Fox cocked his head. "Hey, are we going with Pointy Ears as his pet name because I don’t think that elves are into the whole degrading names kink?”
Smartass.
"It's fine because Willoughby already has a cr-" Bask snapped his mouth shut.
What word had Bask just stopped himself saying? Whatever it was had made him look like he'd hurl.
Fox’s brow furrowed. "Crossbow? Crayon? Crick in his neck?"
"He already loves Magenta,” Bask corrected himself. “And I think that he cares for us."
I snorted, then so did Mist with a toss of his mane thrown in. When Bask's expression hardened, I realized that he meant it.
Magenta nodded.
"I take back my snort of disbelief. But seriously, how'd you know?" I asked.
Bask shuffled his feet. Way to look shifty. "We accidentally read his diary."
Fox pulled away from Bask, before grabbing him by his hair. Fox vibrated with power and a protective rage, which told me that Willoughby wasn't the only one who cared. "Don't you remember Willoughby's distress at how his letter was read out? When I was stuck in the attic, being able to write to my cousin, Aquilo, was a privilege that my dad suffered to win for me. I would've been destroyed if anyone had read them. Did you laugh at all his secrets and...?"
"There was no comedy and far more tragedy." Magenta's gaze became frosty. Fox let go of Bask, smoothing over his hair in apologetic motions. "The Crystal Diary flowed with dark magics, just like the silk suit that traps and controls Willoughby." I stiffened. He was being trapped, just like me? "How far shall we go for freedom? The Prince is treated like he's bad, but I don't believe it. You were the one who showed me the R.I.P Membership that controls the brands, wards, and missions. If we can win Willoughby to our side, then the academy could awaken from its long winter. This prison will crumble and fall."
"Now that's a story," Fox breathed.
Magenta's lips twitched. "The Membership."
At the magic word, the spell opened the wall and a board that curled with the RA emblem and neon pink writing slotted out.
Rebel Academy Membership
RANDOMS
Confess - Whipping Boy
Curse - Whipping Boy
IMMORTALS
Crow - Prefect
Crave
Cru
Sleipnir
PRINCES
Crown - Prefect
Sh
I stared at the board in shock.
Names had magically appeared and vanished from the board every time that a new student had been admitted to the academy or had died. After Hector's death, Bask had sat on the floor, hugging Nile and staring at the place where Hector's name once had been like if he only looked long enough, it’d bring Hector back or perhaps, like he could make himself believe he truly was gone.
Bor's beard, I missed Hector.
But I'd never seen a student sliced in half like a magic trick before. It was the kind of thing that Loki would pull off.
I raised my eyebrow. "Does everyone see the problem here?"
"We have two new students with the unusual names Sh and Cru...?" Fox spun around like he was searching for something. "Cru's invisible or another ghost. Wow, we should rename this the Haunted Academy. Step back, fellow Immortals, I'm known as the ghost busting shimage."
Magenta whirled to Fox, catching his arm before he could act out his entire paranormal ghost hunter routine. "You would bust me as well?"
When Fox's eyes widened, Bask snickered. "Where bust means love like a legend."
Magenta's eyes brightened. "What a lucky coincidence. You shall be able to love Willoughby, who the Membership shows is already divided between both Immortal and Prince.” When her gaze met mine, it ached with a loneliness and longing that I understood. “It must be confusing and agonizing for him, you know. If we can entice him fully to our side, then we'll weaken this spell."
Fox laughed shakily. "I'll bust the elf like he's never been busted before."
Bask leaped onto the bed, crawling with a sinful shake of his hips to sprawl over Nile. "I want him to be ours. So, I'll bust him with my pettable arse too, right?"
Bask pushed up his ass in a seriously distracting way. When Magenta's gaze became glassy and her pupils dilated, I knew that she thought so too.
I sauntered to the bed, throwing myself down next to Bask. Mist nickered, low and breathy. He was going full out horsey dominant (or I was). I plucked him out of my pocket, dropping him onto the headboard. He galloped up and down so quickly that his eight legs were a blur. He balanced dangerously along the edge with his tail raised in excitement.
He might as well have been proclaiming dick for hire.
I rolled my eyes. "If you're asking me if Mr. Dick is an elf buster, then I haven't decided yet. He usually draws the line at touching Princes."
Magenta's expression softened. "No one touches anyone without both love and respect. I was almost forced into marriage. This may be our only way to escape, but force is decidedly not to be used on Princes as much as on Immortals."
Now there was a witch who deserved my friendship.
I trusted Magenta not to tie me up, unless it was in the kinky negotiated way. Would Magenta have time for that after the tournament?
I grinned. "Mr Dick loves and respects you but is seriously hard right now."
"I'm aware," Magenta smirked. "I wouldn't want him to suffer."
Fox ducked his head. "Firstly, stop talking to his prick like it's a puppet. Wow, I actually just said that out loud. Secondly, if you get a chance to shut down this cage of an academy so that no other Rebel gets sent here, then take it. That matters more than saving me."
Son of a troll, I'd never heard Fox sound so sincere. I thought that he’d been stuck on the Snarky Factory Setting.
Magenta's eyes blazed, and she tightened her hold on Fox’s arm. I couldn't tell whether she’d pull him into a hug or a spanking. When she backed him up towards the bed, and he paled, I was kind of sure that it'd be a spanking.
Was it weird that I envied him?
"Is that so, my precious mage?" Magenta’s eyes glittered. Fox shuddered, however, at the precious. Magenta was far better at the whole pet name thing than me. Had he ever been called that before? "Have you not learned the danger of others' prejudice? Why would you hold onto their belief that your life is worthless, when in this room alone there are three powerful Immortals who love you? Doesn't our grief matter to you?"
"Woah, hold on, I didn't think…" Fox said, helplessly.
"That our hearts would shatter and never be whole again, if you die?" Magenta whispered.
Fox fell onto the bed, and I banded his chest with my arms. His heart was beating rapidly, and his trembles shook me.
"We're saving you." I tightened my hold on Fox, meeting Magenta's gaze over his shoulder. They both needed to hear this. "No one else is dying."
"Unless it’s death by crocodile," Bask hissed, launching himself at Fox. I spun around, covering Fox with my body, as Bask pounced on my back with Nile like the plushie was attempting to drag me into a death roll. "Only one of us around here sheds white hairs on other’s plushies. Shall I lick your special book that your da gave you?"
Fox's breath hitched, even though he was pressed into the bed beneath me. "Don't. I'm sorry."