Slaying Year Two

by Cara Wylde

  The second-year classes were different. We pretty much only had Anthropology and Geography together, students from all the four cabals, and the rest were tailored for each cabal according to their unique abilities. Now I only saw Klaus in Geography. It was a good thing it was one of the most important classes and we had it three times a week, otherwise I would have really missed him. When he wasn’t in class, he was with his boyfriend. And when we were all in the dining hall, he was at the MDC table and I was at the VDC table. The next day after the puking disaster Lorna had caused and Sariel had to suffer, Klaus and I were at the back of the class as Mrs. Maat was going through a quick introductory presentation of the Nine Spheres of Heaven. We were going to study the Geography of Heaven this semester, and the Geography of Hell the next. Grim Reapers didn’t only reap on Earth. That was only the beginning, and Earth only provided the most basic jobs. Angels died, too, and so did demons. Not to mention the rest of the creatures that dwelled there. If first-year geography had proved to be tougher than expected, – no, we hadn’t only learned about countries, and capitals, and mountains, and deserts; long-forgotten tunnels, hidden caves, lost cities that were still inhabited despite what human geography and history said… yeah, way more expansive than what I’d learned in high school, – then second-year geography was going to be insane! Still, what Klaus and I had to talk about was currently more important than the Nine Spheres of Heaven.

  “Tell me again.”

  Klaus blew out his cheeks, thought for a second, trying to make sure he had all the details in place, then shrugged.

  “That’s it. That’s all we could see from the ground. Lorna was doing that thing with the leaky eyes and the booming voice, you were going higher and higher until there was a moment when we couldn’t see you anymore, and then Sariel ran out of the building, took off his uniform jacket, threw it God knows where – because he certainly couldn’t find it after, – spread his wings rather violently, if I may say so myself, and flew toward you. Lorna saw him, did this screeching sound with her teeth, like… I swear to God! We could hear it! It was so loud we could almost feel it in our bones!”

  “I saw her aura. When she does that level of magic, her energy expands until it fills the entire space she occupies. That’s why we can hear her voice louder.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. I wondered if he too could do what Lorna had already done twice.

  “Anyway, when she saw him jump to your rescue, she got super mad. She moved like a couple of feet to the right, and the whole vortex thing moved with her. Like, she dragged you away from Sariel.”

  “Makes sense why I was so damn sick. It’s no fun being whipped about like a poppet.”

  “Well, you weren’t exactly a victim this time,” he chuckled. “I heard you said some pretty harsh things to her.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “They were perfectly true.”

  “You know people can’t handle the truth.”

  “And how is that my problem?”

  “Did you handle the truth when you found out that…” He stole a glance at the students sitting closest to us and leaned in to whisper in my ear. “That Morningstar is your father?”

  Burned.

  I straightened my back and looked ahead, at Professor Maat. She’d drawn a loose sketch of Heaven on the white board.

  “This is not the place, nor the time. I told you I never want to talk about it. Not in public.”

  He shrugged, unaffected. “It was something worth pointing out. I’m not in the business of lying to you, sister. Just like when you didn’t lie to Lorna. So, I guess we have that in common. We’re both ruthlessly honest, even when it might get us in trouble.”

  “You’re not in trouble,” I said in a softer voice. “It’s just that… it’s uncomfortable. And dangerous to talk about it in class. No one needs to know, remember? Not about my father, and not about the prophecy. Or it all goes to shit.”

  “So, you do believe in the prophecy. You believe you’re going to be the one to retire Morningstar.”

  I sighed deeply. “I don’t. And I don’t want to, either. Retiring him means… killing him.” Crude words, but I needed to say them out loud from time to time. That was how reality checks worked. “But Headmaster Colin does, and I made a promise to him.”

  Klaus was silent for a while. When I thought he’d gone back to paying attention to the lesson, he whispered so softly that I could barely hear him.

  “If they knew who you are… If Lorna knew, she would never touch you again. You’d be indestructible.”

  His words felt like a punch to my stomach. “But not because of my skills or my brains. Because of my name.”

  “So what? Most of the kids here are just that. Names. And those names open doors for them.”

  “Then I’d be no different. Gracewing, Darkmoor, Chiaramonte, Saint-Germain. Morningstar.”

  “Would it be so bad?”

  I thought for a moment, chewing on the end of my pencil. “I don’t know. I’ve never been in that situation.”

  He leaned back in his seat and trained his eyes on Mrs. Maat.

  “You might find out sooner than you think.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “Call it a gut feeling.”

  I huffed. “Mages have all kinds of gut feelings.”

  “And they always come true.”

  “Ms. Lazarov, Mr. Hamelin!” My heart jumped when Professor Maat called our names. We both sat up straighter. “Are you done catching each other up with the latest gossip?”

  “We apologize…” Klaus started, but the teacher cut him off with a gesture of her long, dainty hand.

  Nefertari Maat was a sphinx. An ancient creature with the head and the upper body of a beautiful woman, the lower body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. Not that we’d ever seen her in that form. Just like GC, she was a sort of shifter. When she took the form of a woman with legs and no wings, she was tall and graceful, with long limbs that made you wonder how the hell she managed to move like the rest of us. Her golden eyes and golden hair, her tanned skin and high cheekbones – they all spoke of the noble race she belonged to.

  She fixed us with her breathtaking eyes for a second longer, eyebrows furrowed, then returned to the white board. I released a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. I could swear she was going to take a bunch of worth points from both of us, but she didn’t. I stuck my head in my notebook, drawing what she’d drawn on the board.

  “I want you to study this map and read the bibliography on the Nine Spheres of Heaven. I know it’s two big, consistent books, but you’ll have to read them in three weeks’ time. The second week of November, we will visit Heaven for the first time, and I want you all to be ready. It’s going to be a one-day field trip, one of many. I don’t want you wandering about and getting lost. So, study study study until you know your Spheres like the back of your hands. Understood?” She took a moment to look around the classroom, then nodded in satisfaction. She’d gotten our attention, alright. A field trip to Heaven? Hell, yes! “Now, for next time… Sheba, prepare a presentation of the First Sphere, Lorna, you’re in charge of the Second Sphere, Klaus – the Third Sphere, and Mila, you get the Fourth Sphere.”

  Great! As if we didn’t already have a fuckton of assignments for the other classes! It was as if each professor thought his or her subject was the most important and had precedence over everything else, including out personal lives. Huh. How I’ve changed. A year ago, I would’ve been grateful for the extra work. But a year ago, I didn’t have two hot-as-sin boyfriends to keep me up all night. I smiled to myself, making sure to cover my mouth with my textbook, so Mrs. Maat wouldn’t notice.

  “Professor, could I prepare the Fifth Sphere for next time?” Sariel raised his hand.

  She cocked an eyebrow. “No, you may not. Four will be enough for one class.”

  “Then maybe for next week?”

  She shook her head as she sat down behind her desk. “
Let’s leave the Spheres to the students who haven’t seen them before. I bet you know your own home very well, Sariel. Don’t worry, you’ll get the chance to earn some worth points next semester, when I’ll make sure you’ll present at least one Circle of Hell.”

  Sariel pursed his lips and cast his eyes down. I studied his profile for a long moment, wondering what could be going on in his head. Since he’d saved me, we hadn’t gotten the chance to exchange a single word. He was keeping away from me, just like before, pretending nothing had happened.

  “I wonder why he couldn’t find his uniform jacket afterwards,” I whispered to Klaus.

  “Really? That’s what’s eating at you?”

  “Don’t you think it’s strange?”

  He sighed. “What I think is strange is you suddenly thinking about him so much.”

  “You’re right. It’s stupid.”

  Lorna was sitting on the other side of the classroom, which was something she had never done before. Even if Sariel hadn’t allowed her to sit next to him these past two weeks, she’d still made a habit of sitting right behind him. Breathing down his neck – literally – had been her latest hobby. Now, that was a thing of the past too. The only one who was still allowed to sit next to Sariel – or talk to him, for that matter, – was Francis. But Francis didn’t have Geography with this group of students.

  The bell rang, and we all hurried to gather our things. I had to make a dash for the north tower to grab my scythe for PE. Having PE with the VDC was weird as fuck. I was the only girl there, and sometimes I felt like Mrs. Charon tended to go easy on me. I hated it. I was just as capable as the guys, and even though I knew she was trying to be nice, I wanted her to treat me like she treated everyone else. I could bet she didn’t go easy on the RDC, MDC, or NDC girls. Just me. She’d developed some kind of liking to me, and that made me wonder whether Headmaster Colin had told her something. But I couldn’t worry about each and every person I interacted with, or I’d become legit paranoid. I’d been paranoid enough the year before, and it had been exhausting.

  Pazuzu caught up with me as I took two steps at a time.

  “So, are you coming to the party?”

  “What party?”

  “Some of the girls are throwing something for Mabon. In the woods. I think Sheba and Sammy. They’re like best friends now, and they’re organizing this thing that’s supposed to be rad.”

  I frowned. “No one invited me, so no. Not going.”

  He stopped in his tracks for a second, then recovered and rushed after me.

  “I’m inviting you now.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Really, Paz? Can you do that? It’s not your party.”

  “Well, Sheba invited me and GC, and she knows we’re not going anywhere without you. I think it’s implied that you’re invited, too.”

  “Right. By default?”

  “Yeah?”

  “That’s just grand.” We stopped in front of his room, and I was the first to take out my keys. I’d left my scythe at his place. “You and GC can go, I don’t mind.”

  “Come on, don’t be like this.” He hugged me from behind, and I couldn’t suppress a smile. “It’s gonna be fun.” He kissed along my neck, knowing that would eventually melt my resolve.

  “You’re manipulating me.”

  “Am I? I don’t think so. Not yet.”

  “Oh?”

  His hands sneaked underneath my uniform blazer to rub at my sides. With each caress, Paz got closer and closer to my breasts. He wasn’t doing much, but oh my God, how his every touch and kiss set small parts of me on fine, one by one! First, a rush of heat spread up my neck and cheeks, all the way to my temples, making my head buzz pleasantly. My pussy was next, the muscles tensing and relaxing as he breathed against my skin, then tensing again, until the throbbing and the squeezing sent waves of pleasure to my clit. I felt something warm growing in my stomach, and then my heart, and I knew it wasn’t physical. My knees turned to jelly, and I leaned my weight against him, knowing that he was more than happy to hold me, more than happy to carry the burden of my body.

  “You’re being very persuasive,” I moaned.

  “Still haven’t even started yet.”

  He turned me around and looked into my eyes for a second, then dived in for my lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck and let him ravish my mouth, all the while anticipating where his hands would go next. They went underneath my skirt, pulled at my red tights, then at my soaked panties. As he rolled them both down my legs, he broke the kiss and moved down my body, one painful inch at a time.

  “Hurry up,” I breathed. “We have PE in a few minutes.”

  “PE can wait.”

  He stuck his head under my skirt, and the next thing I knew, my left leg was perched on his back to give him better access, and my hands were on his head, pushing him gently and guiding him.

  “There. Oh, right there.” I threw my head back and bit my lower lip hard. The things he did with his tongue… magic! He was just as good as GC, but in an entirely different way. They had very distinctive techniques.

  Paz swirled his tongue around my clit just two or three times, then went right for it, sucking and licking eagerly. He pushed two fingers inside me, earning himself a muffled scream. GC liked to take his time, tease me until I begged. Paz was the kind of guy who’d rather hear me scream than beg. I could appreciate that, especially when we didn’t have more than a few minutes at our disposal.

  I was close. So close…

  The creak of the door made my heart jump in my throat. I almost pushed Pazuzu away, but then I saw it was only GC. He sneaked into the room, a wicked smile playing on his lips.

  “I knew you guys were cheating on me.”

  “It’s not cheating, idiot!” Paz yelled from under my skirt.

  I thrust my hips forward as I grabbed him by the back of his neck and pushed his face against my wet pussy.

  “Shut up and finish what you started,” I said in a slightly frustrated voice. But I wasn’t angry at him. I was pissed at GC. He’d ruined my orgasm. No matter, he could actually make it better now. “You, take off your pants and jerk off. I want to watch.”

  His blue eyes went just a tad wider. “My, my, my… goddess! You kiss your mamma with that mouth?” But he proceeded to undo his belt, and quite fast, I might add. “You want to see my big, fat cock?”

  “I want to see you cum.”

  “Cum where? On his carpet?”

  I thought for a second. Okay, so maybe this wasn’t my best plan. Sue me!

  “Not on my carpet!”

  “You shut up.” An idea popped into my horny mind just at the right time. I pushed Paz on his back. Seeing how he kept interrupting himself, the best way to make sure it didn’t happen again was to sit on his face. Which I did. Then I beckoned to GC to step closer. His cock was already out and hard. I took off my uniform blazer and shirt, then my bra. “On my tits.” Oh, we were going to be so late for PE!

  “Your wish is my command, goddess.”

  He stepped over Paz’s head, which was basically covered by my skirt, and grabbed his cock with his right hand. He let me have a taste of it, then pulled away and started jerking off fast, knowing we were all in a hurry. But especially me. Paz was sucking on just the right spot, and even though he couldn’t stuff my pussy with his fingers from that position, his skilled tongue was enough to send me over the edge. I moaned loudly as I came, not taking my eyes off GC’s gorgeous cock for a second. With a grunt, he splashed his cum all over my breasts, and I cupped them with my hands as he came in waves, to make sure none of it ended up on my skirt. Or on Pazuzu’s face, since he’d emerged for air.

  “Eww… dude! Your balls are hanging over my face! Seriously?”

  GC laughed out loud. “No, they’re not. Do you want them to?” He cleaned his cock on my nipples, then did a bit of the helicopter. He stopped when a few drops of cum splashed around and landed God knew where. “Do you want a taste o
f my hairy balls?”

  “Mate, come on. Do you need me to buy you a razor?” He pushed me off him, afraid that GC might actually mean what he said, and he could expect him to drop to the floor and smush his balls on his face at any moment.

  “Guys! Guys, guys, guys! We’re fucking late!” I pulled my panties and my tights up in a rush, ran into the bathroom to take my first whore bath, and once my shirt and uniform blazer were back in place, I grabbed my scythe and was out the door before Paz had even gotten off the floor and GC had zipped up his pants. “Nevermind!” I yelled from down the corridor. “It’s better if we don’t all show up late at the same time!”

  As if the whole school didn’t already know we shagged like… at least twice a day. And not always in our rooms.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  I didn’t have time to think about Mabon. Seeing how Professor Maat had assigned the Fourth Sphere of Heaven to me, and there were three pretty damn good students doing their presentations before me, I had to make sure mine was equally informative and concise. My turn would come at the end of the class, when everyone was going to be tired and bored. Not the most enthusiastic audience, and that could cost me some worth points. Depending on Mrs. Maat’s mood.

  I spent the next two evenings in the library, bent over books, while Paz and GC were doing everything in their power to distract me. They were like children who couldn’t breathe if I didn’t pay attention to them for five minutes. Needy as fuck! On my good days, I found it flattering. On my bad days, or when I was stupid busy with homework, I found it beyond annoying. It didn’t help that they were still in constant competition. The pissing contest Klaus had told me about last year had escalated since I’d started sleeping with them. Now, they were mostly busy trying to decide who could sustain an erection for longer, who gave better head, who could make me orgasm more than once, and so on. Sometimes, I stared at them for minutes on end, wondering just how old they were. A demon and a false god. I knew GC was immortal. Pazuzu wasn’t, but he was pretty close, too. They certainly didn’t behave like they were much, much older and more experienced than me.