by Layla Heart
Then she glances up, her eyes on mine immediately, a shock going through my system, putting everything on high-alert. I want to go out there, grab her, and hide her in my room, make sure nothing happens to her, keep her safe. She’s mine, the dragon in me growls.
A flush goes over her cheeks, and she glances away again, back to Aideen.
Wow. That was... I’m fucked. I’m totally fucked, and Kit isn’t even here to do it.
My attention is pulled back to the house, to the boys, Finn’s emotions flaring, and then a sharp pain from Bane. Oh, no... Finn’s emotions calm down abruptly, but there is a dull pain from Bane, who is moving away from the others. Okay, so they’re not fighting, at least not for long, that’s good.
I hated leaving Finn after the things I said. I’d never admitted to following any of them before, definitely never admitted to doing it on purpose. A few times, I’d reached out to Kit when he was having a bad time, when I could feel him struggle, but never with any of the others. I couldn’t. I felt stupid for how much I needed to protect them. I knew that following them was dangerous, that I was putting my life on the line, but that never stopped me. I had to protect them. Had to.
When we’re all here, at the school, we’re all together, and everything feels right. But when we’re all in different parts of our countries, I’m restless, not able to protect them, only able to feel some of their muted emotions, but constantly worried that I’ll feel a sharp pain and they’ll be gone. And I don’t know what will happen then... What happens when I lose one of them.
Of course, I’ve heard the stories of what happens when someone really endangers a dragon’s hoard. What happened to so many of us when the fae invaded us... The insanity, dragons going berserk, killing indiscriminately.
I don’t want that to happen, and after the near assassination... I got a little overprotective, which is when Kit realised some of my abilities. I tried my best to hide them, because there isn’t anything as weird as your best friend knowing your exact location where you are in the world or feeling what you’re feeling. I can’t turn it off, but I can do my best to ignore it, which is what I do most of the time, until I can’t anymore.
I feel before I even see Litha’s gaze on me again, and now Aideen is staring at me too, looking confused. Great...
Litha slowly stands up, and I catch the way Aideen tenses, ready to protect her when needed. Dragons are very protective, very, even over people they’ve just met, or maybe she just senses the power in Litha and wants to protect her because of that.
I want to run, flee, get away from here. I’m not the right choice for Litha, I’m not. But I’m bound to the ground, unable to move, stuck.
“Hi.” Her voice is soft when she comes within talking distance, the fire in her eyes a smouldering ember.
“Hi.” The word barely comes out. Up close, the need to touch her, to grab her, becomes even greater. I can feel the lust in her, her confusion about her feelings, her curiosity. There is so much going on inside her.
“I’m Litha.”
“Rune.” Distantly, I feel Bane is nearing the infirmary, which isn’t too far off from here. I should check up on him.
“Why are you looking at me?” I’ve got to give her, she’s direct.
“Curiosity. You’re new. We don’t get many new people here.” Truth, sort of.
“But why would a prince be interested in the new girl?” She raises an eyebrow, her chin turning up defiantly. “Don’t you have like... lackeys for that, or something?”
I can’t help the snort escaping me. Lackeys? What world does she live in? Although...
The laughter dies inside me. Since I can feel her so strongly now, from the moment she came into this world, and I never felt her before... She probably isn’t from this world, at least, she’s not been living here. She quite literally doesn’t come from this world, at least, she didn’t grow up here.
“What?” There is an edge to her voice, and when I look at her, I realise that she’s annoyed with me.
“I’m pretty hands-on when I want to know things.” I try to smile again, but the look in her eyes cuts that off. I grip the wall behind me, making sure I don’t grab her. I want to touch her, have her, take her, taste her. All of it. “I need to be going.” I force the words out as I step sideways, her scent stronger here somehow, tantalising and sexy.
“Where?”
“Not here.” I turn around, feeling her change in emotions, the jab of pain and anger flashing through her, but I can’t face her anymore. I stalk away, to the infirmary, to Bane. I may be the steady one, the grounded one, but she changes all that, messing everything up in my head. With her, I’m a leaf on the wind, constantly being blown side to side, not a mountain, grounded and strong.
People jump out of the way as I pass, I can still feel their looks, but they’re not coming up to me, not even trying to get my attention. The infirmary is quiet, because who is stupid enough to get himself into trouble on the first day of the new year? Well, Bane is, apparently.
As I stalk to the end of the room, opening the curtains, Bane lets out a hiss, and I almost pull the doc away from him, for hurting him.
“Rune.” Bane’s voice breaks through right in time. “Wait.” When I look at him, he looks at me wearily. He’s the smart one, the one who knows things, the leader, I’m the strong one, the steady one, the protector. I need to be that protector now.
I take two deep breaths and then lean on the end of the bed he’s sitting on, doing my best not to crumble the metal bar in my hands. “What happened?”
Bane looks from me to the doc and back at me, letting out a slow breath. “Finn realised the implications of what you told him, the danger you’ve been putting yourself in. He...” Bane pulls a face. “He didn’t take it well.”
Ah, fuck. I grab a nearby chair and sit down on it. “He’s mad.”
“To put it mildly.” He winces as the doc pulls out another piece of glass from his hand, and I’m almost back on my feet. “We’re going to have to chat about your... summer habits.”
“We’re all here now. It’s okay. I’m fine now.” I look away, not wanting to meet his eyes, not wanting to talk about this at all, not wanting to talk about this thing inside me, me being a dragon and what that entails.
“Yeah, I don’t think so. You’re not okay, and what you’ve been doing hasn’t been okay either.” Bane sighs, and the doc starts wrapping his hand.
“The wounds aren’t too deep, keep them clean, they will be healed up soon enough.” Doc stands up and looks at me. “Try to keep him out of more trouble, will you? He can’t seem to do it himself.” Then the doc cleans his own hands and walks off.
I can’t meet Bane’s eyes anymore, this isn’t his fault, this is mine... I was the one who upset Finn.
“Did you go see Litha?” Bane’s voice is soft, and I jerk my head up, staring at him. He shrugs. “You weren’t with us, and you were... upset. Seemed a logical choice.”
I nod. “I...” I wring my hands together. “She makes everything in my head weird. I can’t think straight with her nearby.”
Bane nods too. “Yeah, I guess we’re going to have to get used to her being around.” His eyes darken, in that worried thing he does. “This will be different. This year will be very different.”
Different would be an understatement. Everything has changed, everything. And with the ways the other guys have come back from their summers... I don’t think I can manage everything like I normally would, not with her around too, not when she messes everything up even more. When she turned me inside out with just a look, with just the sound of her voice.
I want her, and I can’t have her. I’m not right for her. What do I have to offer? I’m hiding away, my kingdom is in shambles, I don’t have anything for her. It can’t be me, I can’t be hers.
7
“Wow!” Aideen grins at me. “Rune talked to you. You actually talked to one of the princes! I can’t believe it, lucky you.” She’s walking next to me as
we make our way to the building where our rooms are. “On his own too. The princes usually don’t go anywhere on their own.”
“That makes no sense.” Especially not with what she’d just explained about the different races, how they relate to each other and how they hate each other. It makes no sense that they’d be such good friends.
“You tell me.” She grins. “Those boys don’t make any sense, never have. Do you know what classes you’re going to be taking yet?” She opens the door, and we step inside, into a large common room, filled with a lot of people now, all hanging out.
“No idea.” With everything that has happened since this morning, since the breakfast hall, I’d kind of forgotten about classes. How would I even know what to take? I’d planned for my college classes for years, but I don’t think they have the same chemistry and biology classes here, or at least, not in the way that I know it... Classes... Fucking hell.
Would I be in the same classes as the princes? Would we share classes?
And the moment I think of the princes I remember the way Rune looked at me, that heat in his gaze, the way it felt like he wanted to reach out to me, just not physically, if that makes any sense, it was like he was reaching out to me in another way, mentally, emotionally. And I remember the heat flowing through me under his gaze. I wanted him to reach out and grab me, even as I was trying to hide it. I wanted it so badly.
Oh, for fuck’s sake... I don’t want to have to think of them, there is no reason for me to think of them, for me to want them this badly. Fuck prophecies, I don’t even know what it actually said. I wasn’t the most awake person this morning when my parents talked about it, it sort of went past me as I was trying to make sense of the whole ‘witch’ thing they’d dumped on me first.
“I think I’m going to my room for a bit. I’m a little... tired.” I look up the stairs, to a little bit of quiet, away from all these things that make no sense.
“Yeah, sure.” Aideen nods. “I’ll see you later. Maybe for lunch, or dinner.”
I nod back at her and then go up the stairs, passing doors and doors that are all the same, that all look like a normal college, if a little old-school. How is this a magical college? How does that even make any sense? Isn’t it supposed to be more special than this?
I close the door to my room behind me, the other side of the room is still as pristine as it was before, and open the suitcase my parents packed. There has to be something in here that makes sense, right? They can’t just have dumped all this on me, pushed me through the door, and expect me to make sense of it all. They wouldn’t, right?
A small notebook tucked in a side-pocket of the suitcase pulls my attention, not because it’s so obvious, but because it’s so unassuming. A plain, simple, wire-bound notebook, but it’s not mine. I pick it up and recognise the handwriting on it, Mum’s handwriting. As I open the notebook to the first page, there is a message there, ‘To my dear Litha’.
Oh, wow. Okay...
I don’t know how much time has passed, but my head is spinning. It’s spinning and at the same time feels so full of everything, so full of all the things Mum wrote down for me. She kept the notebook from the moment she found out that there was some prophecy about me, about who I will be in the future, what I will be able to do. I don’t know if I can make any sense of it anymore.
The first couple of pages, I thought I understood what it said, I thought I could make sense of it, the prophecy itself seemed pretty clear, but as I kept reading on, things became less and less clear.
The princes are in here too, about them growing up, their history, the history of their countries, of their families. There were things in here that Aideen already told me about, but also things I had no idea about, things that Aideen may not even have known, secrets, secrets mum thought were too important to forget. Secrets she needed me to know.
I now know that my parents fled this world, trying to keep me safe from the people who would try to kill me, just to make sure the prophecy doesn’t happen. The prophecy of me being the ‘true mate’, no, what did Mum call it... I look through the pages. I’m their ‘fated mate’. And the prince I marry will rule the four kingdoms, all of them, not just one, all. I’m a magical item, like a holy grail or something, the one who marries me will be super powerful or something, a ‘true ruler’.
Great way to give a woman agency, reduce her to an item to be used by men. Really. This world obviously is just as bad as the one I left, just a lot more dangerous. Werewolves, dragons, fae, incubi and succubi... Witches. I don’t even know what else there would be. Mum wrote something about vampires somewhere, but that’s not around here, or something... I don’t know. That was way too much to remember all in one sitting!
I wish I could just ask Mum. I wish I could just ask her all the things that are spinning through my head right now. And not just her, but also Dad, and even the guardian. I want to ask them everything. Hear it from them instead of from a notebook. I miss them. I miss them so much and with they were here right now.
I grew up pretty normal, I was a typical girl. Heck, apart from visiting grandma/the guardian, I never even went outside the city. I’m a city girl, I know the city, I know about driving cars and how to make sure you stay safe in the city at night. I don’t know shit about dragons, fae, and whatever else.
I never even read fantasy books, gimme a contemporary sports romance any day over a fantasy book, I’ve never even read Twilight and the Harry Potter series I only know because of the movies...
They could have prepared me better... Given me fantasy books to read or something, maybe then the idea of being surrounded by —I check the notebook— incubi wouldn’t sound as ridiculous.
Would human fantasy books even have offered me anything? Could they have prepared me? Well, maybe it would have not made this all as weird as it feels right now. I feel so lost, even with this notebook, there’s just... so much missing. So many things I don’t know.
As I look up, my eyes fall on a simple radio-clock next to the bed. Who would have thought that there would be such simple electronics here? But as I look at it, realisation sets in, it’s almost time for dinner, so it’s no wonder I’m getting hungry...
I’ve been reading all day, and I really should get something to eat. Aideen said that all the halls eat in their own building normally, that the whole ‘eating together in the main hall’ was just for special occasions, like the introduction breakfast. She also mentioned there being a cafeteria-like thing and a small store next to the library, for when people didn’t feel like eating in their own hall, or if they needed a quick meal while studying.
Tucked away under the notebook had been a brand new wallet, which I pick up again. As I look inside, I find an academy card for me, with my name, ‘Litha Vigil’, and picture and all, and a payment card with a note attached to it. ‘To get you started. Now you won’t be dependent on the hall’s meals. Love, Dad.’ To get me started? What? Right... Food first, then answers.
I guess this is as good an excuse as any to find my own answers to the things I don’t know yet and also to see if they have some food that I like, away from all the loud people.
I pocket the wallet and grab my keys, taking one last look at the map of the grounds. I should be able to find the library, it’s at the opposite end of the main building from the hall we had breakfast in.
Slipping out of the room, I quickly look around and then take a set of stairs at the back of the building, trying to avoid running into anyone. There is still too much going on in my head, and I need to find answers to those questions. The biggest ones of all being, what the hell am I doing here and how am I supposed to be a witch?
Let’s hope they have a ‘Witching for Dummies’ in their library, so I won’t feel as stupid anymore.
Because no matter what Mum wrote down, I have no idea what to expect from being a witch, or even how to ‘use my powers’ or anything like that. I don’t have a clue.
8
I try to keep to the back of t
he buildings, Kit at my side, away from the main routes that people take along the campus, making our way to the library and the tower of knowledge, more specifically, the prophecy room. Or, at least, that’s what Kit and I have been calling it lately, the ‘tower of knowledge’, because, what else would you call the tall part of a building where they have rooms for the manuscripts they don’t want the students to read, or the prophecies, or rooms for other things they don’t want students to see? It’s knowledge, even if it’s knowledge we’re not supposed to know about. But who is going to deny the princes? Who is going to stop us from going anywhere on this campus? If we want something, we’ll get it, no matter what we have to do to get it.
“If it wasn’t your dad, who else could have been in the prophecy room today?” Kit whispers, he can’t seem to let it go. The person in the prophecy room, the reason the light was on, it couldn’t have been Dad. Dad had been waiting in the main hall when we arrived for the yearly welcome and the supposedly shared breakfast, and he couldn’t have moved that fast between the tower and the main hall.
“I don’t know. Does it matter right now?” I hold up my hand, stopping him, as someone sneaks past, crossing our path, but it’s just one of the other students, a wolf like me. The guy doesn’t even notice us, probably too focused on wherever he’s going.
“How would I know if it matters? When we were in that room before the summer, it was obvious that nobody had been there in years. And now someone was in there during the day? On the same day Litha arrives at the academy? Don’t you think it’s suspicious?” He follows me behind the next building. We’re just three buildings over from the library, one more halls of residence and one of the classroom buildings between us and our goal for the night.