I opened the bag and pulled out a matching pair of deep red leggings and a long sleeved shirt. The material felt almost silky but it was stretchy at the same time. I swapped my uniform for it and eyed myself in the mirror for a moment as I adjusted my black hair.
The outfit was skin tight and accentuated my curves in a way that somehow drew more attention to them than it would have done if more skin was on show. Though as I’d literally paraded around naked in front of most of the members of House Ignis last night, I didn’t imagine it mattered.
I pulled on a pair of white sneakers last and waited while Sofia finished changing too.
Some more girls were arriving and I noticed more than one hostile glare aimed my way as I glanced between them. Not wanting to engage in any further altercations with my classmates, I quickly hurried out into the arena with Sofia.
“I’m so excited about this class,” she admitted as we moved out into an open stadium filled with sand.
My first impression of thinking it looked like the Colosseum was only compounded as I looked up at the stands which ringed the arena. Around the walls, four plinths were lit with crackling fires and alternated with four gurgling water fountains.
As I took another step, the ground beneath my feet lurched and I almost fell flat on my face. I wheeled my arms to steady myself and the earth shuddered again.
I tipped backwards, wondering what the hell was happening to me just as strong arms caught me.
“Thanks, I-” I cut myself off as I looked up at my saviour and found Caleb Altair grinning down at me, his mess of blonde curls making him look almost angelic in the midday sun. But I knew he was no angel.
“You wanna watch out for that. The ground around here can be mighty unpredictable,” he purred and I suddenly remembered that he was the leader of House Terra; the earth house. No prizes for guessing who’d made the ground shudder beneath my feet.
Sofia shuffled away from us but I couldn’t blame her for wanting to avoid the attention of the Terra Heir.
“Right. I’ll be sure to do that.” I snatched my arms out of his grip and tried to step back but the earth lurched beneath me again and I was knocked to the ground.
Tittering laughter rang out around me as some of the other students drew close to watch and I scrambled to push myself upright again.
Before I could, Caleb dropped down, straddling me with a wicked grin which revealed his lengthening canines.
“Oh for the love of god,” I snarled as I slammed my palms into his chest. “You’d better not be about to-”
He caught my wrists in an impossibly strong grip and shoved me back down to the ground as he buried his teeth in my neck.
I let my sailor’s mouth loose on him, cursing him with every foul name I could think of and adding a few colourful new creations to the mix as well. I could feel my blood and power shifting out of my body and into his and it made my stomach roll with disgust.
The laughter around me grew as I tried to buck him off but he was like a goddamn ton of bricks. Superhuman strength in a superhuman leech.
“That’s more than enough, Altair,” Professor Pyro muttered, her tone bored instead of reprimanding. “She needs some energy left if she’s going to be able to perform in my class today.”
Caleb removed his fangs from my neck and I watched in morbid fascination as they withdrew into normal looking teeth again. He licked the last drops of my blood from his lips as he looked down at me, amusement flickering in his eyes.
“You have no idea how good you taste,” he said without a hint of shame and I scrunched my nose up in disgust.
“You’ve got what you wanted from me so why don’t you just get the hell off of me?” I snarled, yanking at my wrists again as he kept them pinned in the sand.
Caleb tilted his head as he regarded me and a slow smile spread across his face. “You know, I’m not sure I’ve ever fed from anyone who hates it quite as much as you do,” he said, almost to himself. “The other Fae have grown up knowing about my kind and they just accept this as part of the chain of power but you...”
“Yeah, I hate it,” I snarled. “So why don’t you get your kicks feeding off of someone who enjoys your twisted brand of creep and leave me alone?”
Caleb released me and jumped up, leaving me scrambling in the sand at his feet.
“This girl is my personal Source,” he said loudly to the group who had gathered around us which I realised had grown to at least fifty people. “If any other Vampire wants to feed from her then they can take it up with me, spread the word.”
A weight built in my gut as I managed to regain my feet and I glared at him.
“I’m not your personal anything,” I snapped.
“Feel free to try and stop me, sweetheart,” he mocked. “But until you manage it, you can consider yourself my own personal juice box.”
A deep laugh drew my attention to my left and I noticed Darius goddamn Acrux watching this interaction with amusement. Why did he have to be here to witness this? Why did there have to be four of them at all? I just wanted to keep my head down and get on with my own business but I was beginning to realise that the Heirs had zero intention of letting me or my sister do that.
“Well if all of the Vampires are fully replenished, I’d like to get on with my lesson,” Professor Pyro announced, putting an end to any further discussion about the ownership of my blood.
I simmered with rage as I forced my attention onto the teacher, firmly turning my back on Caleb and Darius. A deep growl emitted from one of them and the hairs along the back of my neck stood on end. I remembered what they’d said yesterday about turning my back on them being an insult but I didn’t give a rat’s ass. If they were content to torment me then the last thing I’d be doing was showing them any respect.
“As it’s the first class for the freshmen, I want the rest of you to pair off and take some time reacquainting yourselves with the techniques you learned at the end of last year. You should have been practicing over the summer and I’ll be coming around to look for improvements once I've got these guys going.” Professor Pyro shooed the older students away but Caleb and Darius stayed where they were, their gazes fixed on me.
“What are you still doing here boys? The last I checked, you were sophomores,” Pyro said as she fixed the Heirs in her penetrating gaze.
“We just wanted to see how powerful the new Heir really is,” Darius said and a wave of discomfort filled me as I realised they planned on watching my first attempt at wielding fire magic.
“Well unfortunately for you, ogling the new girl isn’t part of the syllabus,” she replied dismissively, shooing them again and a little of the tension left my spine as the Heirs retreated.
Darius cast one last look at me as he walked away and I cursed myself for noticing the way the tight outfit clung to his muscular body before turning back to my teacher.
“So. The task for today is simple. I want you to bring a flame to life in the palm of your hand and maintain it. If you can manage that then I want you to form it into an orb. The tighter you wrap the power, the hotter it will burn. Don’t get sloppy - your suits will protect you from burns but your hands and faces are vulnerable. It’s down to your control over the flames to keep them from turning on you. If anyone is having trouble summoning the power from within yourself then you may draw it from the sconces to conserve energy. Miss Vega, if your power has been too depleted by Mr Altair to cast your own flame then you’ll have to use the sconces too.”
My rage increased as I realised what she meant; Caleb might have weakened me enough to hurt my ability to perform in this class. Asshole!
With a flicker of anger I thrust my palm out in front of me and willed a flame to life. My hand burst alight so quickly that I had to flinch back as the flare of fire almost claimed my eyebrows as trophies. The beam of red flames shot right up into the sky and lit the low clouds with an orange glow before I snapped my fist shut in surprise, extinguishing it.
“Holy cow,” Sofia mut
tered and I glanced at her with wide eyes.
Professor Pyro snorted a laugh. “Looks like we don’t have to worry about your power being too diminished after all,” she said appreciatively. “You’re going to have to work on your control if you’ve got that much to offer while you’re only at half capacity.”
A satisfied smile pulled at my lips as the flood of power faded from my veins. Sure, that had scared the crap out of me but it had felt damn good too. I could feel the Heirs looking at me again and I hoped my show of power was enough to make them leave me alone.
“Keep working on trying to build and maintain an orb,” Pyro commanded as she began to move between the students and I tried to focus my mind on the task she’d set me.
I took a deep breath, holding my hand out again as I willed a flame to life. This time, my whole hand was engulfed in a fireball as big as a labrador and I squeaked in surprise as I tried to rein it in. It shrank to a cocker spaniel then lurched right to bull mastiff before I was forced to extinguish it.
Professor Pyro approached me once she’d made a round of the other freshmen and watched my attempts with a keen eye.
“Do you feel tired at all? Like you’re starting to consume a lot of your reserves?” she asked with interest.
“I don’t think so,” I replied. If anything, the longer I practiced, the more my magic reserves seemed to swell within me.
“Okay. Let me see if I can help you to guide your power.” She moved close to me and took my left hand in hers. I looked at her in surprise and she gave me a reassuring smile. “We have to maintain contact skin to skin to be able to guide and channel another’s power. My influence will only work on your magic while that contact is maintained.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “So you want me to try and create a ball again?”
“Yes. Whenever you’re ready.”
I tried to ignore the fact that I was holding her hand and focused on my other palm instead as I held it out before me.
I took a breath and focused on creating the smallest amount of fire as possible. An inferno blazed to life instantly, creating a spear that hit the sand at my feet and shot up way above my head at the same time.
Professor Pyro’s grip on my hand tightened and I could feel the sway of her magic as she tried to coax mine under control. I attempted to copy what she was doing, wrapping my will around the unruly Element as I gave all of my attention to creating a ball.
Slowly, the flames began to shrink as the Professor and I worked together to wrangle the beast which was my power.
Finally, a ball of fire no bigger than a baseball sat above the palm of my hand and I grinned at it triumphantly. It burned a deep red colour and I knew without having to touch it that it was as hot as the depths of a volcano.
Professor Pyro dropped my hand and stumbled back. I lost control of the fire as I turned to her in shock and it flared brightly before I managed to extinguish it again.
“I’m okay,” she said ruefully as she stepped further away from me.
“What happened?” I asked, my brows pinching together with concern.
A fine layer of sweat lined her skin and her hands were trembling slightly. “Nothing that a good dose of sunlight won’t fix. Don’t worry, my dear.”
“I don’t understand.” I could tell that she wasn’t feeling well at all but the way she was trying to shrug it off made me feel like I’d been the cause of whatever was wrong with her. “Did I hurt you?”
“My own arrogance is what hurt me,” she said with a shrug. “I thought to guide the power of an Heir with my magic. When guiding someone else’s power, my own is drained too. Think of it as trying to wrap a king sized bed in a toddler’s sheet.”
“So your magic is gone?” I asked.
“For now, I find myself depleted,” she confirmed with a nod. “I had thought that after your run-in with Mr Altair, your stores would be low enough for me to contain. I won’t be making the same mistake twice.”
“So what now?” I asked. I hadn’t been making any progress until she’d guided me and I wasn’t sure how easily I’d learn to harness my power if I wasn’t able to work on it that way again.
“Now...” Professor Pyro tapped her forefinger against her lips as she considered my options. “There are two possible courses of action which could work. We could invite Mr Altair to drain your energy to a much lower level so that you have less to deal with-”
My features skewed with horror at the idea of requesting such a thing and the Professor’s lips quirked with amusement.
“On second thought that would only help in the very short term anyway,” she admitted and I sagged with relief as she seemed to go off the idea. “You need to be able to wrangle your powers at full strength. Which means you need a tutor who is strong enough to handle you...”
Her gaze wandered away from me and I turned to see what she was looking at.
On the far side of the arena, Darius and Caleb were locked in a battle of fire which looked like something out of a movie. Darius directed a huge fire dragon to take potshots at hundreds of fire snakes which were under Caleb’s control.
Though the dragon was much bigger than the snakes, the sheer number of them which Caleb had created made it difficult for Darius to maintain the advantage. It almost seemed like a game and both of their faces were lit with smiles but in their eyes raged a fierce competitive streak which made it clear they were both playing to win.
As I watched, a second dragon sprang to life, clambering out the water fountain which was nearest to them before diving headlong into the swarm of vipers. The fire creations didn’t stand a chance and as they spluttered out of existence, Darius gave a whoop of triumph and the two dragons did a victory lap of the arena.
“Always the cheat,” Caleb mocked, folding his arms.
Darius started laughing and Caleb shot forward at a speed which didn’t seem possible.
The two of them collided and started throwing punches. I looked at the Professor in surprise, expecting her to step in but her gaze had fallen back on me.
“There are only a few people whose power would be strong enough to keep yours in check,” she said thoughtfully and my stomach dropped as I realised where her train of thought had taken her. I did not want her to get off at this stop but I had no idea what I was supposed to say to prevent the words from leaving her lips. “Caleb is good but you might as well be taught by the best so it’ll have to be Darius.”
“But I...” I what? What? Professor Pyro was staring at me and my mouth was opening and closing like a goldfish as I hunted for something, anything to say which would turn her from this idea. The last thing I wanted was to be indebted to Darius Acrux. But the cogs in my brain were turning too slowly and the only thing I could think to say was ‘but he’s mean to me and I don’t like it’ which would have made me seem like a pathetic little girl even though it was the truth. “Principal Nova is assigning me a Liaison to help me catch up and I’m sure a teacher would be the best person to help me-”
“Your Liaison will be guiding you in a more practical role, teaching you about our world and how to live up to the standards expected of you. As strange as it may seem to you after spending a lifetime in the mortal world, the amount of power we each hold is something that we are born with. There are no teachers here strong enough to handle guiding your magic this way. Only the other Heirs can rival you with your power. And even then, as twins born to Gemini who each hold all four Elements, I’d wager they’ll have their hands full.” Her lips quirked for a moment and I got the impression that that idea amused her.
My mind whirled as my only argument hit a dead end and I scrambled for another excuse. “I just... feel bad asking him to waste his time working with me while my level of understanding is so much less-”
“Nonsense,” Professor Pyro waved me off as she beckoned for me to follow her across the arena towards the two Heirs who were still wrestling on the ground, their fight getting increasingly violent. “This will be good for him too, meldi
ng your power with another Fae’s is a skill that is hard to master so it’ll be a perfect opportunity for him to flex those muscles. It takes a lot of concentration and it can be really quite intimate as the two of you will have to strive towards a level of trust so that your magic can work in harmony with one another.”
Intimate? Gross - though not as gross as I was trying to convince myself. And trust? She was insane if she thought I’d ever trust him. I’d sooner trust a monkey with a bunch of bananas than believe anything good of him.
We came to a halt beside the Heirs as Darius pinned Caleb to the ground, his hands tight around the other guy’s throat. Caleb was thrashing, trying to get up but he didn’t look likely to succeed.
Darius snarled and the sound was so animal that I almost flinched. He was a predator taking down his prey and at any moment I could imagine him ripping into Caleb’s flesh.
Professor Pyro merely watched the interaction with a faint level of interest as Caleb’s lips started to turn blue.
I opened my mouth, wanting to step in. I mean, Caleb was a total dickwad but it was starting to look like Darius might kill him and that was probably going a bit too far. Before I could say anything, Caleb smacked his hand against the ground three times and Darius released him with a smirk.
Caleb started laughing and Darius got to his feet, offering the other Heir a hand so that he could pull him up too.
“I’ll get you next time,” Caleb announced as he slapped his friend on the back.
“You said that last time,” Darius teased and for a moment they both seemed... well not nice but not entirely loathsome at least. Or they did until their attention moved to me.
Darius’s face dipped into a scowl instantly and Caleb tossed his curly hair back as he eyed my neck hungrily with absolutely zero shame about the fact.
“I have a new assignment for you, Mr Acrux,” Professor Pyro announced and my heart sank like a stone as I realised there was no way out of this.
Zodiac Academy: The Awakening: An Academy Bullymance (Supernatural Bullies and Beasts Book 1) Page 12