by Eva Chase
I wasn’t sure I’d made a whole lot of sense trying to get my thoughts in order, but Jude’s expression relaxed. “I thought we could figure it out as we go. I’m definitely not taking anything off the table for the future. But all my attention is yours right now, Rory. There’s no other girl I want.”
The words stuck in my throat for a second before I pushed them out. “What if I’m not sure I can say the same thing about other guys?”
Jude’s eyebrows rose. “Are you seriously considering any of the jackasses who’re being shoved at you to make a grab at the barony’s coattails?”
No, but I couldn’t admit what had passed between me and Declan without putting the other scion at risk. “I don’t know. I haven’t been making out with anyone else or anything.” Only thinking about it. “My world got turned upside down just a couple months ago. I’m still working out who I am, how I feel about things—about people… If I decide I’d like to kiss someone else, does that mean we’re done? Or is that an acceptable part of ‘figuring things out’ if I’d still like to be kissing you too?”
My cheeks heated more with that question. Jude let out a rough breath and brought his hands to my face, his thumbs tracing over my burning skin.
“I can’t ask you to be all in yet,” he said. “I know that. If some other jerk catches your eye, you do what you need to do to be sure. If you do go all in with me, I want it to be because you want me more than anyone else, not because you’re afraid to find out what you really want. And if it turns out you really want someone else more, then that’ll be my fault for not convincing you I’m your best bet.” He winked at me. “I just promise I’ll be very convincing.”
I had to laugh, my embarrassment fading. “You’ve already proven that.”
Jude kissed me again, just long enough to leave me with a pang of yearning when he stopped. He glanced down the passage. “Shall we see what other wonders await?”
The metal theme continued farther into the puzzle garden. Around a bend, we came to a wall like an immense shield made of overlapping plates. Jude rubbed his hands together as he studied it. “Let me have this one?”
He was so eager for the challenge that now that I’d handled one myself, I didn’t mind stepping back. “Be my guest.”
He ran his fingers over the plates, finding a few that lifted up. After a few minutes’ inspection, he knelt down and whispered beneath one. I caught a glimpse of a lick of smoke vanishing into the shadow beneath. Something whirred within the shield. Then it spiraled open so we could step through.
“I guess you measure up,” I said, tucking my hand around his elbow.
Jude beamed down at me. “Let’s see what else we can find. I was under the impression these gardens usually had special chambers you could gain access to as well as the main path.”
I studied the hedges on either side of us as we walked on, and my gaze caught on a metallic gleam deeper within the brambles. I tugged Jude to a stop. “There’s something here.”
An intricate metal sculpture like a multi-faceted star hung behind the dense foliage. We peered at it together. Something about the shape struck me as just slightly off. The top point—it didn’t extend quite as far as the others.
I hesitated and then whispered, “Grow,” pushing a thread of my magic toward it. Seeing how I wanted the silver surface already there to stretch and lengthen, until it touched—
The point brushed a bramble just above it, and the entire section of hedge unfurled, the leaves and twigs pulling back into themselves. My breath caught at the sight on the other side.
I stepped tentatively into the secret room I’d opened up. It was still bordered by hedges, but the colorless leaves on the walls gleamed as if they were made of crystal. The branches between them shone gold. More gold arced over our heads forming a lace-like roof. And by the far wall stood a high crystal seat—a throne wide enough for two or three to sit on.
Jude let out a low whistle. “Fit for a queen. Especially an icy one. Come here, Your Highness.”
He swung me onto the crystal throne so swiftly I lost my breath. A pleasant warmth seeped through the slick surface beneath me. Then all I felt was heat as Jude brought his mouth to mine.
The seat put me at the perfect height for us to kiss without him bending at all. My legs splayed instinctively to give him more room. One of his hands settled on my thigh, staying there with a stroke of his thumb across my hip bone, the other tangling in my hair. His tongue teased between my lips, and I gave myself over to the pleasure racing through me.
We kissed, edging ever closer together until every nerve in my body was aware of the seam of his slacks grazing but not pressing against that particularly sensitive part of me. A giddy quiver traveled up through my core.
Jude traced a heated path across my jaw and over my neck. He stopped there with a swipe of his tongue and a nip of his teeth, and a gasp jolted out of me.
His hand slid up my body to cup my breast, and a different sort of jolt shot through me. The memory of my night with Connar on the cliff, the bliss of it wrenched through with the horror of his harsh words the next morning, flooded my head. My body tensed.
Jude stopped in an instant, his hand dropping to my waist, his eyes searching mine. A flicker of pain crossed his face before he schooled it calm again. “You’re still scared of me.”
I couldn’t deny it. He wouldn’t say that if he hadn’t felt it, and my fear wouldn’t have passed into him if he hadn’t been partly responsible. I was afraid of giving myself over completely again, afraid of the harshness I’d already seen Jude was capable of.
“It’s not just you,” I said, to be fair. “The last time I was with someone else like this… things went badly.”
Jude made an angry sound. “That asshole feeb? I can absolutely promise you I’ll never treat you like you’re nothing.”
He knew from Insight class about my first boyfriend back home who’d ditched me and acted like I didn’t exist after we’d slept together. Obviously word still hadn’t gotten around about Connar and me. I didn’t think I’d have wanted Jude to know about that anyway.
“I’m okay,” I said. “But we don’t need to rush anything, right?”
“Of course not.” He tipped his head to nuzzle the side of my neck, his lips brushing my skin as he spoke. “What if we made this not about me at all? I solemnly swear to keep my dick in my pants today, even if you end up begging for it.”
When I snorted, he straightened up with a smile. “I’m serious. Would that take the fear out of it, if it was all about you? I can give and ask for nothing in return.”
The promise in his voice made my skin tingle in anticipation. “That doesn’t exactly seem fair.”
“Sure it is. I was thinking too much about me when I was an asshole to you before. I know I’m not finished making that up to you.”
Maybe it was fair then. My body leaned toward his of its own accord. “I suppose we could just… see how it goes.”
His smile widened, and then he was kissing me again, tenderly but fervently. At the same time, he shifted backward so his hips no longer intruded on me quite so closely. Taking away that sense of impending expectations.
It was easier to let go when I knew he didn’t expect me to open up to him completely. His fingers stroked over my breast again, but no panic sparked at their touch, only more heat. I gave a little growl and kissed him harder, and he rolled my nipple under his thumb with a pleased chuckle against my mouth.
He slipped his hand under my shirt to fondle me skin to skin, and my breath started to break apart between our kisses. Catching my lip between his teeth, he gave it a slight pinch that set off an even sharper flare of hunger, one that raced right down to my core.
Maybe I shouldn’t have snorted at the idea of begging for him. An ache was building between my thighs with each skillful caress.
Jude returned his attentions to my neck, finding the sensitive spot that had made me gasp before. As my head tipped against the back of the throne, his hands dropped lo
wer. One held my hip in place, and the other glided over my sex.
A whimper spilled from my lips. I couldn’t stop myself from arching into his touch.
“I’ve got you,” Jude murmured. “I can take you there.”
My hips started to rock with abandon as he stroked me, first through my pants and then flicking open the clasp to cup me even more closely. His mouth came back to mine as his thumb swiveled over my clit, and I slung my arm around his neck as I kissed him back to try to counterbalance my growing shakiness. Pleasure spiked through me in waves as Jude’s fingers delved deeper and curled right inside of me—one, then another.
“Good?” he asked breathlessly, and all I could manage was a stuttered gasp and a jerky nod. His fingers plunged deeper, all the way to a spot inside me that blazed with sudden bliss. Then I couldn’t do more than cling to his shoulders and sway with him as he urged the flames higher and higher.
“Jude,” I mumbled. “Oh!”
His voice came out ragged. “Rory, you’re so fucking gorgeous. Fucking perfect.”
He stroked that blissful spot inside even harder, and my orgasm burst through me like a firework. Jude captured my cry with his mouth. His hand kept rocking with me until the pleasure had burned through my body.
I sagged forward into his embrace, my head nestled against his chest, held by this boy I’d never have thought I could come to trust. This boy who’d offered me more in the last few weeks than anyone else at Villain Academy had been willing to.
“Was the outing sufficiently distracting?” Jude asked when we were on the road back to the university. The sun was still high overhead, only just starting to creep down with the waning of the June afternoon, but after exploring the puzzle garden and the rest of the grounds more thoroughly, we’d determined there was no food to be had in the Bloodstone country cottage. My stomach had already grumbled a couple of times in a demand for lunch.
“Absolutely.” For a few hours, my mind had felt less like a hornets’ nest and more like the placid pond beside the cottage. “I’d been wanting to check out my family’s properties. Thank you for showing me the way out here.”
“My pleasure.” Jude sprawled back in the seat with a smirk that brought to mind all the pleasure he’d conjured in me this morning. “Any time you want to get out of town, I’m your man.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. It’s gotten kind of crazy on campus with all the competing for credits.”
“Everyone’s got to support their league. I see Insight has been rising in the rankings. Apparently you’ve had a productive influence there. I expect Illusion can still rule the day, though. I don’t plan on serving anyone a feast this term.”
The members of the winning league of each term’s competition got to eat a celebratory banquet prepared and served by the losers—who had to do a good job of it, or they’d get in trouble with the staff who were partaking too. There was a board up in Killbrook Hall regularly updated with the recent credit additions, but I hadn’t checked it recently. I really didn’t give a crap whether I ended up in the kitchen or at the feasting table.
“It’s ridiculous,” I said. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by how far people are going, but I still think it’s too much.”
“It’s just one more way to practice our skills. Why do you think the teachers encourage it?” Jude tipped his head to the sunlight with a satisfied expression. “You’ve got to admit that illusion during the concert was pretty spectacular, at least.”
Something that was nothing like hunger twisted my stomach. “Illusion?”
“You know, rampaging bears and all. I thought it was a pretty spectacular way to top that last stunt nobody would stop going on about. It’s no easy feat getting three bears that size moving independently and detailed enough that no one would suspect they’re not the real thing.”
My grip on the steering wheel wobbled. I’d assumed the bears had been shape-shifting students, but there was no reason they couldn’t have been an illusion. I hadn’t heard the credit called. But more importantly… “And you’d only know that if you were the one who cast it.”
“Hey, I’m not looking for an ego stroke. We all have to do our part. It just so happens I could contribute a large part. The Illusion league is clearly the one to beat.”
He was talking about it so breezily, as if it’d been nothing but a lark. My gut clenched tighter. “People got hurt because of that stunt.”
Jude shrugged, glancing over at me with his brow knit. “A couple of Naries got bruised up a bit. No big deal. If they’d kept their cool, they’ve have been fine. I couldn’t let the things really hurt them—any injuries they caused directly would have vanished with the rest of the illusion.”
“There were plenty of injuries caused indirectly! They had no idea the bears weren’t real. And my friend didn’t just get bruised. She broke her wrist—she had to leave the school because she can’t play her cello for who knows how long.”
Jude paused, watching me. “Are you really this worked up about a feeb? They know the school is going to be tough. It comes with the territory. The profs make sure they get a good bang for their buck, especially considering they’re not paying for anything. If she hadn’t panicked, she’d still be here.”
“If you hadn’t made her think rampaging bears were charging at her, she’d still be here.” I inhaled sharply, trying to keep my voice from shaking. I could stay calm. If I just put it the right way, he had to get it. “Do you really not see how that’s a problem?”
“Are you really getting angry at me for doing an amazing job at exactly what we’re supposed to be learning how to do? That was the largest and most complex illusion I’ve pulled off in my life. I’d like to see anyone else top it in the next ten years.”
“It’s got nothing to do with that. What part of this person being my friend do you not understand? It doesn’t matter whether she was a Nary or not.”
Jude had bristled. His voice came out scoffing. “Of course it does. They’re not at Blood U for us to make friends with them. They’re there for target practice and forcing stealth. How can you be ‘friends’ with someone you can’t tell the most basic thing about yourself to?”
My calm frayed. “By realizing there are a whole lot of other things that matter about people. How can you go around breaking people’s bones and ruining their lives and not care?”
“I didn’t hurt any of them on purpose! And that’s the whole reason the staff bring them in—so we can use them. I’m sure she learned plenty from the experience.”
He said the last bit so bitingly flippant that my stomach lurched right up toward my throat. I jerked the car over to the gravel shoulder and skidded to a halt just in time to throw open the door and vomit what was left of my breakfast onto the asphalt.
For a few seconds afterward, I just stared at the pale splatter on the dark pavement, my mouth sour and my head spinning. The guy saying these awful things was the guy I’d bantered and laughed with for the last few weeks. The guy I’d kissed, the guy I’d let touch me in the most intimate way just a couple hours ago…
He’d started being nice to me. That hadn’t changed who he was to everyone else. I simply hadn’t let myself think about it all that deeply.
He didn’t give a shit that his stupid prank had cost Shelby her dream. He didn’t even see her as a human being with a right to have those dreams. She and all the billions of Naries that made up the rest of the world had no rights at all to him.
“Rory?” Jude said, his tone abruptly uncertain.
I straightened up, wiping my mouth, and found I didn’t even want to look at him. “Get out,” I said as I yanked my own door closed again.
Jude stared at me at the edge of my vision. “What?”
I forced myself to turn toward him then. “Get out of the fucking car.”
I hadn’t meant to hit him with a spell. I wouldn’t have expected it to work even if I had meant to cast magic at him. But either his mental shields had faltered in his confusio
n or my anger had driven my persuasive magic right through them, because the second my voice crackled through the air, Jude groped for the door handle automatically. He swore as he stepped out onto the gravel, obviously compelled beyond his control. I leaned over to pull the door shut and locked it.
Jude grabbed the edge of the open window. Fear shuddered through me from him, but the whitening of his face looked as furious as it did horrified. “What the hell are you doing? This is ridiculous, Rory.”
“No,” I said. “What was really ridiculous was forgetting that you’d already shown me exactly who you are. Let go of the car.”
“You can’t just leave me on the side of the road!”
“We’re less than ten miles from campus. You were just telling me what a great mage you are—I’m sure you can figure out a way to make it back there. Let go of the car now, or you might end up with a few broken bones too. But I guess that’s no big deal, right?” I tugged the gear shift from park into drive.
Jude jerked his hand back. “Rory,” he started again, but I didn’t wait to hear how he’d try to justify himself next. With my gut still roiling and my eyes burning, I hit the gas and tore down the road alone.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rory
The voice echoed up from below as I climbed the stairs to the staff wing of Killbrook Hall. “It was awesome! He had this whole scheme planned out to transform a bunch of stuff, but it was all right there at the front of his mind, easy pickings. I pulled the rug out from under him in just a couple seconds.”
“I think Insight really has a chance this term,” someone said in answer.
The voices faded away when I headed down the hall, but they left me feeling nearly as queasy as when I’d kicked Jude out of my car two days ago.
It was still more than a week before the winner of the league competition would be announced, and all the students would just keep ramping up their efforts until then. And after that, the process would start all over again. Maybe my strategy of interrupting planned stunts was helping mitigate the damage a little, but at this point I just wished there was no such thing as credit in the first place.