by Jayme Morse
“I see.” I swallowed hard, allowing myself to absorb this information. It was all just so dark—so morbid—that I couldn’t help but have a hard time processing it all. “So, this Murlot is going to be put to death?”
My eyes shifted back over to the creature in the prison cell.
“Yeah, most likely,” Zay replied with a nod.
I knew it was probably crazy of me to think, but I couldn’t help but feel sort of sorry for the poor thing. It may have been a demonic creature—an incredibly strong one, at that—but it hadn’t seemed all that evil during the few short moments we’d spent in the basement with it. Did the poor thing really deserve to die?
“Anyway, this isn’t the only reason I brought you down here,” Zay told me.
“There’s more?” I asked, glancing over at him with wide eyes.
“Yeah, there’s more,” he replied with a grin. “We just needed to come through this room before we move onto the next.”
“Okay.” I took a few steps away from the Murlot, half-relieved to get away from it.
Zay led me across the room and then opened another door.
“There are no scary creatures behind this door, are there?” I asked, only half-jokingly.
“No, I promise there’s nothing scary in here,” Zay assured me as he opened the door a little wider.
This time, all that I saw was… glitter. And sparkles. It was the most stunning sight I had ever seen. It took me a few moments to realize we were standing inside of… a cave?
“There’s a cave in the middle of a castle?” I asked, my voice echoing through the cave.
“Actually, it’s below the castle,” he explained. “This is the lowest point of the castle. The castle was actually built around and on top of the cave.” He took a few steps deeper into the cave. “See all of the sparkle? It’s because gemstones grow naturally here.”
My eyes scanned the cave as I took in all of the Amethysts, Rubies, Emerald, Peridots, Citrine, Sapphires, and various other gemstones that lined the walls of the cave, casting their glittery glow around the room and over the clear pool of water at the center of the cave.
I had never seen anything like it before.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
Zay’s amber eyes locked on mine. “Just like you.”
I felt myself leaning in closer to him then and couldn’t help but think that he was leaning in towards me, too; it was like there was a gravitational energy between us, pulling our bodies closer together.
We were going to kiss—my first real kiss, the first kiss that would ever mean anything to me. A kiss with a guy who I was fairly certain I had already begun to fall in love with.
As Zay’s fingers laced through my hair, I moved my lips closer to his. My lips were just about to touch his when, suddenly, something shifted.
Just like that, Zay’s entire body stiffened. He removed his fingers from my hair and then moved away from me.
What was going on? I felt like I had been slapped in the face with a pile of bricks.
“I-I’m sorry, Lux. I can’t do this,” Zay told me quietly, a regretful tone in his voice and an almost apologetic look in his eyes.
I wanted to ask him why. I wanted to ask him what had changed when it had felt like there was this tension between us, a tension that neither of us seemed to want to fight.
Well, actually, I must have been wrong about that. I might not have wanted to fight it, but Zay obviously did or else he would have given into the kiss. And he hadn’t.
So, instead of asking him why—or instead of saying anything at all, for that matter—I just stood there, completely speechless.
“We should probably go upstairs and get ready for the dance,” Zay suggested in what was an obvious attempt at breaking through the awkward silence that hung in the air between us.
I nodded, eager to get away from him. I could already feel the tears stinging at my eyes. I was trying with every ounce of strength I could muster to fight against them, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer.
Because, for reasons I couldn’t even begin to understand, nothing had ever hurt me more than being rejected by Zay.
***
Zay
As we walked back to the dorm rooms, I wished that I could tell Lux everything. I wished I could tell her why I had pulled away from her—that it wasn’t because it was what I wanted but because it was in her own best interest, at least until she found out the truth.
I wished that I could tell her that I wanted nothing more than to kiss her, that all I wanted to do was hold her close and never let go.
I wished that I could tell her that a kiss between us would come with consequences, that it could shatter the world as we knew it. I wished I could tell her that I couldn’t be the one to decide if we should take that risk alone, that it was a decision we needed to make together.
Because as much as I knew it would be worth it to kiss her—even if it was just one time and one time only—I wasn’t sure if she thought that kissing me would be worth it.
More than anything else, I wished that I could tell her that I was falling in love with her. I wished I could tell her that as big of a risk as that may have been, it felt like I couldn’t stop it.
But I couldn’t tell her any of that. Not without telling her the truth about everything.
So, instead of saying anything at all, I decided to keep my mouth shut.
I wasn’t the only one. As she walked a few steps behind me, Lux remained silent. I could tell that my pulling away had upset her, and I wished there was something I could do to make it better. But I knew there wasn’t.
I just hoped that Lux would be patient with me, that pushing her away wouldn’t cause her to move on from me for good. I hoped that she felt as strongly about me as I did about her. I wasn’t sure if that was possible, but all I could do was hope.
As we reached Lux’s dorm room, I heard her gasp… just as I saw it with my own eyes.
Someone had written something on the door. It was just one single word written in red.
Wicked.
Chapter 28
Lux
I stood in the dorm room getting ready for the dance, relieved that Kassidy had decided to get ready in someone else’s dorm. That left me alone to think about all of the weird things that had happened at Demon Blood Academy ever since I had arrived.
There was the Code Red alert.
There was the warning from Professor Walker that I needed to leave.
There was that kid Neil who had just dropped dead in the hallway for seemingly no reason.
There were all of the secrets surrounding me and the fact that Kieran knew damn well who Alice was and why she wanted to kill me but was withholding the information from me, for some reason.
There was the fact that there may have been a Demon hunter lurking around Demon Blood Academy, posing as one of us.
And now, there was red lipstick written on my door that read Wicked.
Zay had promised that he would inform Kieran and have it removed, as if that was supposed to give me any sort of reassurance. Reporting it to the Headmaster and wiping it off didn’t change the fact that someone had written it there in the first place. Someone with ill intentions.
I knew that I was probably being paranoid. It was just lipstick, and technically, I didn’t even know for sure that it was intended for me and not for Kassidy.
Except I was certain that the message was intended for me. I was pretty sure that it was meant to be some sort of threat, but I wasn’t entirely sure what the threat was. From where I stood, it looked like whoever had written it was calling me wicked.
Was it possible that it was just one of the other Demons who hated me? Maybe this was what Professor Walker had been talking about when he had asked if I’d had any “problems” with anyone at Demon Blood Academy. But who would have done something like this?
My mind automatically drifted to Camille. Could she have been the one who had writt
en on the door? As much as I wanted to think it might have been Camille, the truth was that it didn’t really seem her style. Plus, the dorm room belonged to Kassidy, too. Would Camille have wanted to write something like that on her friend’s dorm room?
Speaking of Kassidy, what about her? There was a good chance that Kassidy had overheard me talking about having feelings for Zay, and if she had, then there was no doubt in my mind that it had made her angry. Kassidy would have seemed like the least obvious culprit, writing a message on the door to her own dorm room.
I knew that I needed to stop thinking about all of this or I was going to drive myself absolutely nuts. I shifted my thoughts to Zay. His rejection of me, his refusal to kiss me… Well, it had all seemed really odd, since he hadn’t acted any differently afterwards.
Even though a part of me wanted to assume that there was nothing between us, that the entire reason he had pulled away was because he felt nothing for me, I didn’t think that was true. But if it wasn’t, then why wouldn’t he kiss me?
My mind jumped to Kassidy, but I wasn’t entirely sure if she was the reason.
I sighed, trying to pull myself out of my own thoughts again. I needed to stop thinking about Zay and Kassidy and all of the danger I was in. I needed to focus on this dance and try to pretend, at least, that I was a normal teenager for just one night.
Once I was finished getting ready, I glanced at myself in the mirror. The red evening gown I had borrowed from Kassidy fit me perfectly. It hugged my hips in just the right places and showed off my bare shoulders. Even though my hesitancy of wearing red had nearly made me decide not to wear it, even I had to admit that the dress looked like it had been tailor-made just for me.
My long, chocolate brown hair fell over my shoulders in loose waves. On my lips, I wore a shade of nude lip gloss and my eyelashes were covered in black mascara. It was still weird to know that one—but still not both—of my eyes had changed to that golden amber color. I wondered how long it would take for the other one to change. It was probably strange, but I sort of liked the way I looked this way. I might not have been born this way, but I knew that having eyes that were different colors was rare. It just made me feel unique.
Just as I had slid into a pair of heels that Kassidy had loaned me, there was a knock at the door. Figuring that it must have been Zay—and probably Kassidy—to escort me to the dance, I flung open the door and was surprised to find Tyler staring back at me.
He was donning a black suit and tie. The one thing about his attire that just threw me off was the black rose boutonniere that he was wearing. It just seemed so… dark.
“Hello, Lux,” Tyler said with a smile. “You look pretty.”
“Thank you,” I replied awkwardly.
I couldn’t help but think that Tyler was telling me that because he felt like he was obligated to, not because he meant it.
“Are you ready?” Tyler asked after a moment.
“Yeah.” Or as ready as I’ll ever be, I thought as I stepped out of the dorm room and closed the door behind me.
“Here, my lady,” Tyler said, taking my wrist.
He placed a corsage that matched the boutonniere on it.
“Thanks.” I forced a smile, even though I really didn’t want to wear a corsage that he had gotten me—especially not one made of black roses. As I glanced back over at him, something dawned on me. “So, um, how did you know where my dorm room was?”
Was it possible that Tyler had been the one who had written “wicked” on the door?
I tried to push the thought to the back of my mind. I knew I was only being paranoid now. Tyler had absolutely no reason to write something like that on my dorm room door. After all, he was about to go with me to the dance as his date.
“Oh, everyone knows where your dorm room is,” Tyler informed me as he began to lead me down the hallway.
“They do?” My eyebrows rose in question.
He nodded. “Yeah. Kassidy has been known to host some of the best dorm room parties on campus.”
“There are parties at Demon Blood Academy?” I just stared back at him dumbfoundedly.
For some reason, it was hard for me to imagine a bunch of Demons partying like they were college or boarding school kids or something.
“Yeah. What did you think we do during our free time? Sit around and twiddle our thumbs?” This time, he was staring at me dumbfoundedly.
I shrugged. “I guess I hadn’t really thought about it, to be honest. I have only been here for a few days, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. How do you like it here so far, anyway?” He glanced over at me.
“It’s all right.”
“Just all right?” One of his eyebrows shot up.
“I’m still getting adjusted, I guess,” I replied with a shrug.
“Well, that makes a lot of sense. I’m sure it must be really hard for you to be here at all, considering everything,” Tyler was saying, just as I heard my name being called.
I turned around to find Zay walking towards me.
An annoyed-looking Kassidy walked alongside him in a knee-length, aqua dress that complimented the blue streaks in her hair, but it was the almost angry look on Zay’s face that caught my attention.
“You were supposed to wait for me, Lux. I’m your Guardian, remember?” Zay reminded me as he approached me.
He was so close that I could feel his breath on my neck.
“Oh. I forgot,” I replied quietly.
And that was the truth. It had completely slipped my mind when Tyler had knocked at my door.
“How could you just forget? I’ve been following you everywhere you go for days now, escorting you to and from classes, to and from your dorm room,” he pointed out. “Did you really think that changed just because there was a dance tonight?”
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
“I’m sorry isn’t good enough. This could have had dangerous or even deadly repercussions.”
“It just slipped my mind, Zay,” I told him, beginning to feel slightly embarrassed that he was scolding me in front of both Kassidy and Tyler, like I was some sort of child.
“Well, don’t let it slip your mind again.”
There was a sharpness to his tone, an edge that let me know that he was angry at me… but mostly what I heard was the fear in his voice, the worry that something bad might have happened to me. And I couldn’t get angry at him for caring about me.
I realized then that I was right. I didn’t know why Zay hadn’t kissed me, but it had nothing to do with him not having feelings for me. His feelings were written all over his face, hidden behind his eyes. He did feel something for me, regardless of why he had held back.
“I won’t,” I promised.
“Good.” His face softened a little.
We just stood there in the hallway, staring at one another in silence.
After what felt like forever, Zay whispered, “You look beautiful.”
He said it so low that I was certain I was the only one who had heard him.
After a few awkward moments, Kassidy cleared her throat impatiently. “Can we, like, get to the dance now, please?”
“Yeah, let’s go,” Zay agreed, though he still hadn’t broken his hold on my gaze.
Deciding that one of us needed to break the stare, I turned around and began to head in the direction that Tyler had been taking me in.
None of us said anything the entire way; the only sound that could be heard was our high heels clacking against the marble floors. I was pretty sure that the way Zay had scolded me had put a damper on everyone’s mood.
Finally, we came to an open door. I could hear the sounds of music and laughter drifting from the room.
As we stepped inside the room, I was surprised to find that we were in what looked like a ballroom. A bunch of the other kids from Demon Blood Academy were already out on the dance floor, their bodies moving to an Ed Sheeran song.
For some reason, the dance wasn’t exactly what I had been expecting
. I couldn’t help but notice how normal the whole thing seemed. They may have been Demons, but they looked just like normal teenagers at their spring formal or homecoming.
“Well, shall we dance?” Tyler asked, turning to me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Kassidy staring at me with a look that said, “You better dance with him and leave my man alone.”
It was the type of look, I thought, you gave to someone who you thought was “wicked.”
The look was enough to make up my mind. Without even giving it a second thought, I turned to Tyler and nodded.
“Sure,” I told him.
As he took my hand and led me out onto the dance floor, I could feel Zay’s eyes on my back. I vowed not to think about him—or anything else—that was going on at Demon Blood Academy. For the first time in a long time, I was going to just let loose and have fun.
But even as I thought it, I knew that it would be easier said than done.
How could I have fun when, for reasons I didn’t even understand, my life wasn’t safe at Demon Blood Academy?
Chapter 29
Zay
I watched as Tyler and Lux danced with one another from across the room. His arms were wrapped around her waist, dangling just above her ass.
I could just feel the jealousy building up inside of me. Of all the Demons who Kassidy and her friends could have set Lux up with for the dance, it just had to be Tyler, the kid who I’d had issues with for years. Even though Tyler had never personally done anything to me, there was bad blood between our families, and Kassidy knew it.
Then again, I supposed that it didn’t really matter who took Lux to the dance. Even if it hadn’t been Tyler, it still would have bothered me. It would have been enough to get my jealousy going, enough to make me feel angry inside.
I wasn’t a fool. I knew there was no way I could have taken Lux to the dance. If Kieran found out that there was more going on between us than just our roles as Guardian and half-Demon who needs protection, he wouldn’t have been happy. Kieran didn’t normally take special interest in his students’ love lives, but this was Lux Whitmore. She was different. She was special, in more ways than she knew.