Heart and Revenge: Slayer Academy (Book 2)

by Cassidy Summers

  Let’s just say, two hours later, I had Luke begging for the end of the session.

  Trey and Daniel join me as I make my way up to the library to help Jacinta search through all the old Guard textbooks. “You look happier,” Jacinta comments as we sit down at the table.

  “Yeah,” I smile. “Rylan paired me with Luke.”

  “Ahhh…enough said,” she laughs.

  Jacinta reaches down and hauls the biggest textbook up off the ground and slams it down on the table in front of me. “Here,” she says. “I thought you could start with this.”

  Dread fills me but is replaced with amusement at the looks of complete horror on the boy's faces as Jacinta repeats the process with them. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.

  Nope. I was wrong.

  Two hours later, my head is aching and my tummy is rumbling. “Have we done enough for today?” I groan, knowing if anything I should be thanking them for their help.

  “Yeah, I think I’m done too,” Trey says. Jacinta looks up at her man and gives him a heart-breaking pout. “Don’t pull that on me, babe. I’m exhausted. I’ve done more research just this afternoon than I’ve done all year.”

  Jacinta huffs and makes sure we’ll all be here tomorrow. She grabs a handful of books and demands the boys help her carry them. Once she’s signed all the books out, we head back to our dorm with the boys trailing behind, whining about how heavy the books are.

  “Thanks for doing this,” I say to Jacinta.

  She gives me a sad smile. “You don’t need to thank me. You’re my best friend. You know I’d do anything for you.”

  “I know, but I’m worried we’re doing all this and it won’t get us anywhere,” I confess.

  “Have a little faith. If it’s there, I’ll find it, and then we can stick it to The High Council.”

  “Okay,” I smile. “Just don’t stick it too hard. I just want to graduate, not get kicked out altogether.”

  We finally make it back to our dorm room, even going through the front door with the boys behind us.

  “Are you going to have dinner with Millie?” Jacinta asks as I take some painkillers for my headache once the boys are escorted out of the girls’ dorm rooms by the dorm supervisor.

  “Nah, I’m going to crash. Besides, she has a test on Friday, so I should let her concentrate. I promised her we could hang out on the weekend, so I’ll tell her then. Actually, maybe I should ask mom to come and visit on Sunday and I could tell them both.”

  “That’s not a bad idea,” she muses. “What do you think your mom will say?”

  “Hah,” I scoff. “You know her, she’ll be thrilled that it takes me away from the Front Lines.”

  “Come on,” she scolds. “You need to give her a little more credit than that, she just wants what’s best for you. She’s scared of losing you, especially after what happened to your dad. But I think you’d be surprised after she saw what you were capable of at your examinations. I think she’s a little more accepting of you being on the Front Lines.”

  “Really?” I ask, shocked at her revelation.

  “Yup. You should have seen the way she was cheering. I mean, the first few fights she was a nervous wreck, but once she realized how well you hold your own, she was all for it, screaming for you to ‘kick em where it hurts,’” she laughs.

  “No way. You’re lying,” I grin.

  “Scouts honor,” she says, laying her hand across her heart with a smile. “She was nervous all over again during the weaponry skills though, but then you got all fancy and kicked his sexy butt.”

  “You know,” I laugh. “One of these days you’re going to have to stop checking out my boyfriend.”

  She shrugs her shoulders, not sorry at all. “No can do, Peach. He’s a fine piece of man meat.” I shake my head at her enthusiasm when she suddenly gets all serious. “Did you want to come with me for dinner?”

  “No,” I sigh. “I’m so emotionally exhausted. I’m just going to eat something small and climb in bed.”

  “Okay,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “I’ll bring you back something yummy,” she adds, always knowing just how to cheer me up.

  Jacinta grabs a few things and not before long, disappears out the door. I pull out my phone and send mom a quick text to organize a day together on Sunday. Once she’s responded, the exhaustion begins taking over.

  I strip and redress into my pajamas before climbing into bed and allowing the exhaustion to claim me.

  Chapter 16

  I wake early on Thursday morning, my stomach in dire need of food after my early night. I climb out of bed and dress in my workout gear before taking a quick glance in the mirror, pleased to find my red, puffy eyes have returned to their normal stunning selves.

  I rummage through our small kitchenette for anything that will put a halt to the loud grumble coming from my tummy. Finding a banana, I annihilate it in no time before washing it down with a glass of water.

  By now, of course, I’m running late. I dash out of my dorm room and out into the cool July breeze, making a mental note that I’ll need to start bringing a jacket with me. We’re well and truly into winter, but so far, I haven’t had a need for the extra layer. Call it global warming or maybe I’ve just been too distracted by my instructor to notice the chill, but who can blame me? Every time I see him, he has my blood pumping in waves and my body temperature soaring.

  I make it to the gym, just in time to see Rylan exiting it. He glances down at his watch when he notices my arrival.

  I grin up at him knowing what’s coming and momentarily get blindsided by his stunning good looks. “I swear, you get later and later every day,” he comments.

  “You can’t rush perfection,” I joke, indicating the length of my body.

  His eyes travel up and down my body, following my movements. “Bianca, you look like you just fell out of bed.”

  “Okay, okay, I was hungry,” I whine. “I fell asleep before I got the chance to eat.”

  “Are you good now?” he asks, referring to more than just my stomach.

  “Yeah,” I say before noticing the field markers in his hands. “What are we doing today?”

  “Come on,” he says, indicating with a nod of his head to follow along. “We’re working on your agility, so we’ll be on the oval today.”

  Damn. Now I really wish I’d brought a jacket.

  An hour later, I’m thoroughly exhausted, all thoughts of jackets completely gone. In fact, I’ll be heading back to my dorm to have a cool shower.

  Rylan finally excuses me to get ready for classes as exhaustion starts to take over. I drag my feet all the way back to our dorm on extremely shaky legs. I’m about to push through my door when a stern male voice on the inside stops me dead in my tracks.

  “This is inappropriate behavior, Jacinta,” the voice says. “You will stop this ridiculousness at once. You must speak with me at some point,” he growls. “Do you have any idea how damaging a fallout would be for my reputation?”

  Ahhh. It must be Jacinta’s Dad.

  I barge my way in, prepared to save Jacinta if necessary. “Mr. Cooper,” I smile as though he isn’t the kind of man that nightmares are made out of. “How lovely to see you again.”

  Phillip gives me a curious look and a slight nod before turning back to his daughter with a scowl. “Is this where you have picked up your bad attitude?” he asks, indicating towards me.

  Woah, hold up.

  “No, Dad. You don’t get to come in here, guns blazing, accusing my friends of having bad attitudes,” Jacinta defends.

  “I’m your father and I will do as I please.”

  “No. I don’t think so. You may be my father, but you are not my family. You lied to me my whole life. I bet you even knew who Daniel was all this time and just never said anything,” she says as a tear begins rolling down her cheek.

  His face turns a ghostly shade of white, confirming Jacinta’s thoughts. “You’re being absurd,” he snaps.

  “No, w
hat’s absurd is you barging in my dorm room at 8 in the morning, being a rude and accusing jackass while I’m trying to get ready for class,” she yells. “Now, if you want to fix things here,” she says indicating between the two of them. “Then that’s fine, but you’re completely going about it the wrong way. You need to give me space.”

  “Space?” he scoffs stepping towards her. “What you need is to pull your head together and stop acting like a brat,” he snarls, reaching forward and catching her wrist in his big hands.

  Oh, hell no.

  I step between them and push him backward, forcing him to release his grip. “With all due respect Mr. Cooper. You touch her and I will lay your ass down,” I say. He gives me a horrified look, knowing that I’m indeed capable of just that. “Now, if you don’t mind we need to get ready for class,” I add, indicating towards the door.

  He huffs down at me, then glances over his shoulder. “I will be waiting for you at the end of the day. We will discuss this then.”

  “Oh, great,” Jacinta responds with sarcasm. “I’ll bring your son along. It can be a family reunion.”

  His face turns an impossible shade of red. “You will do no such thing.”

  “Well, the reality of the matter, Dad, is that I don’t feel I can be around you without the need of a bodyguard.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” he snaps.

  “It means that I don’t trust you.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” he scolds.

  “Dad,” she sighs. “I need to get ready for class. I will see you this afternoon, once you have calmed down.”

  “Fine,” he says, turning on his heel and stalking out the door.

  “Woah, are you okay?” I ask, turning around to face Jacinta.

  “Yeah. I think so,” she says. “I can’t believe he just grabbed me like that. Like, what was he going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” I say, pulling her into a tight hug. “But maybe it’s a good idea to take Daniel with you this afternoon.”

  “Ha, can you imagine his reaction?” she laughs. “I might just do that.”

  “Good,” I smile. “Now, we need to get ready before we’re late and get detentions.”

  Twenty minutes later, I’m dressed and ready. We walk down to the cafeteria to get a proper breakfast before class when my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out to find a message from an unknown number.

  Unknown - Hey, Bianca, it’s Kaylee. I hope it’s okay I have your number. I kind of stole it from Rylan’s phone when he wasn’t looking. Anyway, I thought we could catch up, maybe the shopping trip on the weekend? Do they still do them? We could get manicures and have a girls’ day. What do you think?

  Awesome. I think that’s just what Jacinta and I need. I save her number to my phone and hit respond.

  Bianca – Hey Kaylee, a girls’ day sounds perfect. I hope it’s okay if I bring Jacinta, she’s definitely in need of a little girl time. Saturday okay?

  Kaylee – Perfect, I’ll see you girls then.

  I share our new weekend plans with Jacinta while we gobble down our breakfast. “Geez. Are you ready to go back to the mall? Last time you had a bad experience,” she says.

  “I’ll be fine,” I smile. “We’ll just stay away from dark alleys that are occupied by the undead.”

  “Oh, God. I can’t believe you’re joking about it,” she groans.

  “It’s better than crying.”

  ----------

  I wake on Saturday morning, excited about our girls’ day out. I get dressed up, well by dressed up, I mean, a nice top and skinny jeans, paired with some flat knee-high boots, rather than my usual workout clothes.

  Jacinta and I each blow out our hair and put on a little makeup and before we know it, it’s time to head to the bus.

  We dash out of our room with Jacinta demanding we stop at the boys’ dorm so she can say a quick hello to Trey. In other words, deliver Trey with a surprise make out session.

  I finally drag her away, making our way across campus to the bus, just in time. We jump up onto the bus, get our names marked off and find a seat.

  We’re sitting patiently, discussing what our girls’ day should entail when a familiar shape enters the bus. A smile creeps over my face as Rylan makes his way down the aisle, clearly on chaperone duty today. His eyes find mine with a question deep within them, but I’m far too busy focusing on his body that’s wrapped up in his favorite leather jacket to respond.

  He smirks down at my reaction but continues on to his seat. “Oh, Rylan,” I hear a perky voice call from behind us. I turn to see a suddenly very excited Miss. Layton, standing up in her seat, waving him over. Rylan groans as he passes us and shoots her a fake smile.

  Jacinta and I break into uncontrollable giggles. Rylan arches a frustrated eyebrow at me and I know I’ll be paying for that later.

  Five minutes later, the driver finally gets on, starts up the engine, and pulls out of the academy so we can get started on our much-needed girls’ day.

  “So, you never told me how you went with your dad the other day?” I ask as the bus putts along.

  “Not great,” she says. “He really wasn’t happy when Daniel showed up.”

  “I bet,” I laugh.

  “He tried to kick him out, but when he realized Daniel wasn’t leaving he just got straight to the point, which pretty much is, if it is going to tarnish his image then he doesn’t want anything to do with it.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  She lets out a frustrated sigh. “That he doesn’t want anything to do with Daniel and if I’m going to continue having Daniel in my life, friend or brother, and risking someone discovering the truth, then he’ll cut me out as well.”

  “WHAT?” I screech. “Have you talked to your mom?”

  “I tried calling her yesterday, but she said she was busy and couldn’t talk,” she sighs.

  “Or avoiding the topic,” I add.

  “Exactly.”

  “It’s okay, if I haven’t been shipped off by then, you can stay with me,” I smile.

  “Well duh,” she says as the bus comes to a stop.

  We all hop off, waiting for the teachers to give their usual spiel about safety and boundaries, which I notice has slightly changed since my near-death experience.

  Finally, we’re freed and Jacinta and I head off to the mall. I take a quick glance behind me to watch Rylan stalking off with Miss. Layton scurrying to catch up to him. I’ll have to put that woman in her place one of these days. We head deeper into the mall and begin looking around, knowing we have about an hour before we meet with Kaylee.

  We head into a lingerie shop, both of us wanting to find something special for our men. I pull out the sexiest little red set I can find and hold it up high for Jacinta to see. “What do you think of this?” I ask.

  Jacinta’s head snaps around at my question and she takes all of two seconds to inspect the little red number hanging from my finger. A grin creeps across her pretty face. Yep, she approves. At that precise moment, Rylan strolls by the entrance of the store with his eyes landing on me. He gives me a sweet smile that quickly turns into something else as he notices the lingerie hanging from my finger. Fire flares behind his eyes and I know, without a doubt, I will not be leaving today without my new favorite piece.

  Jacinta grins as she watches our exchange. “God, do I need to be on guard while you two get it on out the back?” she snickers at me.

  “No, I can control myself,” I laugh, picking up a few more pieces.

  “Alright, I think I’ve got more than enough,” Jacinta says, dragging me along to the cashier.

  “Wow, Trey is a lucky boy,” I comment as I take in the pieces Jacinta is buying.

  “That, he is,” she agrees.

  After a few more stores and a crapload more training outfits, I receive a text from Kaylee letting us know she’s just about to arrive. We head out to the bus and convince the driver to let us stash our bags, then head back inside to s
earch out Kaylee.

  A few minutes pass as we search the huge area for Kaylee when I hear my name being called in the distance. “Bianca, over here.” I turn my head in the direction of the voice and find Kaylee waving me over.

  Once again, I’m shocked by the similarities between her and her brother. Apparently, Jacinta is too when she comments they could be twins.

  “How are you?” she sings, coming right up to me and pulling me into a bear hug.

  “I’m good,” I squeak when she gives me some room to breathe. “How have you been?”

  “Just great,” she smiles. “Though, I’m happy to finally have a girls’ day. I’ve been needing this just as much as the next girl. This must be Jacinta?” she asks, turning towards the blonde bombshell beside me.

  “Sure is,” Jacinta says. “You must be Kaylee. Rylan’s sister.”

  “Indeed, that’s me,” she smiles. “Now, I need a coffee before we get this show on the road.”

  “Oh, thank God,” Jacinta says, Kaylee’s words being music to her ears. “You and I are going to get along just great.” Jacinta loops her arm through Kaylee’s and leads the way to our favorite coffee house, which is also Jacinta’s way of letting me know that she approves.

  An hour later, we’re as relaxed as physically possible as we each get pampered at the nail boutique.

  “This is so amazing,” Kaylee murmurs, sounding as though she’s falling asleep.

  “I agree,” Jacinta says in that same sleepy tone. Me? I don’t even have the energy to respond.

  A shadow falls upon us as an amused voice is cleared, trying to get our attention. We each jump as our eyes fly wide open, finding Rylan looking down on us with an equal mix of confusion and suspicion.

  “Baby brother,” Kaylee smiles, getting up and giving him a tight squeeze. He groans at her use of the word ‘baby’. “What are you doing here?”

  “I could ask you the same question,” he says, glancing towards me with a curiously raised eyebrow.

  “We’re having a girls’ day,” I say as if meeting with his long lost sister is a non-event.