by Laney Powell
“As I mentioned, Olivia and I are working on keeping others from her. I will expand that to work within the dreamscape.”
“Whatever it is he does, it’s not really the dreamscape,” I objected.
“We can adapt,” Madame Karathos said. “You’re sure he will go for Olivia?”
Iliana nodded. “Kassandra, Aella and I are protected. Our mothers are not useful to him in any way, having handed over the responsibility to us. Raven is unreachable, and we do not know anything about Kassandra’s daughter.”
“Not even her name?” I asked.
“No, not even her name. I am hoping that in a week or so, Kassandra will be able to give us something, but it hasn’t happened yet,” Iliana said.
“Then I will take my own steps,” Madame Karathos said. “Iliana, I don’t think you should be here for much longer. There are members of the Concilium at the school, and I don’t think they should find you here. I will, however, give the two of you some time.”
“Wait,” I said.
Madame Karathos paused. The idea that had begun formulating in the corner of my brain I preferred to ignore wouldn’t be silenced any longer.
“Maybe I should just leave Nobledark,” I said slowly, hating the words. It was the last thing in the world I wanted. To leave my guys. My friends. My life. But I had to say it. I was bringing so much danger here.
Faster than I thought possible, Madame Karathos was out from behind her desk. She murmured something I couldn’t understand, and I saw a light gold flicker of light move out from her hands toward the door. She turned back to me. “You cannot leave Nobledark, Olivia. The best defense is to hide in plain sight. Yes, a demon is after you. Demons and those with ill wishes are often focused on Nobledark. This is nothing new for us. But if you leave, you are even less protected.”
“He’s getting in here,” I said, throwing up my hands. “He’s gotten in here with the demon fire. He’s plopped a hellway on the grounds of the school. How is that protecting me?”
“Because if you leave here, then you will have the Concilium looking for you as well.” It was Iliana who answered me rather than Madame Karathos.
I looked to the headmistress, and she nodded. “As I said, I think you two should have some time to speak. But do not speak of leaving, Olivia. As bad as this may seem, it’s better that you’re here.” Then she was gone, disappearing into the hallway on the other side of her office.
Iliana leaned toward me. “I’m sorry, my dearest.”
“It’s all right,” I sighed. “I had a nice month with no issues, for the most part.”
“You should not be dealing with this,” she said. “My mother and I, your grandmother, have been working on trying to find a spell that can protect you here. But your Madame is correct. Our magic will not work well here.”
“What about an object?” I asked. “Like this?” I held up my hand with the ring.
Iliana considered for a moment. “It’s possible. I’ll talk to Mama and see if we can fashion something quickly for you. You’ll probably need to keep it hidden, but I would feel better if you had something from us protecting you.”
“I wish he’d leave me alone,” I said, feeling exceedingly small and vulnerable.
“I wish he would as well. I feel horrid.”
“It’s better to cut him off from as many of us as possible,” I said. “Not that I want to be a target,” I laughed a little.
“No one does. You are very brave,” she said.
“I don’t feel that way.”
“That is when the most bravery occurs,” Iliana said quietly. She stood up. “I don’t want to leave you, but I must. If I’m seen here, I could endanger you further.” Her voice was sad.
Before I knew I was doing it, I took a few steps, and threw my arms around her. She wasn’t my mom, but she was. And in her last words, I heard her heartbreak as a mom.
She wrapped her arms around me, stroking my hair. Tears welled in my eyes. She smelled of the ocean and the sun and the tang of salt. I could almost hear the slapping of waves on the shore.
Iliana stroked my hair, murmuring in what I thought was Greek. Then she pulled away, cupping my face in her hands. “My brave girl, we will overcome this. I know you must feel alone, but you are not.”
I couldn’t speak. My throat ached, and there was a large lump at the back of it.
“I will not let him take you. I swear it,” she said fiercely. She kissed me on each cheek and hugged me hard.
As if she’d been waiting, Madame Karathos came back in. “Olivia, you need to get to your next class.” She handed me a pass. “Iliana, I will help you leave.”
Iliana nodded.
I didn’t want to leave, but I had to. I walked to class feeling bemused and stunned. I was the only one he could get to. He was after me because everyone else was protected. And it was the mere act of being here put all the people I cared about in danger.
But Madame Karathos had been pretty definitive about me being here. So had Iliana. I’d have to trust them. It also meant I’d have to do my part more. Be brave. Be honest.
First things first. I was going to tell the guys about the fire dreams, and my blackened hands.
Then, we were going to figure out how to close the hellway. There was nothing else we could do. I straightened my shoulders and went to my Elemental class.
I thought I kept it together, but after dinner, Silas snagged my hand. “Come on, let’s not waste time,” he said.
We hurried to my room. Every time we met each other’s eyes we both laughed like kids. It was amazing and freeing. It also took too damn long to get to my room.
Silas closed the door. “Alone at last,” he said.
“But you love pack life,” I teased.
“I do, but I also love alone time with you,” he came to me, bending down to nuzzle the base of my neck.
“Oh, do that again,” I breathed.
He kissed me carefully, nipping a bit with his teeth.
“Oh,” I said again.
“That is the sort of positive reinforcement I live for,” Silas murmured. “If you could add, Silas, you manly man, or something like that, it would be even better.”
I burst out laughing, stepping away to turn around and face him. “You’re such a clown. Okay, wait.” I closed my eyes and clasped my hands in front of me. “Oh, Silas, you manly man. Take me now, manly man.” When I opened my eyes, he was staring at me, the heat blazing in his expression, in every pore of his body. I could practically feel him.
“What do you want, manly man?” I whispered.
“Turn around,” Silas growled.
The timber of his voice made me burst into desire from my core, and I felt a wetness between my legs.
“Put your hands on the wall, and leave them there,” Silas said. He was right behind me, his voice in my ear, his breath moving the hair along the nape of my neck.
I walked to the wall, and put my hands on the wall, over my head. I was so ready for him. The mere idea of this, out in the open, where we might be caught.
“Don’t move unless I tell you to and don’t make a sound. We want to be discreet,” Silas whispered, humor lurking in his words. His hands were busy, pulling down my pants, and getting one leg free. Then I heard the dull jingle of his belt, and his hips pressed against my butt. “Spread your legs for me, Olivia,” he rasped into my ear.
I wasn’t going to last long. His voice, his bossiness, being exposed like this—I was on fire. I did as he instructed and he was between my legs immediately. The tip of his cock nudged against my entrance, and then he thrust into me.
I gasped at the force of his entry as I welcomed it.
“Quiet,” he said, jerking his hips into me. “Or I’ll stop.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep myself from crying aloud.
His hand moved around to my face. “You can bite my hand,” he whispered.
“No,” I said.
“Yes,” Silas growled into my ear again. “I like it
.”
Oh. That made me even wetter, adding to the friction of his motion.
His free hand moved around to my front, between my legs. His fingers found my clit, and he rolled it, laughing in my ear as I thrust my backside toward him.
“You’re killing me,” I whispered around his hand.
“Join the club,” he whispered back.
Using my hands, I pushed myself at him, giving him more access, wanting more and more. He drove into me, burying himself to the hilt each time, and then slowly withdrawing, before he ground himself back into me.
I was going to die. Or go crazy. Or die. Or both. His fingers rubbed at my clit, making me bite his fingers harder. “Goddess,” I groaned.
Silas’s movements became jerkier, less rhythmic. But he didn’t stop pounding into me, and I didn’t want him to. His lips came down onto my shoulder, and as I fell into an orgasm that had me scream-biting into his hand, I felt him bite me, just past where my shoulder and neck met. The burst of pain as I came made me see stars. I was floating, and Silas was with me.
With another thrust, and a groan, I felt Silas’ release, and it made me shudder. His teeth against my shoulder brought everything into sharp relief, and my orgasm went on and on as Silas continued to move inside me.
My head rested against the wall. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to.
“Oh, shit,” Silas said. “Olivia, I’m so—”
“Don’t you dare,” I managed. “Just give me a minute.”
He rested his head against my back. I could feel his concern, but I wasn’t bothered. I’d never felt better in my life. I finally picked my head up, and we moved away from the door and onto the bed.
“Okay, tell me about the biting,” I said.
He looked away.
I grabbed his chin. “Nope. You’re not getting away. What’s with the biting?”
“It’s wolf thing.”
“That’s part of what you do?”
“No,” he said, his cheeks and ears going a light shade of red. “Only sometimes.”
“What makes it happen?”
He mumbled something.
“No mumbling! Speak clearly, Silas Tomberle!”
He sighed and said, “It’s how we know we’ve found our mate.”
I didn’t say anything. Tears came to my eyes. “What makes that happen?” I asked softly.
He moved his shoulders. “No one really knows. It doesn’t happen for anyone, and some don’t like it. They like being able to choose their mates. But sometimes, nature chooses for you.”
“I’m yours?” I asked.
He nodded and finally looked at me. “I’m yours,” he said.
“Does that mean I get to bite you?”
“I might die, but yes please,” he said, laughing quietly.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.
“Keep looking at me like that, and you’ll get your chance fairly soon.”
“Big talker,” I teased. I loved that we laughed together. He was so silly, and completely unafraid to laugh at himself.
But he kept his word. I got my chance.
Chapter Ten
Olivia
I’d decided that I was going to spill all the rest of my beans this weekend. None of the guys had a match, nor had I heard of any plans from them. So I asked them if we could all spend Saturday together.
They agreed immediately.
“Matty, you’re in charge of food,” I said, smiling at him.
“On it,” he said, leaning over to kiss my cheek.
We were all sitting outside before dinner, in one of the smaller garden courtyards.
“Something on your mind?” Silas asked from where he was lying on the grass on his back, propped up on his elbows. His green eyes bored into me.
“Yes. It’s better to talk to all three of you at once,” I said.
“This sounds… serious,” Jake said.
“You want to talk about it now?” Matty asked.
I shook my head. “No. I want to go for a hike or something, somewhere not so close to school.”
“I have the perfect place,” Silas said.
“Do you have to be such a damn know it all?” Jake asked him.
“Don’t hate because I do know most things,” Silas said grandly.
We all laughed.
I felt better, and when Matty came back to my room with me after dinner, neither of us did more than a cursory attempt at homework before we shed our clothes and spent our time together in what was a far more satisfying manner.
He left me feeling far better than I’d been all week. I snuggled down into bed after he was gone, loving the warmth of the bed. As soon as my eyes closed, I was drifting off.
The red room roared around me, the noise reminding me of wind in a thunderstorm.
“No!” I screamed. “Leave me alone!” I thrust out my hands in front of me, and thought, Let it all burn.
Flaming water—that was a new one—burst from my hands. I could feel the heat and part of me knew that if I kept this up, I’d burn myself, too. I didn’t care. He needed to stop, to leave me alone —
“You cannot hurt me, Olivia.” His voice was calm.
“I can try,” I ground out.
“You are stubborn and since I must deal with you, I will be blunt. I find that’s a much better way of managing things, don’t you?”
“I think you need to just manage your ass somewhere else,” I said, pulling energy from within. Maybe if I hit him with cold water?
“That’s not going to happen, my dear,” he said, sounding like he wasn’t an evil bastard who would kill me if he could. “You have something I want, and there isn’t anyone else who can give it to me.”
“My life? I don’t owe you my life,” I shouted at him.
“I will make it plain. I want you. I will not be kept here against my will. So either you come to me, Olivia, or your fellow students will come to me.”
I stopped. This was the worst thing. I didn’t want anyone else to suffer because of me.
“It’s your choice,” Marbys said. “If you don’t bring yourself to me, I’m going to keep taking the others until you do.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I growled. If I could have pulled him apart with my bare hands, I would have. As it was, I sent an icy blast of water in the direction his voice came from. At the same time, I pushed the red room away from me, behind a door, and then another door. I wasn’t going to be yanked around on his whim.
I heard him bellow, but I couldn’t understand what he said. I didn’t care. I was so tired of this guy jerking me around—how many lives had he ruined? Mine, my mother’s, Raven and her mom, and who knew what had happened to Kassandra? Or her daughter.
Slamming a few more doors behind me, I brought myself back to me, to my space in the dreamscape. Then I allowed myself to come back, and I found myself lying in bed, breathing heavily. I looked at my hands. No soot this time, but when I pressed my fingers against the palm of the other hand, they were tender.
“Damn it,” I muttered, getting up to go to the bathroom. I splashed water on my face and carefully washed my hands. Unlike before, I didn’t have soot anywhere. That was a step in the right direction, I guess.
I went back to my room and tried to go back to sleep. But I was restless, and angry. I wanted to do something, to be moving, to kill Marbys.
The thought shocked me. I hadn’t gone there before. The idea of killing made me sick. Even now. Marbys made it clear that he wouldn’t stop. He also had a lot more time than I did. So if he had to wait ten, twenty years—he wouldn’t stop.
Which meant he had to die.
I got out of bed again, and got dressed, putting on my sneakers. I’d go and walk around the grounds. We hadn’t been expressly forbidden from going out and being out in the open was just what I needed right now.
Heading out, I went to one of the far gardens, one of the smaller sections where I liked to hang out with the guys. It was off on the south side
of the school, and even during the day, there weren’t many people there.
I couldn’t go on like this. I kicked at the gravel along the path as I walked, trying to figure out how to not only kill him, but get the hellway out of the school. As long as it was here, there would always be a way in for him, or anyone else he would send.
My mind went back to the small demon I’d seen when I’d been in Hell with Raven. The little one who’d been ordered to push the stones together even as his fingers burned away. I wondered what happened to him, if he was even alive.
If that was how Marbys treated his fellow demons he didn’t deem as important, what would he do to me? Or the as yet unknown third girl, still to be discovered? He didn’t care about any of us.
A movement off to my right caught my eye, and I stopped to look around. There was no one else in the garden with me and yet… I held very still, listening.
There was a slight movement of gravel, and it wasn’t me.
Okay. Carefully, slowly, I turned around, seeking the source of the movement. I called up my water magic and told myself that I’d go hot or cold based on what I saw. Basically human—all hot. Demon or close to it—ice bath. I could feel the spell coiling in my hands, gaining strength.
The ground in the far-right corner of the garden began to glow a dull red. Fuck. I moved toward it, getting the icy blast ready. A reddish vapor rose from the ground, not really taking any form.
Shit.
I sent a small ice ball of water toward the vapor, to see what would happen. When the ice ball hit it, there was a loud hissing, like the biggest snake ever had just been let loose. But then the hissing faded, and the vapor kept getting larger.
What do I do now? I backed up, frantically searching within my spell memory for something that would banish this thing, whatever it was. Because it was coming for me. As my ice ball disappeared, I could feel the hate, the hunger. All of it directed at me. I had to get away.
A pair of hands grasped my shoulders. “Tell it to go away,” a male voice hissed in my ear. It was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.
“I’m trying,” I said, “It’s not really a form yet.”