by Liv Brywood
I banish my darkest thoughts before jumping into the pool to join a game of volleyball. Nyx is on his own against Remus and Torak. I join Nyx, and the next match begins.
The sound of our laughter bounces off the rocks around the waterfall. It echoes throughout our little oasis. For a while, my world is perfect.
All too soon, the time comes for us to leave.
I hug each of them a little longer than I normally do. I love the feel of their bodies pressed against mine. I kiss each man’s cheek and breathe in their scent as they stand in front of me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Of course,” Remus says.
“Absolutely,” Torak says.
“I’ll be here,” Nyx says.
With a heavy heart, I watch them walk into the woods.
Reluctantly, I trudge back to the Academy.
Once again, unease grips me. I sense eyes, unfriendly eyes, boring into my back as I walk. I glance around and behind me constantly, but all I see is the forest. I distract myself and try to laugh off my concerns, but I don’t know which is worse: the trek back to the Academy or my suspicion that an unseen follower is watching my every move.
As I recall our fun night together, I push my worries aside. Memories of the boys’ shenanigans gradually shift to thoughts of Nyx, Remus, and Torak. I can’t stop thinking about the way they looked as they stood in the pool. Moonlight glistened off water droplets as they streaked down their bodies.
I smile as I contemplate the “what ifs”. What if I could kiss Nyx and actually feel his lips explore mine? What if I could touch Remus’ bulge to find out exactly how big he is? What if Torak’s fingers could do more than casually graze the outside of my bra and send electricity through my body? What if I took a chance and asked them to be with me?
None of this could ever happen for one simple reason: I couldn’t possibly choose between them, and if I can’t have them all, then it’s not fair to choose just one man.
I wrap my arms around myself to ward off the sparks of worry that tingle up my spine. The long walk from the waterfall seems to pass in an instant. The Academy’s imposing stone building is a black fortress against the night sky. Dread steals my happiness.
My anxiety intensifies, and my heart plummets when I spot movement by the Academy’s entrance.
Lexus stands with her arms crossed. A scowl darkens her face as I approach.
There’s no point in running since she’s already seen me. As long as she doesn’t find out I was with my friends, I might be able to get out of this alive. She hates shifters with a fiery passion. She considers them inferior animals, and she’d love to see them all destroyed.
“It’s rather late for a walk.” Her deceptively sweet voice chills my soul. “Where have you been?”
I fist my hands at my sides. I don’t know what to expect, or if I can even defend myself against her magic, but I’m not going down without a fight.
2
Iris
My stepmother’s eyes glimmer in the darkness. I struggle to keep my nerves under control. I can’t show fear. Words jumble in my brain as I try to come up with a reasonable explanation for being outside—and dripping wet—at three o’clock in the morning. I have to lie, but what lie will she actually believe?
Lexus watches me intently as she taps her blood-red fingernails on her crossed arms. Impatient, she waits for me to answer her question.
How much does she know? I don’t want to give anything away.
Did she have anyone follow me? Probably not.
She hates shifters. If she knew I was in their company tonight, I don’t think she’d be this calm.
“I was out for a walk in the forest. It was too hot in my room. I couldn’t sleep, so I took a stroll to help me relax.” I manage to stay calm enough that my voice doesn’t shake.
Lexus picks up a lock of my still damp hair. “Took a walk in the woods, did you? Did it rain?” She arches her perfectly drawn eyebrows, cocks her head, and purses her bright red lips.
I draw a deep breath as I face Lexus. “I found a pool on my walk and I took a dip.”
“Really?” Lexus narrows her eyes. “Why do you lie to me? You know I know the truth. Where were you?”
“I told you.” My heart’s in my throat. “I went for a stroll in the woods because it was too hot in my room.”
“Is that so?” She pauses so long that I think we’re done. But we’re not. “Who did you meet while you were out on this walk?”
My eyes squeeze shut. “I didn’t meet anyone.” I glance back at her and scan her face. She must be a bluffing. She couldn’t possibly know about the guys. “I went for a walk. I was alone. It was too hot.”
“Yes, yes, I know. It was too hot in your room, and you wanted to cool off to sleep.”
My smile trembles as I nod.
Lexus tugs on my hair, enough to make me wince. “Since you can’t be trusted to stay in your room and tell me the truth of your whereabouts, you’re grounded. You’re confined to the Academy until further notice. If you leave, you must be accompanied by another witch.”
My vision turns red. I may be afraid of my stepmother, but I won’t be spoken to like a ten-year-old child.
“I’m an adult. I don’t have to answer to you. I’ll leave the Academy whenever I choose, without an escort.”
“Of course, dear. You’re an adult, and you can come and go as you please. But I worry about you. A lot of accidents happen at night, and I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you. It would completely devastate your father… and me, of course.”
Lexus’ smile could freeze a polar bear. Her gaze is as sharp as her nails.
“I’m sure you’re very concerned.” I flash a perfunctory smile. “However, I can take care of myself. Now if you’ll excuse me.” I step past her. “I’m finally tired. I’m sure I’ll be able to sleep now.”
“Of course. Sweet dreams. Don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
I highly doubt I’ll sleep at all tonight. If I’m lucky, the buzz in my stomach might calm down by the end of this century. That woman is salty ice on an open wound.
I hurry to my dorm room before I blurt out anything I might regret. I don’t like confrontations. My stepmother frightens me, but everyone has a limit. Lexus has almost pushed me to mine. Part of me wants to turn and tell her exactly what I think about her, but I know that’s not going to help anything.
I wish my father was here. I wish he wasn’t working all the time. If he could see the way she talks to me, he’d understand why I don’t like her. It’s not even about the things she says, it’s the way she says it.
As soon as I reach my room, I push the door firmly shut and lean against it. My knees are suddenly weak. I’m not sure I can even make it to my bed.
Finally, my heart calms down and I can breathe normally.
Let her play her games. At least I know she isn’t what she seems. I know she doesn’t care about me, but she wants something from me. I just don’t know what it is. Whatever it is, she won’t get it.
I have to learn to control my emotions around Lexus. I’m sure she doesn’t care that I loathe her, but she does enjoy my fear. She revels in the power she has over me. I won’t let that woman break me. One day, I’ll get out of here. Until then, she can’t take what I don’t give her.
After brushing my hair and teeth, I sink blissfully into my bed. I’m almost asleep when Lexus’ words pop into my head.
“A lot of accidents happen at night, and I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you.”
The more I ponder her words, the more they sound like a threat.
My real mother’s car accident happened at night. I always wondered what really happened. Something seemed off about it, but I’ve never been able to prove anything. It’s been years, but I still miss my mother every single day. She was nothing like Lexus. My real mother was loving and kind, and she only used her magic for good, never evil. Not like Lexus.
My stepmother’s words continue
to haunt me. Did she have something to do with my mother’s accident? Is she that evil?
Although I despise and fear Lexus, I don’t want to believe she’s responsible for my mother’s death. Still, it’s strange that Lexus would suddenly become part of our life just a few days after my mother’s burial. I try to remember how Lexus came into our lives, but I can’t recall the details. It seems like one day she wasn’t there, and then the next day, she was.
My eyelids become so heavy I can’t keep them open. The rest of the night consists of dreams about my time at the pool with my friends. I hear the rush of the waterfall, my friends’ laughter, and the songs of nocturnal animals.
My skin tingles at the memory of Nyx’s, Remus’, and Torak’s warm bodies pressed against mine as they hugged me goodnight. My body turns into an inferno as I picture their muscular bodies as they play in the pool. My fingers ache to touch them.
All too soon, I wake up. My dreams fade into reality.
I hang around my room all day. Truth be told, I’m still concerned about my encounter with Lexus.
Once again, her thinly veiled threat pops into my head, followed closely by the thought of my mother’s death. There’s no way she’s responsible. Her appearance the week after the funeral is just a coincidence. The issue is simply that I don’t like her. Anything more is too horrible to imagine. However, my gut has never been wrong before. Right now, it’s telling me to not trust Lexus—and for now, I’m listening.
Lexus is a supernaturally beautiful woman with black hair, violet eyes, and a perfectly proportioned face. But her outer appearance veils the truth. From the moment I met her, I could sense darkness and evil beneath her attractive facade.
Even at a young age, I knew she wasn’t what she seemed. Over the years, the darkness inside her has grown. My father didn’t notice, but he’s not around much anymore. If he saw her every day, he’d see the shift.
I still can’t believe my father introduced her to me only a week after my mother’s funeral. A week! That’s the worst part of this whole situation. I don’t know how she got her claws into my father so quickly, but it makes me wonder if she knew him before the accident.
When she first came into our lives, Lexus treated me very well. That was part of why my father finally married her. He didn’t know how to raise me, and her presence helped to relieve his burden. He hurt terribly after my mother’s death, and Lexus knew exactly what to say to make him feel better. I don’t like to think of the other way she may have tricked him into marrying her.
I shudder and sit on the floor by my window.
Little by little, my father started to rely on Lexus more and more. She slowly took over our lives, and now I’m stuck here in her academy of dark magic. Maybe she’s not as evil as I imagine, but I don’t know. What I do know for sure is that I don’t like her, and I absolutely don’t trust her.
It has nothing to do with her marriage to my father. Something’s off about her. It bugs me, like an itch I can’t reach. One day I’ll figure her out. Until then, I’ll have to keep my guard up.
Sneaking out to meet up with three guys isn’t even the worst problem. If she ever found out they were wolf shifters, she’d lose it. Lexus despises wolf shifters. She doesn’t like shifters in general, but she has a particular hatred toward wolves.
Some witches don’t like shifters, but Lexus takes her hatred to a whole new level. She founded the Academy to train witches to fight a war with the shifters. It’s a war I would hate to see unfold. My childhood best friends are shifters, and I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to them. I’ve never dreaded a war between witches and shifters as much as I do now.
Worst case scenarios creep into my head. I envision finding the men I care about dead in the forest. Tears course down my face, and my soul shatters at the thought. I’ve already lost my mother. I couldn’t stand to lose my best friends as well.
I do my best to swallow my fear.
War is unlikely to happen, I remind myself. There are too many people who want to keep the peace between the shifters and the witches. The peacekeepers outnumber the warmongers. Even Lexus has limited influence because most witches are against a war.
What would any of us gain from a war anyway? Why does Lexus push for it?
I can think of two reasons. First, Lexus is fanatical in her hatred for shifters. Her ideal world entails complete annihilation of every last one. Second, she craves power. She’s been able to mobilize plenty of witches who are willing to wage war on shifters. She doesn’t need an army; she only needs enough magic to destroy shifters forever.
Her lust for total domination knows no bounds. She wants other witches to serve her desires. Once she gets rid of shifters, I don’t know who she’ll go after next. Humans? The world? She’ll have both magical and political power behind her if she gets her war. My father is very influential in the world. With my mother gone, Lexus can tap into that influence.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that Lexus had good reason to kill my mother—if she killed her. But without proof, I’m just a sad girl with a dead mom, three off-limits friends, and a lot of suspicions.
Lexus is evil. I know I’m right, even if I don’t have solid proof yet. But without proof, I can’t tell my father. I can’t tell anyone. I’ve never even told my guys about my suspicions. If Lexus found out I suspected her true motives, who knows what she would do?
The thought sends a chill through my body.
I pull my legs up to my chest, press my lips to my knees, and shut my eyes. I’m afraid of Lexus. I can’t tell anyone about this. It’s too dangerous to even see my friends for a few days. I don’t want Remus, Nyx, or Torak on her radar.
No one can help me. I don’t know how to win against Lexus. I can’t confront her about my mother’s death or a possible war because she’d just laugh at me, or worse. If I ask her about my mother’s death, she’ll deny it and likely tell my father about the accusation. She’ll also double her efforts to make my life a living hell. I don’t want to find out what she’s truly capable of.
Tears well up in my eyes.
I definitely can’t meet my friends tonight. I can’t lead Lexus to them. It’s too dangerous. I can’t even talk to her about the guys because she’d kill them instantly if she ever found out how close we all are.
She tries to isolate me. I don’t have any witchy friends because of her. She’ll use anything she can to drive a bigger wedge between father and me. She’d definitely use my relationship with the guys against me.
Maybe I should talk to my father first.
No. Lexus has him wrapped around her finger. He’s completely devoted to her. She snaps her fingers, and my father jumps to do her bidding. She’s a saint in his eyes. If I voice my suspicions, I’ll look wicked and petty. Without proof, my father will never believe me, and the distance between us will become an uncrossable, bitter chasm. For now, I’m stuck in the shadows with suspicions, fear, and not a shred of proof.
I shake my head.
I don’t want a war.
I don’t want to use my magical power against shifters.
I only want to hang out with my friends. It seems like such a simple desire, but nothing about my life is simple.
A defeated sigh escapes me. I have no choice but to wait for a few days. This will blow over eventually. She can’t ground me forever. If fact, she shouldn’t be able to ground me at all. I’m twenty-one. I’m not a child, even if she still treats me like one.
I settle into a comfortable chair in my room. I force myself to take my mind off Lexus. She doesn’t get to control my day. Instead, I purposely turn my thoughts back to last night.
When did my feelings for them change?
I’ve always loved them as friends. They’ve always been my closest companions. We share everything. They know most of my deepest, darkest fears. They know all my secrets except one. I should have told them about Lexus, but I never had the courage to do it. I didn’t want them to laugh at me. I dou
bt they would have, but I didn’t want to risk it.
I know I’ll need to stay away from them to protect them, but I won’t let Lexus steal them from my memories too.
I don’t want to think about the stepmonster anymore, so I grab a bottle of nail polish to freshen up my nails. They’re chipped from splashing around in the water last night.
As I paint my nails, my thoughts drift back to the guys. If any of us were to cross the line that separates friends from lovers, who would it be? Nyx, Remus, or Torak? They’re all equal in my eyes, so how could I pick just one?
I shouldn’t think about them this way, but I’d rather not dwell on other things. I’d much rather think about my guys than about Lexus.
I blow my nails and wait for them to dry.
If Lexus wants to come after me, that’s one thing. If she wants to target Nyx, Remus, and Torak, that’s another. I can’t let that happen. Until Lexus is no longer suspicious of me, I can’t put them in danger. As much as I want to meet them again, for their safety and mine, I have to stay home tonight. If Lexus wants to punish someone, she’ll have to punish me, not my guys.
3
Nyx
“Geronimo,” Remus screams as he leaps off the side of the cliff. As he falls past the white froth of the waterfall, he straightens his body and plunges into the water. A wave engulfs Torak and me. Torak throws his arm over his face.
Already wet, I stand there, hands on my hips, and stare at the moon. The cheerful yellow orb has drifted quite a bit since we arrived at the waterfall, but there’s still no sign of Iris.
Remus surfaces and swims closer to me.
“Are you all right?”
“She’s late.” I chew my bottom lip.
“Yes, she is.” Remus glances at Torak.