by Ember Hollis
It feels like the whole world is narrowing to the points where we touch. I can feel his breath, fast and hot against my neck, and his arms, like iron where he grips beneath my thigh and around my waist. I let go completely, allowing his smell, his touch, and his heat to overwhelm me, carry me higher, until fireworks explode behind my eyes and a breathless cry tears from my throat.
“Ma..lek!” I shudder around him, riding wave upon wave of pleasure. My hands fall to his ass, gripping him hard. I can feel the firmness of his flesh as he pumps into me, and even though I’m spent, it still feels so good. After I come, Malek peaks soon after, shuddering as he spills burning heat into me.
He catches me around the waist as I slump, boneless, and helps lower my leg. Hot ribbons of come streak down my thighs but I don’t care. What I hate, is the feeling of emptiness as he pulls out to lay us, panting, on the grass.
I press my cheek to his chest and listen as he catches his breath, his heartbeat thumping loudly under my ears. It’s the sweetest rhythm I’ve heard all year.
He wanted me from the first moment he laid eyes on me.
I smile at the memory of his words, flattered and pleased, even though I know that his desire had probably made things worst for me. Would he have thrown those daggers at me if I’d been just another angel? One that didn’t tempt him and enrage him at the same time?
I don’t know. But I do know that this combination of anger and desire makes for extremely pleasurable sex.
“Can we go again?” I ask, as soon as his heartbeat steadies. “Considering everything you put us through, I think this is the best way to make up for it.”
“If I don’t, are you going to jump on me again?” he asks drily, opening one golden eye to peer down at me.
I trace the v line of muscle on his abdomen and lick my lips.
“You know… that doesn’t sound like a bad idea at all,” I say, as I sling a leg over him, grinding my hips over his.
Chapter 14: Heaven
We stay out until the sun starts to rise. This time, I have no blanket to cover me on my way to my room, only my ripped up shirt that I tie around my waist. But I don’t feel like its a Walk of Shame, even though there’s grass stains on my knees and the smell of sex hangs in the air around me. No, I don’t feel any shame or fear at all.
Not with Malek escorting me all the way to my door.
“Does this mean you’ll stop threatening me?” I ask as he bends down to kiss me in front of it. Malek regards me solemnly, his eyes softer and yet more troubled than they’ve ever been.
“I still think you should leave,” he says. “As Horsemen, our lives don’t belong to us. Sometimes, we’re called on to do terrible things… things that no one should have to do. And yet, we do it because we have to, because our deeds are ordained.”
“And because I’m part-angel…”
“You’ll have to choose. Horsemen aren’t meant to love anyone. Everyone is dispensable. When the time comes, you’ll either stand with the angels… or you’ll Fall to be with us. And even then… we might have to betray you ourselves if you stand in our way.”
“But I’m not even going to try to receive Grace,” I frown, overwhelmed. I hadn’t even mentioned love… but the fact that Malek did, makes something hard and cold start to melt, deep inside of me. "I can’t Fall. There’s no need to worry at all.”
Malek just looks at me like he knows something I don’t. “Just trust me. It’s for your own good if you get as far away as you can from us.”
He turns to leave and I catch his hand, pulling him back.
“You can’t possibly justify all the crap the Four of you have pulled by saying it’s for my own good,” I say scornfully, purposely making my voice harsh. Even though I’ve started to see them in a new light, I won’t ever forget what they did to me.
“Of course not,” he replies. “I can’t speak for everything the others did, only for myself. But who wants to crave what they can’t have? If you go, it’ll be easier on all of us.”
He yanks his hand from mine and starts walking away.
I frown darkly as he strides down the hall. “You can’t tell me what to do you know,” I call out after him. “In the end, I have free will, even if you think you don’t. And if I choose to stay, I’ll stay.”
He doesn’t turn back and just keeps walking down the deserted corridor. Once he’s gone, I turn to enter my room, scrambling for my keys in my too-tiny skirt pocket.
The sound of clapping reaches my ears and I turn to my other side.
It’s Christian, lounging against the door jam of a room down the hall.
“I see you’ve ticked off another Horseman from your list,” he drawls. “You’re just a regular slut now, aren’t you? Nothing special at all.”
I’m not surprised to see him in the girls’ dorm, but I am surprised at how I feel when I do. Briley’s words must have gotten to me, because I find I’m relieved that he hasn’t actually lost interest in me. The realization makes me feel so embarrassed, I almost miss the sting of his insult. Almost, but not quite.
“Feeling left out?” I throw back at him.
“Feeling flattered,” he says. “Don’t they say you should save the best for last?”
“As if I’d believe you mean that.” I finally locate my key and stick it into the lock. “You’re actually jealous you’re so far down the list aren’t you?” I turn and throw a mocking smile at him. “The bottom of the bucket.”
“On the contrary,” he saunters up to me. “If I can’t have you as a virgin, I’d prefer if you learned a trick or two before you come to me. Otherwise, it would just be boring.” He looks me up and down, his critical gaze making me feel uncomfortable and yet aroused at the same time.
“Maybe, it will be you coming to me,” I say, throwing out a lash of power at him. After missing out on sleep and rest the whole night, I don’t really expect my efforts to be that effective. But to my surprise, my pink mist comes out thick and strong. It loops neatly around his neck like a sash and wafts gently as he breathes it in. Christian’s eyes start to smolder and I smirk inwardly.
I have my own weapon against you now.
Then he lifts a hand to the delicate skein of glowing power, and pulls it off. I stare in shock. I hadn’t used a spell to make it tangible and visible, and neither Bane nor Malek had been able to see my powers on their own, let alone touch it. And yet… when I think about it, I realize that I’ve seen Christian’s energy before, many times in fact. So why is it so strange that he can see mine?
“Well, well, well,” he smiles, the edges of his lips curling in glee. “I hadn’t expected something so underhanded from you. Especially after you accused me of using my powers to seduce girls.
I back away as he approaches me, his fingertips starting to glow a famiiliar blue-green.
“But, since you’ve thrown down the gauntlet with this,” he crushes my little sash of energy into tiny sparks of power that dissipate into the air, fading under the glow of his energy, which licks at his fingers like a ball of flame. “I think it’s my turn now. Get ready to beg!”
I turn and scuttle forward as he thrusts his hand at me, slamming my door in his face just in time. I hear a thump and a hiss as his hand strikes the wood, then a dark chuckle.
“Well,” Christian says through the door, a smirk in his voice. “I guess hunting season has officially begun. May the best hunter win. Little lamb.”
I clutch my chest and sink to the floor as his footsteps recede away from my door, feeling half-terrified… and half-exhilarated.
Chapter 15: Heaven
Since we came back so late, I barely have time to grab a bite of breakfast before class begins. The ceremony will be held in the evening today, exactly three days after the Hunt began. Apparently it’s the last chance we’ve got to repower the Dome before the veils between the worlds thicken again, so everyone is on tenterhooks. Although classes are still scheduled, like yesterday, everyone just seems to be going through the motions.
No one, not even the teachers are paying any real attention.
Which is great, because every time Christian gets a chance, he tries to spike me with his power.
The first time I realize it is when I dart through the cafeteria on my way to class. I’m about to pick up my usual mug of black coffee—made from beans imported from Terra just for students like me who grew up in the human world and are hooked on the drink—when I catch a shimmer of blue on the surface of the liquid.
Deciding to trust my instincts, I forgo the mug for tap water and avoid the piles of french toast. When another girl dashes in behind me and drains the cup in one go, I know I made the right decision. Almost before the mug leaves her lips, her eyes glaze over and she sashays across the cafeteria, making a beeline to a familiar table behind a potted palm.
The leaves rustle agitatedly for a moment, then Christian’s honey blond head pops out from behind it, his eyes narrowing at me. The girl’s arms are entwined around his neck, her lips puckered and aimed at his, her legs practically climbing around him.
“Better luck next time,” I smirk and dash away, my pulse racing.
Forget roofies, Christian’s personal aphrodisiac is way more potent. And it’s everywhere I turn. When I reach my locker, the handle is gleaming with magic, and I’m forced to forgo my textbooks to avoid it. My desk in my first class is coated with the stuff too, and so is my chair, forcing me to take Sybil’s vacated spot.
I sit all through History, and even though the Professor actually does give us a lecture on Pandorax’s history and the background of the rituals, I’m hardly able to pay attention as Christian sends coil after coil of his power towards me, making them slither across the floor towards my chair like tiny snakes. I try to duplicate them and send my own energy to ensnare him, but I’m not as practiced as he is even after Madam Hinako’s training last night, and my ribbons of power either unravel or get lost and devoured by his.
It’s lucky that nobody else is taking the class seriously. Everyone is either chatting, doodling, playing games, or crying and comforting each other as they ignore the lesson, and it hardly bothers the Professor when I sit cross-legged in my chair throughout class glaring at the floor under me, then exit his classroom by jumping off my seat and gliding through the air on my wings.
You’d think that Christian would get mobbed by the whole school since he’s throwing his power about. But after the first girl, he makes it so nobody else gets hooked into jumping him even when they come into contact with it.
And the only ones who seem to have an idea about Christian’s and my feud are the other Horsemen. I’m aware vaguely aware of their presence close by, probably near where Christian has been loitering as he watches my antics. I ignore them, knowing they won’t come to my help.
It’s all on me, because nobody else knows what’s really going on. Even Briley hasn’t a clue. She just rolls her eyes at me and scoffs when she sees me jumping from spot to spot in the corridor to get to my next class, stepping only on the checkered white tiles and avoiding the black. Christian has a mocking sense of humor, and it seems like he’s delighting in seeing me make a fool of myself while I try not to fall for his traps. Even with the distracted air the whole school is in, I’ve already attracted mocking insults and scornful gazes.
“Look at her, playing hopscotch while Noah’s practically on ice. I told him she was sleeping around, but he still believed in that heartless bitch.”
“Wow. Just goes to show, even an angel born can be an idiot.”
“Does she think this is funny? Our school might still shut down. What the hell does she think she’s doing, prancing around like that?”
“You know that lamia who fought for her? I heard she hasn’t even gone to visit her in the hospital wing. Looks like she was just making use of her, doesn’t it?”
My heart bleeds at some of the things they say. The lies and the presumptions. I’m not even hurting or disturbing anyone with what I’m doing. I know I’m acting weird, but I’m just trying to stay out of trouble. But apparently what I’m doing is more abnormal and unacceptable than ambushing someone and beating them up. Than calling them names and degrading them.
Just because I’m new and different, doesn’t mean I don’t deserve the benefit of the doubt. What right do they have to judge me?
I stop hopping in the middle of the hallway when a girl I recognize as one of the ones who shoved my head in a toilet bowl a few days ago actually spits at me.
“Just figures someone like you got through the Hunt and the Attack unscathed,” she says. “What did you do, spread your legs for the hellspawn? I bet you’ve got their babies wriggling in your belly, just waiting for the right time to explode out of you and attack us.”
Laughter rises around me, and I feel my cheeks grow hot and then icy cold. I’d fought for the school too. I’d almost died doing it, but I hadn’t once thought twice about whether they deserved my sacrifice or not, in spite of everything I’ve endured.
The injustice of it all makes me want to lash out and hurt them just as much as they’ve hurt me. To give them what they want. The girl with no conscience. With no heart and no pity.
Energy builds within me, deep in my stomach. I feel it gathering as I stare at her, calm and steady while her spit drips down my cheek and onto my chest. I’m caught in the eye of the storm, a hair’s breath away from ripping into her, and there’s nothing that can stop me.
My wings start to emerge, razor sharp before they even leave my skin. They split the back of my blouse with a sharp, tearing sound that I barely notice. My power coils around my hands and rises from my shoulders like steam. It’s still pink, but darker, and there’s nothing seductive about it. What it’ll do, I don’t yet know.
But I do know it will HURT.
Then, just as I’m ready to let loose, someone drops a kiss on my cheek, just above where the spit landed.
I turn to the side and glimpse Knox’s green gaze. It’s sharp and cold, like cut glass beneath an Arctic sea, and it’s focused directly on the crowd of mean girls that have begun to gather around me.
“So much hunger here,” he says quietly. “Thank you for it. In return, let me give you some satisfaction.”
I sense more than see a whip of his power lash through the group, touching each one of them in turn. The sensation is so novel and yet so familiar, it jolts me fully out of the limbo of anger and violence I’ve been swirling in, all my heightened senses zooming in on the new source of sensation.
“Go on,” Knox says, jerking a thumb at the glass doors in the arches lining the hallway we’re in. “Satiate yourselves. Do it, until the hunger leaves.”
No… he can’t mean what I think he means… can he?
I get an odd sense of knowing, a second before the first girl moves. I can almost feel what Knox’s intentions are. And when she staggers through the archway and drops to her knees in the mulch, I know before I even see it, that she’s going to gorge herself on the dirt.
And gorge herself, she does.
They all do.
I watch in amazed horror as the troupe of girls shovel fistfuls of soil, grass, mud, and mulch into their mouths, swallowing it down with expressions of ecstasy. A moment later, they’re joined by more students, even some male ones.
They look like deformed sheep clad in school uniforms, with their mouths chewing crud and their moans of delight rising in the air. They’re coated in mud, but they act as if they’re at a banquet, dining on delicacies and sweetmeats, unable to get enough of it.
If they keep going like this, they’ll devour the whole courtyard, I think, stunned.
“That’s about all the people who want to bring you down,” Knox tells me. Malek has come up beside him. He wordlessly brings out a handkerchief to wipe the spit off my cheek, his eyes solemn as they take in the state of my tattered clothes and outstretched wings. “They’ll keep at it till the desire leaves. That, or until they die.”
“No way,” I gasp, a chill running down my spine.<
br />
He can do this, with just a few words?
And that energy. Why had I been able to sense it?
I dismiss the thought for one more serious.
“You can’t do this,” I tell Knox. “We need their help tonight. For the ritual,” I remind him.
“Their weak minds are better put to use fueling my power,” he tells me. His eyes seem to gleam an even brighter green as he says this. “The day of Sanctuary is meant to be non-violent and passionless because it’s so easy to spill over into excess and end up killing each other needlessly, with the heightened energy from the Hunt. Except that there’s no such thing as excess for us Horsemen. And the energy these students have will serve us better in my hands anyway.”
I shake my head, wordless as he gives me a wink, then strides off down the hall.
“You’re welcome, by the way,” he throws over his shoulder. “Just don’t forget, you owe me.”
* * *
I watch Knox walk away, a surging feeling of warmth vying with the fear that’s risen at the sight of him letting loose his powers. On one hand, I’m incredibly happy that he decided to stand up for me. On the other hand, I dread the retaliation his actions will bring down upon me, when those students realize what he made them do to defend me.
I’m also troubled by what it means that I’ve gotten so entwined with someone in possession of this much power, with so little restraint to curb it. I have no idea what Knox might want in return for this favor, and what I’ll do if I can’t fulfill it.
‘It’s for your own good if you get as far away as you can from us.’
Malek’s words swim to the surface of my mind as he turns to me.
“Having you here makes us worse,” the Horseman says as if he can tell what I’m thinking about.
“That’s not fair,” I tell him. “You make your own decisions.”
“The one’s that are ours to make,” he reminds me. The look in his eyes are conflicted. There’s the familiar anger I’m used to, along with a hunger that I’m beginning to recognize was there all along. He hates that he wants me, and yet he can’t help himself. Even without me using any powers on him.