by Rachel Angel
“You’re all the same. You fucking Fallen Boys.” She turned to April. “How could you let him touch me?”
“He came by to help,” April said. “I couldn’t hold you alone. You were fighting and kicking.”
Kingsley leaned back and looked at her. “They will be punished, Harley. I accept that you don’t trust me, but…”
“You accept it?” she said, incredulous. “Wow. How big of you.”
He clenched his jaw and reached out to take her hand but stopped midway when she pulled back. “Fair enough,” he said. “Look, what happened here goes beyond mistreating you.”
“He’s going to stop all the hazing, all the bullying, Harley,” April said.
“And,” he added, “I’m going to push back the initiation.”
Harley just looked at them, her eyes hard.
“What Oak and Ashley did was not only unfair to you, but it is actually dangerous for all of us,” Kingsley said.
“You called out that a griffin was attacking you. Then you switched and said a minotaur was looming over you. You ran through a dark forest.”
Harley nodded.
“You were in the Dark Faery Realm, weren’t you?” April said.
Again, Harley nodded, a shiver running up her back. Just remembering the sense of fear that had practically paralyzed her was enough to make her shudder.
“No one is allowed to go to the Dark Faery Realm,” Kingsley said. “It’s too big of a risk, and Oak and Ashley should have known better.”
“Just by opening the portal, even for a second, gives the creatures of the Dark Faery Realm the chance to come to this side,” April said. “We don’t want that.”
Kingsley looked at her, his eyes warm and his lips tight with concern. “I’ll call a meeting and remind everyone of the rules.” He smiled boyishly at her. “We’re not complete cads, you know. We do have rules to live by.”
Harley smiled. “Thank you for helping to wake me up or bring me back… whatever.”
“Why don’t you just cancel the initiation?” April said to him. “She’s been through enough. And, by God, she’s proven herself more worthy of being here than any of you, especially Cici and Ashley. You know, I’m not even sure why they’re here at all.”
Kingsley cast his gaze to the ground. “I can’t cancel the initiation. I can’t. Once it’s started, it has to be finished. There’s magic behind it…”
April nodded and then said, “At Fallen Fae Academy, the magic will either complete you or kill you.”
Harley looked at April and then at Kingsley. Is that what initiation meant? If she survived it, she would be stronger for sure. But the magic…would it mean she would then have magic?
Chapter 10
The following day, as she left history class and headed to her physics class, Harley bumped into Oakley. It was a gentle collision, considering his massive size and she quickly realized it’d been intentional.
“Oh,” he said innocently. “Sorry. My bad. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”
“Fine.” She walked on.
“Harley,” he said gently. “I didn’t know.”
She turned to him and was surprised by the sincere expression in his eyes.
“I didn’t know about the cookies. Ashley said she wanted to see you freak out a bit, that she wanted to toy with you, but I had no idea she was sending you to the Dark Faery Realm. There might be a lot of things that I don’t know, but I know that going there is off limits.”
“Right,” she said with a shrug. “Whatever.”
She turned to walk away but he came up beside her and walked with her. “In a way, it’s kind of good news, though, don’t you think?”
“I’m not sure I follow your line of logic.”
“Well, Kingsley postponed the initiation.” Tilting his head down, he gazed at her from beneath his brow.
He flashed her the most adorable grin and she felt her insides turn to mush. His hair was loose and pulled back from his face simply with water. Wearing a fresh tank top, Harley guessed he’d come straight from the showers after a soccer practice. He smelled great and she wanted to lean in closer to get a better sense of him.
Arriving at her next class, she stopped and turned to him. “Thanks for the escort.”
He shot her a wickedly sexy grin. “Any time.” And left.
***
Harley tossed a thick steak into the sizzling skillet and let it sear for a minute, then turned it over to sear the other side. Just as she popped her potato out of the oven, the door opened and April came in.
She waved through the smoke Harley’s steak had caused and rushed to open the window. “Are you concocting some sort of magic potion, or what?”
“Sorry,” Harley said with a chuckle as she set the large steak on a plate beside the potato. “I didn’t notice I was smoking the place up.”
April tossed her bag onto the sofa and sat on a stool, staring at Harley’s massive steak. “Are you really going to eat all that?”
Harley cut a good chunk off and brought the juicy meat to her mouth, nodding. “Unless you want some,” she said through her chewing.
“No thanks. But what’s the deal. What happened to hummus?”
Hummus had become her daily staple lately. “I have an interesting combat this afternoon.”
“Don’t tell me,” April said. “A Fallen Fae.”
Grinning, Harley held up two fingers.
“Two? Who? Zed and Red?”
With her mouth full, Harley nodded. “You know,” she said as she cut into the steak. “The other day, in government and politics, I knew things about the Kingdom of Fall and the alliance with the Wooded Land that they didn’t even know.”
“Good for you. Every time you do something like that, you’re proving to them that you belong here.”
“I think you’re right. They’ve been… well, different lately. Almost nice.” She took another bite of steak, added a bit of potato and chewed. Then with her knife she pointed to the steak. “That’s why I want to get energized. I want the iron and whatever else is in this.” She looked up at April. “I want to impress them. I want to show them just how strong I really am.”
After her hefty lunch, she went for a long walk then headed to the sports complex. In the smaller arena at the back, she got into the ring with Zed.
“Don’t be too hard on me,” he begged as he smiled. Wearing tight black shorts down to his knees and no shirt at all, he was glorious. His muscles were perfectly proportioned, and every line of his body called to the strength and power he had.
They were brought to the center of the ring by the referee.
“No dirty tricks. This is a basic wrestling match. The first to pin the other to the mat for a count of three will be declared the winner.”
Harley nodded as she eyed Zed. While she had no doubt he was stronger than she was, she did have a few tricks up her sleeve. She grinned at the thought while he looked at her hungrily. She’d taken off her jacket and tossed it out of the ring, exposing the tight white shorts and tighter red tank top.
“Is that part of your strategy?” he murmured as they stood toe to toe on the mat. “Distract me with your… attributes?”
“If it’ll win me this competition, why not?”
The ref blew the whistle, and Harley charged Zed, going straight for his legs and pulling them out from under him before he could even move.
He fell on his back but was fast and soon had her pinned to the floor. The length of his body covered her, and she could feel him, all of him.
There was a second of arousal, of going somewhere and they both breathed heavily as they lay there, nose to nose.
But Harley raised her shoulders off the mat and quickly snaked her feet under and around his ankles and pulled out on either side.
He let out a pain filled cry.
“Give up?” she whispered.
“No,” he said through gritted teeth.
She pulled outwards a little more.
&nb
sp; “Shit,” he groaned.
“Give up?” she cooed.
“Damn it.”
Harley relaxed a bit and brought her legs inwards a touch. Zed breathed more easily.
“You know, we can’t just lie here all day,” Harley said.
Leaning on his elbows, he looked down at her while his cock nudged against her, hard as a rock. “This isn’t so bad.”
“Yeah?” She pulled her legs outward again and Zed let out another agonized cry.
“I don’t have all day,” she said as she pulled out a little more.
Zed slapped the mat.
The ref came down to the mat with them. “Are you conceding?” he said.
“No,” Zed grunted.
Harley pulled her legs outward and he cried out and slapped the mat again.
“Do you concede?”
He just grunted.
“Do you concede?!”
He nodded and Harley released his ankles. Zed rolled off her and lay on his back, his knees up as he rubbed them. Harley stood and looked down at him with a grin.
“Jesus, Zed,” Red said from the sideline. “What the hell happened?”
“I don’t know what the fuck she was doing, but it hurt like hell.”
“Wimp. Get out of there so I can show her what a Dunsworth can really do.”
After a few more moments of breathing and recuperating, Zed stood. He limped out of the ring and Red stepped in.
“I’m not so easy to sway,” he said, looking at her body. “It takes more than your charms to defeat me.”
“Whatever you say,” Harley said as she leaned forward, getting into position. She knew she had to change her strategy. He’d watched closely as she’d charged for Zed’s legs and probably anticipated the same attack.
She built on that anticipation, leaning down a bit further and glancing at his muscular legs.
The ref blew the whistle and, as Harley had predicted, Red stooped down slightly, hardening his stance in anticipation of her attack, but instead of charging his legs, she popped up and smacked her elbow into his nose.
Reeling, he stumbled backwards, blood pouring from his nose.
Then Harley went in for his legs, throwing him to his back then climbing over him to wrap her feet around his ankles.
Bloodied and in pain, he slapped the mat.
“Are you conceding?” the ref said.
Red didn’t waste any time. He looked up at Harley, his gaze filled with respect, then nodded.
She got off him and allowed herself a moment of celebration, keeping her fist in the air as she strutted around the ring.
“Congratulations,” the ref said. “I think those were two of the shortest matches I’ve ever witnessed.”
Harley smiled and the twins both offered her crooked smiles as well.
“You can all head to the showers now.”
Harley grabbed her towel and headed to the main door.
“Aren’t you taking a shower?” Zed said, his true intent quite clear.
“I think I’ve caused enough damage for one day,” she said with a grin.
They walked up to her and both held their hands out. She shook their hands.
“You’ve earned our respect,” Zed said.
“We underestimated you. I mean, you’re so tiny and feminine.”
“And you’re a human,” Zed added.
“A female human.”
“Well,” Harley said, “then I think I taught you a valuable lesson. Never underestimate your opponent. You never know what they’re capable of.” She turned on her heel and headed to her room for a quick shower.
Once under the hot running water, she decided to linger a bit longer. Despite the victories, her muscles were tense and her back tight. The hot water mingled with the pleasant scent of the mint and lavender soap to wash all the tension away. With a towel wrapped around her chest and another wrapped around her hair, she walked out of the bathroom refreshed and ready for what the rest of the day had to offer.
April came in just as Harley was drying her hair with the big fluffy towel.
“You’re back already,” April said with surprise. “I thought you said you had two combats.”
“I did.”
“Oh,” April said sympathetically. “I’m sorry. Did it go that bad? Are you hurt?”
“I thought you had more faith in me than that,” Harley said.
Surprised, April looked pointedly at her. “Well, I do.” A reluctant smile slowly curved her lips. “What? Are you saying that you…?”
“Won. Yes! I won.”
“Against both of them?”
“In record time.”
“Holy shit. How the hell did you do that?”
Harley held her hands out in front of her. “There’s more to me than meets the eye,” she said.
“True, Harley. Despite being human, you constantly surprise me. But hey, there’s something going on that you should know.”
“What?” Harley said as she unwrapped the towel that was around her chest and got dressed.
“A gang of guys were hanging around the gym. I had the impression they were waiting to see the fight. Anyway, they were going on about how they wanted to fuck you. Not that it’s any of my business, but word is that you’re a virgin.”
Harley nodded, now proud of her virginal status. She wasn’t about to be shamed for it.
“Well,” April went on. “They’re all eager to be the first. One of them, Gilbert, said he intended on ensuring he was the first. He sort of implied that he wanted to corner you and fuck your brains out.”
Harley’s eyes narrowed and she frowned. “You mean, he intends to rape me?”
“It kind of sounded that way.”
“Hmm. Surprising if he actually saw the fights with Red and Zed. If he even tries to get on top of me, he’s in for a surprise.”
“Well, I don’t know if he’ll even bother trying.”
“Why’s that?”
“Zed and Red made their position on the matter clear. They nabbed the guy and punched a bit of sense into him.”
Harley grinned. “They did that?”
April nodded. “They said that if he, or any of them, even tried to touch you, they’d have to contend with them. Zed even added that they better show you some respect. No cat calls, no whistles, no kissy-kissy.”
Harley laughed. “Well, what do you know. That’s a surprise.”
“I know Kingsley said the initiation was simply postponed, but I’m beginning to think it might very well be cancelled.”
Harley held up her crossed fingers. “Let’s hope so.”
***
The month flew by and Harley forgot all about initiation, bullying and the Fallen Boys. She was learning a lot in her classes and enjoying the sense of accomplishment that came with every lesson. She had a good rapport with her professors and was now always at the top of her classes.
Her interactions with the Fallen Boys were amicable enough, but she refused to get too close to them. If she were to befriend them, it would be on her terms, when she was good and ready.
“Bad news,” April said, storming into the room they shared.
Harley, busy washing her plate in the sink, glanced over her shoulder at her. “What’s going on?”
“Cici and Ashley,” she said.
Harley waited.
“Kingsley and Oak broke up with them.”
Harley let her plate fall back into the sudsy water and wiped her hands off on a towel as she turned to face April. “Bad news? Sounds like good news to me. Those girls are horrible. Even those guys deserve better than them.”
“You don’t understand, Harley. The girls are probably going to blame you for their break ups.”
Harley guffawed. “Aw, come on. Even they wouldn’t be so stupid as to…”
“We’re talking about Cici and Ashley, Harley. They’re plenty stupid, believe me. I heard that Cici is flunking out of three of her classes, while Ashley is struggling to just survive in one. Th
ey’re flunking out, Harley.”
Without bothering with a knock, the door opened and Cici and Ashley walked in, uninvited.
“Well, you went and did it this time, didn’t you, slut?” Cici spat.
“Did you really think we would let you get away with this?”Ashley said.
“I’ve been with Kingsley for over two years,” Cici said. “And now you come along and he’s not sure he wants to be with me anymore.”
“Do you guys really not see your part in this?” Harley said.
“No,” they replied in unison.
“Cici, the last three times I saw you with Kingsley, you complained because he hadn’t called you when you had asked, you bitched about the fact that he’d forgotten the anniversary of when you first kissed and then you made a big deal out of nothing when he didn’t get you precisely the right color roses that you wanted for that stupid anniversary.”
Flustered, Cici frowned.
“I mean, it must be hell dating you.”
Ashley chuckled and Harley turned to her.
“And you, Ashley. You’re not much better. It seems that every single time that I see you with Oak, you’re complaining about one thing or another. He’s too rough. He’s too timid. He’s too passionate about his sport. He’s too poor. The other day you actually yelled at him, and I mean yelled at the top of your lungs, because he neglected to notice that you had cut an inch off your hair, and he then neglected to compliment you on it. For fuck’s sake, no one noticed your fucking hair.”
Ashley stood rigid, taking Harley’s abuse.
“All you guys have going for you,” Harley went on, “is mom and dad’s credit card and some decent fashion sense. On top of it you have just way too much confidence that those things are enough to get you through in life. Do you really think those guys give a fuck about your new blouse from Paris, or the new shoes from Milan, or the new purse from London? Fuck, I don’t even give a crap about that stuff. Why the hell should some dudes?”
April let out a long, low and impressed whistle.
“You guys go running around the campus dressed like super models, but what the fuck is going on up here?” Harley went on, pointing to her head. “Is it true that you’re both flunking out of almost every class you’re taking?”