Legend

1

Crane

The ride back to Sleepy Hollow Institute is bound to be interesting.

I have Kat riding Gunpowder with me, her body snug in front of mine on the saddle as she nestles in my coat. Brom and his stallion Daredevil are in the lead. I want him where I can see him, just in case the horseman comes into possession of him again. What would happen if the Hessian in his spirit form and Brom met face-to-face? Would the ghost kill him? Or could he take over Brom completely, merging their souls until only the Hessian remained in Brom's body?

My gut churns at the thought, and Kat stiffens.

"Are you all right?" I ask Kat as she's cradled back against me. I press my lips on her neck and close my eyes to the feel of her soft skin against mine. "Cold?"

"Not with your coat," she says quietly. "I'm just exhausted. And scared." I barely hear the last part, her focus up ahead on Brom. The night is still and quiet, just the hoofbeats of our horses and the snort of their breath. Our conversation carries.

Don't be afraid, I say to Kat using the voice. I've got you no matter what happens. And as long as Brom is Brom, he's got you too.

I hope he doesn't make a liar out of me.

She doesn't answer. Instead, she leans against me, turning her face so that she looks up at me over her shoulder and meets my eyes. She's been through so much tonight. I don't know the specifics of what she did with Brom and what Brom did to her before I got there, and to be honest every time I think about it I'm tempted to reload the gun and shoot him in the other shoulder. He may remember now what happened to him, he may be the Brom that I knew, but as long as he's possessed, this isn't over.

In fact, it's only just the beginning.

I promise, I tell her. I've got a hold of you and I'm not letting go. He's not going to hurt you ever again.

The look in her eyes tells me she doesn't believe me. I want her to believe me, I need her to. I might be making promises I can't keep, but I'll die trying to be right.

I hold her tighter, leaning in to kiss her gently on the cheek. I want nothing more than to get her in my bed and make her feel safe again, erase everything that happened to her tonight, let her succumb to a gentle touch for once. I want her open and raw beneath me while I let my mouth and hands and cock bring her peace. But I don't want to impose myself when she's this vulnerable. Her heart and her body need space to heal.

Besides, when we get back to the school, I'll have to put her in Brom's room for the night where she'll be safe, and keep Brom with me in mine. If the horseman comes out through him, I foresee things turning violent between us in order to keep him in line. It should bother me that I feel my cock twitch at the thought, but it doesn't. Part of me thinks he needs real punishment. And that's something I've always been good at.

Eventually we arrive at the iron gates of the institute, and for a moment I fear they won't open for us. The emblem on them, of a snake and key, looks menacing, and the snake's eyes seem to glow red.

But then I hear the click of the lock and the gates slowly swing open.

We ride on through the wards, the cold pressure passing over us, popping our ears, and then we're in the campus. Like the outside world, it's also quiet here. All the buildings are dark except for the cathedral, faint light coming in through the stained-glass windows. We pass by the dorms, and it's then that I realize I don't want Kat in Brom's room after all.

"You're going to stay in the room next to mine," I tell Kat as we get to the stables.

"Why not Brom's?" she asks as I dismount.

I reach up and grab her waist, lifting her off the horse and placing her on the ground next to me. "Because I want you near me tonight in case the horseman's spirit shows up. He's still tied to Brom."

Brom is holding on to Daredevil, staring at us, his dark eyes unreadable.

How long will you be with us? I can't help but think. How long until he takes over?

But Brom's gaze gives no answer.

"Whose head was that anyway?" I ask him instead, gesturing to the library as I lead Gunpowder into the stable. Hours earlier the Hessian soldier strode into the library and deposited a head at my feet, as if it were an offering of some sort.

His beard bristles as he wiggles his jaw. "I'm not sure."

"The first man was Joshua Meeks," I press him. "Was this one involved with Kat as well?"

He doesn't say anything.

"There's no one else," Kat protests.

"Doesn't have to be someone you've been involved with," I say, giving her a reassuring look. "Brom's jealousy influences the horseman's actions. That's why the horseman paid me a visit and Brom did the same with you. I have no doubt the head that's in the library belongs to a man who fancied you. Isn't that right, Brom?"

He avoids my gaze, that permanent furrow shadowing his eyes. "It was a drunk man at the bonfire. He was harassing Kat." Then he looks to her and his expression is a plea. "I have no control over . . . I didn't . . ."

"I know," Kat says quietly, but she doesn't sound like she believes him.

We put the horses away and with Brom's unpredictable nature in my mind, I quickly duck into the tack room and grab a pair of reins, and straps for foreleg and hind-leg hobbling. I come out with all the leather bunched in my hands and approach Brom with an expectant look in my eyes.

"What's that for?" he asks warily, his body tensing.

"You know you can't be trusted," I tell him.

I pass the reins and hind hobbles to Kat, then stretch out the foreleg hobble until it's a loop of leather. I stop right in front of Brom and hold it above his head.

His eyes flash with resentment and he moves his head out of the way.

"Don't try my patience tonight," I warn him, an edge to my voice. "I'm afraid you won't like it."

He goes still but I know he doesn't want to obey me right now. He's fighting against it for once. Perhaps he doesn't like looking submissive in front of Kat. Perhaps he doesn't want to be submissive in general.

That would be a shame.

I slip the loop over his head, then tighten it like a collar around his neck. I take the reins from Kat and attach them to the leather strap at his throat.

"Come now," I tell him, giving the reins a tug. He broadens his stance and doesn't move.

"This isn't necessary," he says through a scowl, murder in his eyes. "You just like degrading me like this."

"And what of it?" I ask mildly. "You know very well what kind of man I am. In fact, you liked the kind of man I am. And at the moment I'm not about to leave you unrestrained."

I give the reins a sharper tug and he pulls back, nostrils flaring.

"It's just until we do the ritual," Kat says, putting a tentative hand on his arm.

He eyes her. "We don't even know what the ritual entails," he grumbles.

They both look to me questioningly.

"Blood magic," I tell them.

"I was expecting something more complicated," Kat muses.

"And sex magic," I add, eyeing them both. "Involving all three parties." I flash Brom a quick smile. "That's why I needed you to remember me in order to participate. Otherwise you would have been . . . harder to convince."

I would have had fun trying though.

I study them both. Neither looks very surprised at what the ritual entails, but I can tell Brom is hesitant. I don't think that man wants to share Kat. Perhaps he doesn't want to share me. I feel a flutter in my chest at the thought of him actually being possessive over me, but I'm not sure that's the case. I feel like we're not only back to square one, we're in the negatives.

"And the restraints are only at night," I try to assure Brom. "According to what I've read, the horseman can only take possession after nightfall."

And just because it gets me hard seeing him all bound in leather like this doesn't mean I'm not doing it for a good reason. But I keep that thought to myself.

We walk down the path to the faculty dorms, the statues seeming to follow us with their eyes as we go past. I've always felt them to be unsettling, but tonight they seem real somehow. I think about the strange school, the coven, and all the magic that lives here. I wonder if the horseman is the same as the ghostly teacher in the hallway, if there's something here, perhaps the collective magic, that's bringing things through the veil.

Suddenly an image flashes into my head. Of me walking down a winding stone staircase, descending to the darkness at the bottom. I remember the smell of damp earth and sulfur and dead flowers. A locked metal door. Leona Van Tassel standing behind me and smiling with sharp teeth, talking in a language I don't understand.

Then the image fades and I'm left with a sickly feeling that I brush away. There's no time to dwell on it now, not when I have a possessed man in my hands.

We're almost at the building. Kat is on one side of me, my coat on her shoulders, and I can't help but delight in the sight of her wearing my clothes again. On the other side of me is Brom, leather around his neck, hating every moment of this but submitting to me anyway.

The building is dark and quiet as we go up the central staircase to my floor, the air cool. It's dark but Kat gets flames to appear on her fingertips, lighting the way with a shyly confident smile. Both Brom and I seem to share the same awe at her power.

I go to the door next to my room where I hope to keep Kat and of course it's locked. There are a lot of rooms to choose from since only Daniels and the custodian are up here now that Desi has vanished, but the closer she is to me the better.

"Anyone know a spell for unlocking a door?" I whisper.

"I do," Kat says, and she reaches up into her messy hair and pulls out a hairpin. She jams it in the keyhole, twisting it around until the door unlocks with a loud click. "Ta-da. Every woman should know how to pick a lock."

She beams at me and I've never been so torn before. With her sweet proud face and then Brom's captive scowl, I want both of them at once. For a moment I want to attempt the ritual tonight, just get the books and have a go, but I have to take Kat into consideration. She needs time and sleep before we go into anything that could put her in harm's way again, and I need time to make sure I understand it properly, so that no one gets hurt in the process.

And frankly Brom deserves a little more punishment than just a gunshot wound.

The door to the room opens and it's just as barren inside as I thought, with only a single bed, a desk with an unlit candle, and an empty wardrobe. Luckily it's warm enough.

"Stay here," I tell her, leaving her in the room, with Brom following me to mine. I unlock my door and light a couple of candles at the window before I grab my pillow and an extra blanket from the foot of the bed and bring them back to Kat, Brom grumbling the whole way like an ornery dog.

"You'll be safe here," I tell her, placing the items in her arms while taking the rest of the leather straps from her. "I promise you, my vlinder."

I put my arm around her and bring her forward and kiss her on the top of her head. When she pulls away she looks up at me with longing in her eyes, fear, and my attention goes to the dried blood and the bruise forming on the corner of her forehead. I swallow down fire.

"I'll see you in the morning," I tell her thickly, waiting for Brom to either do something or say something. But his demeanor is no longer defensive and dark. Instead I see shame and guilt on his brow, his posture hesitant.

"Good night," she says quietly, and I notice she avoids looking at Brom.

We leave the room and go back into mine. Once inside I let go of the reins and turn my back to Brom, closing the door behind me. I take a moment, breathing in deep through my nose, resting my forehead against the door.

I'm not a man with a temper. I do fairly well keeping calm. My mind might be chaos at times-I believe the teacher at school said I had "hypermetamorphosis"-but I've gone my whole life learning to control my unstable nervous system, been able to find ways to mask my eccentric ways by burying it under academics. A lot can be excused when you're a professor.

But the rage I have building inside me is unlike anything I've ever felt.

It's all directed at Brom, unfairly or not.

I turn around and see Brom standing there in the middle of my bedroom, the loop relaxed around his throat, the reins dragging on the floor.

I feel as if I'm on fire.

I march toward him, winding up, and deck him square in the face. My knuckles explode in pain, but I ignore it and the hit is enough for him to stumble backward against the wall.

"Fuck!" he cries out, holding on to his nose.

"That's for Kat," I tell him, coming at him again and grabbing him by the throat, my fingers wrapping around the leather. I push him back against the wall, squeezing tight.

His face goes red and I know he can easily fight me off until I have him completely restrained, but he lets me do this to him. "You already shot me, isn't that enough?" he ekes out, his Adam's apple moving against my palm.