Hillcrest Academy

by Cassie Pierce

  Three fates. Got it. Just my luck that out of an entire universe of people, that I get to be the lucky recipient of Jahar’s soul. I understand what Michael is saying, but there is one thing that just doesn’t quite make sense to me.

  “Why now?” I question the man who I guess by worldly means is my father. I won’t call him that though. I refuse.

  A father is someone who loves their child. Who protects their child. Michael is just like everyone else. A user. He wants to use me for some unknown purpose, but he doesn’t care about me. Perhaps he never did.

  Was I just a means to an end for him?

  He had years....freaking years to come get me, so I am sorry if I am not just going to trust him. His being here now pisses me off.

  “What changed?” I whisper, knowing that something must have, or that he wouldn’t be here. That he would have waited for me to die, and be reborn, just like he did all the times before. My death means nothing to him. Only hers. Only Jahar’s.

  Jaxon’s hand reaches out, squeezing softly with steadfast reassurance. It is only a simple touch, but it says so much to me. It says....I’m here. I’ve got you. I see you.

  “Him,” Michael all but sneers in Jaxon’s direction, like just looking at him makes him sick. Jaxon stares him down, not the least bit intimated by the Arch angel.

  “Jaxon? What does you deciding to drop this epic load of shit on my life have to do with Jaxon?” I don’t miss the defensiveness in my tone, and by the three throaty chuckles that echo beside me, neither do the boys.

  “Easy Princess,” Jax laughs. The smooth timbre of his voice pulling the anger out of me, and replacing it with an entirely different kind of warmth. I bite my lip, as the thought of what it would be like to really be with Jaxon filters through my mind.

  “Later,” he growls into my mind.

  I am so wishing I could do that thing that they all do and just poof out of existence right about now. I would poof us right to my bedroom, and Jax could show me exactly what it would be like to .......

  “Everything,” Michael answers, cutting off my dirty thought, which is probably for the best. “He changed everything. You were not meant to be saved.”

  The way he says it. With such distain and indifference tells me everything I need to know about how he feels about me. Michael doesn’t like me much. Well newsflash. I don’t like you either.

  “Well sorry to disappoint, but I am very much alive. So, unless you came to kill me, what do you want? Why are you here? I know you didn’t just drop in to say hi.” I ask, done with this conversation. Done with him.

  I had always wanted to meet my dad. I built him up in my mind as some kind of hero. Someone that loved me, but left for reasons that he couldn’t help. I thought maybe he died, and mom just couldn’t tell me. I thought a million things, but I never thought that he would just be an asshole.

  “I am with Maci on this one. Say what you need to say, and go,” Jaxon demands, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. His brothers step up, forming a wall behind us. A united front against someone I am pretty sure out-ranks them.

  Which gives me all kinds of feels. Especially since Braxton hates me. At least...I thought that he did.

  “Damnit!” Michael booms, and I laugh without meaning to.

  “You cuss? How very un-angelic of you,” I say as my laughter increases.

  He doesn’t acknowledge my remark, and for a minute I don’t think that he is going to say anything. He spreads his massive wings, probably getting ready to run for it. Something that he is good at.

  Leaving.

  Just when I am certain that he is going to take off, he folds them back in, and fixes me with a stare that dares me to open my mouth.

  I want to. I really do, but even I know when to stop pushing my luck.

  “When your humanity died, you should have been reborn. It is the spell that I placed on your original soul, linking it to Jahar’s. Together, your souls release into the universe, and you pick a new vessel from the same blood line. My bloodline. When he brought you back....” Michael says, pointing to Jaxon with sad eyes. “......he broke the magic that tied her soul to yours. A soul cannot survive without a body, so she did the only thing that she could to survive. She merged her soul with yours, killing herself and transferring her powers and her memories to you. So like or not Maci, you are now the new Fate of Justice. I am both your father, and your sworn protector. I loved her, and you took her from me. So perhaps give me time to accept that, before you judge me.”

  Well shit. That’s a lot to take in. The sadness in Michael’s voice almost breaks me. No wonder he hates me. I killed....I killed the love of his life. I didn’t mean to. Hell....I didn’t even know that was a possibility, but I still did it. I would probably hate me too.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper, because what else can I say. I have always hated when people try to compensate their shitty actions with empty words. Like they think the more they talk, the less you’ll remember. Screw that. Most of the time, all people really want to hear is that you’re sorry.

  He nods, a silent acknowledgement, but for the first time since meeting him his face softens slightly. The brothers have all gone deathly quiet beside me, and I am not surprised when it is Ryker who is the first to break that silence.

  “You said there are three fates. You summoned all three of us here. I am starting to think that isn’t a coincidence,” he questions, running his fingers through his hair as he speaks. Something he does a lot when he is frustrated.

  “I agree,” Braxton says, raising an eyebrow in Michael’s direction.

  “Clever boys,” Michael grins. He opens his mouth, but quickly shuts it when an alarm ripples throughout the garden. He turns to the boys, looking angry. I on the other hand am minutes from a full on freak out.

  “The wards,” Jaxon says, nodding to his brothers. They exchange an intense look that I do not even try to understand before poofing out of existence.

  “Where the hell did they go?” I ask, looking around like a semi-crazy person.

  “We haven’t much time. The garden is warded so we will know if someone enters besides us. They went to check it out. Unless you want to get caught here, you need to go,” Jaxon says, taking my hand and pulling me back toward the tree house.

  Michael nods, spreading his wings to their full width as he gets ready to take flight. He gets about a foot off the ground before he reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a piece of paper.

  “I almost forgot. This is the reason that I came. The prophecy has began,” he says handing the paper to Jaxon and disappearing with a powerful swipe of his massive wings.

  Jaxon looks at the paper, before making a face and quickly stuffing it into his pants pocket. I go to reach for it, but he grabs my wrist.

  “As much as I would love to let you in my pants, we have to wait. They are coming, and no one can see that paper. At least not until we do. Do you understand?” he whispers. I nod, licking my lips at our sudden closeness.

  I swear, being close to Jaxon makes me stupid. Makes me forget everything but the feel of him...the taste of him. It is like the world could be burning around us, but the only heat that I would feel would be the flame he ignites within me.

  “Do you trust me?” he says, but before I can answer his lips are on mine. They claim me with a bruising kiss, and I moan as I open for him. His tongue sneaks in, dancing with mine. He pulls me closer, twisting us, and pushing me roughly against a tree. I cry out as the bark scrapes my back, but not from pain. There is a certain pleasure when adding in the right amount of roughness, and Jaxon knows exactly how much to give. I shiver as his large hands rake up my sides, pulling up the material of my shirt and exposing my stomach to the world.

  Jesus.... If kissing Jaxon feels like this. Sex with Jaxon might just kill me.

  He pulls me in for another hot kiss just as her shrill voice cuts through my lust filled mind.

  “Jaxon Lux! Release that girl this instant!”

  I
shiver as he pulls away from me, and even though his mom is right there I almost pull him back in for seconds. The death stare in her cold eyes stops me though. She may not be his real mom, but she doesn’t like me touching him. Unable to resist, I run my hands under his shirt, skimming his abs as I pull away.

  Holy hell! Can you say six pack?

  “Sorry mother. Maci and I were just...talking,” he says, slipping back into the indifferent tone that he often uses when she is around. I wonder how she can’t see how fake he is around her. How he never smiles...or laughs. How his voice hardens. How can she not see him better, when she is supposed to love him more?

  Wait love?

  Do I love Jaxon? Is that even possible. I don’t even know him. Except...I do. In all the ways that matter. In all the ways that count I know Jaxon Lux, and the things that I don’t know, I will find out. He is an addiction that I never want to overcome. I bite my lip, studying him as he talks.

  He is beautiful...and kind, and damnit... He is mine!

  “I told you not to come here. That it is forbidden, but as usual you think you are above the rules. This time you leave me no choice. I must report this to your father,” she says, looking anything but sorry.

  Jaxon stiffens momentarily, but quickly schools his features. I frown, wondering what is so bad about that.

  Something tells me that it is though.

  “Do as you must mother, but since I am going to be in trouble anyway, do you mind?” he asks, looking at me and raising an eyebrow. “I would like to finish.”

  I gasp at the same time that his mother does. I swat him on the shoulder, not believing that he just said that, but also really turned on that he just said that!

  Jeez! What is wrong with me?

  Her face turns fifty shades of red as she stares him down. She opens and closes her mouth, like she isn’t quite sure what to say.

  Well. That makes two of us.

  “Ten minutes. Be home in ten minutes!” She fumes, before blinking away.

  I wait until she is out of sight before hitting him in the stomach as hard as I can. He looks at me like I am the crazy one as he absentmindedly rubs at his midsection.

  “What was that for?” he laughs, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the now crumbled piece of paper that Michael left us.

  “I need to finish? Seriously Jaxon? Who says that to their mom?” I fume, growing more annoyed by the second. Mostly because he isn’t even paying attention to me. He is too busy carefully unfolding the mysterious page that daddy dearest left.

  “Please Maci,” he laughs, holding the now straight piece of paper up for my inspection. “Give me some credit. I just needed her to leave. That, and well....I like pissing her off. Besides, Wanda is not my mother.”

  “Oh.....” I say lamely, because that makes sense. I step closer to him, my curiosity killing me. What could possibly be so important that Michael couldn’t even say it out loud. My eyes skim the page, but it is in a language that I don’t recognize. The words are beautifully written, and the parchment appears hundreds of years old, yet the glimmer of magic that coats it keeps it from harm.

  Thankfully, since Jaxon balled it up and stuffed it in his pants.

  “What does it say?” I ask Jaxon, who has grown eerily silent beside me. His eyes lock with mine, and I see something that I have never seen from him before.

  Fear.

  Whatever is on that page scares him.

  “Jaxon!” I yell, letting my own fear tumble out of me under the mask of anger. I’m not angry though, not with him. It is just easier to yell at him in this moment than it is to acknowledge whatever put that fear on his handsome face. “What does it say?” I demand, grabbing the letter from him like if I stare at it longer the words might suddenly make sense.

  “Nothing good,” he says, taking it back from me and gently putting it back in his pocket. Ok. Now he is just pissing me off. My face must mirror my pissed off emotions because he explains before I open my mouth.

  “I will tell you what it says, but this conversation is going to take way longer than the five minutes we have left before Wanda comes back. This is huge. I am talking apocalyptic shit, and it is bigger than us. I need to tell my brothers. See what they think. I will come for you when I can. I swear it. Until then, pretend like everything is normal, and say nothing about today.”

  His eyes beg me to understand, and I want to, but I don’t know what it is I am supposed to understand. Whatever put the fear on Jaxon’s face has him rattled. As much as I want to push him..... to demand that he tell me what is going on, I can respect that he needs to talk to his family first.

  Ashlee was my family, and I always talked to her about everything.

  “I’m sorry,” he says, and the emotion in his voice causes me to snap my head in his direction. His golden eyes glow back at me right as a golden mist floats over me, coating my skin. My eyelids start to drop as the world around my starts to spin.

  That mother ......

  He used his power on me! I feel myself start to fall, and I know that it is his arms that catch me. I breathe in his masculine scent as a feeling of safety surrounds me.

  Then there is nothing.

  ~ Chapter 12 ~

  Getting roofied by a sexy angel sucks!

  That is the first thought that slams into me as I bolt awake. The second thought is that I am going to kill Jaxon. I cannot believe that he used his angel voodoo on me. Again!

  I struggle to blink my heavy eyelids, and just the slight movement makes me feel like I am wearing contacts made out of sandpaper. Every muscle in my body protest as I attempt to stretch my sore limbs.

  What the hell is in the golden light that he uses on people? Angelic power my ass! I am starting to think that Jaxon is a demon wearing an angel’s face.

  I awaken to what is becoming a new normal for me. An empty dorm room, and an even emptier memory.

  “Asshole!” I mutter as I finally push my tired body into a sitting position. I go to get up when a heavy arm reaches out, catching me around the waist and pulling me back down.

  Wait— what?

  “Didn’t your mother ever teach you that it isn’t very nice to call people names princess,” he growls into my ear. The warmth of his breath tickles my neck as the faint hint of wintergreen reaches me.

  Holy mother! Jaxon Lux is in my bed! He is in my bed, and I don’t remember it! That...that is a tragedy of the worst kind, because I am certain I would want to remember every second of that.

  “My mom was never home,” I say in a whisper that sounds way breathier than it should considering I am talking about my mom. “Didn’t your mom ever teach you not to cuddle with un-conscious girls?” I joke, trying to lighten the mood.

  I can’t see his face, but I feel him stiffen behind me, and not in a good way. It is like everything about his playful demeanor from moments before vanished from one breath to the next. His voice is deeper, and somewhat sad when he replies. “My mom died when I was little.”

  “Jax.....I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” I say, turning so that I can see his face. His eyes soften slightly at my words, and he brings his hand up to cup my cheek. “I know,” he says, and just like that all the sadness from moments before melts away. Like he has the ability to just turn off his feelings. That, or he is just damn good at hiding them.

  “Really, I am......”

  His lips claim mine with a punishing kiss, stealing my words before they have a chance to tumble free. I moan as he presses me into the mattress, unable to hold in the sound of pleasure that his kiss pulls from me. His lips are soft and sure, and they give as much as they take. I pull away from him slightly, mumbling between kisses.

  “We can talk about it,” I whisper, but say no more as he lunges forward. He deepens the kiss, and I almost cry out when he pushes down with his hips, lining up all of our fun parts. He bites my lip...hard, then kisses it softly as he pulls away.

  “You talk too much,” he says, leaning forward, and kissing my shoulder.
He uses his teeth to pull the strap of my tank out of the way, and all thoughts of talking vanish. Words are lost to me as he explores my body. I reach up, grabbing the hem of his shirt and pulling it up.

  I don’t ask for permission, and he doesn’t seem to mind as I run my hands over the rigid planes of his six pack. My hands trace a path along his tattoo, and I bite my lip to keep from asking him about it. He is right. I do talk too much, and I am not about to ruin this moment with words.

  Words are way over-rated.

  My eyes greedily follow that little naughty trail of hair that disappears into the waistband of his jeans, and damn....how I want to explore where that goes. I probably would too. I never claimed to be an angel, and Jaxon makes everything sinfully delicious. He awakens some inner sex goddess that I didn’t even know I had. I want him, more than I want chocolate cake and free coffee for life.

  That is some serious want.

  I would take him too, except C.J. chooses that exact moment to open the door.

  “Holy hog cakes!” she exclaims, and both of our heads whip in her direction. Her cheeks tint pink and I laugh to myself as she starts to fan her flaming cheeks. “Sweet lord! Leaving! I am leaving!”

  She goes to shut the door, but I jump up and call out to her. “Please don’t. You live here. Besides.....we were just talking,” I say, and I suppress a giggle as Jaxon laughs behind me. I hear the rustling of fabric as he puts his shirt back on.

  “Yeah....talking,” he says with a wink as he comes to stand beside me. “Stay. We have class. I just came to get Maci, and we got a bit distracted by our conversation. Really C.J., you should stay. Ryker told me you volunteered to work last night in the infirmary, which means you are excused from classes today. Stay...sleep. It’s Friday. Take a long weekend. I will make sure our girl gets to class.”

  C.J.’s eyes light up as she looks from Jaxon to me and back again. Her voice raises several octaves as she smiles. “Yes. I am sure you are going to take great care of our girl.”

  “Seriously,” I say, pointing to her bed. “I know you’re beat. Sleep. I am leaving. I just need to change first.”