by G. Bailey
“I don’t cry,” I snap back, grimacing at him. “I’m not weak.”
Slowly, he reaches out to lifts my chin and inspects me closer. “No, you’re not weak. Never have been. But there ain’t no shame in cryin’.”
His thumb slides along my jaw, and my pulse spikes, fluttering under the of his finger that rests on my throat. A light blush has snuck into his cheeks and his pupils are blown, intent on my lips. Tightening his grip on my face, he dents my cheek a little, and I realise that he must be drunk. He’d never touch me like this sober. He has wanted to but he always held back. His fingers slide down my throat and to the back of my neck. In one swift pull, his lips are against mine, and he’s kissing me with such wild abandon that I can scarcely draw breath.
He lets go of my neck only to seize my legs and wrap them around his waist. Placing me on top of the vanity, I lace my fingers through his hair, dragging him closer, needing him more, like nothing I ever imagined.
“Oi! I need to take a slash,” Axel shouts, banging on the door.
Ugh. Now that is a total mood kill.
Luke groans against my mouth, then releases me and sets me on the floor.
“That was unexpected,” I whisper with a grin. “In a good way,” I quickly add, seeing the troubled look on his face.
“What the fuck am I doing?” He whispers the words, too, but I don’t think he intended me to hear.
Axel bangs again, jolting the door in its hinges. “I’m choking on a piss out here!”
Yanking the door open, Luke storms out of the bathroom and Axel gives a long, drawn-out whistle.
“I interrupted your freaky-freaky time, huh?”
I throw him a mock glare. “Just a bit. The bathroom is all yours.”
“Thanks, cutie. Now when I get outta here, your ass is mine and we’re gonna dance until curfew, ya hear?”
“You know where to find me,” I slide past him, grinning. “By the pizza.”
“You seem stressed today, Scott,” I comment, watching my teacher harshly scribble in his notepad.
Our private lessons have become my only constant in prison since I won the Blood Trials three weeks ago. Of course, there have been more winners since then but none have moved up to the top floor. While my room is amazing, my plan of getting closer to Gold hasn’t worked so far because he’s never in the damn room. I’m certain the fae doesn’t sleep at all at this point. I haven’t even told Scott that I entered the Blood Trials yet in fear of his reaction. He talks about them just like I had done—appalled, sickened, and completely angered by their existence. I’ve bitten my tongue whenever the subject has arisen, but today he appears visibly distressed, and I wonder if he’s found out I participated…and that I killed someone.
“The academy…” he pauses, looking up at me. Realisation dawns on his face like he’s just remembered who he’s talking to or something. “It’s nothing. Just your friend Corvina Charles is causing havoc.”
“Isn’t she always?” I say around a laugh, though it’s a pained sound as I’m reminded that I’ll never see Corvina or the academy or anyone outside of here for years. A nice room can’t make up for the fact that it’s a prison and I’m stuck here, living a shadow of a life for years.
Years…
A pang of longing for the academy and my friends, my life before all this mess, hits me hard. Tears collect on my lashes despite my best efforts and drop onto the desk, smudging my writing. Suddenly, I no longer want to learn about the History of Magics. My tears keep flowing and a quiver catches my lip, seconds from bursting into sobs.
“Izy?”
I glance over at my professor, my only real friend who now stands over my desk. Without a word, he lifts me out of the seat and into his arms. I press my head into his neck as he walks us back to his seat and I just cry. I’ve held in all the tears for my past, for Abbie’s death, for everything this place has taken from me.
And will continue to take no matter what I do.
“Forgive me. I’m an asshole,” Scott mutters, his lips beneath his silver beard sliding into a frown. “I’m complaining about my problems to someone locked up for something they didn’t do. How inconsiderate of me.”
“It’s not your fault I’m—I’m in here, Scott,” I say between stuttering breaths.
“Then whose fault is it?” he grumbles, placing me into his big comfy chair. He kneels down and holds my arms. “I want to break their face. I will break their face. Tell me who?”
The sincerity lacing his words takes me by surprise, turning my cries into a fit of giggling hysteria. My sobs still wrack through, but slowly they die into a lump in my throat that I swallow down, then wipe my eyes with my sleeve. Scott catches a solitary tear on the bottom of my chin with his thumb and smiles. It’s a heartbreakingly sexy smile that makes me forget he’s a little older than me, and my teacher. I only see a handsome man who could be anywhere else…but he’s here, comforting me, his hand gently rubbing my arm. Gratitude surges through me. I can’t bear to keep my secret anymore.
“I entered the Blood Trials and won.”
The words escape my lips without me really thinking them through.
The playful expression on his face swiftly drops into one of pure anger. If he were a druid, I imagine a tornado exploding from him, sucking me in and destroying everything in its path.
“Why the fuck would you risk your life like that?” he all but roars, gripping my arm tightly, his other falling to my waist. “I came here for you. I want to protect you, and I will get you out of here, but I can’t do any of that if you run into danger when I’m not here!”
“You don’t understand…”
“I understand plenty. I’ve lost friends, colleagues, students…family in that arena. Why would you make me lose you, too?”
This was a really bad idea. It’s also how I figured he’d react. Urgh. Why can’t I keep my big mouth shut? I shrug his hands away and push off the chair. I almost reach the door when I’m filled with a surge of fury. First of all, Scott doesn’t have any right to judge or put that kind of guilt on me. Second, he pretty much ignored me at the academy whenever I tried to get his attention. Even when I stayed behind class or arrived early just to get to know him, he dismissed me. Now he’s here acting like I’ve betrayed him somehow?
I spin around, placing my hands on my hips. “Why do you only care now?”
“You want to know the reason why?” He pounces off his chair and storms over. In seconds, he has me gripped in his arms and he’s pushing me up against the blackboard, his face only inches from mine. “When I first saw you in my class, I was your fucking teacher. I couldn’t be more than that. I would never risk your position at the academy or my job, but I also couldn’t stop thinking about you! Your beautiful silver hair, your haunting grey eyes, your perfect body that puts all fae in existence to shame… Don’t you see? This is all wrong, and yet I want you, Izora. I’ve wanted you since the moment you first opened those pretty little lips and nothing but sarcasm came out. You made every lesson torture and I often prayed to the gods for forgiveness. I even prayed that the academy’s rules would change despite reality…despite me being older. That’s another reason why I stayed away. You’re barely twenty and I’m thirty-four. I convinced myself you wouldn’t be interested in me even if I did make a move.”
“I—”
“So that’s my reason. That’s why I’m here and so fucking pissed that I could have lost you before I even got to know you.”
He stares down at me, now waiting for my response. I don’t know what words to use to explain how… happy he’s just made me. My crush on him wasn’t one-sided. It wasn’t just me all along. He reciprocated my feelings, however he had no choice but to hold back.
I suddenly become aware of how his hard, extremely hard body is pressed into mine. I can feel his hot breath on my cheeks, and I can almost taste it; a mixture of something sweet and minty. His natural scent is alluring as much as it relaxes me, and soon I realise there is only one way
I want to answer him.
Moving my head just that little bit closer, I close the space and claim his lips with my own. The first kiss is soft as we gently explore each other’s mouths. But as tenderly as the kiss began, the burning desire percolating between us erupts, like a gorging fire fanning to life at long last. His hand roughly grips my hair as he deepens the kiss, pushing his hard cock into my thigh with every single movement. It’s intoxicating and I moan against his mouth. Before things can go any further, he breaks away from me, as breathless as I am.
As confused about where we go from here.
I sigh a protest as he sets me down on the floor. “Let’s start over again?” he suggests with a cheeky grin. “We can pretend we just met randomly and that we aren’t in a prison. Tell me some things about you.”
I nod, dragging my swollen bottom lip between my teeth. His eyes trace the movement. “I’m Izora Dawn and you’re a damn good kisser. I used to love horse riding, my favourite colour is silver and my favourite food is pizza with pineapple, kale, and ham. Don’t judge me. Oh, and I have a major fear of water.”
Scott chuckles. “I’m afraid we can no longer be friends. The pizza was a deal-breaker and I am heavily judging you.”
I can’t help but laugh with him and gently shove his shoulder. He offers me a hand to shake which I gladly accept.
“My name is Scott Mune. I’m a professor at Shadowborn Academy and I work part-time elsewhere. I love to hunt and fish, my favourite colour is dark green and my favourite food is curry, especially the spicy kind, which is the way my mother used to make it.”
“Can you cook?” I ask with interest.
“Yes, and if they ever allow me, I will bring in some food for you.”
My grin stretches into a full-blood smile that hurts my cheeks. “I’d like that. The food here isn’t great.”
“Now tell me something else,” he asks, waving a hand towards the chairs.
We sit down and for the next few hours we talk about our childhoods, our old homes and somewhat about our families. If anything, I know Professor Scott Mune a lot more by the end, and I like him a lot more, too.
Selena, help my heart, it’s lost to my professor.
Stretching my arms over my head, the cold evening air blows against my bare stomach and legs. The tiny shorts and crop top likely weren’t the best idea of workout clothes to wear outside tonight, but they are better than half the things I found in my new room. A light sheen of sweat covers my skin thanks to the ten laps around the prison and the thirty sit-ups I’ve just done. I eye the empty workout class, knowing I should go inside soon as the skies above us are looking dark and dismal, and there’s a scent of rain lingering in the air. I turn around and come face to face with Luke. His blue eyes are darker than usual and his whole demeanour screams pissed off. I wonder if Axel has been talking to him today. Axel seems to piss Luke off just by breathing.
I stand completely still as he leans closer to me.
“You smell like your professor. Maybe I should attend your classes from now on?”
“I’d rather you didn’t,” I counter sweetly and he growls. I jump out of his way when he tries to grab my arm and I grin. “Catch me if you want, warden.”
I turn around and start running the empty track as fast as I can. For a moment, I think he might have given up, but then he appears in a cloud of shadows in front of me and I slam into his chest. We both get knocked to the ground, and he laughs as he rolls us over, hovering his body over mine.
“Caught you,” he says with a slow chuckle, his face inches from mine.
Trying not to notice how his body feels against me, I stare up at the night sky. “You cheated.”
“Look at me, not the sky,” he orders. I nearly jump from his strict command. I drift my gaze back to Luke, and I don’t know why I bothered looking away. His eyes are more beautiful and enchanting than the sky. “I don’t think your classes with the professor are good for you.”
“Only because you’re jealous and strangely possessive of me,” I point out and he tenses up.
“I’m lookin’ out for you,” he grits.
I chuckle, shaking my head. “Lie to yourself all you want.”
“Tell me to leave you the fuck alone,” Luke whispers, his voice full of longing and thick with desire. “Tell me to go, tell me you don’t want me. Tell me anythin’ that will make this easier.”
“If I said any of those, it would be a lie,” I answer, and we both just stare at each other for a long moment.
“Then don’t complain when I never let you go, my Jailbird,” he softly says before pushing off me and to his feet in one go. He offers me a hand and helps me stand. Everything feels different between us now. I have the feeling I’ve just opened a jar I’m never going to want to reclose or cover-up. “Now get runnin’.”
I nod, moving my ass quickly out of the way as my thoughts swirl around in my head.
One thought sticks the most, though. Who knew falling for someone in prison would be so fun?
As soon as I enter the training room, I see him. It’s like Coen’s presence clawed its way to me like a septic perfume. I still can’t believe he never died when the ice crushed him a few weeks ago. His whole pack survived. My week was going really well, considering, until I found out about Coen and then yesterday happened. Somehow, every single player in the Blood Trials died and all of them in the same way at the same time. I knew Coen had been watching me train half the people that went into the arena and now his cocky grin? No, something is up, and I bet I know what.
“You!”
It’s all I can get out as my body floods with anger. A dark veil drops over my gaze, and all I can see is red. I’m marching over to him with my fist raised before he can so much as blink, and I throw the hardest punch I’m capable of. It lands right on his mouth, knocking him off balance, but it doesn’t knock him out like I was hoping. The blood that filters through his teeth is at least a bit satisfying.
Coen regains his balance and touches the edge of his lip, staining the tip of his finger with blood. Tyler dumps down his weights on the floor and storms over. I snap my head towards him, just praying he’ll lay a hand on me. It’ll be the last thing he ever fucking does.
“Stand back,” Coen orders, lifting his hand to Tyler, who reluctantly comes to a sharp halt, his glare latched on me. “Good to see you too, Izora.”
“Fuck. You.”
He spits blood on the floor, his swollen lips half-tilting into an amused smile. A malicious glint flashes in his unnerving eyes. I hold his gaze though, my chest rising and falling with rapid, enraged breaths.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I demand before he can utter a word, steeling myself to fight again. I’m so worked up I don’t notice Axel coming to my side. I thought I’d escaped Luke and all the others.
“She asked you a question, Coen. Answer it,” he warns, crossing his arms.
Coen just laughs. He throws his head back and laughs like this is the funniest thing in the fucking world. Gods, I want to break his neck, right here and now. But I need to know how he did it.
“Did you use magic? Drink a potion? You must’ve done something because none of the other players came back,” I point out, my heart clenching at the thought of all the other magics that died and never came back.
“Last I checked, I’m still collared like the rest of you sorry bastards.” Coen sniffs, wiping his mouth with the bottom of his tee-shirt. “Magic and potions can’t cheat death.”
I look him up and down with a dispassionate glare. “You’re lying. Tell me how you fucking survived that arena while everyone else didn’t.”
Before I can get my answer, a deafening alarm sounds overhead. The doors thrust open and a swarm of wardens rush into the room, their weapons raised, yelling commands and pinning everyone down. At first, I think it’s because of me, but when a warden tasers Coen to the floor I realise something entirely different is going on here.
Panic climbs into my body, replac
ing the anger I was nursing before.
“Ax—”
I barely get the words out when I’m seized and pushed against the nearest wall, my arms twisted behind my back. I crane my neck as much as I can and try to assess what the hell is going on here. Inmates are being held down at gunpoint, people are shouting over the siren, some inmates are resisting but it only results in them being tasered or tackled to the ground.
“We know it was you!”
Axel is shoved into the wall beside me, his cheek crushed against the cement. The two wardens pinning him down aren’t being as gentle as mine. Still, Axel flashes me a grin.
“I didn’t do shit,” he spits back, winking at me.
The guard points his taser and sets the thing off. “Yeah, so you fucking didn’t.”
Axel clenches his eyes and grinds his teeth against the pain. Just watching this is unbearable.
“Please, stop it,” I beg them.
“Stay down,” the guard restraining me orders, pushing me harder into the wall.
“Get your fucking hands off my ward!”
My heart soars at the sound of Luke’s voice. The hands holding me let go only to be replaced by Luke’s.
“Hurry,” he says, dragging me from the room.
“Luke, what’s going on?”
He doesn’t answer immediately, too focused on marching me to safety. Everywhere we go, lights flash, the siren booms and inmates are being restrained left, right, and centre. It’s terrifying to be in the middle of the riot, especially when one inmate comes straight for me and Luke has to tase him to the ground. He paves the rest of the way, holding his gun out while also clenching my hand. When we reach my room, he’s quick to lock us inside. Barriers that I never knew existed drop down across the door to provide additional security. My chest is rising and falling with each rapid breath as I try to make sense of what’s going on.
Luke pauses at the door, his entire body locked up with a trembling rage that radiates from him. He storms over to the kitchen, opens the fridge and pulls out two bottles of water. Throwing me one, he practically devours his whole bottle, gasping for air at the end. I sit on the edge of my bed and wait until he’s calmed down.