Don’t answer that.
I didn’t tell Bobby that Walker had ordered him to come. I didn’t need a keeper, dammit. So I threaded my fingers through Flint’s and kept my mouth shut until Micah had led us away from the cafeteria and into the halls that would lead to the public conference rooms.
“How’s Layla? Has the baby come yet?”
Micah looked across at me, his face softening slightly as he thought of his mate. “Not yet, but both Alistair and Stacey agree that it will probably be within the next day or two. The baby is beginning to turn and prepare.”
I shook my head at the mention of Stacey. Stacey was their adopted kid—yeah, adoption happened a lot in a society as tumultuous as the supernatural world—but that girl was insanely smart. She was a year younger than me, but she didn’t even attend the Academy. She was doing her Doctorate in Astrophysics back when I was still trying to master my multiplication tables. She was like, genius-level smart. Her brain was scary and amazing all at once. Plus, she was nice as hell, if a little aloof.
Micah opened the door, and I quickly catalogued everyone in the room. Alistair and Locke were both here as well, so whoever the Djinn had sent, they’d decided it was worth having all three of them present. That was a lot of supernatural firepower.
There was a woman in the room, she was tall with beautiful golden skin and long dark hair. The guy next to her made me want to run. I squeezed Flint’s hand until I heard the bones creak.
Alistair looked at us. “Flint, may I introduce you to Azar Nazemi, Councilor for the Unbound. This is her consort, Donovan.”
Run, run, run.
I swallowed hard, curling my fingers into my fists, until the woman elbowed him in the ribs. “Tone it down. They’re just kids.”
All of a sudden, I could breathe again.
What the hell had we just stepped into?
18
Flint
“Apologies. Donovan is half-Shaitan. They inspire a fear response in most beings.”
I looked at the guy, and I was pretty sure he’d be scary as fuck as a human too. He was covered head to toe in tattoos, from his nail beds to the sharp line of his jaw. He wore a leather vest and leather pants, displaying his ink like it was art.
Next to him, the woman should have looked plain, but she was beautiful. Long, brown hair was pulled back into a tight braid, and her tank and jeans clung to her body. She looked at me softly and I tore my eyes away.
Carmen’s hand was squeezing mine with supernatural force, and I reaIized she was trying not to shake in fear in front of these strangers. I pulled her against my body, fortifying her with my strength. Carmen sucked in a deep breath and a romantic part of me, that I’d thought was long dead, wanted to believe she was sucking in my scent to steady herself. See? What in the dime store romance bullshit was that?
I watched as the ferocious angel beside me straightened her shoulders, her spine going ramrod stiff and her chin lifting.
Could a man fall in love in a week? Or was that some kind of teenage Hollywood bullshit? The woman, this Azar, walked over and shook my hand, and then she surprised the shit out of me by shaking Carmen’s hand too. The Shaitan just lifted his chin from across the room and I was totally fine with that.
I didn’t miss the look of revulsion on her face when she caught a glimpse of my slave cuffs though. I could tell she didn’t even like being in the same room as them. While the cuffs themselves were not inherently bad, the person on the other end of my strings was, and the traditional purpose of Anadari bracelets had been unethical at best. Torturous at worst.
Azar reached into her pocket and pulled out a small key, about the size of a handcuff key. I raised both eyebrows and coughed. “You’re kidding me right? All this time I could have removed them with a universal handcuff key?”
The Shaitan snorted. “You wish.”
Carmen chuckled. “Wish. Because you’re genies, right?”
We all looked at her at once, and Carmen swallowed hard. Azar though, she laughed softly along with her. “Not quite. Humanity has bastardized our origins, much like that of the werewolf.” She cast a look between Micah and Alistair, and then back to Carmen. “None of you are what Hollywood would portray as a werewolf now, are you?”
She made a good point, but I didn’t expect Disney to get anything right. They were fairy tales for kids, and my life? It had been so far from a fairytale, it was practically a slasher flick.
Azar beckoned me over, and I went hesitantly. She wasn’t inherently powerful in the physical sense, at least not from what I could tell, but she held a lot of sway. Getting on her bad side would be just as detrimental as walking out of these gates with the Anadari bracelets still on.
“To answer your question, Flint, no this isn’t just an ordinary handcuff key. A magical contract is used to bind Djinn to their masters, and a magical contract has to unbind them too. You know what none of us wanted to do? Transport around a crusty, seven hundred year old Marid to make magical contracts for us.” A Marid was a rare, long-lived type of Djinn with an affinity to the sea. Just because I hadn’t grown up in their society, didn’t mean that I hadn’t quizzed every amiable supe I’d come across about them. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind, I’d been planning to escape Rook’s tender, loving care and ask them for help.
One day.
Azar was still talking, and I dragged myself away from my spiralling thoughts. “So we needed something that would sever the magical tie. Quite frankly, a handcuff key is both symbolic and conveniently travel-sized.” She grinned and then tapped my cuffs, murmuring under her breath.
The cuffs fell off with a clatter, and for a moment, I was frozen. I stared down at my wrists, nearly too thin and pale from where they’d been trapped during my formative years. I stared at the chunks of metal on the ground, a leash turned into a noose that had been slowly killing me for years.
The force in my head was gone, and I sunk to my knees with relief.
“I’m free.” I looked at my wrists, and then up at the empathetic faces around me. “I’m actually... I don’t…”
I couldn’t explain this feeling. It was like the steady hum of the fridge, suddenly turning off. You thought the room was silent before, but it turned out that you never knew what true silence was until the motor switched off.
Azar looked down at me sadly, though there wasn’t pity on her face, only empathy with more than a hint of anger on my behalf. “Yeah, you are. You belong to no one but yourself. What you do now is entirely up to you.”
I hadn’t realized that Carmen was on the ground with me until she wrapped her arms around my chest and squeezed me tightly, anchoring me to the moment. It was surreal.
Alistair cleared his throat. “We’ve offered Flint a place here at Eden, if he wants it.”
“You are welcome in New York, as well. We can provide a home for you, a career if you wish it. We will give you an allowance for up to a year, so you would have the means to make decisions.”
I looked past Azar and at the scary looking dude behind her. He had one eyebrow raised and was shaking his head at her, but I didn’t know why.
“I’d appreciate that. Just until I get on my feet. I have nothing.” It burned my tongue to say those words, and part of me wanted to flinch away from Carmen’s touch.
I was free, but I was still shackled by my past. I had no money. No support system that wasn’t provided by charity. I had no family, no friends.
Carmen made a rude noise and bumped me with her shoulder. “Stop that shit.” I frowned at her, giving her my scariest glare, and she laughed in my face. “Sorry, Flint. But next to that guy? You look like an angry kitten.”
Donovan spat a laugh, and I couldn’t stop my lips from curling. “I resent that.”
I climbed to my feet, and we all just stood there. I realized they were waiting for my decision. Carmen slipped her hand into mine, and I realized there was no choice. “I’ll stay at Eden, get some kind of education if it's not too late.”
Alistair gave me a full, white smile, like he was proud of me or some shit. It made my chest feel uncomfortable. “It’s never too late. You are more than welcome here, Flint. I have a feeling that you would have caused quite the protest if you’d decided to leave.” He raised an eyebrow at Carmen, who shrugged.
“I have no shame.”
Azar laughed. “I really like her.” She turned back to Alistair and Micah. “We will pay his tuition.”
Micah waved a hand. “Eden is a refuge first and foremost. There is no fee to stay here.”
Azar waved a hand. “Please, consider it a donation then. The freaking Djinn Council has so much fucking money and they can use some of it to right the wrongs that occurred while they sat around with their thumbs up their asses, while hundreds of us were enslaved by fucking psychopaths.”
We all blinked and her boyfriend just outright laughed. A small flush colored her cheeks. “Consider it, and your monthly income, restitution.”
I shrugged. Money was money, and it was one less worry in a world filled with them. “Thanks?”
“You’re welcome. We should go. I’m going to meet my consort in his old stomping grounds. A weekend away from the kids. Preteens are the real demons.” She let out a huff, and held out a business card. “If you need anything, call me. Or if you ever want to explore your Ifrit abilities more.” She flicked her fingers and a tiny flame danced along her knuckles. “Do you have an Ifrit form?”
“A what?”
She grinned, and it was pure mischief. “We have time for a quick lesson, don’t we, Donovan?”
He shrugged again, and his leather pants slipped a little lower. Carmen squeaked, and I realized you could almost see his dick. Almost, but not quite. “Jack will wait. We have time.”
Azar clapped her hands. “Excellent. We’re going to want to do this outside.”
19
Carmen
We’d headed out to the fields behind the Academy, and I’d been marginally surprised by the fact that Sammie and Bobby had been waiting for us outside the conference rooms. They didn't ask when they joined our group, and despite the side-eye Donovan gave them, no one protested their presence.
Once we were directly in the middle of the field, Azar nodded. “Yep. This will work.” She rolled her shoulders. “Okay, kid. Light it up and show me what you can do.”
Flint frowned, but he lit his hands on fire, and it was fucking impressive. He made the fire into a ball and threw it at Azar, who caught it easily and extinguished it. “Nice! Is that all you’ve tried to do?”
Flint shrugged, but the wariness was back in his eyes. Every time I thought about the moment when his cuffs hit the floor and the pure relief on his face, I wanted to cry. I was kind of glad he’d been distracted at that moment, because I did cry. Hot tears had run down my face, Alistair seeing them before I could wipe them away.
Watching Flint so closely, I’d spotted the moment when doubt set in. I wouldn’t have it. He’d gone on despite being so miserable for his entire life—he was so fucking strong, and I would not let him think of himself as anything but a fucking warrior.
An arm wrapped around my waist and I looked up at Bobby as Sammie bracketed me on the other side. “How’d it go?” Sammie whispered.
“He’s free, and he’s staying.”
Sammie let out a relieved breath, and I turned my head so I could watch both him and Flint. “You want to tell me what you and Flint got up to last night?” It was just a suspicion, but why else would they be together at the asscrack of dawn?
“Why would that be any of your business?” he whispered back, an eyebrow raised challengingly.
I sucked my teeth, giving Sammie my full attention. “Because I’d like for you to both be mine. If you guys are going to get together, then I kind of want a front row ticket to watch.”
My body was pressed right along Bobby’s and I let my senses gather for any hint of tension, but so far he seemed completely chilled by the idea of sharing me, and the idea of Flint and Sammie having sex.
I’d always had my suspicions that Bobby liked guys too, but since Sammie’s arrival, I was almost positive. I felt like doing a fist pump in the air, but you know, I resisted so I didn’t have to explain.
Sammie looked me dead in the eye, his deep brown irises so soft I wanted to drown in them. “He was having trouble with sleepwalking. I said I’d keep him company until these guys got here.” He lifted his chin toward Azar and Donovan.
“By handcuffing him to your bed?” Bobby teased, and I swear Sammie flushed.
“Oh my god, did you handcuff him to your bed, Samuel Richards?” At least, I think his name was Samuel. I really needed to get to know these guys better. “Also, you have to come to dinner tonight.”
“Tonigh—”
I waved a hand at him. “We’ll talk about that later, get back to the handcuffs.”
Micah cleared his throat. “Please, for the sweet love of the fucking Moon Goddess, do not go back to the handcuffs.” Alistair laughed, murmuring something to him. “I get they’re young, Alistair, but I still don’t wanna know what they do behind closed doors. Shifter hearing, kids. Shut the fuck up or I’ll have to call your dad.” He didn’t specify which one, but he didn’t have to. Any of them would suck.
Still, learning to keep my mouth shut wasn’t my forte. “Please. Like you don’t have a billion kids. We all know where they come from, Micah.”
“Five is hardly a billion, Carmen. Shall we send you back to the first grade?” Alistair teased. “Plus two are only children of our hearts, not of our bodies.”
I gagged. “I don’t want to think about your bodies doing anything, Alistair. Gross.”
They laughed, and we all turned back to where Azar was murmuring instructions to Flint. “Can you feel the fire there, just below the surface? It runs through your veins, under your skin? You just need to let it out. Your hands are a focal point, but the flames can come from anywhere.”
“Can I shoot fire from my dick?”
Donovan groaned and wiped a hand over his face. “Fucking teenagers.”
Azar cleared her throat. “I… don’t know. I don’t have a dick. I guess, theoretically? Test that one in the safety of your home though, okay?” She was definitely trying to hold in her laughter. “Okay, as I was saying, feel the flames in your veins, and then push it outwards. Ready?”
Flint frowned, concentrating, and for a second absolutely nothing happened. Then all at once, he went up like an inferno. It was like someone had doused him with gasoline and lit a match.
“Flint!” I jumped forward, but Bobby had me tight around the waist, holding me back.
“Wait, Mouse. Just watch,” he whispered.
As he said it, Flint’s flames became a bit less intense. He moaned and fell to his knees. “My back,” he gasped, and I stopped breathing as he hunched forward.
Azar dropped to her knees in front of him. “Let it out, kid. Embrace your Ifrit, and he will embrace you back.”
As if summoned by her words, his whole body shuddered before two huge wings tore from his back on a scream. Bat wings. Two fucking huge bat wings unfurled from his back like petals, dripping fire onto the grass.
Flint was panting, his clothes completely burned off. I gaped at him, at the sheer beauty of his flames as they rolled across his skin, clothing him. I dropped my eyes to his dick. I couldn’t really see it, so I guess that gave credence to his dick shooting fire.
Bobby pressed me into Sammie’s arms. “I’m going to the gym to grab him some clothes. Don’t let her do anything dumb like hug his flaming body,” he whispered.
I half-heartedly gave him the finger, but I was mesmerized by Flint. He stretched his wings wide, and I could hear the cartilage cracking. They were perfect.
“Wow,” I whispered.
He turned to us, his mouth pulling wide in a grin. “This is amazing.” I was smiling so widely at him my face hurt.
“If you exercise these, you can fly.”
/> We both whipped toward Azar and spoke simultaneously.
“I can fly?”
“He can fly?”
She nodded. “It’ll take a bit of time, but I’ll show you the basics. The rest is just practice.”
For the next hour, Azar ran him through all sorts of things his body could do in its Ifrit form. I learned that full-bloods shapeshift their whole bodies, until they looked a little like the human visage of the devil. I was kinda happy Flint was a half-blood, because that shit sounded terrifying.
When Flint’s legs started to shake with strain and his wings drooped into the grass, they called it a day.
“You did great. You’re a natural. To resume your human form, you want to suck all that fire back into your gut, to that space inside of you that burns red hot. Your Ifrit will recede, but unfortunately your clothes don’t come back so when you’re ready, I’m going to look over there.”
I wondered if you could blush while you were on fire?
I watched as Flint’s flames receded back into his body, like a serpent slithering into a hole in the ground. His wings just pulled straight back into his spine. It was cool as hell.
But once he was naked and human again, he collapsed onto shaking knees. I shrugged out of Sammie’s arms and ran over to him. “Holy shit, Flint. That was insane!”
Bobby and Sammie were right behind me, and Bobby held out some gym shorts and a tank top. Sammie helped him struggle to his feet, but he could barely lift his feet from the grass. I knelt down, slipping the legs of his shorts over one foot, then the other. I got them to his knees and he reached down and dragged them up the rest of the way, over his cock that was right there in my face.
“Nice dick.”
“Thanks, Sugar Plum. You can look at it more later.”
Another deep sigh from Micah. “Seriously, if you guys are quite done?”
Shifters had no hang ups about nudity. We were like a naked commune from the get-go. There was nothing inherently sexual about the meat suit you walked around in. However, between two consenting meat suits, the body became a wonderland.
Rebels and Runaways: Eden Academy Book One Page 12