Page 18 of The Darkness in the Magi

“Right now,” he gets up, lifts me, and brings me to his bed, “you go to sleep. Tomorrow, we train.”

“You mean we have sex?” I ask pointedly.

“Do you know how most stygian magi die?”

Because the mavens are so secretive regarding the shadow element, I wouldn’t know. I just know that most die young.

“If I had to guess, I would say murder.”

“You’re wrong. They succumb to temptation. The darkness calls, and they’re all too eager to answer.” He cups my cheek. “I aim to help you control that urge.”

My brow lifts in surprise. “Why do they keep such knowledge from us?”

“Because they want to give the element as little attention as possible, hoping to dissuade apprentices from it. Plus, stygian don’t exactly have the best reputation when it comes to following rules and have been known to be, to put it bluntly, evil.”

After settling me on the bed, he gets a towel to clean me up.

I never thought he could be so gentle, or that my heart would ever warm to him.

He cradles my face. “I’m going to enjoy teaching you, my little stygian.”

I never thought I’d want so badly to be owned. That I’d crave a man’s touch. That I’d be so utterly turned on by acts that would have made me blush just a day ago.

I suppose they still do.

Lucius climbs into bed with me, pulling me into his arms, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, I don’t feel afraid.

And while I might crave the sweetness of fear, the uncertainty of my situation was becoming too much.

To think I thought I’d be rendered. Yet now, I’m tethered.

The other magi and mavens may hate me for what I am, but I have a warden by my side who will do anything he can to protect me, not just from the world, but from myself.

Epilogue

LUCIUS

Before tonight, I never wanted a magi. I was content going to town to get my cock sucked, never caring for companionship.

But Sophie changed all that.

She never hid her nature well, not even from the mavens. You could feel darkness oozing from her, waiting to manifest.

With there being so few lux wardens in the world, I should have seen our binding coming from a mile away. But I thought the maven mother was going to render her, taking care of the problem once and for all.

Instead, she bonded me to her, knowing I preferred solitude.

And I’m not at all mad about it.

Sophie sighs, turning to her side. I brush her silky black hair away from her face and admire her exquisite features.

Before the Witching Tribunal, she’d been blonde. So much so you couldn’t even see her eyebrows. She’d looked so young, too young, and if it weren’t for her stygian nature, I wouldn’t have noticed her at all.

With her black locks, she looks older, but her dark eyes somehow manage to still look innocent, despite their dark secrets.

In all my years as a warden, I can only remember five stygian magi. Three were rendered, as their nature was already too dark to allow them to practice, and the other two were managed by mavens until they met their end.

I’ll never allow that to happen to Sophie. I’ll save her from the darkness that seeks to claim her heart. I’ll save her from herself.

---