Sure, I hadn’t been alone before, but a part of me always believed they weren’t real. Not anymore.
“I hope so, I hope they could see me like that,” he murmured.
“You are perfect, I’m telling you that. Don’t you ever change yourself for someone. You only change if you want to,” I said, smiling as his face softened and those dark eyes fell on me.
“Thanks,” he mumbled, and I swear I caught the slightest hint of his cheeks reddening.
God, he was utterly adorable, with his ashy brown hair swept to the side and his ears jutting out to the sides as he looked at me.
His hand brushed mine again, and I was sure it was on purpose this time as the tingle shot up my arm.
“Lily,” he murmured, chewing his cheek hesitantly as he flicked his elastic band again.
“Mmm?” I arched a brow.
“Would you like to go on a picnic with me?” he asked, coming to a halt as he turned to me.
I stared up at him, at the nervousness and uncertainty in his eyes.
His fingers were twisting the elastic band up around his wrist, but his dark eyes didn’t stray from mine.
“I’d love to,” I found myself saying, my stomach flipping at the invitation.
He broke into a wide grin as his shoulders sagged with relief.
We continued walking in a comfortable silence, our hands brushing repeatedly.
But all I could think about was Jack. God, why had I said yes. I’d just been hit with a wave of excitement and joy at the thought, and then the harsh reminder that I wasn’t sure where things were headed with Jack flared up.
Why did I do this to myself?
I didn’t want to hurt them. I was being selfish.
But I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to Bug about it, instead accepting that I’d just do the picnic date and deal with whatever happened then.
Yeah, I sucked ass.
Bug (Tolrun)
Lily telling me she thought I was perfect just the way I was made my chest tighten with joy. I knew I wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t charming and confident like Jack, or lovable and enthusiastic like Chumley. Or calm, collected, and musically talented like Creeper.
But she didn’t care.
And it made me love her even more.
Love. I knew that was what I felt for her. I wanted to be around her as much as I could, just in presence. But being close to her, having our skin touch, it made a fire ignite inside me that I wanted to explore.
But I was scared. Scared she would reject me if I tried to make my feelings known. Then again, nothing risked, nothing gained. A saying I’d read somewhere that made so much sense.
So I’d asked. Asked if she’d join me on a picnic in the gardens after classes tomorrow.
And when she’d said yes, all the tension in me had flooded out, and I couldn’t stop from smiling at her.
Hell, I was proud of myself. I had finally managed to do something I never thought I could. And it had gone well.
I dropped her off at her room, elated and wondering what I could do to celebrate this small victory.
Well, I needed to prepare my picnic. Get the things I’d need. What food would I take? Maybe Chumley could help me with that.
I clenched my jaw at that.
Would he be okay with this? I knew he liked her too. He’d been trying to build up something with her slowly, it was as clear as day.
Was I a bad person for wanting to try my luck with her?
No. I had to follow my heart. And I wanted to see if we could have something. If not, then Chumley could have her, or one of the others. They all wanted her.
I’d still care for her and look out for her. Sure, it’d hurt, but it wouldn’t change the fact that she was the reason I was even here at all. To protect her.
I made my way to the kitchen, resolving myself to take whatever thrashing Chumley was going to dish out. I couldn’t not tell him. He was my brother.
But even knowing he might be upset with me, I couldn’t shed the joy and excitement I was feeling as I headed to the kitchen, an extra bit of spring in my steps.
I found Chumley working on a gourmet breakfast dish involving eggs, haloumi, bacon, tomato, basil, Turkish bread, and assorted other ingredients.
“How’s it going?” I asked as I watched him zip around the kitchen as he cooked up the heavenly smelling meal.
“Good, I think this will turn out great. I’ll make some tweaks and serve it up tomorrow morning along with some other meals which I’ll experiment with after,” he said as he rushed by me with some olive oil.
“Hey, I had a thought, but you’re more than welcome to say no,” I said, forcing the words out even though they felt like dirt on my tongue. I didn’t want to wreck his moment. Maybe I should’ve waited.
“What’s that?” Chumley asked, coming to a standstill before me. He had a saucepan in hand and an arched brow, which only accentuated the scar in it.
I was probably going to get beat to death with the saucepan. This was a terrible idea, but I’d already started. I had to see this through. I needed to prove to myself that I would do whatever it took to date Lily, even if it meant going against my brother.
Now that I thought of it like that, I inwardly grimaced. I wouldn’t hurt my brother.
I couldn’t.
“Nothing,” I sighed, deflating.
Chumley cocked his head at me in confusion.
“It’s not nothing, you can tell me,” he urged me.
I shook my head. “I don’t want to upset you. It doesn’t matter. I did something stupid.” I ground out the words, hating how it was starting to hurt. I’d betrayed my brothers. I felt like shit now, even though I’d been so excited to give it a shot.
“Is it about Lily?” Chumley asked, as if he was reading my thoughts.
I swallowed as I looked over at the bench.
There was a splatter of oil on it from his madness. Maybe I should clean it, I thought absently.
“Tell me. You won’t upset me,” Chumley assured me.
“You like her,” I mumbled.
“As do you,” Chumley stated with a shrug. But then his eyes narrowed as it clicked. “Oh.”
“I didn’t think it through, I asked her on a picnic, but I know that’ll only hurt you guys. I’m stupid, I shouldn’t have been so selfish,” I grimaced.
Chumley was just pursing his lips as he stared hard at me. “She said yes?”
“Yeah.”
“Then go on it. If it makes her happy, that’s all I care about,” Chumley said, but I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. “Why did you come to me though?”
“I wanted to know if you could help me cook for the picnic,” I said sheepishly. Damn, I had hurt him.
But then he cracked a smile.
“You want me to help you win over the woman I care for?” he smirked at me.
Ugh. Typical.
I groaned inwardly as his eyes lit up.
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll ask her on a date too. We’ll see who she chooses. Deal is though, whoever she does choose, the loser has to accept it with grace,” Chumley said as he jutted his chin out.
I just stared at him stupidly.
Was he really okay with this? I mean, competing against him felt weird, but at least he wasn’t going to attack me with the saucepan. And he didn’t seem too hurt now that he’d decided to take it as a challenge.
“Do you really think the loser can just accept that?” I asked as I folded my arms.
“They’ll have to, for her sake. All we want is for her to be safe and happy. That’s why we’re here, right?”
I nodded, sighing as I managed a small smile.
“Deal,” I said, offering him my hand. We shook on it, and I found myself beginning to worry.
Would she choose me? I know she said I was perfect, but she clearly liked Chumley too.
Then again, I did a lot more reading and knew of more romantic gestures I imagined.
But Chumley was good w
ith food.
“I’ll help you with the food for the picnic, just to be a good sport,” Chumley winked.
Great. Now I’d feel even worse if she did choose me.
Ugh, feelings. Why did we have them?
Twenty-Six
I made my way to breakfast, a little too eager to see my hellhounds. I was excited to see Jack, and Bug. But then again, I didn’t want either of them knowing that I was willingly seeing them both. Was that even a problem if we weren’t really dating? Jack had kissed me and held my hand, but nothing was declared or anything. And Bug just wanted to take me on a picnic. Maybe it was just a friendly picnic, not a date.
I scoffed to myself. As if I was that naive.
But when I pushed my way into the dining hall, I found only Bug there, no sign of Creeper or Jack.
Dezikiel was already seated at the head of the table, and I went and sat between him and Bug.
“Hey, you seen the others?” I asked in a hushed tone as the other students chatted.
“Chumley is helping out with breakfast like he planned. Not sure about the other two,” Bug said, his eyes lighting up as he smiled at me.
“Jack and Creeper are running some errands for me. They’ll be back in a few days,” Dezikiel informed me, having overheard my question.
“Oh.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Bug asked gently.
I nodded, feeling a little guilty now.
I had been contemplating speaking with Jack about the picnic with Bug, but now I couldn’t do that. Would he be upset if he came back and found out I’d done that?
I tried to push the worries from my mind as the doors opened up and the hooded figures filed into the room.
Chumley was with them, sitting a few gourmet breakfast meals down on the table.
I instantly reached for the one with bacon, poached eggs, fried halloumi, roasted tomato, and Turkish bread.
Chumley returned a few more times with an array of lavish dishes, and Diane, Wayne, Flynn, and Dylan, all snatched up one of them.
Chumley joined us and simply grabbed a plate of bacon and eggs as we dug in.
“Damn, this is amazing, Chum,” I said through a mouthful of the gourmet meal. He’d dribbled some delicious sauce over it with some herbs sprinkled on it.
The others all praised his dishes as well. Diane had some fancy looking salmon dish, it was slow cooked apparently with a special topping of seeds, nuts, and sauces.
Wayne had some delicious looking stuffed mushrooms, while Flynn had some specialty pancakes which he was wolfing down, and Dylan had some epic looking breakfast burrito.
He had really outdone himself with the different dishes, and when I asked why he didn’t eat one himself, he explained that each of them was a second run of the dish, and he’d taste tested the first version of each to see what he needed to fix or if it was spot on.
It was Wednesday today, so we’d have joint classes for the day, and I was looking forward to my power training class after breakfast while everyone else worked out or whatever.
I’d finally been able to extinguish my hellfire without the help of my hellhounds, and Mr Baron was going to start teaching me how to manipulate my hellfire.
I drew in a deep breath as I willed my hellfire to come to life in my hand. The wild flames burst to life, a ball of fire resting in the palm of my hand.
“Very good! Now, you need to focus, there are various ways you can manipulate your fire. The main ones that you should learn first, is how to throw it, and drag it back to you,” Mr Baron said as he stood beside Chumley.
Bug was behind me, ready to draw in my hellfire if needed.
Maintaining the fire ball in my hand was difficult, but I’d practiced almost daily for weeks to move from my whole body exploding in flames to just my upper torso, then one arm, then just a ball in my hand. It was getting easier each time to do.
But throwing it? That wasn’t going to be easy.
Did I just toss it like a baseball?
Mr Baron explained to me a method, informing me I had to will the fire to stay alive once it left my hand.
I was to lob it at one of the targets he’d set up.
A bunch of boulders with a cardboard cutout leaning on it. He had quite a few stacked up and ready to replace any burned ones.
Once he finished his explanation, I focused on the target closest to me, steadying my breathing before tossing the fireball at it.
It died as soon as it left my hand.
Wonderful.
Time for a new tactic then.
I willed another fireball forth, and this time, I focused on my inner power, calling upon it to help me work through this tough one.
Throw after throw, the fireball stayed alive slightly longer, and by the time I was panting from mental exertion, I’d successfully hit one target.
“Wonderful! You’re getting the hang of it. Now, I need you to extinguish it from a distance,” Mr Baron called out. He was making sure to stand a safe distance away in case anything went wrong.
I nodded as I reached out with my hand, willing the flames to die down.
Somehow, the flames exploded instead, catching the other targets alight.
Great. This was going swell.
Bug came to my rescue, extinguishing the flames before they spread.
Mr Baron informed me to continue practicing this until I got the hang of it, and then we’d move onto something else.
As if this was going to be easy.
Chumley informed me we’d been at it for nearly two hours now, and we’d have to call it quits pretty soon to head to our History class instead.
I honestly was looking forward to resting my mind from this insane focus. Although studying textbooks was probably just going to give me a headache after this.
I tried hurling a few more fireballs once Bug set up new targets, but it was to no avail. I’d overexerted myself for the day. I’d have to continue training tomorrow.
I found myself in combat class after lunch. I’d had to take painkillers to stave off the headache that had started up during History class. But I’d completed my essay and handed it in, which I was proud of.
Weapons training had gone over well, and I was getting better with my aim. I didn’t dare try to call upon my inner power during weapons training for risk of hurting one of the other students.
When it was just Chum and Bug, I’d tried a little bit, but I had a feeling I was too depleted to do much with it.
Now I sat on the sidelines with Diane after we’d sparred a bit in close combat and practiced some defensive maneuvers.
“Have to admit, they’re damn good looking,” Diane sighed as she admired Bug and Chum as they sparred.
We’d changed into workout clothes for this, gym shorts and crop tops for the girls, while the guys went shirtless with shorts.
“Yeah,” I murmured, watching my hellhounds toss one another with ease to practice.
They were evenly matched, even though Chumley was much more solid and buff. Despite being taller, Bug was faster than him.
I couldn’t help myself as I ogled them, and Diane laughed when she noticed it.
“Tell me, have things changed at all with any of them?” she asked quietly.
“What do you mean?” I shot back quickly, knowing I was giving myself away as my cheeks flushed.
She just chuckled at my expense.
“I thought it might have. You guys have such a connection, all of you. Hadley and I have discussed it. We think it’s cute, and we’ve been wagering who you’ll end up with,” Diane mused.
Guilt gnawed at me at that information. Who I’d end up with was a bet between them?
Why couldn’t I just have them all? I didn’t want to wreck what we had, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“Who do you like out of them?” Diane hissed, clearly wanting to know who I had my eyes on.
I just sighed as Chumley flipped Bug over his shoulder.
“All of them.”
Combat class
ended, and we were sweaty messes in need of a shower before spending the afternoon doing what we wanted.
Well. I was sweaty.
Chumley and Bug looked like the class hadn’t bothered them in the slightest.
“Why aren’t you guys sweaty?” I muttered as they kept in step with me.
“Hellhounds don’t sweat,” Chumley stated.
“Born of fire, doesn’t mix well with sweat,” Bug chuckled.
Right. Of course.
“Anyways, I’ll come by in about an hour, I’m going to shower,” Bug stated as he veered off.
My chest fluttered at that. Considering he hadn’t headed down our hall, which had our rooms, meant he was going to prepare for our picnic.
“Hey, now that we’re alone, I was wanting to ask you something,” Chumley said as he gave me a charming smile.
God, what was with these guys making me swoon so easily? They barely had to try.
“Yeah?”
“Would you like to catch a movie in the cinema with me after dinner?”
“Um, sure,” I said with a shrug.
“Awesome, it’s a date.”
I stiffened as he said that, my stomach flip-flopping all over the place as he beamed at me.
I hadn’t thought it was a date request. Fuck. What was I getting myself into?
But the delight on his face destroyed any chance of a response from me.
That and the strangely familiar yet different scent that had just hit my nose.
I turned to face the foyer as we stepped out of the hall, and spied a handful of men at the front door talking with Dezikiel.
One was standing to the side, looking quite bored as he surveyed the room.
When his dark brown eyes met mine, he smirked.
A strange shiver coursed through me, and I came to a halt with Chumley.
“Everything okay?” Chum asked, but his gaze followed mine and he frowned. “They must be dropping off a new student, demonics that work with the High Council. No angel with them this time. They rarely do any of the grunt work,” he grumbled.
I stared at the younger guy with his backpack. He looked to be only a year or two older than me.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 95