I'm the first one in the classroom, so I head to the back. Let's see if I can survive the two-hour lecture without drawing attention to myself.
I let out a snort. Wishful thinking, Daisy.
I pull a notebook and pen from my bag, but the action is automatic. My brain is still glued to Rufio's odd reaction, then on what happened to that Fringe girl. I can't help but question if Stella took the dangerous drug on a dare or if she was stupid enough to do it on her own.
I get lost in my head and don't realize I'm chewing on the end of my pen when a masculine voice to my left says, "If you’re hungry, I have a chocolate bar in my bag."
I jolt in my seat as I turn, finding Bryce watching me in a scrutinizing manner. All previous thoughts occupying my head vanish in a split second. In their place, the image of Bryce dropping his damn towel is all I see.
"What?" I ask stupidly.
"You were eating your pen. I thought you might be hungry." He fishes a candy bar out of his backpack. "So, chocolate?"
I don't think he’s mocking me. He seems sincere. But I shake my head anyway. "No, thank you."
He leans back against the chair and unwraps the treat. "Good. More for me." He takes a large bite of the dark chocolate while he stares at the whiteboard.
Unable to keep my mouth shut, I ask, "You have a sweet tooth, don't you?"
He switches his attention back to me but only answers after he swallows. "What makes you say that?"
There's no humor in his tone nor his eyes. He clearly has no clue why I'm asking him that.
"Wild guess." I open the notebook to a random blank page and fix my gaze on it, trying my best to ignore the fact that Bryce is staring a hole through my face.
Seconds go by, until finally he says, "Can you bake?"
I set my pen down and look at him. "I don't claim to be an expert, but I get by."
"Can you bake a pie?" He leans forward, his monotone voice finally showing a hint of excitement.
I can't help the chuckle that escapes my lips. "Yes. So, pie is your weakness, huh?"
His eyebrows furrow, and his lips become nothing but a thin flat line. Shit. I forgot who I was speaking to.
"I don't have a weakness." He faces forward again and watches the influx of students as they slowly come in.
My remark only served to earn Bryce's silent treatment. I'll take that as retaliation any time. Better than what his friends have tried before.
Phoenix walks in at that precise moment, exuding sex appeal and something far more dangerous than that. There’s something different about him today. One quick glance at his face tells me he's in a foul mood.
Great.
Before I can avert my stare, our gazes lock, and I see a storm of bad emotions shining in his beautiful green eyes. There’s a coiled anger surrounding his frame, and I can tell it won’t take much to unleash the beast. Involuntarily, I shrink into myself.
He smirks perversely as he pulls out the chair next to mine. “Daisy, you have no idea how glad I am to see you again.”
He’s goading me, but my self-preservation instincts have finally kicked in, so I don’t reply to his statement.
“What? Cat got your tongue?” he asks.
The teacher enters the classroom just in time, giving me the perfect excuse to not answer him. Phoenix chuckles, and from my periphery, I catch the shake of his head.
The class progresses without incident for at least an hour, and I finally begin to relax. The teacher, Mr. Amaro, gave out an assignment at the beginning of class that we’re supposed to hand over by the end of today's lecture. The task is simple: write an essay about an event in our own lives that draws parallels to any of the classics we're supposed to read this term.
I have so many life-altering experiences that it's difficult to choose. I stick to a more recent one, about the time I moved to Saturn's Bay and started working at Poppy's Joint. Despite Poppy's big secret, I still consider my time working for him the best days of my life since my parents' death.
With a smile on my face, I begin to write about a particular evening when one of Felicity's ex-boyfriends came into the diner accompanied by another woman. I'm fairly good in most subjects, but English is where I excel. I love reading and writing, so I don't care that it's going to take me twice as long to write a two-thousand-word essay by hand. I get in the zone almost immediately, losing myself in the story.
I only have a couple of paragraphs left to write when the paper vanishes and I find myself in a different place. There's a balcony to my right, and from where I'm currently sitting, I can see the view of the Saturn's Bay harbor. I quickly take in my surroundings. I'm sitting on a satin-sheet-covered bed, and with a gasp, I realize I'm wearing a black silk slip.
Fuck me. I'm in one of Phoenix's visions.
The door ahead opens, and Phoenix walks in wearing nothing but boxer shorts.
"Hello, sweet Daisy."
I want to jump out of bed and demand that he get out of my head at once, but in his vision, I have no control. I'm just a puppet at his mercy. So my butt stays glued to the bed as I watch him prance my way with a devilish smile on his full lips. My throat becomes dry, and the fluttering inside my chest is real—I know that much.
"Phoenix," I breathe out.
"You have no idea how much I've waited to get you alone." He stops in front of me and peers down. "You look lovely in that little thing."
"Thanks."
My gaze drops to his crotch, which is at my eye level now. His erection is straining against the cotton fabric of his underwear, begging to be set free.
"Go ahead. Touch me." He runs his fingers through my hair, sending a shiver down my spine.
I lick my lips and pull his boxer shorts down. His rock-hard cock springs free. I reach for the shaft, loving the feel of its smooth strength under my fingers.
"Come on, Daisy. Have a taste. I know you're dying to."
I lick his length from the base to the tip. Phoenix lets out a hiss when I wrap my mouth around the head and suck him.
My conscience is screaming at me, but the Daisy from the vision is enjoying every bit of the action. All she cares about is pleasuring Phoenix.
"Fuck, Daisy. Your mouth feels amazing on my cock." He yanks my hair back, pulling me away from him. It hurts a little, but it’s the kind of pain that only augments the pleasure.
"What is it?" I ask.
"You will finish me off one day, but in the real world. Right now, I have other plans for you."
He pulls his boxer shorts up, covering his erection, and then drops to his knees. He doesn't break eye contact as he pushes my legs open wider. Cool air hits my pussy, making me aware that I'm not wearing any panties. He caresses the tops my thighs with the tips of his fingers, bunching up the fabric of the slip until I'm completely naked from the waist down.
The real me is mortified and angry as hell, but the Daisy from Phoenix's imagination is breathing hard and totally into the Idol's seduction game.
"What are you doing?" I ask, like I don't know.
Ugh. Why does he have to make me sound like an airhead bimbo?
Daisy, that's the least of your concerns right now.
"You had a taste. Now it's my turn."
He smiles and then leans forward, going straight for the kill. His tongue darts out and licks my bundle of nerves. I buckle with the contact, but his hand on my hips keeps me in place. Phoenix continues his torture, sucking and licking with the expertise of a manwhore.
I throw my head back and curl my fingers around the satin sheets. Tension keeps building between my legs until it feels like I'm free-falling. When the climax hits, my entire body disintegrates into tiny pieces that scatter in the wind. I don't know where I am or my own name for a couple of seconds. I've had orgasms before, but nothing as earth-shattering as this.
Slowly, my body becomes whole again, but the throbbing between my legs is still there.
"Miss Woods, control yourself." The stern male voice penetrates my brain.
&
nbsp; Phoenix and the motel room vanishes and I'm back in the classroom. Everyone is staring at me. Some students have their mouths wide open; others are laughing at me. Mr. Amaro, however, is so angry, he almost has smoke coming out of his ears.
"What happened?" I ask, still light-headed from the vision.
"Did you just come?" a leering guy sitting a couple of rows ahead asks.
I sit straighter in my chair. "What?"
Next to me, Phoenix laughs. "Oh yeah, she did."
I whip around to face him so fast, I might have pulled a muscle. "What did you do?"
He raises his eyebrows, the epitome of innocence. "Why, Daisy, don't sound so offended. I only did what you begged me to."
With a gasp, I cover my mouth. Understanding finally dawns on me. The vision was a lie, but my reaction to it was very real. Phoenix brought me to an orgasm, and I must have moaned out loud as I climaxed. Shame washes over me. On a knee-jerk reaction, I jump out of my seat, pushing the chair with such force that it tips over.
"Where do you think you’re going, Miss Woods?" Mr. Amaro asks.
I stride up the aisle, and with each step, my humiliation grows.
"Miss Woods, return to your seat at once."
I ignore the man as I yank the door open and break into a run. Free from all those judgmental glares, the tears finally break free. I knew coming to Gifted Academy was going to be hard, but knowing and experiencing are too different things. Honestly, I'd take a beating over humiliation any day.
I'm blinded by tears when I round the corner and collide with Morpheus, of all people. I bounce off him like a racquetball against the wall.
"Watch where you’re—"
"Save it, okay?" I snap.
Without pausing, I walk around him and resume my escape. He saw me crying, which sucks, but at least he didn't try to stop me. I run like the devil is after me, and by the time I reach the dorm building and my floor, I’m panting breathlessly. My hand is shaking when I attempt to unlock the door, and I can’t insert the key in the keyhole right away.
“Damn it. Get it together, Daisy.”
The sound of a lock turning next door makes my heart leap to my throat. I can guess who that could be; I haven’t seen Rufio since he took off earlier this morning. It’s not a stretch to assume he shares the apartment with his older brother. Is it a curse or a test that Principal Fallon assigned me the room next door to the most powerful Idols in school?
My key finally slides into place, and I unlock the door and slip inside my room just as Rufio opens his. I shut the sucker with a bang and lean against the hard surface. The tears have run dry, but the heaviness in my chest hasn’t eased in the slightest.
Phoenix made me come in front of all those people, and he relished doing it. Why is everyone so awful?
I miss Rosie, Felicity, and even Poppy. I spy the empty boxes in the corner of my room, and the temptation to run back to my old life hits me hard. But I can’t do that. The Idols have taken too much from me already; I won’t allow them to steal this opportunity as well.
With morose steps, I approach the bed. I’m determined to stay, but no one can make me attend the rest of my classes today. I need to recover, rebuild the steely armor around myself.
When I’m close enough, I notice the small package lying right in the middle of it with a note attached. Anxiety takes hold of me, its chains curl tightly around my heart. Someone was in my room.
I take a quick glance around, but nothing seems out of place or missing. With a loud gasp, I lift the mattress and check the slice I made in the bottom. Sticking my hand in, I exhale in relief when my fingers brush against the leather cover of Dad’s diary. To make sure someone didn’t steal the original and leave a fake copy, I remove it from its hiding place. Opening to a random page, I almost cry when I read Dad’s familiar handwriting.
Clutching my most precious possession against my chest, I turn my attention to the mysterious package. Is this another prank?
I read the note first, which only says “A housewarming gift from a friend.”
That doesn’t comfort me.
I set the note aside and unwrap the package. My eyes widen and I suck in my breath, a reaction totally expected considering what I’m staring at.
It’s a dagger. But not any ordinary dagger. The blade is made of lightning glass, the only material in the world that can kill an Idol.
20
Bryce
Idols are not known to feel empathy toward others, especially toward Norms, but watching Phoenix humiliate Daisy in our English lit class awakened an ability I didn't know I possessed. It caught me completely by surprise, and while I wrestled with the sentiment, I didn't make him stop.
I've never seen the girl show weakness, not even when Rufio threatened to kill her at the Norm diner. But today, she broke. She couldn't hide the shame. It's no surprise that I didn't see her afterward. If Phoenix's antics cause her to quit school, I'll be fucking furious. I haven't had the chance to figure her out yet, to discover why she makes me act out of character.
When she demanded I lower the volume of my music, I should’ve put her in her place. No one tells me what to do. Certainly not a Norm girl. But instead, I offered a compromise. And the worst thing is I didn't even have to think about it. I just did it as if it was the most natural action in the world.
I'm feeling awfully restless when the school day is over. When I walk by Daisy's door, I'm tempted to check on her. I actually pause and raise my fist, poised to knock, but something holds me back. The words of the powerful deity we met many years ago come back to haunt me. Norms will be the Idols’ destruction and it's up to Rufio, Morpheus, Phoenix, and me to stop them. We were chosen, and the mark that god gave us as proof sits heavily on my shoulder. Literally.
I reach back and touch the spot over my clothes. It looks like a birthmark in the shape of a lightning bolt. My brother, Morpheus, and Phoenix have the same mark. We were branded when we accepted the call. The others were more than happy to take the deity's words at face value—we had been brainwashed our whole lives to hate Norms and look down on Fringes, after all. I was the only one who had misgivings about the entire thing.
With a shake of my head, I move on, loosening the tie around my neck as I enter the small apartment I share with the guys, determined to forget about today. That all changes when my gaze lands on Phoenix, leisurely lying on the couch watching TV. Wrath unfurls from the pit of my stomach, quickly spreading through my entire body like wildfire. Wisps of energy crackle between my fingers.
The image on the TV pixelates right before static takes over the entire screen.
"What the hell." Phoenix sits straighter on the couch, turning to me next. "Are you doing this?"
"How dare you." I take a menacing step toward him.
Phoenix’s eyes widen as he takes in my appearance. I don't need a mirror to know I'm surrounded by a bubble of swirling energy, ready to be unleashed.
The lights flicker, and all the appliances in the apartment go haywire. Morpheus and Rufio join us in the living room.
"Bryce, what the fuck, man?" Morpheus says. "You fried my laptop."
Phoenix raises both hands. "Dude, I don't know what's eating you, but you need to chill the fuck out before you blow the entire block out of orbit."
"No, I won't blow the entire block, only you." With a flick of my hand, I send Phoenix flying across the room. He hits the left wall hard, cracking the plaster, before dropping to floor.
"What the hell!" Rufio says. "What did Phoenix do to you?"
"He—" I stop and really ponder what I was about to say.
The fury begins to recede, and without it, I can actually think clearly. Phoenix staggers back onto his feet, clutching his right shoulder. He furrows his eyebrows when he says, "Bryce, this better not be about that fucking Norm chick."
"Daisy?" Rufio's voice shows his sudden interest. "What does she have to do with this showdown?"
"I bumped into her earlier. She was bawling her eyes o
ut," Morpheus chimes in.
"Really?" Phoenix sounds surprised. His eyebrows rise, but almost immediately his expression sobers. "I knew I had gotten to her, but not enough to make her cry."
Rufio pinches the bridge of his nose. "Can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?"
No longer controlled by my rage, I turn to my brother. "Phoenix made Daisy orgasm out loud in English lit today."
Rufio’s face twists into a scowl. "You did what?"
Phoenix shrugs. "I was working on winning the bet."
Dark veins appear on my brother's cheeks, and his eyes flash bright blue. He curls one hand into a tight fist, pointing a menacing finger in Phoenix's direction with the other. "She'd better not quit school because of you, asshole."
"Isn't the point of your idiotic bet to make the Norm leave Gifted Academy?" Morpheus asks.
Rufio gives him a droll stare. "Not before she's utterly destroyed, preferably by me."
I sense something different in Rufio's aura. There's the hatred he’s carried his entire life, but there's also a new spark in him, a flare that doesn't belong.
"You mean not before you fuck her, right?" Morpheus raises an eyebrow.
"Rufio isn’t fucking anyone. Daisy is mine." Phoenix smiles slyly.
My brother rolls his eyes. "Right. That feisty waitress slash stripper will sleep with you after you humiliated her in class."
"Oh, so you remembered finally," I ask, surprised that Rufio didn't react badly with the knowledge. I honestly thought he would raze the building to the ground and bury Daisy alive.
He attempts to level me with a glare. "Yeah, I did remember. Thanks for letting me stay in the dark for three fucking days, asshole."
Suddenly tired and not in the mood to get into an argument with him, I just flip him off.
Morpheus heads for the TV, which is still showing static. He turns the screen off and on, but the static remains. "Fucking great, Bryce. The TV is busted."
Wicked Gods: A Paranormal High School Bully Romance (Gifted Academy Book 1) Page 11