Petri stuck her head into the room. He was only wearing his boxers, and while he'd gotten used to being semi-naked around his teammates, Petri was a different story. A warm blush rose to his cheeks.
"Hey, what's going on?" he asked, resisting the urge to cover himself.
She stepped into the room, looking like she was about to go out for the night, which she'd been doing pretty much every night since they'd taken her to the Levitating Mage. She had glitter in her dark eyebrows and wore a shimmering dress that hung seductively on her frame.
"I need someone to go out with me," said Petri, hanging on the door with a pouty expression.
"What about Skylar? You two go out all the time," said Zayn.
"She's busy working with Vin on the play," said Petri.
They'd been building a rigging that would work the marionette ropes, though from the cursing and banging he'd heard earlier, it wasn't going well.
"Everyone else busy?" he asked, which immediately produced a frown on her lips.
"Why don't you want to come out with me?" she asked, with an intensity that reminded him of the first time he'd met her in Amber's shop.
"I do...it's just..." He looked at the half-eaten apple sitting on his desk. "This project is due tomorrow and I can't get it right."
A flash of deeper anger ripped across her face before being replaced with a sweet disposition. "You promised Aunt Amber that you would show me the city. Do you really want me to tell her you haven't been living up to your end of the bargain?"
It was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment, but he had been neglecting her. When Skylar and Petri, after an initial conflict, had become fast friends, it'd kept him from having to personally deal with his yearlong babysitting project.
And he couldn't free up Skylar, not with the play in a few weeks. Not only would it screw up their chances of getting into the embassy, but it would put another big dent in Vin's confidence, which was tenuous already. He was doing a great job of teaching them the ropes of the theater, but they were poor students. Only Keelan seemed to be getting the point of his role.
"Give me a few minutes, I'll meet you downstairs," he said.
"Oh goody," she said, clapping her hands in a schoolgirl fashion. The continuing switch between sweetness and anger gave him whiplash, but he supposed she was still figuring out who she wanted to be.
After he threw on dark slacks, a rich purple button-down, and a dark jacket, they rode the train to the fourth ward. Petri said she knew a bar that she'd been wanting to go to. She clung to his arm the whole way as if they'd been dating for years, and Petri asked him questions about his family in Varna, which he answered as truthfully as he could.
As soon as they walked into the Smoke & Amber, Zayn recognized it as a place he didn't want to be. Most of the people were around his age and dressed impeccably. His clothes were sharp, but theirs were the kind of expensive that only the ultra-rich could buy.
"Is there another place we can go?" he asked.
She made a pouty lower lip. "I really wanted to come here."
"Most of the people that come here are Coterie mages, or Coterie alumni. Not that I have anything against them, but this is sort of their turf, and I don't want to cause any trouble," he said.
She kissed him softly on the cheek, which made his whole body break out in tingles. "I want to try some of their alchemical smokes. Let's just stay a little while. I promise I'll behave."
He glanced around the bar, which had a low-key vibe at the moment.
"I suppose it doesn't look too dangerous. For a little while," he said, immediately second-guessing his judgement.
But she made him forget about the Coterie mages when she entwined her fingers with his, dragging him to the end of the bar and ordering a sampler.
The alchemical smoke sampler came in a wooden rack with two sets of holes down the middle for the vials, which swirled with different colors. The one on the end had red flashes, and Petri suggested they should save it for last.
"Bottoms up," said Petri, handing over his half of the first pair. They uncorked the vial, which contained a pale smoke with blue swirls, and inhaled.
For the next minute, the world slowed down. The throbbing music turned into a sad tuba playing dreadfully long notes. Petri's laughter stretched into infinity, like an echo traveling down a long tube. He felt each individual air current press against his skin, an ocean of touch washing against him.
Then, as quickly as the feeling overcame him, it was gone.
"That felt like forever," said Zayn. "What was that called?"
"Torpor. It only lasts for five seconds," she said.
"Wow," he said. "That was odd."
She reached for another, but he wasn't ready, so he asked her, "What did you do before you came to Invictus?"
Her sparkly electric blue fingernails lingered on the cork of the second vial. "Nothing really. Life before now was so boring."
She said the word as if she'd taken a hit of the torpor smoke.
Seeing that he wasn't going to get anywhere asking questions about her life before the city, he asked, "What's your aunt Amber like, outside of here?"
Petri squeezed her lips flat. "She protects me."
"Seems like a strange sort of protection, to sign you up to hang out with a bunch of assassins in training," he said.
"Wouldn't those be the best people to protect me?" she said with a shrug that knocked the shimmering fabric off her brown shoulder. She smiled, which brought out a little dimple that he'd never noticed before.
"Anyway," she continued, "you can't live your life without danger."
"Speaking of, I've been meaning to ask you. Back when we were at the Levitating Mage—"
She cut him off by shoving another vial in his hand. "This one is called Don't Scream."
Before he could continue, she popped the stopper from both their vials. Zayn quickly inhaled before the smoke got away.
The effect was instantaneous. A rocket ship of pleasure built in the base of his spine, then traveled upward, sending out sparks of bliss, until it blew through his mind like an orgasmic atom bomb.
After it was over, he was aware that the couple a few seats down the bar from them was grinning at them knowingly.
"I screamed, didn't I?" he asked.
With a lazy-eyed stare, Petri replied, "I think we both did. But who cares what they think."
She reached for another vial, but Zayn put his hand over hers.
"Can we talk a bit? I need to recover after that one, and I'm not sure I like the sound of Volcano," he said.
She rotated her hand, making their palms touch, which sent after-shivers through him. All the signals she was sending him confused him, so he pulled his hand away.
"Sure, what do you want to talk about?" she asked as the corners of her lips tugged down.
"After this year, what are you going to do?" he asked.
Her shoulders squeezed inward. "I don't know."
"Your aunt Amber has powers, and you seem like you do too. Are you going to join the Hundred Halls?" he asked.
A flicker of anger went through her eyes before she composed herself.
"I changed my mind, I don't want to talk, I want to dance, there's music upstairs."
She grabbed his hand, leading him upstairs, where the beats were frantic and the dim lighting and atmospheric smoke gave the place an otherworldly feel.
The dance floor made him forget his cares while they moved. Petri threw herself into the music, almost violently, as if it were the last time she'd ever get to dance. At times, she pressed herself against him, running her fingernails across the back of his neck. It was like being tortured by a goddess.
The ebb and flow of the dance, together, apart, hands touching, spinning, the coy smiles. He reveled in the joy of dancing with her.
When he needed a break, Zayn found the bartender and ordered a glass of ice water. Petri stayed on the dance floor and was quickly lost to the crowd. He was leaning against th
e bar quenching the heat in his chest, when he heard hollering from the far side.
Petri was standing on a table, dancing seductively while the crowd cheered her on.
While the attention wasn't anything he wanted to experience, he wasn't about to ruin hers, so he watched from afar as Petri gyrated across the table with swift movements that seemed almost battle like.
On the far side of the room, away from the dance floor, a sliding door opened up, revealing a bunch of Coterie students. The handsome guy in front wore a blinding white suit, and immediately upon seeing him, Zayn's hackles went up.
The Coterie guy took one look at Petri dancing on the table and made a comment to his friends, which brought snickering laughter. Zayn knew there was nothing good that would come of their involvement, so he pushed through the dancing crowd, hoping to remove Petri from the scene before they could reach her. Along the way, he quickly threw an enchantment over his face so no one but Petri would remember him.
When he reached her, Petri looked at him with seductive grace, waggling her finger for him to join her on the table. When she reached out, he tried to tug her down, but she was strong enough to resist him.
"We have to go," he shouted through the loud music.
The hungry look in her eyes made him both frightened and excited.
To his right, the crowd parted, revealing the white-suited Coterie mage and his friends. Zayn heard one of his friends call him Alton.
"Hey, honey," said Alton, giving Zayn a dangerous glance, "why don't you come down and join us in back. You look like a party girl."
"She's not coming with you," said Zayn.
Petri continued dancing but made no move towards either of them.
"Is that your girlfriend?" asked Alton, who though he was the same height as Zayn, seemed to have mastered the trick of looking down on everyone he met.
"No," said Zayn, "she's my friend. We have to get going, I have classes tomorrow."
Zayn didn't want to get in a confrontation, but he also didn't want this Alton to think he could push him around.
"What Hall?" asked Alton, a curious glint to his gaze. "And why can't I see your face..."
"It doesn't matter," said Zayn. "It was nice to meet you, but we have to go."
Petri was still dancing, hips swaying in a grinding motion while she had her attention locked on Zayn.
One of Alton's cronies said loudly over the music, "I bet he's something dumb like Explorers, or Serene."
"Yeah, that's what it is," said Zayn.
Alton seemed to sense that Zayn wasn't in either of those, but he had numbers, so he stepped between Zayn and Petri.
"She's joining us," said Alton, then he glanced over his shoulder. "Right, honey?"
Looking to defuse things, Zayn asked Petri, "What do you want to do?"
As soon as he asked his question, a little smile ghosted to her lips, before she stopped dancing and hopped off the table, right into his arms.
"I'm leaving with him," said Petri, patting Zayn on the chest.
Undeterred, Alton leaned forward to speak quietly to Petri. As he did, Zayn saw his fingers move as he cast a spell.
"You want to come with me," said Alton.
Petri's expression blanked for a moment, then she put her hand against Alton's face seductively, and before anyone could do anything, raked her fingernails across his cheek, bringing blood.
The crowd, sensing danger, went flying away from everyone. But Zayn was quicker, carrying Petri from the bar using his imbuement before anyone could get a spell off. He ran for the three blocks, and upon reaching the train station, set her down and cast a half-dozen anti-scrying spells to keep Alton and his friends from tracking them.
Petri watched interestedly, not saying a word the whole time. When he was finished, she held up her hand, the one that had clawed Alton, and breathed on her fingernails. The skin and blood from beneath her fingernails crackled like fat over a hot fire and smelled far too much like roasting pig for Zayn's liking.
When she was finished, she said, "Don't worry, he won't bother us."
Bewildered by her naked display of power, Zayn let himself be mutely tugged into the open train car. It was a busy time of night, so they had to stand at a pole. She cradled into his arms, resting her head against his chest. He existed in an idyllic numbness the whole ride back to the seventh ward.
When they got back to the house, she led him up to her room. Part of him knew that he shouldn't be going with her, but he couldn't muster a word otherwise.
Their first kiss brought the heavens around his head. The vial of pleasure smoke had nothing on the way her lips felt against his, the way her tongue flitted against his tongue playfully.
The veracity of Amber's warning struggled to penetrate their passion. Zayn convinced himself that if Amber had seen his future, and Petri in it, then whatever happened couldn't be that bad.
When they fell upon her bed, all doubts were washed away, and Zayn gave himself to her fully, as she did to him, and the night passed in a timeless state of unending bliss.
Chapter Twenty-One
Seventh Ward, March 2016
And the rowers keep on rowing
For the next week, no matter what Zayn tried, he couldn't put the night with Petri out of his mind. He wasn't a virgin, but he wasn't that experienced either, and what had transpired left him at a loss for words.
It didn't help that he hadn't seen her since. When he'd gotten up for class the next morning, she was already gone, even though it'd been her room. After that, it never seemed like they were in the same place in the house at the same time. He might hear her in the kitchen, but be on the way to class. Or once when he came downstairs for a late-night snack, Petri was slipping out of the house to go clubbing.
In his logical mind, Zayn was realistic about what had happened. She was only in the city for the year, to experience what it had to offer before moving on, and had spent the last few months going out each night, which meant that he was hardly her first. She was also the niece of a powerful witch who could talk to the dead, and more than likely, there were aspects of Petri that he didn't, or couldn't, understand.
But his heart wouldn't listen to his logical mind. He had a hard time concentrating in class because his thoughts went back to her and that blissful night.
Whenever he was in the house and caught wind of her perfume—which had an earthy patchouli smell but with a hint of flowers—he forgot what he was doing and had to backtrack until he could remember. It'd been a powerful experience, one that he was a little worried about, for more reasons than the obvious ones.
Zayn had to confront these thoughts after class with Instructor Konig, when he went into the kitchen for an afternoon snack and ran into Petri coming the other way with a bowl of fruity crisps, spilling milk onto his arm.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said with a half-full mouth of cereal.
"No, it was me, I shouldn't have just barged through the door," he said, not knowing where to put his hands and finally resting them on the front of his hips, but feeling awkward about it.
His breath caught in his throat as he looked upon her. Even though her hair had been tucked into a messy ponytail, there were food stains on her pink unicorn T-shirt, and she had a mouth full of cereal, it felt like his mind had been scrambled.
She seemed embarrassed by his silence, until he was finally able to spit out, "Is there any more cereal?"
She smiled with relief, continuing to chew what she had in her mouth. When she finally swallowed, she replied while her shoulders pulled together.
"Sorry, it was the last of the box."
"No problem, I'll grab an apple or something," he said.
Petri made a face.
"Ate that too?"
She nodded.
"Does this mean you owe me dinner?" he asked, immediately regretting it when she blushed and glanced sideways. "Sorry, I didn't mean...I was just..."
Petri gave him a look that he didn't know how to categorize. It was almos
t a cry for help, but it was different. Like there was something she couldn't explain, or he wouldn't understand.
His heart thundered in his ears. The warmth in his face was so overwhelming he almost missed the soft click in the kitchen. Petri caught it as well, as her head twitched to the right.
"Was anyone else...?" he asked.
She quickly shook her head and turned to the side so he could rush into the kitchen to find Instructor Minoan with a bucket of industrial-strength paste in each hand.
Zayn tried to hit him with a stunning strike but the instructor was faster, swinging a bucket of paste around to knock him into the standing shelves filled with bowls and plates, which crashed into the ground, shattering at ear-splitting volume.
Instructor Minoan feinted towards the back door, leaving a cloud of butterflies in his wake, but Zayn knew where he was going, and beat him to the hidden cabinet, keeping it pushed against the wall so the instructor couldn't escape.
The sounds of many feet approaching brought a half-cocked smile from Instructor Minoan.
"Finally figured it out, eh?"
Zayn opened his mouth to reply, but the instructor mule kicked him through the kitchen door to land in the living room as his teammates came rushing down the stairs.
"Owww, that hurt," coughed Zayn, getting up as Petri continued eating her cereal and watching with a bemused expression.
His teammates stared at him as if he'd grown a second head until he said, "Minoan."
They rushed into the kitchen, and Zayn yanked open the hidden tunnel, throwing himself down it, barely using the ladder to slow his fifty-foot fall. He landed in the sewer tunnel, splashing water around him, and sent out his senses to pinpoint the instructor's escape path, only to hear echoes coming from both directions.
"He's using a confusion charm or something, I can't figure out which way he's going. Portia, come with me, while you three go the other way," said Zayn.
With his senses maxed, the smells in the tunnel hit him strangely. He was expecting sewage and other disgusting smells, but the air had a sweet quality, like an ice cream shop.
"What the hell..." he said, looking down at the foamy black liquid at the base of the tunnel. "That smells like...root beer."
The Reluctant Assassin Boxset Page 62