by Eve, Jaymin
Axl and I were the only ones to take notes. When we finished class—the teacher had gone into details about gargoyles—everyone packed up. I shook my head at the guys. “You all took his class solely to be with me, didn’t you?”
I should have guessed it. There was a reason there had been so few students they could combine a class—most supernaturals grew up in this world and already knew about the races. Sure, they could probably learn more specific details, but for the most part, this was all old information. Axl took notes because he was Axl, but the rest of them were here for me.
“I love you guys,” I said, my expression sober. “I don’t say it enough, and I know we’ve had our issues lately, but that doesn’t change the way I feel.”
Asher’s right arm slid around me as he hauled me into his side. “Me the most though, right?”
When I didn’t answer straight away, he jiggled me, and I burst out laughing. His chest rumbled and I took pity on him. “Yes, you slightly more. But that could change so easily if you don’t stop using your caveman skills on me.”
His laughter was low, stripping away my ability to resist him. “Technically, supernaturals never had cavemen, but I understand what you’re saying.” He leaned in closer. “And I personally think you love the side of me that wants to completely possess you.”
Fuck. Where was the lie?
He gently placed me on my feet, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. As Asher pulled away I caught a dark look on Jesse’s face. Our eyes locked and I raised my eyebrows in the universal silent question of “What the fuck is up with you?” but he just shrugged and turned away.
Heat and energy swirled around Asher. This was going to become an issue very soon if we didn’t deal with it.
“Stop,” I said loudly, using my power to slam the door closed so Jesse couldn’t leave. Droplets of water crashed around us as I pulled moisture from the air, using it to do my bidding. It was almost second nature now to control the element in this way. It might have been an unfair advantage to use it against a shifter, who didn’t have his own active magic, but I was desperate.
Jesse remained facing the door, his shoulders heaving as he struggled with himself. “I’ve gotta get to class,” he muttered, sounding pissed off.
I moved closer, and even though I felt Asher’s resignation, he didn’t try and stop me. He’d learned that I could fight my own battles, and that I didn’t particularly like being “saved” all the time.
“You’re not going anywhere until we talk,” I said to Jesse’s broad shoulders, because the asshole still wouldn’t turn. “What the hell is going on with you lately? You’ve been grumpier than the bear shifters at hibernation time.”
The bears didn’t actually hibernate, but I’d noticed they were crankier in the winter months. Had to be something to do with their animal counterparts. Or maybe they were just dicks.
“Do we have to do this here?” Jesse asked, his head cracking against the wood as he dropped it forward. “It’s not even a thing. I just need some time.”
My throat was burning and so were my eyes. Jesse was hurting and it was hurting me. Especially since I had no idea how to fix it. I turned to Asher. His eyes were traced with gold as his powers fought to surface. He was only a few feet away, but I knew he was about to move closer. Whatever it was that bonded us, the thing that drew me to Asher, and had from the first moment I saw him, it was getting stronger. Along with those errant thoughts, I could feel his emotions now.
I held a finger up asking for one more shot. He crossed his arms, a blank expression descending over his face as he nodded.
Turning back to Jesse, I reached out and touched him; his entire body seemed to rumble as a lion roar filled the room. No one moved, even though that roar would have scared most supes away. But it was Jesse. He wouldn’t hurt us.
He wouldn’t hurt me.
“Talk to me,” I said softly, stepping even closer, my hand firmly on his back.
In one smooth movement, he spun and I was up in his arms. He slammed me into the door, his entire body pressed to mine as he held me, chest heaving, eyes wide. His pupils were like cat slits, the green in his eyes bright and glowing.
“For fuck’s sake,” I heard Calen say from behind Jesse, and I felt Asher’s rage—it was crashing into the room and shaking the foundation. I felt all of that, but I couldn’t see any of them around the raging lion shifter.
Jesse’s eyes bore down into mine, his jaw changing shape as the beast took him over. “You can’t fucking see it, Maddison,” he rumbled, leaning in to run his nose along my neck. Inhaling my scent. “It’s always Asher. Even though I’m the one who picked up the pieces over and over again.”
Ah, fuck. I had really been hoping this wasn’t the shit he was dealing with. I mean, I’d known deep down that this was all probably to do with errant feelings, but a tiny sliver of me had prayed to be wrong.
“Jesse,” I said, trying to be gentle, but an undercurrent of “fuck you for manhandling me” still slipped into my voice. “I’m going to give you exactly five seconds to let me go, and if you don’t, you won’t have to worry about the pissed off Atlantean dude that’s shaking this room apart.” My voice got lower as my hair started to swirl around my head like it had a will of its own. “You’ll have to deal with me.”
Jesse’s chest was heaving, and for a moment I thought he was going to fight my desire to be free, but at the four second mark he roared again and stepped back, letting me fall to the floor.
Fuck. Ouch. That kinda hurt.
Before I could stop him, he ripped the door open, barely missing my head, and stormed out.
I was an Atlantean demi-god so Jesse really couldn’t hurt me. He knew that. Everyone knew that. But that didn’t stop Asher from smashing his fist through the door that his best friend had just stormed out of. In the same instant, he reached down and gently lifted me into his arms.
We were all silent; no one moved until Axl stepped forward to magically repair the door.
“I’m going to kill him,” Asher raged, the heat pouring off him in waves, the water in the air around us crackling and turning into steam as he got angrier.
Part of me ached at the way Jesse had just treated me, but I also got it. He’d let whatever this was bottle up inside of him for too long. He hadn’t spoken to anyone about it and he clearly was not dealing with it. I hadn’t been the only one to go through shit last year. Everyone had. Jesse had to deal with Asher and me both “dying.”
It was all too much.
“He’s hurting,” I said softly, tears in my eyes because my heart ached. Axl and Calen pushed closer, both of them reaching out to touch me … offer comfort. Rone remained back, perched against a desk, his face a mask, even though his eyes were blazing. “We need to figure out how to help him,” I choked out, sobs muffling my words.
“Jesse has timing,” the vampire grumbled, his head shaking. “The entire world is falling the fuck down around us, and he wants to sulk because Maddi loves Asher.” He tilted his head toward me. “Not that you’re not worth crying over, Mads, because you are. But it’s not like this is a secret dropped on him—it’s been Asher and Maddison pretty much from day one. So why the hell is he taking it so hard now?”
I knew why.
“Because I was gone,” Asher said, pain and anger bleeding into his words. “I was gone, and Jesse was there for Maddison. I’ve felt their emotions, and I know they love each other.”
“Not the way I love you,” I said without a moment’s hesitation. “Not even close.” I didn’t have to think about it. Jesse was my best friend. My family. But Asher … he eclipsed every other possible mate, and no matter what Jesse … or Sonaris thought about it, there would never be another.
It was exactly as Rone had said, Maddison and Asher from day one.
“I know, baby,” he said, resting his head against mine. The heat pouring off him had eased; his eyes were mostly green again. “I’m not worried about your feelings. But Jesse is going
to be a problem until he gets this shit out of his system.”
Musical notes rang out through the air, and since this room was no doubt supposed to have another class in it now, we hurried out—only to find a teacher and an entire class on the other side, waiting patiently for us to fuck off.
“Oh, I am so sorry,” I said. “Minor power issue.”
I had no idea how long they’d been there, but I was too upset to be embarrassed.
The teacher met Asher’s eyes, and he must have read the lingering anger there. “No worries.” His voice had a forced upbeat sound to it. “We’re only a few minutes late…” He ushered his class inside.
It would have been amusing, but Jesse was occupying most of my emotions. And none of that was remotely funny.
Since the rest of us had lunch now, we wandered toward the commons. I wondered if Jesse would be at our table, and I quickened my steps, wanting to see him. Only the table was empty, mocking me with that fact. Mocking us all.
Asher’s face darkened. He’d gotten himself mostly under control, but I could feel what was happening deep inside. The tumult of anger and pain still raged there.
We couldn’t stay at odds like this. It wasn’t good for anyone.
If stronger together was our motto, this current state was leaving us extremely vulnerable to the gods.
We had to fix it. Right the fuck now.
Chapter 6
Unfortunately, none of the Atlanteans equipped with testicles made my job of “family togetherness” easy over the next few days. I was literally the only one trying, and it was starting to creep under my skin like an itch I just couldn’t scratch.
We fell into a normal routine for school life, and even though I saw Jesse in class a few times, he was acting the part of the most dedicated student ever, not even looking our way.
By the time Wednesday rolled around it was the first official sports morning, an initiative that had been started last year by Princeps Jones. It hadn’t gotten any further than day one last year because I’d accidentally used my power that day to bring half the ocean to the Academy.
Whoops. My bad.
This was a take two, and Larissa told me her dad had high hopes it would unite the supernatural races in ways that were probably impossible to achieve. I loved him for trying though. Especially since I was going to use this mandatory event to force Jesse to deal with me. We were going to find our family dynamics again.
If it was the last godsdamned thing we did.
It was killing me to have this tension in the group, and not just me ... Axl was not handling it well. Poor dude was basically living in the library now. Not that he hadn’t always spent a lot of time there, but it was pretty obvious at this stage that he was avoiding home. I’d wanted to force us closer together and all I’d done was tear it further apart.
Today all of us were on the field. The weather was mild, and outside of a swift breeze, nothing at all to concern anyone. It was almost warm, and considering it was technically winter in this part of the world…
Bottom line: there was nothing that would result in me causing a huge scene by dragging half the ocean to the Academy and getting this bonding event canceled for another year.
“You wouldn’t do that again,” Asher said, doing our new fun mind reading thing. “You have control now. Frankly. I’m afraid of what you might be able to do once you’ve reached your full potential as an Atlantean demi-god.”
I laughed, shaking my head.
The smallest of smirks tilted his lips. “You didn’t say anything about canceling the event, did you?”
“Nope. That was you picking up on my thoughts.”
Most of the time I got emotions from him, and some vague images, whereas he seemed to be getting actual detailed thoughts from me.
“Royal Atlanteans could hear the thoughts of their true mates,” Axl said.
Asher and I both turned to him. “Are you serious?” I hadn't had a chance to properly research it yet.
Axl nodded. “Yep, I’ve just finished reading the second-to-last section in the library, and I found a book about the royals. It appears that those bonded in true mate relationships could communicate mentally.”
“Holy shit,” I murmured.
Asher pulled me closer, holding me tightly, and I relished the sensation of our bodies pressed together like that. “True mate,” he whispered. “I like the sound of that.”
When I pulled back, I found Axl smiling. It was the first genuine smile from him in ages. “Could this be a natural transition for us? The path to sealing our mate bond?”
He pursed his lips, thinking it through before answering. That meant he didn’t know for sure and was trying to give us the most likely scenario. He hated guessing, but he would surmise based on the facts he had. “I think there’s something in your power, Mads, something that’s partially blocking the true mate bond. I’ve been wondering if maybe the tie you have to Sonaris is disturbing the natural energy of the mate bond. If that’s the case, until it’s resolved, you and Ash will always be straddling the line between what you have now and the full realization of a true bond.”
Whatever smile I’d been sporting faded and I choked back some harsh words of denial. It wasn’t Axl’s fault, I had to remember that, but I really wanted to be growling the same way Asher was.
“Sonaris is not her fucking mate,” he snapped, his power winding around us. Asher was a demi-god as well, maybe even stronger than me considering who his mother was. A mother that we thought was powerful enough to birth Asher with no father, just her energy, placed in a mortal queen of Atlantis.
I was born of two gods and a mortal queen too, as was my “brother” Connor. But neither of our parents were the daughter of the Mother of All, a literally original goddess with the power of creation.
Connor.
I hadn’t talked to him for days, but I knew he was around the campus, being an arrogant prick. It was what he did best. Why he was still here when he didn’t seem to attend classes was beyond me. Frankly, I could barely stand to even see his face. So much of my heartache was his fault. I fucking knew it was.
“Sonaris is an issue we’ll have to deal with sooner or later,” I finally said. “I owe him, and it bothers me, so I’m hoping we can get that finished. Then I can move forward with Asher, because he’s my soulmate and Sonaris is just a leech that attached himself to me without permission.”
Asher held me close. I didn’t blame him. If someone was threatening our relationship, even in the tiny miniscule way Sonaris was attempting, I would be one pissed-off Atlantean.
It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Asher. I did. Completely. And if the last year hadn’t torn us apart, nothing would. But I was possessive. I loved Asher and I would defend that to anyone who threatened it.
End of story.
“I would do the same. You’re mine, Maddison James.”
And there he went, reading my thoughts again.
A derisive snort echoed across to us. Jesse had edged into our inner circle, eyeing the three of us closely, as if trying to figure out exactly what we were talking about. His eyes brushed over me and our gazes caught. I choked on my words, the pain I saw in those green depths palpable, literally rendering me speechless. Jesse eventually shook his head, breaking the connection, before turning back to face the teachers. They had started to gather in the center of us all, ready to get this sports event started.
I rubbed at my chest, the ache deep and seated. I fucking hated when we were on the outs like this. Like I needed one more thing to stress about. Rone was right, Jesse had the worst freaking timing, but I could tell that he’d just reached the end of what he could handle.
So I was mad, but not too mad at him. And I was still determined to sort it out.
Today.
“Time to team up!” a gruff voice shouted, and I focused on the huge field again, surprised by the changes that had occurred in the short time since we arrived. The teachers had taken no chances with more magical mayhem, se
tting up the SSW area themselves. Supernatural Strategy Wars was a team sport played only by supes.
The huge field where the games would take place had been clear and open before; now it was filled with two mountains standing a hundred feet in the air. Legitimately. I’d seen the start as they slowly rose, but somehow, in my distraction, I’d missed the massive heights they’d reached. Not to mention there was a forest, a large, darkly enticing river, and some other rocky landscapes. The only cleared space now was right in the center—a flat grassy section that offered no hiding spots at all.
I still wasn’t really sure about how this game worked, but thankfully we got a quick rundown before it started.
“You’ll all form teams of four,” said a male teacher I hadn’t met before. I was thinking he might be some sort of physical sports instructor, judging by the tank style shirt and endless amount of muscles.
It was no surprise that I didn’t know him yet; I’d avoided all the sports subjects, and not because I disliked physical activity. In my first year I’d been so far behind on learning about this world, I needed academics the most.
“One from each of the races,” he continued. “You’ll be allowed three attack and two defense spells today. The attack spells will disable any player they hit for twenty seconds, and the supernatural who shoots the spell will also be disabled from performing any more spells for twenty seconds. So make these offensive moves count.”
He continued on with lots of other rules, mostly about using race gifts. They had limitations on what was and wasn’t allowed. Vampires could not bite, but they could use their speed. The fey were allowed to use some elemental attacks, but only within the limitations of the five spells of the game. Shifters could shift into their animals, but they could not bite or maim the other team, and magic users were limited to the five spells as well, just like the fey.
“You said last year that the vampires and shifters are usually the runners, right?” I whispered when the teacher paused his explanation. I didn’t remember much else, but that stuck with me.