Quest for Trust

by Jacey Ward

  "Aw Luna, don't be like that! I'm sick, cut me some slack," he cajoled.

  "Don't try to turn on the charm or play the sick card now, Hunter," she warned, turning to flash him a smile, her sharp incisors making her look more vampiric then ever – likely the very look she was going for in that particular instant. "I’m trying to be helpful here. If faeries or elves or whoever in that realm were responsible for casting this curse on you, maybe it's fate they be accepted to the academy. For what you know of it, the curse was cast a very long time ago. Maybe it’s finally time to resolve the issue ... they really don’t seem all that bad?”

  “Just make sure not to mess with them, Valluna. You won’t get away with it unscathed.” He finished that statement with another angry huff.

  “Look, Hunter, you can’t stop the curse as it stands now, and from what I’ve seen, these students aren’t going anywhere soon. They’ve obviously qualified academically if they’ve been granted entrance – so we’re all stuck with them. Maybe it's worth looking into – put your investigative skills to good use and get to the bottom of this curse. Just, whatever you do, don't breathe on any of them. With breath like that, they're liable to make this curse worse. Rest up, my friend!"

  "Luna ...” He waited until she turned back toward him, “Thanks for checking in on us."

  He’d put his investigative skills to good use alright. Once he was back on his feet, he’d be getting to the bottom of why the one person in charge of who was accepted into this academy, the great chancellor, was so foolish as to let these creatures into it in the first place.

  Chapter 3

  “How are you, brother?” Hunter clapped Gabe on the shoulder outside of the Campus Cafe. He dropped his hand immediately when he saw his brother wince. Despite the full moon having passed three days ago, they were both still under some effects of the curse.

  He looked closely at his twin ... his eyes, a slightly darker shade than his own, seemed dull and the dark circles on the skin beneath spoke volumes as to how tired he was. His face was drawn from these past 3 weeks.

  “You don’t look at all well, Gabriel,” Hunter commented as they each took a seat on the patio. They’d been cooped up for too long and both needed some serious vitamin D pouring over them.

  “Probably about as good as you do, brother. Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Gabe returned, only half joking. “We could probably benefit from another week of rest ... Who the hell is responsible for letting them into our school, anyways?”

  Despite knowing who Gabe was referring to, Hunter followed his brother’s gaze, falling on a small group of petite ladies laughing at something one of the short males standing next to them had said. Their sing song trills grating on his ears and his nerves.

  He had been observing closely on his trek to meet Gabe. He had seen weird dark clouds hanging over top of one student’s head, he noticed a couple of other students, whom even Hunter had to admit were kind of asses, whose ears had morphed into those of a donkey.

  “A question I’d love to know the answer to, myself. They’ve clearly already started to let loose with their stupid tricks. Just how long do their pranking spells last?” He asked, knowing Gabe wouldn’t know the answer to that one either. They watched as Corollee, a typically somber and normally less than happy student, was literally getting rained on with the brightest coloured sparkling glitter, falling over her as she walked.

  “There have been reports of students’ and instructors’ artifacts going missing, only to be found in the most ridiculous of places. Demons having pink and purple coloured fur growing out of their necks and down their arms. Even Luna was targeted, literally, having an absolutely absurd note stuck to her back. Completely unknown to her, of course.”

  “Luna?? She’s one of the friendliest students attending classes here. Why would they want to target her?” Gabe asked heatedly.

  “Clearly it doesn’t matter to them. Anything goes as long as it caters to their twisted sense of humour. So far, from what I hear and have seen this morning, the pranks have been just that, pranks, but I think it’s only a matter of time before someone decides to retaliate and each side takes it to the next level,” Hunter predicted vehemently. He watched as the group of five separated, with three of them walking toward the cafe. The other two males, elves he presumed, walked away in the opposite direction, but not before sending a sly glance his way.

  Hunter’s eyes made direct contact with one of the girl’s eyes, but she quickly looked away from his gaze. Guilty conscious, perhaps?

  He let his gaze follow her into the cafe, his eyes going to the glint of her sweater. There was strong magic woven into that glittering forest coloured yarn, of that he was certain. From the moment she had looked away from him, she’d clutched it about her petite shape, as though trying to engulf her body in it and shield herself ... from what ... they were the culprits to be shielded from. The sweater was twinkling even as she stood in line – maybe she was the one who caused the glitter storm for poor Corollee.

  “They’re a pretty lot, I’ll give them that,” Gabe commented beside him, smirking and appreciating the view they presented from behind.

  “That’s probably only an illusion as well, brother. Don’t get drawn in by it.” Hunter barked.

  “I’m simply making an observation ... Quite the perfectly petite little packages.” Gabe, ever the charmer, smirked at Hunter.

  As much as he was happy to see the twinkle return to his twin’s tired eyes, even temporarily, Hunter’s expression said it all.

  “Relax, will you? It’s not like I’m going to be falling all over them, or anything.” Gabe replied, dryly. “Not without getting to know them a bit, first, anyway.” He smirked, as he glanced through the window, again.

  “Look, I’ve got classes, and so do you – Let’s get out of here.” Hunter muttered, just as two of the girls exited the cafe with their drinks in hand and found a seat at the other end of the patio.

  As Hunter and Gabe made their way to the exit, he caught a quick movement out of the corner of his eye, just as Gabe seemed to lose his footing and fall to the ground, wincing as his knee took the weight of his fall.

  “Oh, no! Are you okay??” The girl in the glittering sweater gasped and stood up immediately.

  “He’s fine!” Hunter growled, stepping closer to help his brother back to his feet. “No thanks to you. You may think this kind of joke is funny ... I do not. Do it again and I’ll see to it that you pay — you and your ridiculous friends won’t be welcomed at this academy much longer if this keeps up,” he vowed.

  “But I —” the girl’s green eyes looked up at him, fear making them even more stunning than they had been a moment ago.

  “Yes?” Hunter demanded, fully expecting her to deny his accusation.

  “Nothing,” she sat back down quietly, grasping the hem of her sweater again with one hand, while the fingers of her other hand seemed to flit over her coffee.

  Just as Hunter was about to growl at her again, Gabe stood to his full height, flexing his knee with an odd look on his face.

  “Hunter - let’s go! We’re going to be late.” Hunter was surprised as Gabe’s grip pulled him away from the table.

  When they were out of hearing distance, Hunter stopped.

  “What the hell? She made you trip. I saw the look on your face – and I know damn well you’re in pain.”

  “Correction, I was in pain ... but the pain was gone as quickly as it came, which it shouldn’t have been. I think she somehow managed to block the pain –”

  “Only after being the cause of it in the first place!” Hunter spat. “I saw the movement she made, just before you tripped.”

  “And,” Gabe continued after being interrupted, “the look on her face, when you threatened her was by no means guilt, it was surprise and fear! You hit her hard with your mean dragon face, brother. If everyone in this academy is doing that to these newbies, is it any wonder we have students walking around looking like asses? That look you se
nt her would have terrified me! I’m completely fine now, Hunter – just drop it.” Gabe muttered, frustrated by his brother’s over-reaction to him tripping. Even if she had been the cause of that, he was sure she had also reversed any damage that might have been done.

  “I thought you said you wouldn’t be falling over them, Gabe?” Hunter commented, as they started walking to the main hub of the academy. “Don’t fall for their innocent looks, either. I don’t trust them in the slightest bit.”

  Chapter 4

  Zahreena wasn’t exactly sure how she’d made her way through her final class of the day after that fiasco at the Campus Cafe.

  She’d been mortified knowing that jerk thought she had been responsible for his look-alike losing his footing. She knew exactly who had caused him to miss-step, she’d seen Atlynth cast the spell often enough. It left the victim believing there was a step in the ground where there wasn’t one, or missing a step that was actually there.

  Zahreena had tried as inconspicuously as possible, to wave the elf and his ridiculous spell away. The first guy had clearly seen her hands moving, and of course, thought the absolute worst of her.

  Typical arrogant, know it all, good looking ass!

  Too bad she didn’t have a spell to bring him down a few notches.

  He had been identified as one of the so-called ‘Gods’ of the academy. The elves, Atlynth and Cyrcole had scoped out who was clicking with whom during their first month here. She could see why they started playing the pranks on them if they were all as rude as that one was.

  She definitely could live without that type in her life right now – no matter how attractive he might have been.

  The ten newcomers would have to be careful around them.

  Stranger still, some of these uber popular students came along after classes had started. Ever since those late-comers had shown up on the scene from whatever hiatus they’d been on, the elves had stepped up their game.

  Things were quickly moving from not as bad as she thought they would be, at the start of the academic year, to stunts being pulled daily - even on some of the instructors.

  Why couldn’t they just leave well enough alone?

  The four elves Atlynth, Cyrcole, Calob and Mallore, had realized the group of late arrivals were all part of the core group who considered themselves better than anyone else. Not only were they considered top students, but they were also tops in stature and prestige.

  And they pretty much knew it. Every one of the late arrivals fit right in with them — completely full of themselves, tough types.

  The other faeries in her collective group of ten, seemed to just go along for the ride – rarely thinking for themselves or so much as trying to deter the others from being childish idiots.

  Zahreena’s thoughts kept going back to the two from this morning.

  Who exactly were they? Gorgeous beyond belief, the one who had threatened her seemed the most menacing of the two.

  And his eyes, more stunning than pure amber found and polished from the most ancient of forests. What had his brother called him? Had she heard “Hunter” or was that just her own wild imagination and reaction to the immediate threat he seemed ready to hurl at her. He certainly looked like he could be a fierce hunter, vicious and unpredictable.

  His gold highlighted hair held a slight wave that softened his sculpted facial structure just enough to keep him from looking as vicious as a rabid werewolf.

  Good grief, now she was creating fairy tales where potential real danger lay.

  The one who had tripped had seemed to be in genuine pain, but he also seemed to be the more reasonable of the two, especially after she’d quickly woven a spell to clear away the pain he had suffered at the hands of the elves.

  Zahreena couldn’t help but wonder what their stories were? She hadn’t seen them during her first three weeks at the academy. And after witnessing the hunter’s attitude this morning she was more certain than ever they must have been among the late comers.

  After sending her best friend a quick email telling her how things were going, she needed to focus her attention on her first term courses, which were all general core stuff to start. While there would be a specialized legal class or two, she knew coming in she’d have to start from the bottom and work her way up through the ranks.

  Maybe by the time she reached her final year, she would be counted among the top-ranking students of this institution, a part of the “in” crowd and walking around campus as though she owned the world and everyone looked up to her.

  Here she goes again ... creating fairy tales that she could only wish would someday come true.

  Chapter 5

  Fluttering ... High pitched notes swimming in the air all around him. What the hell was she doing in his residence?

  Green eyes fringed with the longest wisps of lashes he’d ever seen, stared innocently down at him from where she stood at the foot of his bed. Her ginger curls cascaded down the glittering sheath she wore – hell ... was that the ONLY thing she was wearing?

  What was she playing at? The thin material slipped off one pale shoulder, then the other. With a slight swoosh, it was dropped to the ground.

  He’d been wrong ... she was wearing something beneath that thing – a simple slip of sheer gossamer covered her tiny figure. Tiny, yes, but sexy as anything he could have ever imagined.

  He wanted to lay his hands on the deliciously full breasts beneath that slip and push his thumbs against her peaked nipples, hearing her cry for more. He wanted to tear that gossamer material off of her and pull her down on his rising shaft with a single thrust – all the while sucking and nibbling on her nipples, forcing them to even higher peaks of pure sensitivity.

  With great reluctance, he raised his eyes from her perfect breasts and again looked into her eyes, irritated to see fear in them. They should be gazing at him with lust and invitation, her lashes fluttering wantonly at him.

  But instead, stark fear was what he saw in their beautiful depths, as she shrank back from him, suddenly shifting before him.

  Her beautiful facial features began to contort and wrinkle, her eyes turning from fearful to maniacal as the musical notes that had surrounded him, became shrill and deafening to his sensitive ears. The body he’d so wanted to make his, suddenly began to shrink in on itself, turning into the ugliest of trolls he could ever possibly imagine and before he knew it, the troll jumped onto his bed, yielding a large jewelled dagger and preparing to thrust it into his chest.

  “Get off of me, damn you!” Hunter’s own bellow woke him from what was one of the most vivid nightmares he had ever had. His body had begun to shift to his dragon, he was so sure he’d been in danger. His breathing was coming in gasps and sweat had drenched the nape of his neck.

  “Where in the name of heaven and hell did that come from?!” he cursed, allowing his breathing to regulate and his shifting body to come back under his control. These faeries were going to kill him ... if not by the curse or the pranks, then by the sheer control they had over his own imagination. If they could make neon hair grow on demons, Hunter didn’t doubt for a second that they could infiltrate his dreams with their twisted magic.

  He climbed out of bed naked, his member still painfully aroused. His brother had been right about the faerys’ perfectly petite bodies. Illusion or not, if what he saw in his dream could arouse him this much, they not only used twisted, but very powerful magic.

  He glanced at himself in his bathroom mirror and couldn’t help but admit that the dream had left him looking a little maniacal himself. He’d damn well better get it together, before he met with his mother in the afternoon.

  He climbed into the shower, blasting freezing cold water down at himself, to try to remove any remnants of that nightmare from his brain, and every remnant of his arousal from his body. He shivered, not only from the cold water, but as he recalled how ugly that shifted creature had been in his dream. He closed his eyes and stayed under the spray until the pads of his fingers wrinkled, only t
hen washing himself down and stepping out of the shower, again feeling in control and ready to face the day ... and his mother.

  “Kamber! What brings you to my neck of the campus?” Kadence Temperst closed the distance between them as though by fast forwarding through space – one moment she was across the courtyard and the next she stood before him.

  “Oh, I see, never mind, an invitation to visit your sweet mother was issued. I wouldn’t push my luck with her this time, friend. You won’t come out on the winning side.”

  Hunter watched, always impressed by how Kadence could shift the focus of her very unique eyes to see past, present or future events. He trusted her predictions implicitly and was hardly surprised by her warning about his mother. His mother was indeed a major force to be reckoned with, especially if she or someone she loved was being threatened.

  “You do realize that prediction completely negates the ‘sweet’ portrayal you just used to describe Abigail Kamberlin,” Hunter pointed out to his long-time friend.

  A powerful sorceress in her own right, Kadence, along side of her equally bewitching twin sister, Kaylee, had been students of the academy for nearly as long as he and Gabe had. The girls had a year and half before they completed their degrees in psychology and human resources respectively. Hunter had little doubt they would excel in both of their fields given the nature of their paranormal strengths.

  “You must be bursting out of your human skin, to get to the bottom of why we’ve been forced to welcome the newest members of our student body.” Kadence observed perceptively, eyeing him questioningly. “I would strongly suggest caution, Hunter,” she paused ominously, a far-away look entering her eyes. “Think hard before choosing who to breathe your fire on, dragon. You wouldn’t want to singe the wrong set of wings.”

  Shit!

  “I have to run, Kadence. I don’t want to keep Mother waiting,” Hunter mumbled, before Kadence picked up on his dream-filled night. He didn’t have patience for her cryptic warnings at the best of times, but he definitely didn’t want her delving deeper into his current feelings.