlight drives me bonkers.” Sol ruffled his feathers when he was done screaming, skipping a few times across my bed. My left eyebrow started a track toward my hairline when I heard the thick and posh British accent coming from my crow.
“Your existence drives me bonkers, yet here we are.” Corvus sneered, and Sol eyed him as if preparing to pounce, no doubt.
“If the two of you start fighting on day one, I’m going to conjure two cages to house you in.” Their heads snapped in my direction. “Now that we are all getting along fine, why are you both here?”
“To bring a message from Karma,” Sol spat the name like a curse.
“Cherry’s familiars brought the message, plus one of you would’ve done the job just fine. I didn’t call you …” I trailed off when both of them raised their hackles, Sol’s feathers puffing up so much in his frustration that he turned into a ball of fluff.
“When the two of you left, we were called in Karma’s office along with the two simpletons Cherry calls familiars. I hate that bitch, so you owe me big time.” Corvus stood up, his back arching, and then the little shit bared his tiny fangs at me. “If you stick me with them for longer than two seconds, I will eat them both. And I’ll scratch your eyes out while you sleep. Don’t test me.”
“What Corvus is trying to tell you but can’t because he’s crude is she called us there to use us as messengers.” For about two seconds, I felt bad for not warning them that they’d be playing pigeons between Karma and me. Then Sol continued talking, and the guilt vanished like it was never there. “As soon as she was done, she literally kicked us through a portal, plucking a few of my feathers in the process. Now we are stuck here until she calls on us again.”
“She can’t call on you.” Nothing could’ve masked the incredulity in my tone. “You are my familiars, not hers.”
“She didn’t get the memo.” Sol cocked his head in his bird manner, his black eyes twinkling with a manic glint. He was as unhappy with that little tidbit as I was.
“We just have to deal with it until I find a way out of this.” With a sigh, I stomped to the bed and threw myself on it. With another hiss, Corvus jumped on the floor and started prowling around the room. “Maybe if we mess up a time or two, she will realize we are not fit to do this job and cut us loose.”
“I like the way you think.” Sol perched on the headrest, peering down at my face.
“Your minds are connected, so of course you like the way she thinks,” Corvus huffed pompously from next to the chest of drawers. “A labradoodle pissed here a year ago.”
