Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals!

Chapter 232: 232. Bait

Maisie

The circle flared with muted light and there was an undignified yelp as the demon fell from above, slamming into the ground with a thud.

Butt naked.

He lay there for a second, disoriented, then his black eyes locked onto me. His face twisted into a snarl.

"You," he growled. "I’m going to take out your spine and strangle you with it."

I wrinkled my nose as the thick smell of arousal hit me. "Were you having sex? Gross. Who is the unfortunate female you lied to now?"

Gruer stood up with zero shame, hands on his hips, making absolutely no effort to cover himself. I yanked my gaze upward, but not before I got flashed.

"Unfortunate?" he said, offended. "I’ll have you know she was very lucky. And what makes you think I lied to her?"

"Because your entire existence is built on lies," I deadpanned.

When his eyes narrowed, I said, "Tell me you didn’t promise her you would propose to her under the stars, buy her a cottage with eight chickens where you would have two little girls that have eyes like hers?"

He opened his mouth. Closed it. Thought about it for a second.

"...It was six chickens," he muttered.

"Unbelievable. I told you that shit doesn’t work in this century."

"Well, it got me laid, didn’t it?"

"The only reason anyone takes a second look at you is because of your face," I said.

He smiled coyly and leaned forward, tongue darting out his mouth to drag over his lower lip. "Are you calling me pretty, little girl?"

I rolled my eyes. "Did you find what I asked for?"

He straightened, going all businesslike. "I did. But information this good isn’t free. You already owe me an unreasonable amount of money."

I sighed. "What do you want this time?"

He straightened, looking far too pleased with himself. "Your firstborn child."

I stared at him. "A bit cliché, don’t you think?" I said. "Also, you’re late. That ship already sank."

He tipped his head. "Another memory then?"

I had traded my memories for information a total of six times. I was beginning to wonder what he was taking from me, and just when it would start to catch up to me.

It was starting to get difficult, remembering what my Dad’s face looked like. And what my days at the Night Shade pack were like. What I kept in that tiny bedroom Luna Kaida had assigned me. What stuffed doll I liked best as a child.

It was all inconsequential, but I was beginning to fear that if he took anymore from me, I would stop being me.

I shook my head and then an idea occurred to me. A grin of mischief played on my lips. "Rack up the bill and charge it to Mercer Koen’s account."

It was the least I could do to pay back for his affectionate treatment of me yesterday.

"Along with the interest?"

"What interest?"

"The accumulated interest over the last nine months."

"We never agreed to that."

"We didn’t not agree to it."

"You are worse than a loan shark!"

"I could cut fifty percent if you get into bed with me," he offered.

"Not happening," I hissed, mindful of the guards outside. "Talk."

"Proving your innocence is going to take divine intervention," he said dryly. "Every record is being wiped, cleaned up and prepared for the trial. The results have already been decided. Buying you time is fool’s hardy and your dark princeling knows it. It is likely a death sentence will be given on the first day of your trial."

I nodded. I had expected that. "I have ten days before the trail." I started pacing, mind already moving and taking apart pieces and putting them back together. "Ten days to stall my death until I have enough evidence to stall another death sentence at the next trial."

My teeth worried my bottom lip.

If it would be impossible to clear my name, then maybe a shift in their perception of me might change things. At least, for long enough to buy me the time I needed to unravel my plans.

I paused. "The disappearances. You still think they’re tied back to what happened at the Ridge?"

"I’m certain," Gruer said. "There are four things needed to open a rift. The stone, the keeper, blood sacrifices, and the altar. Not all four were present that night, but three of them were. That was probably enough to create a crack in the veil. Something on the other side must have been close enough to slip through."

"And the Queen had no idea?" I asked. "She was willing to kill me there without knowing she might put everyone in danger?"

Gruer shrugged. "It’s possible she didn’t understand the gravity of what she sought out to do. Perhaps, she was misled. The Ridge was built on sacred, powerful ground. Same as this Academy. Places like that are where the veil between worlds are thinnest. The goddess’s power runs strongest there, which also makes them unstable. A little blood mixed with old magic can act like a summons. If anything was waiting on the other side, it would have been drawn straight through."

I shuddered, remembering the creatures from my nightmares.

"Do you have any idea what it wants?" I asked.

"The other world is hostile," he said. "There’s no middle ground. The strong take power. Everyone else fights over scraps just to survive. It’s either hell... or something very close to it."

He paused, then continued.

"If a creature like that found its way into a new world, the first thing it would do is feed. That alone could take months. Years, even. Once it’s strong enough, it starts adapting. And after that comes settling."

"Settling?"

"It could mean blending in," Gruer said. "Living quietly. Or..." He frowned slightly. "It could mean finding whatever pulled it here in the first place and killing it so it never has to go back. It is likely the Queen has somehow figured it out. It must be why she agreed to the trial, putting off the execution to bring you to the most guarded place in Ashbourne. To use you as bait."

Goosebumps rose along my arms.

Right. My life was in danger again.

Typical Thursday.

I had learned about the disappearances weeks ago from Gruer. Mostly because I’d asked him to track them. Having a demon watch your mates like a private investigator was pathetic, but it was the only way to keep myself from falling apart. I had to know they were alright.

I knew Quinlan was drowning himself in parties, avoiding anything that reminded him of me.

I knew Soren barely slept, burying himself in work until he was running on nothing.

I knew Jericho still taught at the Academy but almost never returned to the mansion.

I knew Mercer had become the perfect son again, and that his relationship with the Queen had been repaired in my absence.

And I knew that while Tessa hadn’t managed to get into their beds yet, she was sinking her claws in deeper every day.

Playing the understanding friend. The patient confidante. Using their anger to her advantage, playing them like fiddles. It was working better than her old strategy of forcing a marriage ever had. She had even enrolled at Greymoor just to stay close.

But it would all end soon.

"Do you know what kind of creature it is?" I asked Gruer.

"Could be anything," he muttered. "Another demon. Another Lycan. A faery. It doesn’t matter. If it found a way through once, more will follow. And they’ll all be coming for you—"

I stopped hearing him as a light bulb came on in my head.

Gruer’s dark eyes narrowed at me. "No. Whatever just went through your head, the answer is no. I am not helping you with another deranged plan. Do it yourself."

"I can’t. I can’t leave these walls to go track down that thing," I said. "But you can."

"Absolutely not," he snarled at me. "And what the hell do you need to track it down for anyway?"

I grinned. "To give it a scent to follow. And set it loose on Greymoor."

Gruer stared at me like I’d lost my mind.

Maybe I had. But it was so simple, I wondered why it had never occurred to me before. I needed the Council to see me as useful. If I could get rid of the thing that was currently terrorizing Ashbourne, if I could be the one to stop it, it would be one point in my favor against every terrible thing that had been said about me.

It had to be public. Dramatic. Captured on the cameras.

There was only one issue. I needed a second scent mixed with mine. Something strong enough to pull the creature in the direction I chose. A lure.

I needed bait.

A bait that wasn’t me for a change.

Being mauled and taking down whatever it was would surely be dramatic, but having it attack someone else, and then saving them...

That was the stuff I needed.

Now, I just needed to find someone. Someone I preferably didn’t care about or mind being mauled to death—

As if the universe had finally decided to be kind to me, a knock sounded at the door.

Gruer and I both turned.

The guard’s voice came through. "Princess Tessa is here to see you."

I felt my smile widen.

Perfect.

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