by Jade Thorn
“No!” Ryan stopped her again, and Melody nearly screamed in frustration.
“The pistil is in the female flower, you won’t find it with an anther, that goes with the filament,” he corrected. Again.
“Enough!” Melody bellowed, and books and paper went flying as her magic surged forth. It wasn’t like her, but she couldn’t seem to help herself. “I need a break, I cannot focus when I’m this frustrated, and repeating this over and over is the definition of insanity.” She stormed out the front door and onto the porch, hurtling down the front steps and walking around the cottage toward the forest at the border of the grounds.
Why wasn’t this coming to her as easily as history did? Okay, she had never been strong in potions, but the anatomy of a human or shifter had never frustrated her like the anatomy of plants was. It was like her brain was refusing to compute the information. No matter what mnemonics they used, what charts, diagrams, rhymes and riddles, nothing stayed in her head. It was like it had been coated with teflon or something. It almost resembled a block.
That thought stopped her in her tracks, and she stood leaning against the nearest tree. One of the others would be there in a moment in his beast form, so she might as well wait for him before she went and did something really stupid. Melody would need to get Nick or Justin to check on her when she got back. It was entirely possible that she had been hexed so that she couldn’t retain the information. She wouldn’t put it past Shawna and her gang. Hell, given how unpopular she was now, she wouldn’t put it past half of the witches in her year.
It was only because she was so still that she heard the noise. Twigs snapped nearby, indicating someone approaching, she thought it was one of her shifters, but then she heard voices. A male and a female were talking as they drew closer. It was somebody else.
“Justin, you know what my terms are, just give it to me, and I’ll give you everything you want,” purred a sultry voice, and Melody froze.
Justin? As in her Justin? No, it couldn’t be. Although she didn’t remember another Justin being at the school, it wasn’t impossible that there was one. It wasn’t like she actually had friends or anything, so half the witches and shifters there were just faces rather than names to her.
“Jaynie,” the male’s voice protested, and with a sickening feeling, she knew it was him. Justin. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Come here and kiss me, Justin. I promise, I’ll make all the pain go away, baby.”
Melody could just make them out through the trees, Justin stood in front of Jaynie, who took his hand and put it on her breast. As quickly as she did though, Justin pulled away.
“Jaynie, this isn’t what we agreed to,” he said, warningly.
Jaynie pouted at him and swayed slightly. Was she drunk? What on earth was Justin doing with a drunk Jaynie?
“Aw baby, I know you’re hurting. You’re so tense. I know what you want, what you need. But you gotta give a girl something back. I’ve gotta be in the mood to do this, and it’s up to you to convince me.”
She grabbed the back of his neck and pulled him in closer. Justin resisted, but not hard enough in Melody’s books.
Bile rose in the back of her throat and her heart broke a bit. Justin, her Justin, was in the clutches of Shawna’s right hand girl, Jaynie. A bitch just as calculating and grasping as Shawna was herself.
Goddess, she begged, please make them stop, not here. Not where she had to endure it. Her heart was breaking. It wasn’t like she had a claim on him, she was the one who had kissed Justin, but he’d wanted it just as much, or at least his dragon had.
What if he didn’t want her? What if he just wanted the bond? What if she’d completely misinterpreted things. The silence behind her made her want to look, yet not look at the same time.
She needed to get out of there. She didn’t care if he heard her.
“Melody?” called out a voice to her right, and she turned her head to see Justin standing there, Jaynie running her hands over him possessively and smirking at her.
“Get a good show?” Jaynie asked her. “You really are a slut aren’t you? Not only do you fuck them all, but you like to creep around and watch them.”
“I was here first,” Melody protested. “I think you two stalked me to try and get me to watch. It’s not like he didn’t know I was here with his shifter senses.”
Justin’s jaw dropped and he pushed Jaynie off him. She shrieked at him when she fell, but he paid no attention to her.
Whatever excuse he was going to give her, she didn’t want to hear it. Like the coward she was, Melody turned and fled, crashing through the forest.
“Melody, wait!” he called out behind her.
She ignored him, continuing to weave between the trees until she ran into something immovable.
“Mel, are you okay? You’re as white as a sheet,” Nick’s held her at arm’s length, before peering into the forest behind her. Seeing nothing, his hazel gaze returned to her own.
“I’m fine,” she lied. “I just needed to go for a run and work things out. Get it out of my system, and it worked. I think I know what’s happening,” she said, distracting him with a broad smile as she saw his nostrils dilate. She knew he would be smelling Justin and that bitch together, and he’d wonder if she’d seen them. It wasn’t something she wanted to discuss.
“What do you mean?” he asked, confused. “Are you talking about the mini-tornado in the cottage?”
“No, well, yes. Sort of,” she sighed. “I think I’ve been hexed. I’ve never had this much trouble studying anything, but what if someone put a memory hex on me? I’d never be able to retain the information as long as it was there. I was wondering if one of you could check and see. I came stomping out here in a tizzy, and then I decided to wait for whoever was going to come after me, because I know you all don’t trust me to look after myself,” she groused.
“I was thinking about how it was like I’d hit a brick wall, like my thoughts were being blocked. That’s when it came to me, it was exactly like that. It just made me feel sick inside. That they’re still doing all of this crap to try and bring me down. I’ve got enough to contend with already. Why can’t they leave me alone? I’ve got bigger issues to deal with.”
It worked. The suspicion left Nick’s face and it softened as he carefully gathered her in his arms. “It’s okay, Mel. I’ll check, and if there’s one there, I’ll break it. And if there isn’t, then we’ll work out a new way to help you.”
Melody nodded, her forehead resting against his chest. His arms barely touched her for all that they were wrapped around her, and she hated that there was still this distance between them. Not just because of her injuries, but because of the layers of deceit that her aunt had put upon her. Because for all that she was seeking his comfort right then, she knew that she had to guard her heart against them.
All she wanted to do was reach out to these shifters and share herself with them. Their beasts were constantly calling to her, piteous heartbreaking sounds, and the tension of it all was driving her mad.
“Come on, let’s get you back to the cottage and see if we can’t sort something out. I reckon the others will have picked up everything by the time you get back,” he teased.
Melody blushed. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t lose my temper very often, but when I do, it’s usually explosive.”
Nick chuckled. “Then you’re in for a treat when Justin loses his. He’s usually so calm and laid back, but it’s an act. The guy is the most uptight shifter I’ve ever met, and his dragon is even worse if you could believe. I swear, if we fed them coal, they’d shit diamonds.”
Melody giggled. “That sounds really messy, and kinda painful. And also, seriously gross. Would you wear a diamond that had been through someone else’s digestive tract? Or, worse still, was actually their poop?” She shuddered, and Nick laughed. “I like bling, but I have limits. There’s no way I’m wearing a poop shaped diamond, I don’t care how much it’s worth.”
Nick snickered, lightening her heart a little. This was what they needed, time together to get to know each other, to bond in non-magical ways. Only then she’d feel even more pressure to bond them magically, even if it was only in her own mind.
When they were back at the cottage, Melody opened the door to see the others sprawled over every available piece of furniture, except for Trent who sat on the floor with his back against the wall near the fire, reading a textbook. It was his favourite place to curl up. She often found him there in the morning, in his fox form, lying on the rug she’d put down for him.
“Okay, sit down here Mel, and close your eyes. I want you to calm your thoughts, think of something peaceful,” Nick instructed.
The others watched, curious.
Instead of calming, however, her brain did the opposite thing, and she was flooded with images of Justin making out with Jaynie.
“I said calm, Mel. I can’t do this if your brain is that chaotic.”
“What’s going on?” asked Oz, wandering over.
“Mel thinks she might have a memory hex on her, so I’m trying to look, but she’s agitated about something,” Nick explained.
“Ah, leave it to me then,” said Oz. “I’ll have her limp and purring in minutes.”
Melody shot to her feet. “I don’t think so, mister!” She whirled to face him, but he stood there patiently with his hands raised in surrender.
“Hey, I don’t know where your mind just went, but I was going to give you a shoulder massage. I’m pretty good at them, ask Nick.”
In her peripheral vision, she saw the dragon shifter nod.
“Relax, Mel. I won’t try anything. I just want to help you clear your mind for Nick to see this hex, so that we can get on with making you the brightest witch of your generation!” He grinned cheekily at her, his smile so much like Justin’s at that moment that it robbed her of breath.
Ruefully, she sat down, and Oz’s hands immediately landed on her shoulders, the unmarked places at least. Nick sat in front of her again, taking her hands in his. Surrounded by men who cared for her, she closed her eyes and gradually let herself relax. They would protect her, she was safe there.
As Oz’s fingers worked his magic, she felt her whole body start to melt. He was right, he really was good at this. Nick's fingertips ran lightly up her arms, across her shoulder and up her neck. They traced the join of her jaw before sliding up to rest at her temple. She could feel his magic caressing her mind, but she was so relaxed now that she couldn’t feel what he was doing. She really didn’t care. Oz’s hands were amazing!
There was a sudden popping sound in her head, and she felt Nick’s presence withdraw. At the same time, Oz’s hands stopped moving and she growled a little in protest. He chuckled before he resumed the massage.
“You were right, Mel. There was a memory hex there. It was blocking any information to do with botany. It was very specific, so someone must have cottoned on that it was the subject that you were tackling next.”
“Or we have a traitor in our midst,” said Trent from across the room, frowning.
Instantly, Melody was stressed again, images of Justin and Jaynie filling her mind, and the magic of Oz’s hands undone in one short sentence.
“Nice one, dude,” growled Oz. “Now she’s all tense again.”
He resumed massaging her, and Nick’s hands grasped her own again. She looked into his eyes, and knew that everything was going to be okay. There was just something about his presence that made her feel safe. He was becoming a touchstone, a bedrock of certainty. While it felt nice to have someone to rely on, it made Melody wonder what would happen to her if he was taken away.
Still, she needed to address Trent’s concern, before it ate away at all the trust they were building between them.
“No,” she said aloud. “I refuse to believe we have a traitor. I did borrow several botany textbooks at the library this week. It wouldn’t be hard to guess that I was going after an early completion of this course next.” It needed to happen sooner rather than later, otherwise the only thing she would succeed in was finishing a couple of weeks early. If Melody wanted to be allowed to start attending the second-year class, she needed time to catch up the first term’s work and actually do the second term’s work as well.
She was just going to have to work harder.
10. Melody
“Why don’t we catch an early dinner, and then we can come back and try again, what do you say, Ryan? Do you forgive me for my tantrum?” she smiled sweetly at him, and saw the moment he melted for her, his deep brown eyes softening.
“Of course I forgive you, Mel. That must have been driving you nuts. No wonder it wasn’t working. For a moment, you had me doubting myself.” He put a hand dramatically on his chest. “Me! Doubting myself! The horror!”
He pretended to swoon, and Melody laughed at his clowning around.
“But I think we should get an hour of work in before dinner and then you can take a break and we can see how much you’ve retained,” he added.
They sat down together and started at the beginning, Melody finding that she was retaining information much more easily. After an hour they took a break to head over to the dining hall together for dinner.
“Nick? Where’s Justin?” she asked him.
Nick looked decidedly uncomfortable and shrugged. “I don’t know. He said he had to go meet someone about something important. That was a couple of hours ago.”
He was lying to her, she knew it. He knew where Justin was and what he was doing. Melody had a fair idea on the ‘who’ as well, just not the where.
It turned out, she wasn’t quite right.
Rather than making out with Jaynie, Justin was already there in the dining room talking to Quinn while they both sat with Shawna and her cronies. The two shifters frowned as they spoke together, Justin ignoring Jaynie who was practically draped across his shoulders, and he looked distinctly uncomfortable. Served him right. If he wanted to go to the dark side, then he needed to accept everything that came with it.
Justin wouldn’t meet her eyes, but Jaynie did with a defiant smirk. Shawna was beaming and she looked at Nick who walked beside Melody and mouthed mine, bitch.
“Not a fucking hope in hell,” murmered Nick beside her, leaning in and kissing her hair. Distracted by the tableau in front of her, she let him, her decision to keep them all at arms length forgotten for now.
“I would have said the same thing about Jaynie and Justin this morning,” Melody told him, moving to the serving line. Nick took her by the elbow and steered her towards the table where they usually sat. Ryan and Oz returned shortly with two loaded plates each, Asher scowling as he carried his one.
Normally, she wouldn’t allow anyone to wait on her hand and foot, but word had gotten out that she had an injury on her back, and jealous and bitter witches throughout the school had started making a habit of deliberately knocking into her to try and make her gasp in pain.
Queues were the perfect opportunity for them to strike, even surrounded by her men, so now she sat at the table and they brought food to her. It only added to the anger in the room, seeing the Apex serving her like slaves. She wasn’t the only witch there who didn’t think that shifters were second class citizens, and seeing them ‘debased’ only made her more unpopular.
Melody made a point of thanking Oz profusely for his kindness, which made his grey eyes sparkle before he lowered them behind long lashes. He blushed and smiled shyly. It also made his wolf croon to her, and too late she realised her mistake. All she was doing was binding him even closer. No matter what she did, she couldn’t win. She needed to focus on what was best for these shifters, and right now, that was her being neutral.
Melody knew that she couldn’t bring herself to drive them away, hurting them to save them just wasn’t in her, not until it was the only option left. There was still time to come up with a solution, and as long as they didn’t challenge her, then she could allow them to hang around. Right now,
she had to work on saving Dean and Asher.
All day the whispers and digs had continued, small hexes meant to trip her or tear her notes up, even one that ripped a hole in her bag so that her notes went everywhere, came flying at her. Thankfully Nick repelled the majority of them, and the men managed to grab her notes before eager hands could steal them away. It really was ridiculous the lengths these supposedly grown women were going to, all to make her step back from the Apex. The irony was that it wasn’t her that had to step away, but them.
“What do you have for the first class tomorrow?” Ryan asked her.
“Shifter care,” she said with a smirk, looking at them all. Poor Nick and Justin couldn’t attend, because he couldn’t shift and fit into the classroom, but any of the others could and did attend with her. The witches without familiars worked with the first-year shifters, although there were always more witches than shifters and several times they had asked to work on the Apex who were with her. Not Dean and Asher, but the female witches were only too happy to try and get their hands on the unbonded shifters.
“I’m not doing that again!” protested Ryan. “The last witch that I agreed to let work on me, tried to give my wolf a hand job!”
Melody’s head whipped around. “She did what? That’s sexual abuse! I don’t remember that, what did your wolf do to her in return?”
Ryan turned crimson and Oz guffawed. “It wasn’t a her, it was a him! And Ryan’s wolf let him, because he’s pissed that Ryan won’t challenge you.”
“Oh goddess, Ryan, are you okay? It’s not funny, Oz,” she chided. “How about I hold you down with my magic and let some random guy jack you off. Let’s see how hard you’re laughing then?”
Oz swallowed and paled. “Yeah, okay, in that light, dude, I’m sorry.”