by Demi Dumond
That stare thrilled me to my core. He looked ready to go, his frame tense, his muscles knotted. And yet he still stood there staring at me, like he could do it all night.
I could not. In one swift movement I leaned up and kissed him. I breathed in his scent as our lips met and a heat flowed through my veins with an energy I had never known.
His hands explored my naked body expertly, like he had not been a dragon earlier in the night. He cupped and caressed my breasts. He broke the kiss and let his lips hover inches from mine.
Then one of his hands pinched my nipple with his fingers until I moaned. He slipped a hand between my legs. Already dripping in anticipation, I bucked against his long fingers, my body crying out for more.
I reached my lips up toward his, hungry for them, but he denied me, staying just out of reach. His fingers continued working their magic until I was bucking against him uncontrollably.
Then he turned my body away from him, bending me over the bed. “Yes,” I begged, trying to lower my voice and keep the moan from escaping my lips.
He entered me from behind. I gasped with pleasure as he controlled my body with his hands. And then we were working in unison, our writhing wild, desperate, and intense.
When it was over, we both collapsed into my bed. He nuzzled next to me and I could sense the full weight of his humanity return to him.
He rolled over and looked me in the eyes. “There’s something I have to tell you, Keira. I love you. I’ve loved you since the first time I saw you. I knew you were the one. You have no idea how hard it is to be trapped in a body that’s not yours. To see the one you want to be with and not be able to even talk to her.”
His eyes were so sad. I laid my head on his chest. “It’s okay,” I told him. “You’re not a dragon anymore.”
“I’ll never be a dragon again. I’d rather be dead.” There was a minute of silence. I gave him time. A lot had changed in his life. He nestled in closer to me. “I just wanted you to know what you mean to me. I’m yours, Keira. All of me, forever.”
The following silence wasn’t awkward, it was comforting and meaningful. When I drifted off at last in his arms, it was the best I had slept in weeks.
26
Keira
When I woke up, Tor was still snuggled up next to me. I snuck out of bed and showered as he continued to snore.
The sleep last night helped, but now I had to think. I had to figure out what to do with Tor and how I was going to deal with the headmaster.
With any luck, Ivy and Ian were already in the hallways and cafeteria spreading the disinformation campaign, but even that wouldn’t last long.
Drying my hair, I threw on clothes for the day and went into the sitting area where Tor was awake and on the couch. And reading one of my magic books. Well, that was a surprise.
I had to say that he cleaned up very well. Rafe’s clothes were a little bit big on him, but he cut a striking figure.
“Hi,” I said.
His face lit up when he saw me. “Good morning.”
Wow, he was acting awfully civilized for a guy who was a dragon just yesterday. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry,” he grinned. Then he stood to face me and look me in the eye. Those sincere dark eyes and sculpted features called to me again. “I want to thank you for helping me. I called out but nobody else would listen. It was like living in a nightmare.”
Looking into his sincere eyes made it all worth it. Almost. If I survive. And if I don’t end up in a dungeon.
Still, being turned into a dragon, well, it had to be an awful way to live. I wanted to give him a hug, and then I remembered that life was short, so I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. He did the same and his strong arms felt like home. “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said. “I’ll go get some breakfast and bring it back for you, okay? But listen, you have to stay here.”
“But headmaster Crowe is still here at the academy, right?” Tor asked, his eyes flashing with anger.
“Yes,” I said.
Tor jumped up and ran to the door. I had to be fast to get in front of him. I held him back by his chest.
“Whoa, listen,” I said. “Please. Headmaster Crowe is out to get me too. And if he sees you, he’ll know what I did. He’ll throw me in the dungeon or turn me into a dragon or worse. Let me just get you some breakfast and come back and then we’ll figure things out, okay?”
His face was a mask of rage. Smoldering, chiseled rage. His dark eyes twinkled with anger. I saw him look down at me and then get a hold of himself.
“Okay,” he said, spitting the word out. “For now.” He threw himself back onto the couch.
27
Keira
I hurried to the cafeteria to get the food. I needed to feed Tor and get a better handle on him before I felt good about going to class. Because right now it felt like he was a ticking time bomb.
Sliding into the line as quickly as I could, I started ordering my usual plus what I hoped was enough food for a starving student who had been surviving on heaven-only-knows-what in the woods. Even other students. I shuddered at the thought.
Receiving more than one eyebrow raise from the cafeteria workers, I continued down the line. “Hey,” I said, “sometimes a girl gets hungry.”
“What the hell?” A voice nearby startled me, and I jumped.
It was Bree. “What are you, feeding an army?”
“I missed dinner last night,” I said, trying not to get caught up in a long conversation.
“I heard,” she said, elbowing me and shooting me a raunchy smile.
A panic rushed over me. What the hell rumor were Ian and Ivy spreading? Or even worse, did people know the truth. Wait, I knew that smile. “What?” I asked.
“You and the alpha, girl.”
Shit. “He’s telling people?” I asked, surprised. He didn’t seem the type to fuck and tell.
“It’s all over the school, sweetie. To tell you the truth I’m jealous. The next time you get invited to some awesome bonfire orgy, you’d better invite me or we’re through.” She still had a smile on her face.
“Bree!” I said. “It wasn’t an orgy.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Then what was it?”
“Fine,” I said. “It was crazy and Rafe is very hot, but it definitely wasn’t an orgy. It was just me and Rafe.”
“That’s not fair at all,” Ivy mock pouted, you get the hottest vampire and the alpha? I’m serious, Keira, next time you’d better invite me or else! I’m sure there was a hot single alpha. You have to hook a girl up.”
“Hey, what happened to you and Clay?” I asked.
“I can do better,” she said.
“Of course you can. I never liked him anyway. Tell you what, next time I will give you a heads up,” I said, “I promise.” I exited the line, barely balancing all of the food as I headed back toward my room.
Bree went to our usual morning table, realized I wasn’t following, and then turned back to see me on my way out the door. “Hey! You can’t leave yet. You haven’t given me any juicy details!”
She caught up with me in a hurry. That’s because she didn’t have to walk really slow in order to to balance oatmeal, fresh fruit, and seven pancakes with bacon.
“At least let me help,” she said, offering to hold some of the items. She tried to grab a stack of pancakes on a plate, and I took a step back.
The last thing I needed was her walking into my room and seeing Tor and asking a bunch of questions. “That’s very sweet, but I have a bunch of work to catch up on before classes start.” I said, then I hesitated, cursing under my breath. “If you could grab the door for me, I would super appreciate it.”
Bree ran ahead and opened the door for me, eyeing me with suspicion. “Okay, but you’d better catch me up later.”
“I will,” I called. “Promise!”
Whew, I thought as I slowly weaved around the other hungry students on the way back to my dorm. So that’s the rumor that was going arou
nd the school?
How did it help take the pressure off of me to start false rumors if the false rumors were still about me? And were partially true? I was fuming when I got back to the room. I kicked the door, hoping Tor would answer it since I couldn’t free a hand without dumping all the food onto the floor.
The door opened and it was Ivy. “Yum,” she said. “What did you get me?”
“Nothing!” I said. “This is for me and Tor.” I balanced my way into the room. I hadn’t made it in very far before Tor started grabbing the pancakes and bacon, leaving me with the oatmeal and fruit. He sat down on the couch and started wolfing it down like he hadn’t eaten in years.
“Why are you so salty this morning?” Ivy asked.
“Because that’s not the rumor we agreed on!” I blurted out.
Ivy laughed out loud at that. “Have you ever tried starting rumors out of thin air?” she asked. “The light from the fire was visible from the dorm room windows. The rumor was already half out, Ian and I just did what we had to in order to salvage it. You’d rather that than the you used forbidden magic to turn the dragon into a student rumor, right? I personally don’t think there was any other way to make your popularity go any lower than that.”
“This isn’t about my popularity,” I said to her, lowering my voice and turning to smile at Tor, who was still busy wolfing down his food.
I made eye contact with Ivy, wanting to talk to her in private. She pulled me into her room and shut the door. “What?”
“You have to help me keep Tor in here. He wants to go after the headmaster,” I said.
“You can’t blame him for being mad,” Ivy said.
“Yes, but the minute he walks out there Crowe will figure out what I did. Ivy, please.”
“Okay,” she said. “But I can’t promise anything, I have to go to class too.”
“Which class do you have first?” I asked her.
“Smyth.”
“I have Kiln. I win. I go to class first, you babysit Tor. I have an open block after that, I’ll come back and relieve you.”
“Fine,” Ivy said. “But you’d better hurry, I can’t be late again to Smyth’s class.”
“You got it,” I said as I left Ivy’s room and darted through the sitting area to grab my backpack.
“I’ll be back soon, Tor. Remember what I said, please just stay here until I have some time to think.”
28
Keira
I thought for sure I’d have to deal with Malachai this morning in Kiln’s class. Especially with the Rafe half-rumor that was going on.
I got to Kiln’s class right on time, not early as usual, but his seat was empty. That was strange.
There wasn’t a lot of time to think about it though, because Kiln whooshed into the class a moment after I set my backpack down and got settled.
“Quiet, class,” she said, out of habit more than necessity, there was an odd hush already in the class. Either everybody was subdued today, or it was just me being distracted by everything that was going on.
“Today, we’re going to talk about the trials.” She stood in front of her desk, adjusted the glasses on her face, and then she leaned back onto her desk while she looked at us.
“You are my most advanced group of students. I don’t see any students in here who should have any major problems, but feel free to come to me with any questions you have. There is a written portion first, and that ought to be fine for you guys. Then there’s a magic practical that could be anything. You’ll have to be able to think on your feet and it could get dangerous. Be prepared for anything.”
Hands shot up all over the classroom. I sat there not believing what I was hearing. I literally didn’t even know enough about the situation to ask a relevant question. I supposed none of it had to do with me since I just got here anyway.
For some reason I couldn’t help but keep staring at Malachai’s empty seat. There wasn’t a single class he’d missed since I’d been admitted. What could possibly be up with him?
And I had a bigger, or at least more pressing problem than magic trials hanging out on the couch in my sitting room. With Ivy.
It was weird how Ivy didn’t seem to hate me anymore, even with the whole Rafe thing. The pack must have told her I helped her in the forest. Or maybe she felt it. I wasn’t sure.
Then I remembered that she was there last night to do some sort of weird ceremony to contact their pack, in other words the outside world. Had she been successful? What did she know? Now I wished I had remembered to ask her before I left.
The questions were stacking up with no answers in sight. And then, just like that, class was over. Grabbing my backpack, I darted to the door, hoping to be the first one out so that I could relieve Ivy.
Kiln beat me to the door, grabbed my arm, and pulled me aside. What the hell?
Kiln scowled down at me with her beady eyes and her floppy hat. She wasn’t nearly as well put together today.
“How can I help you?” I asked as nicely as I could in as big of a hurry as I was.
“I heard what you did last night,” she said.
There was a very awkward moment while I wondered why the fuck she cared that I had slept with Rafe. Then it dawned on me that she might know the other thing. I decided to go with it and try to make her uncomfortable, just for the fun of it.
“What do you care who I screw in the woods? Even if it’s true,” I said. “And by the way, you shouldn’t believe every rumor you hear at this school. These people are a bunch of busy bodies, let me tell you.”
My tongue was literally in my cheek and I was enjoying watching her squirm when she grabbed me by the shirt and pulled me to the corner of the room so that we wouldn’t be overheard.
“I know what you did to the dragon,” she hissed. “And all I want to know now is what have you done with Malachai?”
29
Malachai
I got to breakfast early. I wolfed my food down while looking for Keira. Already, there were multiple rumors floating around about what went down last night.
The rumors ranged from orgies in the forest to her getting eaten by the dragon and everything in between. I was worried about her, and nothing was going to make me feel better until I saw her walk in here in one piece.
Please, Keira, you have to be okay. Maybe I should have tried harder to stop her. I tried to keep my inner monologue from freaking out. I didn’t even know for sure yet if anything had happened.
I glanced at the cafeteria door every single time it opened. So far, no luck. I decided to give her five more minutes. The I was going to her room to check on her.
I fidgeted with my napkin. The door opened. It wasn’t Keira. Three more minutes, I thought. I wasn’t going to last much longer.
Not able to stand it anymore, I put my empty tray back and grabbed my backpack. The minute I stood up, though, I knew I was in trouble.
The door opened again. Again, it wasn’t Keira. My shoulders slumped. Then I saw who it was. It was Charles. Charles was Headmaster Crowe’s favorite pet.
He burst into the cafeteria, searched the faces, and zeroed in on me right away. That wasn’t good. The only other time he had done that was when the headmaster solicited me to get information about Keira.
He was in my face before I could dart around him. “Where ya going, Malachai? Headmaster Crowe would like to see you in his office right now.”
I frowned. “Now? I’m sorry, I have a pressing matter,” I said, shoving past him.
He reached out and grabbed my arm and physically stopped me. I wheeled on him and dropped my backpack on the floor.
I was ready to throw down even though he was a fucking vampire. He was taller and thinner than me, and though I knew that he was as lethal as they come, I think we both knew I would take him in a fair fight.
The problem with Charles was that he never fought fair. But it didn’t really matter right now, because I was in the perfect mood for a fight with anybody who stood between me and Keira.
He bared his fangs and hissed. I snarled and circled him, waiting for an opportunity to land a blow. Truth be told, I had been waiting for this for a long time.
The cafeteria, already tense from a morning of rumors and lies, erupted into chants. “Fight, fight, fight.” They shouted and formed a circle, egging us on.
I saw an opportunity and took it, landing a strong right hook on his face that sent him reeling into the crowd. They pushed him back into the circle before he even regained his balance. I saw an opportunity to hit him again, but I was too eager.
He saw it coming and dodged, landing a body blow that knocked the breath out of me. “This isn’t necessary, archangel,” he said contemptuously. “You’re still going to end up in the principal’s office. Because you’re a fuckup. Once a turncoat fuckup, always a turncoat fuckup.”
I rushed him, grabbing onto him and taking him down. It was worth it just for the surprised look on his face. Once I landed on top of him, I punched him in the face, but he turned his head so that I grazed my fist on his fang, cutting my hand open.
The open wound dripped onto his face and he looked up at me triumphantly as he licked my blood. Suddenly I felt like I was gonna hurl. He was getting off on it. It made my stomach churn. Even the crowd backed off when they saw what was happening.
I got off of Charles and went to retrieve my backpack. I had only taken a step toward the door when I heard Charles’ voice loud and clear. “If you ever want to see Keira again, I’d go see the headmaster right now. Otherwise, you can do whatever you want. It’s your choice.”
30
Malachai