by Wendi Wilson
And king of the Sylphs.
Even though I knew I needed help, the thought of someone replacing Rowan made me nauseous.
“Let’s go,” Easton said, pulling me from my musings. “It’s almost dinner time and we need to shower first.”
Thoughts of he and I showering together danced through my head, making me blush. I turned my face away from him as we walked hand-in-hand from the gym, hoping to hide the blush I felt burning the tips of my ears.
“What are you thinking?” Easton asked in a tone that inferred he knew exactly what I was thinking.
His chuckle confirmed it. Damned aura-reader. I couldn’t hide anything from him. I didn’t know why I even tried anymore.
His grip tightened on my hand as he pulled me in closer, whispering in my ear, “I meant we should shower separately, but if you have other ideas, I’m game.”
The fire in my face burned hotter, and I bumped my shoulder against his. I attempted to laugh off his words, but it came out sounding forced and a bit manic. I picked up my pace until I was practically dragging him down the hall because he wouldn’t relinquish the grip he had on my hand.
“I was kidding,” he said, his feet shuffling to keep up with me. “December, stop.”
I ground to a halt, but refused to meet his eyes. He had obviously been joking, but I couldn’t get the image of him naked and wet in the shower out of my mind. I was simultaneously terrified and electrified by the thought of seeing him like that. Of him seeing me. That conflict of emotions sent me into a panicked state and I was acting like a crazy person.
“Hey,” Easton said, his voice soft, “you okay?”
I nodded, still staring at my feet. His hand gripped my chin, lifting my face until I had no choice but to meet his gaze. His ice-blue eyes, filled with affection and concern, bore into mine until I felt the tension drain out of me.
“There she is,” he whispered just before pressing his lips to mine in a sweet kiss.
Then he released my hand and swatted me on the butt, telling me to go shower and that he’d see me at dinner. I scurried away, glad to escape the awkward moment but at the same time, eager to get back to him.
That boy had me tied in all kinds of knots, and I loved every moment of it. Even the awkward, uncomfortable, mortifying moments.
Especially the hot, tantalizing, can’t-get-enough-of-each-other moments.
By the time I got back to my room, my cheeks were aching from smiling so big. I couldn’t help it. I was happy. For the first time in my miserable life, I was finally happy.
As I floated into our room, Shaela looked up from the book she’d been reading and cocked her head to the side. Pushing the book off her lap, she stood and let her gaze travel over my face.
“What happened?” she asked, her lips turning up at the corners. “You’ve got that dazed look of new love in your eyes.”
“What?” I shouted. Then, calmer, I said, “No. I mean, I was with Easton, but it’s not…that. We were just training and—”
“December!” she said, cutting off my rambling words.
“Okay, fine,” I shot back, knowing she’d just pester me until I told her. “We were making out in the gym and nearly caught fire.”
“Like an ‘it was so hot, it burned’ kind of fire?”
I shook my head and plopped down on my bed.
“Like an ‘I nearly burned down the gym with my weirdo powers’ kind of fire.”
“Tell me everything,” she said, sitting down next to me.
I spilled my guts to my best friend, not omitting a single detail, even the embarrassing ones. I knew she wouldn’t repeat any of it. I could trust that girl with my deepest secrets. With my life.
She always had, and always would have, my back. Besties for life.
Chapter 3
“Oh, I got it. We’ll call it a lustnado. Get it? A tornado of fire, spawned by desire, the flames fed by pure lust. It’s good, right? Lustnado.”
I punched Shaela in the thigh beneath the table, and she yelped. Not only were those the first words Easton heard as he sat down across from us at dinner, she’d spoken them loud enough for the nearby tables to hear.
I was going to kill her later.
“Well, I guess you’re caught up to speed,” Easton said as he quirked a brow at me.
“Hey,” Shaela said, snapping her fingers to pull his attention back to her. “Best friends tell each other everything. Get used to it.”
Easton narrowed his eyes at her, his mouth a thin line. That look would probably intimidate most people, but Shaela just stuck her tongue out at him. He barked out a laugh and leaned back in his seat, turning his attention to his plate.
Shaela looked at me and nodded. Her expression said “girl-power” as she held a fist out to me. I shook my head, but bumped mine against it before turning back to my own food. A smile stretched across my face as I picked up my fork. Shaela was one-of-a-kind. That was for sure.
But I was still going to kill her later for her big mouth.
I plucked the fried chicken leg from my plate and took a huge bite. My eyes drifted closed, and I savored the flavors bursting on my tongue while juice dribbled down my chin. Despite having been at Oberon Academy for weeks and enjoying three full meals a day, I still hadn’t forgotten what it was like to live on beans and bread. I appreciated every meal served me, and relished in every nutritious morsel.
As I grabbed my napkin to wipe my mouth, Shaela’s phone chimed. She pulled it from her pocket and tapped at the screen a few times. I had never owned one and didn’t see much need for it, even though Shaela had begged me to let her buy one for me. The only people I’d ever need to call were her and Easton, and we saw each other all the time, so it would be useless. A waste of money.
After watching the screen for several seconds, Shaela gasped. I cocked my head at her, silently asking what was wrong as her eyes met mine. She shook her head, moving to put her phone back in her pocket, but I was too quick. My hand shot out and snatched the device from her fingers. I tapped against the screen a few times, but nothing happened.
I had no clue how to work the damn thing.
“Show me,” I said, holding the phone out toward her.
I knew from the look on her face that whatever she saw had to do with me. She had on her protective mama-bear expression. But I didn’t need protecting. I needed to be prepared for whatever shit storm was headed my way this time.
With a long sigh, Shaela took the phone from me. After pressing the button on the back and tapping the screen, she handed it back to me. Easton leaned forward and motioned for me to put the phone where he could see it, too.
A video clip was playing, and my heart jumped into my throat as I realized what I was seeing. The person filming was inside the gym, and the camera was focused on two people against the far wall. The lens zoomed in, capturing a blonde boy pressing against a female body, her legs wrapped around his waist. They were kissing.
The person filming gasped as a flame ignited mid-air. The camera zoomed in closer on the fire as it grew and elongated, then swirled round and round like a cyclone. A lustnado.
The angle panned back out, showing Easton spin me away from the fire, my very recognizable black hair swinging out behind me. The fire fizzled out and the screen went black before white letters scrolled across the middle, spelling a message.
Apparently, December’s super-power is being a total slut.
My eyes flitted over to where Tiana and Aubrey usually sat and, sure enough, they were both staring at me, smug smiles and all. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to Shaela and Easton, who were both wearing worried expressions, like I might break down at any moment.
And maybe I would have a few weeks ago. When Lauren Blackburn did almost the exact same thing, I did freak out. And hers was only a picture that intimated that I was doing something slutty.
But I was a different person, then.
I didn’t have a real home, people who cared about me, or anything rem
otely solid or comforting in my life. I didn’t have Shaela, a best friend who’d take on the world for me. I didn’t have Easton.
Sure, it was embarrassing as hell to have that private moment sent out to the whole school. And there was no doubt in my mind that Tiana had sent it to everyone. One quick glance around proved it. Dozens of eyes skittered away from mine as I looked from face to face.
But I refused to let a bitch like her get under my skin. Never again. I faced down the Zephyr queen and came out the victor, for God’s sake. A little schoolyard bullying wasn’t going to take me down.
“She’s just jealous,” Shaela said quietly, breaking the silence that had fallen around us.
I shot her a smile, then looked at Easton, attempting to decipher his feelings on the video. Was he embarrassed? He must have seen from my aura that I wasn’t actually freaking out, because his face relaxed before morphing into a self-satisfied smirk.
“We looked hot,” he quipped.
I snorted at his pun and Shaela burst into laughter, which made me start laughing. The screech of a chair broke through our humor and we sobered, looking toward the noise. Tiana stood, her face twisted with anger as she stared at us. With a huff she twirled and stomped from the dining hall, Aubrey hot on her heels.
Shaela and I looked at each other for a split second before erupting into a fit of giggles again. Easton just stared at me, a soft smile on his lips. Something that looked like pride shone in his eyes before he dropped his gaze back to his plate and resumed eating.
As we finished dinner, chatting about anything besides that stupid video, my eyes moved around the room. Most of the other students were eating or talking, not paying me any mind. The ones whose eyes I did happen to catch gave me supportive looks or timid smiles.
No one appeared to have taken Tiana’s bait. No one was laughing at me. No one leered or gave me suggestive looks. There was no repeat of the hell I went through with Lauren Blackburn and her nasty tricks.
I was a different person in a different place. I’d protected these people, driven out the Zephyr queen and saved their king. Our king. They respected me.
Of course, no one besides Shaela, Easton and Finn knew what I was. That I was not half-human, as everyone had suspected.
If they all knew I was actually half-Zephyr, it would be a completely different story.
Chapter 4
Winter break had officially begun after our last class on Friday, but because Queen Sebille had declared war on the Sylphs, most families decided to keep their kids at the academy, rather than bring them home for the holidays. Which made zero sense to me.
Sebille’s attack had been against the school. She and her minions had infiltrated the academy and incapacitated the king. It seemed like the parents would want their children at home, where they’d be safe.
But because Finn had fortified the magic protecting the academy and everyone within its walls, the Sylph community agreed that the safest place for their kids was right where they were. Which meant they had to spend Christmas without their families.
Shaela had laughed when I asked her if Sylphids even celebrated the Christian holiday.
“Of course, we do,” she’d said. “We may not worship the human God, but the Fae love to party. Eat, drink, and be merry? Yes, please.”
Saturday morning, I woke early and stayed curled up in my bed for a while, staring at the ceiling. It was December twenty-fifth. Christmas day.
And my seventeenth birthday.
But unlike the first sixteen Christmases of my life, I didn’t feel alone. Whether self-imposed or against my will, every birthday I’d ever had had been lonely. No parents, no siblings, no friends. No celebrating.
But this birthday would be different. This year, I had Shaela, and Easton, and Finn. I had Celeste Greenly and a handful of students I’d become friendly with after our defense of the academy. The only person missing was Rowan.
Pain shot through my chest at the thought of him, and I rubbed the heel of my hand against the ache. Finn told me once that if I let myself go completely still and opened my mind, I’d be able to sense Rowan all around me. His essence would always be there—in the trees surrounding the academy, in the building itself, in the hearts of the students and faculty.
It sounded like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo to me. But then again, my hormones created the first-ever lustnado, so I supposed anything was possible. I kept trying to open my mind, but so far, I’d felt nothing.
“Merry Christmas, birthday girl!”
I let out an oomph as Shaela’s weight landed on top of me. She rolled off and sat up, nudging me with her foot. When I pulled myself up into a sitting position, I noticed the small, giftwrapped box in her hands.
“Happy birthday, bestie,” she said, holding it out to me.
Green and pink and topped with a tiny bow, the box was so small it fit into the palm of my hand. My eyes burned with emotion as I stared at it. I couldn’t remember the last time I received a gift.
“Go on. Open it,” Shaela ordered, bouncing up and down.
I laughed. She was more excited than I was.
I gingerly ran a fingernail under one corner of the paper and pulled up the flap, ignoring Shaela’s huff of impatience. I wanted to drag the experience out as long as possible. The anticipation was glorious.
Shaela miraculously held her tongue while I finished pulling off the paper. I held the small white box in my hand for a moment, just staring at it, until she bounced again and nudged her knee against mine. I shook my head and grasped the hinged lid, tilting it upward.
Nestled inside was a tiny pair of golden wings. The charm was solid, with the words “best friends” engraved on it. I held my breath and fought the burn of tears in my eyes as I pinched the small charm between my fingers and lifted it from the box. Attached to it was a thin gold chain.
“Do you like it?” Shaela asked. “I got one, too.”
She ran her fingers under the neckline of her shirt and pulled out a matching gold chain with the same pendant hanging from it. She held it out for me to see, so I could read the words engraved on it.
Unable to hold them back, my tears spilled over and ran in twin rivers down my cheeks. I knew that even if I received gifts every single year, this gift would still be the best one I’d ever gotten.
“Say something, D,” Shaela urged, looking a little unsure.
Who could blame her? I was blubbering like an idiot by that point, snot running everywhere.
“I lo-love it,” I stuttered. “Thank you, Shaela.”
I sniffed loudly and we both laughed as I clipped the necklace around my neck. Then I threw my arms around her and pulled her close, hugging her as hard as I could. She groaned but didn’t pull away, returning the hug with all her strength.
“Love you, D,” she murmured as we pulled away from each other.
“I love you, too,” I said.
“So,” I said, brushing away the tears from beneath my eyes, “did you ask him?”
“Ask who, what?” she responded, climbing from the bed and crossing over to her trunk.
“Shaela!”
I saw her shoulders slump in defeat. Her head hung low as she turned around, and she didn’t meet my eyes.
“No,” she said.
“Why not?”
Looking up at me, she said, “I chickened out.”
“Charles would be an idiot not to say yes. He’s going to the party, anyway, right?” At her nod, I continued, “So why wouldn’t he want to go on the arm of the most beautiful girl in the whole school?”
“That’s nice of you to say, but you know why, December.”
And…we were back to our usual conversation. Shaela was an outcast because of her grandfather and her gifts, blah, blah, blah. It made me so mad. Despite everything that had happened, Shaela’s role in saving the school, and my and Easton’s friendship with her, no one had made any overtures to befriend Shaela and she still had a complex about it.
Hell, most of the school wa
s going to the party—a party Shaela, the outcast, was throwing for me, the freak. They obviously didn’t care too much about our reputations.
If Shaela wasn’t going to break herself out of social prison, I would do it for her.
“It’s okay,” I said, smiling. “We’re going to have a great time, anyway.”
“You know it!” Shaela said, lifting her hands into the air and wiggling her hips as she shook off the melancholic mood.
I watched her dance around the room, gushing about dressing me up and doing my hair and make-up. I nodded at the appropriate times, but my mind was whirring with other thoughts. I had a plan. Tonight, things would change for my amazing bestie.
I would make sure of it.
Chapter 5
Finn summoned me in the early afternoon. My gut twisted into knots as I walked to his office. I hoped he wasn’t going to cancel the party. Shaela would be devastated. But I honestly couldn’t think of any other reason why he’d want to see me on a Saturday, much less on winter break.
I knocked softly on his door when I arrived and heard his call to enter. He sat by the fire, and motioned me toward the chair beside him. I sat and waited for him to speak. I’d learned that there was no rushing him. He’d get there in his own time.
“Is everything prepared for the big party tonight?” he asked, his voice pleasant.
I took that as a good sign.
“Yes, sir,” I answered. “Shaela is a party-planning master.”
He smiled, and his eyes sparkled. Then his head cocked to the side and he stared at me, his expression contemplative.
“You’re up to something,” he said.
My grin was full of mischief as I replied, “Yes, I am.”
Finn could taste people’s emotions, and he must have sensed something from me when he mentioned the party. There was no use pretending with him. He could taste a lie from a mile away.
“Can I assume that there will be no destruction of people or property?”
“You can,” I said, my smile growing bigger as I realized he did not call me in to cancel the party.