Lock and Key (Nocturne Academy 1)

“Well how are they going to find out?” Emma asked reasonably. “None of us is ever going to tell and Megan is going to be really, really careful not to do it again. Right, Megan?” She looked at me anxiously.

“Well, now that I know what I’m doing and that I’m not supposed to be doing it, sure,” I said, frowning. “But…” I looked at Avery. “What if…what if it’s the only way my magic works? I mean, I haven’t been able to do even the simplest things otherwise. What if I have to cut myself to get a result?”

“No, no—absolutely not.” He was shaking his head emphatically. “That’s like saying the only way you can get your car started is to hotwire it every time. Or the only way you can get into your house is to break a window or throw a bomb and blow up the front door. There’s just no way your magic should be so inaccessible that you can’t get to it unless you’re doing something completely illegal.”

“But it is though,” I argued. “I don’t understand but it seems like I can’t get anything done unless I’m really upset and bleeding.”

“I’m going to be really careful around on your next time of the month then,” Emma remarked. “I mean, think of the damage you could do then.”

For a moment we were all silent and then the tension broke and I started to laugh. Kaitlyn and Emma did to and soon Avery was howling along with us.

“Oh my Goddess,” he gasped, wiping at his eyes. “Everybody in the whole damn Academy better beware. The Norm Dorm has become the Crimson Cave where Princess Latimer reigns supreme!”

“I’ll have you know, I hardly ever get bitchy around that time,” I said, wiping at my eyes—from tears of laughter this time. “I mostly just get blue and want to watch sad movies and eat chocolate.”

“Oh, same!” Kaitlyn exclaimed. “Isn’t it the worst?”

“The very worst,” Emma agreed. “Sometimes my cramps—”

“Okay, all right…” Avery made a cutting gesture with one hand. “You know I love to bond with you girls but there are some things that are beyond even me. The point is, Megan,” he went on, looking at me, “Is that you can’t do any more Blood magic from this point on. You’ll get yourself in big trouble if anyone finds out.” He pointed a finger at me. “And I’m talking Censured by the Council trouble. Understand?”

I sighed. “Yeah, I get it. Though I have to admit, for a minute there I was having fantasies of making Nancy’s next cake in Home Ec burn to a crisp.”

“No, no!” Avery exclaimed. “Using Blood magic to settle your score with Nancy is like bringing a nuclear bomb to a knife fight. Seriously, Megan—you can’t.”

“All right,” I grumbled. “I get it, I get it.”

Avery shook his head. “Of course, the fact that you’ve been marked by Darkheart isn’t going to make any of this easier to conceal.”

“Oh, that’s right—I forgot all about that,” Kaitlyn exclaimed. “What does that mean anyway?”

“Yes, I’d like to know too,” I said fervently. “He seemed to think it means he owns me—he doesn’t does he? I mean, that can’t be right!”

“Unfortunately, it is.” Avery spoke reluctantly, pacing back and forth in front of the fireplace.

“What? But that can’t be!” I protested. “He can’t just say that he owns me and make it so!”

“It’s not exactly ownership in the form of you’re his chattel and he can do whatever he wants to you,” Avery said. “It’s more like you own each other but now he’s responsible for protecting you and providing for you.”

“Huh?” Emma looked as confused as I felt.

“It goes way, way back to the olden days of the Others,” Avery explained. “Back before the Edict was in place, when any kind of Other could mark and Blood-Bond with another.”

“They could?” Emma asked, wide-eyed.

“Oh, sure.” Avery nodded. “Before the Edict, all of that was legal and pretty common, too. They would have a bonding ceremony and the male would mark the female by putting a drop of his blood on her forehead and she would do the same to him. That tied them together, you see.”

“That sounds…really permanent,” I said, feeling uneasy.

“Not as permanent as an actual Blood-Bonding but it’s pretty indelible,” Avery admitted.

“What’s Blood-Bonding?” Kaitlyn asked.

“It’s a whole different ceremony—one step past the mutual marking I told you about. And it is permanent,” Avery said. “To bond with someone you give them a drop of your blood and they give you a drop of theirs and you say, ‘Blood of my blood, and Breath of my Breath. Nothing can part us now until Death.’”

“Wow…” Emma shook her head. “It’s like some kind of freaky wedding ceremony.”

“In a way,” Avery admitted. “But it’s not often done anymore—it’s kind of considered old-fashioned now. And it’s never done between different species of Others.”