Heart and Revenge: Slayer Academy (Book 2)

by Cassidy Summers

  I step out of my hidden sanctuary between the buildings and carry on my way to Morgan’s dorm room.

  Not two minutes later, I knock on her door. It creaks open and I find a small brown-haired girl whose pretty features light up when she sees me before her. “Bianca,” Morgan beams. “What are you doing here?”

  “Got any plans today?” I ask with a growing smile.

  “No, not really. I’ve got a bit of Guard History homework though,” she cringes.

  “Good,” I smile. “Put your shoes on and grab your homework.”

  She fumbles around in her room, getting the things she needs, “Okay, got everything,” she declares.

  “Good, because you’re spending the day with me.”

  Morgan beams up at me with excitement radiating out of her. “Really?”

  “Uh-huh. Do you want to see the senior campus?” I ask.

  Her little eyes widen in shock. “Yes,” she practically screeches.

  “Good,” I say, closing the door behind her, taking her books, and leading her back across campus. “How have you been? Are things getting a bit easier for you?”

  Her eyes grow sad as we continue our journey. “Not really,” she says, her bottom lip pouting out. “Every day something happens that I want to tell dad about, but then I remember he’s gone.”

  “I know,” I say, putting my arm around her and pulling her in close. “But, unfortunately, that’s never going to change. It still happens to me all the time. In fact, this last week has been the worst with the examinations. I know he would have loved to be there to see me kick all those boys butts, but you just need to remember that he’s watching over you and he will always be with you, right here,” I say, placing my hand over her heart.

  “Yeah, I’ll try,” she says.

  We make it onto the senior campus and I take her straight for the combat room to show her around. “Does the pain ever go away?” she asks softly as I push the doors open to the great room.

  I look down at her to find a few tears escaping her beautiful eyes. I desperately want to tell her ‘yes’ just to make her feel better, but decide the truth would be best. I pull her into a hug and whisper, “No, sweetie. It doesn’t. It will never go away, you just learn how to cope with it.”

  I feel her nodding against my shoulder and I try my best to cheer her up, after all, this is supposed to be a fun day. “Now, enough of this sad talk, you need to see the combat room.”

  Morgan’s eyes brighten as she suddenly realizes where we are. She begins to roam the great room and I struggle to keep up as she moves around the room, asking question after question.

  The door to the combat room opens and we find a confused looking Rylan standing before us. Morgan’s cheeks instantly go pink as she squeals “Oh, my God. It’s Rylan Neill,” and begins shaking in excitement.

  “Uh, hi,” I cringe, turning to Rylan. “I hope it's okay that we’re in here.”

  “It’s fine. What are you doing?” he asks, looking curiously at Morgan.

  “I was just giving Morgan a tour of the senior campus. She’s been thinking about doing the Combat program as well,” I say, glancing at Morgan who’s staring at Rylan with her mouth hanging wide open. Apparently, someone is a little star-struck.

  Understanding suddenly flashes in Rylan’s eyes. “Ah, so you must be Morgan. I’ve heard a lot about you,” he says, giving her one of the most amazing smiles, which has us both swooning.

  She squeezes my hand. “Oh, my God. He knows my name,” she squeaks.

  He chuckles and walks over to join us. “So, you want to be on the Front Lines, hey?”

  Morgan nods enthusiastically, then looks up at me in adoration. “Yep, just like Bianca,” she says. Rylan’s eyes soften at her comments as my heart begins to melt. I give her hand a squeeze and return her smile.

  “You want me to show you a few things?” he asks her.

  Her eyes widen once again and I worry that they’re about to explode. “Really?” she beams as she begins bouncing on her feet.

  “Sure, go grab a sparring mat,” he says. She bolts off in the direction of the supply closet where I had just finished showing her all the equipment.

  “Thanks for doing this. It means the world to her,” I say.

  He reaches out and squeezes my shoulder. “I didn’t realize you were still spending time with her. I’m proud of you.”

  “Why wouldn’t I? I’ve got more in common with that kid than I do with the majority of people my age,” I say.

  Morgan returns, struggling to drag a sparring mat behind her. She drops it, stomps her foot, and lets out a frustrated huff. “Point proven,” Rylan grins. He rushes forward and helps Morgan with her mat. Her eyes light up at Rylan’s chivalrous ways.

  He immediately gets into it, teaching her a few basic moves. She listens intently, giving it her absolute all, picking up on the movements with ease. “Geez. Keep this up and you’ll be taking over Bianca’s ranking by graduation,” he says, his eyes sparkling as he glances over at me sitting on the stage steps. Morgan’s laugh echoes throughout the room, the sound of pure joy as she enjoys every last second of Rylan’s time.

  “Woah, I don’t think so,” I say, jumping up and making my way over to the mat. “No one gets to beat me that easily,” I joke as I jump into the fray. The fight quickly becomes me and Morgan against Rylan as I hold him down while Morgan’s little fists pummel away.

  Ten minutes later, Rylan offers to put the mat away then joins us as I take her next door to show her around the gym. “Man, those boys in my class are going to be so jealous,” she says, talking about her morning spent with Rylan and I. “They’re such jerks, maybe I should show them some of my new moves.”

  “What do you mean they're jerks?” I ask, looking down at her to find a scowl on her face.

  “Oh, just these guys in my class. Ever since dad died, they’ve been mean,” she grumbles.

  “What are they doing to be mean?” I ask, glancing up at Rylan to find the same questioning look on his face.

  “You know, just saying mean stuff. About how I was there and didn’t even try to stop him. They said it was my fault.”

  “What?” I screech as I drop to the ground before her and take her by her shoulders. “How come you’ve never told me this?”

  A guilty expression comes over her face. “I didn’t want you to worry. You’ve already been so nice to me.”

  “I don’t want you thinking like that. You know you can always come to me if something is bothering you. Now, which boys are bugging you? I’ll sort them out,” I promise.

  “No, you won’t,” Rylan scoffs. I shoot a glare in his direction to find him smirking back at me. “Your idea of sorting it out is probably beating up a bunch of kids. I’m not going to let you risk your ranking or graduation like that. I’ll handle it,” he says with mischief behind his eyes. My glare disappears as I wonder what he’s going to do to these poor boys and I suddenly feel very sorry for them as no doubt, they’re about to have a storm of terror brought down on them.

  Rylan’s promise to handle Morgan’s problems has her swooning all over again. “Gosh, isn’t he dreamy?” she suddenly says as Rylan breaks away from us to put away a few weights away that were left out. “My friend Cammie, in my language class, says she’s going to marry him one day,” she declares. I glance up at the man in question to find him smirking to himself, knowing he can hear our conversation.

  “Oh, really?” I ask Morgan. Seems I have quite the competition on my hands. “You’ll have to tell Cammie to get in line. Apparently, every girl at the Academy is waiting to get their hands on him, even the teachers.”

  “Really?” she questions, her eyes widening.

  “Oh, yeah, even the old ones,” I say as Rylan turns around to join us once again, shaking his head in exasperation.

  We take Morgan down to the shooting range and watch her face turn into shock at the huge display of weapons that stand before her. She takes it all in, enjoying every last s
econd of it the same way I had my first time in here.

  Eventually, Rylan disappears and I take Morgan to the cafeteria, where we meet up with Jacinta and have some lunch. An hour later, we end up back in our dorm room to work on her homework that I promised I’d help with, though after twenty minutes of my painful struggling, Jacinta takes over and in no time, they’re done.

  I drop her off at her dorm room later that afternoon, making her promise to tell me if she has any more problems with those boys in her class, though I know from now on, she will never have to deal with a bully ever again. Not once Rylan is through with them.

  Chapter 13

  A few weeks pass and I get right back into my routine. Morning session with Rylan where I get my butt kicked followed by a full day of classes and then combat training in the afternoon, where I finally have a chance to do my own butt-kicking.

  I sit in my dorm room with Jacinta and the boys, relaxing on our Friday night after yet another huge week of training. We all lay snuggled up on Jacinta’s bed watching a movie, the four of us nearly spilling out of the small single bed, yet somehow, we make it work.

  We’re about halfway through the movie when Daniel scoots closer to me and whispers in my ear. “I think we need to leave,” he says, indicating to Jacinta and Trey next to me who seems to have started an epic make-out session.

  “Oh, geez,” I groan, getting up off the bed. Daniel follows behind as we make our way over to the window.

  “Where are you going?” Jacinta asks, a little breathy.

  “Anywhere but here,” I laugh as I push the window open and begin climbing out.

  Daniel quickly climbs out after me, throwing his arm over my shoulder and leading me away.

  “So, where are we going?” I ask, pulling my jacket tighter around me.

  “No clue,” he says.

  “Let’s go sit somewhere, there’s something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about,” I say.

  “Really?” he asks confused, clearly having no idea what’s going on. “What is it?”

  I let out a groan, really not wanting to bring this up. We find a spot hidden in the shadows of a building, which will hopefully keep us hidden from any teachers walking around. “Oh geez, where do I start? Um…Okay. Do you remember that day, a few weeks ago, when I collapsed during training?”

  “Ah…yeah, I’m not going to forget that day anytime soon,” he says. “But go on.”

  “So, you came to visit me in the infirmary and spoke to Rylan…” I say.

  Understanding flares in his eyes as he figures out what this is all about. “So, he told you?” Clearly remembering the moment he told Rylan he had been in love with me for years.

  “No,” I confirm. “Rylan didn’t say a word.”

  “Then how?” he asks, cutting me off before I have a chance to explain.

  “I woke up the second I heard your voices. I heard it all.”

  “Right…,” he says slowly.

  “I’m sorry. I should have told you earlier or let you guys know I was awake, but my head was aching and I didn’t have the energy-”

  “No need to apologize,” he says, cutting me off once again. He puts his arms around my waist and pulls me in close.

  “How come you’ve never told me? I mean, a few years? Really?”

  “I don’t know. I guess I never really had the guts until I saw the way you were falling for Rylan and I knew it was different with him. I guess that kind of forced me to try. I mean, I kind of told you at the beginning of the year and all that got me was one steamy night in a club.”

  I cringe at the memory. “Yeah, but you didn’t tell me the extent of it.”

  “I figured that would have kind of freaked you out,” he grins.

  “You must know that if things were different it would have been you.”

  “I know,” he says, placing a kiss on my temple. “That’s what makes it so hard, especially now with Trey and Jacinta together. It makes me think, if I wasn’t such an idiot and told you ages ago, maybe we would have been together,” he says.

  “Maybe,” I agree.

  “No,” he says on second thought. “You would have still fallen for Rylan, the second he got here.”

  We sit in silence for a short while, my unanswered comments lingering in the air, though we both know, without a doubt, that no matter what the circumstances, I would have still fallen madly in love with Rylan.

  “So...Nora?”

  “Yeah…Nora,” he groans. “I mean, I don’t know. It started as nothing, just another way to help get over you, but now. I’m not sure, it might be something,” he says, thoughtful.

  “Are you falling for her?” I ask.

  He scoffs and smirks at me. “Why? Are you jealous?”

  I smack his arm. “Stop being an idiot,” I say. “Answer the damn question.”

  “Fine,” he says. “Yes, I think I’m falling for her.”

  A smile pulls across my face and I look up into his eyes. “I’m happy for you,” I tell him with sincerity.

  “Thanks, that means a lot coming from you. To be honest, I was a bit nervous about telling you girls. I wasn’t sure how you would take it,” he says sheepishly.

  “You know we will always support you no matter what. It’s just a shock that it’s Nora of all people. But I promise, I’ll even try being nice,” I say, making a show of drawing a cross over my heart. “But if she does anything to hurt you, Jacinta and I are going to shred her to pieces.”

  “Believe me. I know,” he laughs.

  “So…” I start.

  “Spit it out,” he demands.

  “Does this mean you’re not in love with me anymore? I mean, you're over me now?” I cringe.

  He smiles down at me with a softness in his eyes. “Just about, pretty girl. Just about.”

  Relief pours through me and my whole body visibly relaxes. “Come on, let’s take a walk then I’ll drop you back at your room, hopefully, they would have finished by then.”

  “Okay, but when we get there, you’re the one checking,” I laugh.

  “What? No way. Now that she’s my sister, it just seems…wrong. You’re definitely on checking duty,” he shoots back.

  “Fine,” I grumble as we walk out past the junior campus. We stay hidden in the shadows of the building as we make our way around. We sneak up the side of the boy’s dorms and come to a halt when the sound of a window sliding open breaks the silence of the night.

  We spy the particular window in question and watch in fascination as a leg comes through, followed by a female’s body, her face still stuck deep inside the window as we hear the sound of a kiss goodbye.

  Daniel begins chuckling beside me at the display put on by these young teenagers. Probably reminding him of his own junior years. The girl finally pulls out of the window and my stomach drops. No.

  Daniel’s chuckles are immediately replaced with an angry snarl as Millie flies out of the window and shoots herself across campus. My mouth hangs open in shock and I start forward, ready to go after her. “No don’t,” Daniel says “Wait until the shock has worn off. You’ll probably say something you shouldn’t and then she isn’t going to tell you about it or who the guy is, and besides, she’s not doing anything that we weren’t doing at her age.”

  My eyes widen in shock at the thought of my precious little sister getting up to the kind of things that I used to do. Daniel cringes, clearly realizing where he’s just gone wrong.

  “Why wouldn’t she have told me about this?” I whine, heartbroken that my little sister is growing up and suddenly keeping secrets. I mean, when did she start hiding things like this? What else is there that she hasn’t told me? Millions of questions begin shooting through my mind and a sudden need to sit down comes crashing over me.

  “I don’t know, babe, but I do know that if we just take about ten steps that way, we can find out who the guy is,” he says.

  Yep. That got my attention.

  We sneak forward towards the window as if we’re
in a James Bond movie, Daniel taking it far enough to even drop into a forward roll. I stuff my hand over my mouth, trying to mask the laughter that’s threatening to break out.

  We finally make it to the window and I drop down to my knees beside Daniel, so we can each sneak a quick glance at the occupants of the room. Daniel whispers playfully, "I always wondered what you would look like on your knees," earning him a quick fist to the stomach.

  He coughs and sputters, "I deserved that."

  "Funny, that didn't sound like much of an apology to me." I turn, looking into the room to find the boy my sister's been sneaking around with. He must be around fourteen years old, tall, dark hair, kind of scrawny looking. Though I can definitely see, for a fourteen-year-old, he’s kind of attractive. He’s got nothing on my boys, but I understand Millie’s attraction.

  “Do you need me to beat him down?” Daniel whispers beside me.

  “Not sure,” I say. “I’ll get Millie to introduce me, then I’ll let you know if he needs a beat down.”

  We begin to sneak out from under the window, back in our 007 roles when a very familiar throat clears behind us. A guilty grin spreads across my face as Daniel turns an unhealthy shade of white.

  “How is it you always catch me when I’m doing something stupid?” I ask.

  Rylan’s arms cross over his broad chest. “I don’t know. Call it a gift.” He stares down at us with an equal amount of annoyance and amusement shining through his eyes. “I’d really like to hear an explanation for this.”

  Daniel cringes. “Yeah…I don’t think there’s a good one,” he says, glancing at me.

  “Bullshit,” I cry, causing Rylan’s eyebrow to raise in question. “I have a great explanation.”

  “Well,” he says, the annoyance gone from his eyes, leaving just the amusement. “Please, do share.”

  “Millie has a secret boyfriend.”

  “What? Since when?” he demands, apparently adopting a protectiveness over my little sister which completely warms my heart.

  “I don’t know,” I cry. “We just caught her sneaking out of his room.”

  Rylan’s eyes widen in horror. “But she’s only thirteen.”