Deadly Declaration (Shadow Veil Academy Book 2)

by Heather Renee

  “I had a feeling you wouldn’t come to tell me you were back, so I decided to wait for you in your room and then got tired, so I went to bed and figured I’d wake when you turned on the lights. But you didn’t, so really, this is all your fault.” He smirked, playing the blame game.

  Ugh, I really wanted to punch him again. Like really freaking bad.

  My emotions were escalating by the second and, without warning, I felt a full-on breakdown rising to the surface. There was nothing I could do to stop the eruption, no matter how much I wished it wasn’t happening with Enzo to witness it. Instead, he was going to take the brunt of my ire.

  “No, all of this is your fault. From the very beginning, you could have left me alone. I would have been fine on my own. I was fine. Then, you came and forced your way into my world and everything since then has been complete shit.”

  Hot tears trailed down my face as every frustration decided to make itself known. There was no holding it back as every negative thought I’d had in the last few months came rushing out.

  “Did you kill my parents, too? Did Malina force you to do that? Did you take every happiness away from me, so I would have no other choice but to depend on you?” I had never really believed he could have done those things, but those questions had made appearances in my head at the darkest of times when I had been alone over the summer and trying to cope with everything on my own.

  “Raegan, I would never—”

  My hand shot out, halting whatever he was going to say. “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to be this creation that Malina made to use against others. I don’t want to be a damn dragon or be in a completely different realm from everything I’ve ever known. I just want to go back two years and be with my family, completely unknowing that you or any of this ever existed.”

  My body crumpled against the wall as everything I’d been through over the last year beat my body to shit. I had thought I was handling everything fine, but the last twenty-four hours had been too much. Whether it was the lack of sleep and changing worlds, or learning who donated my dragon DNA, or even Enzo’s presence that I couldn’t seem to escape, I’d never know, but I’d finally had enough.

  All I did know was that once the floodgates opened, they wouldn’t close, and I’d never even been able to put on my pants, which was making me feel all kinds of awkward, curled on the ground, half-naked, as Enzo cautiously made his way toward me.

  “Raegan,” His voice shook with trepidation, but I ignored him while sobs continued to escape from deep within me. “I’m going to sit next to you,” he whispered.

  His warmth covered my entire left side, causing my body to shake from the change in temperature and lean into him involuntarily. Not one to miss an opportunity, Enzo’s hands slid under my frame and gently deposited me into his lap. I considered trying to get away, but I was done caring in that moment. I didn’t bother to object, because if I was being honest… I still needed him.

  I hated him, but I loved him.

  I had never understood how that could be possible, but it was my life at the moment. No matter how much I wanted Enzo to disappear, I knew deep down, a part of me wanted him. I just didn’t understand why, and there was no more energy left in me to fight him right then.

  “Cry all you need to, little dragon. Even if you hate me more in the morning, I’m not leaving you alone right now. So, do what you need to and know I have you. I’ll hold the both of us up for as long as you need.”

  His words made me cry harder, because it was like he understood exactly what I was feeling and confirmed it was okay to hate him for all he had done. The shit-tastic part was that it only made me love him all that much more.

  Chapter 10

  The following morning, I woke up wrapped in Enzo’s arms and back on the bed. I had no idea how long we had slept for, but it had been the best night’s sleep I’d had in months. Though, I promptly ignored the “why” around that little fact and slid out of Enzo’s hold, so I could use the bathroom.

  Before Enzo had turned the lights out the night before, I saw the bathroom to my right, so I tiptoed in that direction. Once my hand grasped the door handle, I closed it behind me and whispered “lights on” like Enzo had previously done.

  The area came into view, and I found another door at the opposite end, thinking it was a closet. I opened it up only to find another bedroom. My bag happened to be leaning against the bed, so I assumed it was Enzo’s room and entered.

  Grabbing my stuff, I took it back into the bathroom and left the door open, so I wouldn’t get suffocated by the steam in the shower and didn’t have to wake Enzo by opening my own door.

  I turned on the shower first, which thankfully didn’t require any kind of voice command like the weird techy lights, then proceeded to get undressed. The water was already scalding when I stepped in seconds later, just how I preferred.

  The night before came back to me, and even though I had worried I’d be embarrassed for my breakdown, it was the complete opposite. The weight I had been carrying on my shoulders was lighter, and I felt like Enzo truly understood me. Even if I wasn’t ready to forgive him, I knew we’d reached some sort of common ground and could move forward.

  Whether that was going to be as friends or something more was yet to be decided.

  As I was rinsing off the last of my soap that smelled a lot like the yellow fruit I’d had at lunch the previous day, I made the mistake of opening my eyes when I thought I heard a sound. Citrus found its way into my eyes and burned like a mother.

  Twisting around, I tried to wash the soap out, but it was stinging worse with hot water, so I reached my hand outside the glass door in search of a towel. Cursing loudly, I realized I hadn’t grabbed one and there was none waiting for me.

  Blindly and slowly, I turned the water off and made my way out of the shower, keeping my arms out in front of me, because I couldn’t see shit and didn’t want to run into anything. I had high hopes of finding the cabinets I knew I had seen, but my sense of direction was completely thrown off and I had no such luck.

  By the time I could partially see again and locate the towels, everything around me was wet and I was dripping water all over the floor, making my task even harder. I’d nearly fallen on my ass several times as I made my way to the corner cabinet. Before I could get it all the way open, a voice sounded in the room, freezing me in place.

  “Were you looking for this?” I could hear Enzo’s smirk in his voice as I made out the outline of his body through my blurry vision.

  “Seriously? You’ve been watching me walk around naked in the bathroom, blind as a bat, and didn’t say a damn word?”

  He was going to pay. I didn’t know how or when, but I was going to kill him. I took the towel regardless and rubbed at my eyes until I could see again, not great, but enough to get me by.

  “Well, you weren’t in bed when I woke up, and then I heard the shower. Not wanting to disturb you, I went out your door and into the hallway to go back to my room. You know, so I could remain the gentleman I am and give you your privacy.”

  I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

  “But much to my surprise, you left the door open on my side, not yours, making me assume it was an open invitation to come in. So really, the confusion on my part is all your fault. I’m just an innocent bystander who happened to see a breathtakingly gorgeous woman walk out of the shower while water cascaded down the tantalizing curves of her delicious body.”

  The way his eyes roamed over my skin had all parts of me on fire. Every nerve ending was on high velocity in that moment, and I was actually shocked to find there wasn’t any steam rising from my skin.

  He was still wearing only his boxer briefs, hair mussed from the previous night’s sleep, but in a sexy way I found irresistible. My heart was warning me that my next move was a bad one of epic proportions, but my head and hormones were in charge, and as my vision cleared up completely, I realized I needed Enzo.

  Not just the emotional support he had given
me the night before, but I craved a physical outlet. Even if it was a one-time thing, I was going to take what I needed from him and worry about the consequences later. Much, much later.

  “Raegan,” Enzo’s voice cracked as I took a step closer to him. “What are you doing?”

  “Taking what I want.” I stalked closer, feeling more powerful with every step I took.

  “I’m not saying no, and really, I should just let this happen and quit being an idiot, but are you sure?” He was flustered, and I was loving every second of it.

  “Enzo,” I whispered as I ran my fingers down his damp chest from all the steam around us.

  “Yes?”

  Leaning in closer, I nipped at his ear. “Shut up and give me everything you got. It might be your only chance.” The last bit was a warning, which I hoped he understood the meaning of.

  This was not me forgiving him. This was me taking what I wanted when I wanted it. Nothing more or less.

  At least, that’s what I kept telling myself, even as his lips crashed into mine and he wrapped my still-naked form around his body before carrying me to bed. By the time we hit the mattress, his boxers were gone and there was nothing separating us.

  Nothing physical or emotional was holding us back. We acted in the moment, and it was the most powerful experience of my life. I let all of my inhibitions go and gave in to every ounce of love he was offering, drinking it in as if it was the last source of nourishment in all the worlds.

  His left hand gripped my hair as the right roamed my body. Everywhere he touched, sparks erupted between us. Not ones I could see, but the sensations of them were overpowering as I laid back and gave in to Enzo’s passion.

  “I love you, Raegan,” he whispered when our bodies joined together for the first time in months.

  He filled my entire being perfectly, like we were meant for each other on a deeper level. I tried not to get my emotions involved, but when the room was bathed in a lavender light that radiated from only us, I had a hard time ignoring the fact that it wasn’t normal to glow any color when you made love to another person.

  Instead of answering him back, I flipped us over and showed him that while I hadn’t forgiven him, my love for him was still there. As much as I wanted to fight it, as much as I wanted to hate him for what he had done, there was something bigger at play between us and I was tired of constantly fighting it.

  As we hit our climax, the room erupted in a way it’d never done before. Physical sparks came off our skin and bounced between us everywhere our skin touched, while the lavender glow I was used to brightened and mixed with a deeper midnight blue.

  Once we came down from our high and everything around us went back to normal, Enzo’s chest vibrated beneath me with a growl and his arms tightened around my lower back. “Mine.”

  Sitting up, I stared into his eyes and tried not freak out when they were slit like a dragon’s. “Enzo, are you okay?”

  “Mine. You are mine, and I will protect you until my dying breath.” His voice was deep, much grumblier than I’d ever heard it before, and something told me it wasn’t actually Enzo I was speaking with. At least, not his human counterpart.

  Pushing myself up, I rolled over and off of the bed. When our physical connection was broken, he shook his head and a glazed look came over his golden eyes.

  “That was…” He didn’t finish, and he didn’t need to.

  “Yeah.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked.

  “Not particularly. I need to shower again and meet with JayLeigh. While you get to go sit with daddy dearest for the better part of today. Good luck with that.”

  He sat up in bed as I walked toward the bathroom. “Uh, daddy dearest? What’s that mean?”

  Feigning innocence, I raised a brow. “Oh, did I forget to mention when I came back yesterday that Marek is my dragon DNA donor? I’m thinking of changing his name to Triple D. Think he’d mind?”

  I was beginning to ramble, but I wanted to avoid the subject of whatever had happened while we’d made love, because it was too much for me to think about with so much else going on. I knew we had other obstacles to deal with, and DDD was at the top of that list.

  “Yeah, you may have forgotten that.” His eyes narrowed at me as he stood from the bed.

  I saw the intention in his body before his feet hit the floor, so I quickly moved into the bathroom, closed the door, and turned the lock.

  “Raegan, you can’t hide from me.” There was laughter in his voice, so I tried to keep the nerves out of mine.

  “I’m showering in private. Completely normal and does not mean I’m hiding. Now, go away.”

  What I assumed to be his hand slammed onto the shared door, but not out of anger. More so to get my attention, which he fully had.

  “You can run all you want, and I’ll never tire of chasing you. I’ll let you pretend this morning didn’t happen for now. Just remember, though, it will happen again. We’re not done, nor will we ever be. You are mine, Raegan.”

  That was all Enzo speaking this time. Not a dragon hidden deep within him that I seemed to have pulled to the surface when we had sex, but my Enzo, who had loved me and hurt me. My Enzo, who was doing everything he could to put me back together and make things right.

  My Enzo, who I knew I loved, but I couldn’t decide if it was enough to let go of what he had done.

  That was a problem for future me to worry about, though. Present me had to get ready before JayLeigh came to pound my door down and drag me to the academy part of the headquarters. My plan was to show her I was ready and willing to learn without needing to be forced.

  I’d do anything to get back to Shadow Veil quicker, so we could stop Malina before she had a chance to put her plan in motion. If she wanted Elora back, then she needed Shadow Veil, and I wasn’t going to let her have it without a battle.

  Thirty minutes later, I had found my way to the eatery and was enjoying a fresh salad with all the toppings, because apparently, we had slept for an entire day and missed breakfast.

  Enzo appeared at my table with a plate of food and dug in without saying anything. I eyed him curiously, confused by whatever game he was playing, but decided to let him have his fun by himself and didn’t say anything.

  “Good afternoon, Newbies,” JayLeigh said as she suddenly appeared in the chair next to me.

  My hand went to my chest as I held in a scream. “You’re going to give me a damn heart attack.” Then, I remembered she had kept something pretty big from me, and I glared at her. “Did you plan on telling me we were related?”

  “Oh, well, you see… he told you already?” she stammered, seeming rather surprised.

  “Yeah, as soon as I sat down to eat with him. So, you’re my cousin of sorts, I’m assuming, since Marek called you his niece yesterday?”

  She nodded. “My mother was his adoptive sister.”

  I didn’t miss the “was” part of that sentence, but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it, so I let her change the subject.

  “Marek wants me to bring Enzo to him, and then we’ll go get you training clothes and weapons. We should still be able to get a solid eight hours in, assuming after almost two days of rest, you’re up for it.”

  My eyes bulged, practically coming out of their sockets. “Come again? We slept through all of yesterday as well?”

  “Yep, you’re already on day three in Drakken, but your three weeks doesn’t start until now, since you haven’t actually trained any,” she replied nonchalantly.

  “Shit, I have to get a message to Jules. She has to be freaking out, alongside Gemma,” I said, already standing up.

  “Calm down before your head explodes. She was already freaking out. The gargoyles informed King Marek, and he asked me to step in, so I sent a message for you. She wasn’t very polite in her response, and I haven’t checked it again.”

  I glanced at Enzo. “You’re done eating. Come on.” Grabbing his hand, I drug him toward the elevators before I realized
I had no idea how to get to Marek’s room. Instead of waiting for JayLeigh, I started to push buttons, but nothing was working.

  JayLeigh strolled up next to me and hip-checked me out of the way. “Humans have no patience. It’s tragic, really. You should really learn to enjoy life more and embrace the better parts of you.”

  I rolled my eyes at her sarcasm and backed up as she pushed the necessary codes to get us into Marek’s quarters. Remembering that I needed to hold on for dear life, I gripped the side rails but forgot to warn Enzo, who apparently hadn’t been fortunate enough to experience the elevators yet.

  Unlike me on my first time, he managed to keep himself upright, but his stance was unsteady, telling me it had affected him more than he was trying to let on.

  When the door whooshed open, I waltzed into the room first. Marek was just coming out of the hallway and greeted me with a smile. “Glad to see you again, Raegan.”

  My hand waved in the air. “Yeah. You, too. Is the communications system working now?”

  “Of course. Let me show you the way.” Marek gestured back the way he had come from, and I followed without hesitation.

  When we entered the office, I was surprised at how barren it was, but quickly realized this wasn’t Marek’s personal office. He must have moved the setup, so I wouldn’t be in his personal space. There was a computer, desk, and chair in the room, but not much else that I could see.

  “Nothing special to it. The screen is already up. We have one shared email for communication, so you’ll see anything that’s already been sent. Use it like you normally would,” he said as I took a seat in the chair and placed my hand on the mouse.

  “Thank you.” I waited to open the last message thread until he nodded and slipped out of the room, closing the door behind him.

  I started from oldest to newest and counted nine of them, making me cringe. I felt bad I had made them worry and hoped she wouldn’t be too pissed.

  The first one read: JayLeigh, your message was not informative. I don’t appreciate your sarcasm. Where is my niece? I don’t care how long it takes me. I will find my way into Drakken and tear it apart until I get her back if you don’t return her safely.