InkBorn (InkHaven Academy Book 2) Read online

  InkBorn

  InkHaven Academy #2 Kenna Bardot

  Tove Madigan

  Disclaimer

  InkBorn is a fast-burn Reverse Harem Paranormal Academy Romance featuring all adult characters. It contains graphic scenes with both m/f and m/m content, as well as frequent group dynamics. The sexual situations are entirely consentual and feature very explicit detail. InkBorn also features adult language and at times violent or dangerous situations.

  InkBorn is Book Two of a two-book duet. If you haven’t already read InkSpelled, it is necessary to do so to understand the events of InkBorn.

  InkBorn Copyright © 2019 by Kenna Bardot & Tove Madigan. All Rights Reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review. Cover designed by Kenna Bardot & Tove Madigan This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. Kenna Bardot Tove Madigan Printed in the United States of America First Printing: Sep 2019 Bardot & Madigan

  About the Authors

  Kenna lives in her tiny house with her husband and two rambunctious hellions (under five) who she adores. When she’s not chasing all three of them and her shepherd/husky mix around the house, she spends all her free time writing and adding to the hoard of plots stored on her bookshelf and hard-drive.

  Kenna always wanted to write, and did from the time she was 10 when she wrote her first full-length fantasy novel. The subject matter has changed over the years, but that passion for writing never went away. She has a degree in Psychology, and prior to having her kids she worked as a therapist using horses in her treatment strategy and working with adults and kids with disabilities.

  A full-time mom with her eldest about to start preschool, four days before the release of Kenna's debut novel InkSpelled, Kenna is making a go of making a living from the real passion that has haunted her all her life.

  Tove has always had a passion for writing but it started with non-fiction. She was editor of her school paper and wrote heavily for the yearbook committee as well. This funneled into a love for short stories that were entered into contests and, eventually, to the wonderful world of fanfiction.

  Tove never thought she'd write as a career but Kenna, who is the yin to her yang, has been the best foil to her insecurities and weaknesses and now she has embraced the darkness, the insanity and, yes, the depravity with nothing but pleasure.

  Ten years ago, Kenna & Tove met on an online graphic-design community when they were 19-year-olds. Though they’ve never met in person and live on opposite sides of the world, they’ve talked mostly daily since then. Now 30, they’re using those graphic-design skills they honed in a new way and making their own book covers. Full circle, right?

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Disclaimer

  Copyright

  About the Authors

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Epilogue

  One

  Kaia

  Lottie’s face smiled at me on the other side of the door when I peeked through the peephole. If my face could crack, it would have at how wide I smiled as I hauled the door open and flung my arms around her.

  “I missed you!” she shrieked, bouncing as I clung to her. I had no choice but to hop up and down with her since I didn’t want to let her go yet.

  It had been months since we last saw each other.

  When she did eventually let go, I heard the clacking on the floor and looked down - it was a miracle those death traps she called shoes had not impaled my feet.

  “Emerson!” I yelled. “Did you have something to do with this?” He poked his head around the corner from the kitchen, and he smiled at me unashamedly.

  “I thought you might want some company today, Kai. From someone who knows something about women’s clothes.” He adjusted his coral tee over skinny jeans, and I tilted my head thoughtfully. Maybe a feminine touch would be appreciated, especially since if Emerson had his way I’d probably come out looking like a pineapple - a neon-colored one. So maybe Lottie was a better touch.

  Maybe.

  “You do realize that Ronan is going to murder you, right? While he was a bit cautious about you dressing me, he would have very definite objections to me being dressed by Lottie.” I gestured at Lottie with a thumb.

  “Psh, Daniels,” Lottie interrupted with a wave of her hand. “I can handle the brute. Darling we’ll make you so sexy, he’ll be too distracted to even get mad I dressed you.”

  I slapped a hand to my forehead and rounded on Emerson, “Emerson!”

  Emerson winced, biting that bottom lower lip thoughtfully. “Our secret?”

  I raised an eyebrow at him, attempting to be stern, which proved particularly difficult when my laugh burst out suddenly, devolving me into a fit of body shaking gasps. “I’ll take the blame,” I wheezed. He’d be slightly gentler with me than Emerson if he thought Lottie picking my clothes was my idea.

  Slightly.

  “Thanks, Precious Kai.” Emerson kissed my cheek and hustled us both out the door. The halls were mostly empty, as the majority of the housing in our building belonged to active Mages out on duty wherever they went during the day or those who had the night shift who were quietly sleeping. All other students on summer vacation had their own housing provided by the school off-campus so they didn’t live there. A few were, of course, living with their non-student partners but those weren’t usually around as well.

  As for my men, Alec Gaius was off guiding people to rebirth like Gale did during the summer vacation when he wasn’t busy getting ready for the next school year, and Ronan was probably standing with his arms crossed over his chest and wearing sunglasses like the intimidating master brooder he was on Security duty near the Air temple in the Southern Region.

  We crowded onto the Air Lift that was really only designed for two people at a time, but we were all relatively small and made it work. The platform descended quickly, still managing to make my stomach drop every single time. Emerson stepped off the platform first, holding out a hand for each of us.

  “Ladies,” he murmured with a flourish, and I giggled as Lottie snorted.

  We exited the doors of the housing building, finding a few other students already standing at the curb. Lottie seemed to be in a hurry to get to the front of the small group, but I touched her arm gently to slow her down. I loved the feeling of the sun on my face and the fresh air around me, even within the limits of AQ. My whip pulsed on my skin, and I grinned up at the sky with my eyes closed.
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  Suddenly, things shifted. I felt a line of awareness trail down my back and I opened my eyes only to discover Gale standing a ways off and watching me. His smile was fond and wistful, and I echoed it. I swallowed my disappointment that all we could do was smile at one another in public, but made my way to him regardless.

  “It’s good to see you, Docent Porter.”

  He grinned down at me. “You as well, Miss Shaw. I look forward to another interesting year.”

  I glanced over at InkHaven - not very far from the big AirQuarters compound that housed housing and operations for all Air Mages - taking in the stone Academy with all its towers and turrets. “I’m certain it will be that at the very least,” I muttered, feeling a little bit of the men’s apprehension leak into me.

  “Today is about fun and re-dedicating yourself to the Order. Worries can wait for tomorrow.” Gale’s voice was warm as he stared down at me, that familiar comfort I found in him washing over me.

  I nodded at him, turning my head to find Lottie wagging her eyebrows at me. I bugged my eyes out at her momentarily, barely listening as Gale and Emerson greeted each other casually.

  Gale cleared his throat and spoke up, “Students, thank you for meeting me here. Please line up and collect your start of the year allowance. Please use it to buy everything you need before the term starts.”

  I lined up with Lottie and Emerson, choosing to be last in line. When Gale gave me my pouch filled with coins, I stuffed it into my back pocket absent-mindedly and lingered. I whispered, “I miss you, Gaylord. I wish I’d seen you more this summer.”

  “So do I. Go get in the van, Kaia,” Gale whispered back, and I gave him a brief pout before nodding.

  “I’ll see you later?” I asked. I really had no idea how we were going to make it work once the academic year started. We didn’t have Alec Gaius’ and Ronan’s room to spend our nights in, and while Emerson would be perfectly content with spending the night just holding me with Lottie in the room, I knew that would push Gale too far past his comfort zone. He was still a Docent after all, and I was still his trainee.

  Those eyes softened again, and I knew he wouldn’t miss one of our last nights together.

  “We’ll see, Thief.”

  I grinned at him, because how could I not? It wasn’t a full smile though, because I was far too used to having four men to keep happy. The two most demanding of my men would be too far for me to see, and another one was off-limits without privacy. As we walked towards the van, Emerson and I shared a glance, and I suspected something similar was on his mind. Could our relationship survive without the intimacy we all craved? The intimacy we were all so used to?

  I followed Lottie into the van, climbing in to sit between her and Emerson.

  “Hey, Emers,” one of the guys in the back row greeted.

  “Hey, Mendel.” Emerson smiled at him, throwing his arm over the back of the seat so he could turn to see him better. “You know Kaia and Lottie, right?”

  “Hi, Lottie,” the guy greeted with a huge smile. I resisted the urge to snicker, wondering if he’d been an Otto at one point or just wanted to be - Lottie was sought after, for all she was anti-relationship. “Kaia, nice to meet you.”

  I turned, putting my back against Emerson’s chest and snuggling in.

  After being unable to do anything of the sort with Gale, I needed to surround myself with Emerson.

  “You too.” I smiled back. I felt wary about meeting anyone new outside the small group I was already familiar and comfortable with. After all, the majority of my experiences with other students in the past year hadn’t been positive. I was an outcast, because I was different - the newbie in a group that had spent years together before InkHaven. Not to mention that when I was first a student, I had absolutely no obvious magic of my own.

  The van moved forward, making Emerson and I sway as one. The guy’s eyes slid to Lottie.

  “So, uh, are you hogging both of these beauties now?” he asked Emerson a hint of teasing to his tone.

  I heard the grin in Emerson’s voice. “Nope, just this one.” I noticed the others in the back were silent, and I cast a glance at them. They were two guys I recognized from around the Academy, of course, but had never spoken to. Didn’t seem like I would particularly want to, considering the way they glowered at me.

  “You still with Alec Gaius and Ronan? Or did they smarten up?” one of the two spoke up in a mocking voice.

  “They’re still as stupid as ever.” I shot him a fake, overly bright smile.

  Kill them with kindness.

  Or so Alec Gaius had taught me - after all, I was not about to stoop to their level.

  “Still ours,” Emerson added sharply, his voice holding a hint of warning.

  “I’m surprised,” Mendel said, but not unkindly. “Not that you aren’t pretty, Kaia, you are. They just have that reputation, you know? They’ve had it for years, before you were even here and now that there’s a whole new pool to choose from? I’m surprised they aren’t taking advantage.”

  I winced as my old friend, insecurity, reared its ugly head briefly. Emerson squeezed my arm even as he barked out a laugh. “Yeah, that’s not a concern.”

  I stroked his hand in appreciation, snuggling in further.

  “Didn’t you know? She’s got that golden vagina,” Lottie interjected, and I snorted. Really, I shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, the only surprising thing was that Lottie had kept quiet for as long as she had.

  She smirked at me and added, “Well, among other things. Yeah, Kai?”

  “Lottie!” I gasped, sitting up and away from Emerson as he and Mendel started laughing.

  “Am I wrong?” She raised those brows at me, daring me to deny the intimate details she knew about my sex life.

  I rounded on the guy at the back, “It is not gold!”

  “Could have fooled me,” she muttered, but her eyes were bright with mischief.

  “Zeevar, what did I do to deserve the curse that is Charlotte Montgomery?” I cast my eyes to the ceiling, pointedly ignoring the sniggering of Emerson behind me. “I cannot believe you just said that. You bitch.” Despite the harshness to my words, my body shook with laughter that only Lottie could bring me.

  “Hey, I just call ‘em like I see ‘em, darling.”

  I elbowed her in the side, and she returned the favor with a giggle.

  “You’re the devil.”

  “You’re a prude,” she accused.

  “I don’t think she can be a prude,” Emerson interjected, and I decided my best course of action was to ignore them both as the van continued down the road. I turned back to the front and buried my face in my hands.

  “See what I mean?” Lottie asked Mendel. “Among other things.”

  “Lottie!” I shrieked, barely stopping myself from strangling her.

  She wrapped her hands around her neck and laughed.

  Damn. How had she known I wanted to strangle her? The girl could read minds.

  I shook my head at her and just threw her a bright smile.

  “Why did I miss you so much again?” I asked her. “You’re a menace to society.”

  “Nah, just you.”

  Gods. Only Lottie.

  Realizing the back of the van had gone silent, I turned around again. “So do you two have names? Or should I just call you silent and judgy?” Sure, I was antsy to change the subject, but I couldn’t believe I’d just blurted that out.

  Lottie outright snorted. Not a huff, not a cute little snort, but a full blown snort of laughter that caught in her nose. Had she been drinking, I was sure the floor of the van would be wet. When there was no response, I turned back to the front of the van, muttering, “Silent and judgy it is, then.”

  “Kai,” Emerson’s voice said carefully, but I could feel his body shaking against mine.

  “Don’t you start with me, Hawkins.”

  “Yeah, she might deprive you of that golden vagina,” Lottie whispered not-so-quietly. The driver made eye
contact with me, wide eyed, and I pulled at my hair with a groan.

  “Charlotte Ann Montgomery, I swear to the Gods-”

  “Alrighttt,” she hissed. “No need to be such a poop.”

  I’d never been as grateful for a trip to end as I was then when the van stopped. Still blushing, I gave Emerson a shove to get out of the van the moment the door was open.

  Of course, it wasn’t my first time at the Shopping Center. The first time we’d gone it had been the four of us - Emerson and I with Alec Gaius and Ronan. We’d had Alec Gaius and Ronan’s first spending allowance from the Order, and I’d forced them to buy new sheets and other homey touches for their otherwise shit room in the free AirQuarters housing.

  However, as I glanced at the Earths who manned the stores and stall, it would be the first time I did any shopping for just me and I was terrified of that. The first time there, I’d been so keen to spend money for our home that I’d only spent the bare minimum of their money on clothing, since it wasn’t like I needed a ton. I rarely wore much around the living area besides a sundress or tank and shorts.

  Mostly, I just kept myself naked.

  Summer was just unforgivingly hot so it’s not like anyone could blame me.

  Hell, my men loved seeing me walk around naked.

  The center was much busier than it had been that last time, and there were more students. It was a stark reminder that we were going back to school since we’d all gotten an allowance.

  “Where to?” I asked, and Lottie grabbed my arm and bolted forward.

  “Ladies first!” she yelled at Emerson, who could only smile and shake his head as he hurried to keep up with my friend’s antics. I could only be pleased Ronan wasn’t around to complain about her energy level, because I had clearly been exalted with caffeine-high Lottie that day. Ronan lacked patience on Lottie’s more calm days, let alone the intensity of her more exuberant ones.