by Evie Wilde
I also noticed Dash carried a permanent smirk on his face. The next time he looked at me he winked, leading me to believe something was up with the guys. They’d been talking to one another. Maybe discussing a plan about me. Or was that too egotistical of me? Guys were going to be guys regardless of the girl, so I didn’t doubt they had some plan involving me.
The professor’s phone rang (we were forbidden to have phones on campus) and he excused himself from class, telling us he’d return shortly. When the cat was away the mice would play.
“Hey,” Kyler said. “We all know about Wayfair, and the fae city.” He held up his hands in surrender when Braeden stepped forward. Rather than putting his hands on someone else, I wanted him to put them on me. “Let me finish.” Kyler motioned at Oliver and Dash. “We wanted to know more about you. The stuff we haven’t heard on the news.” The guys approached me, but nothing on their faces suggested they were anything but sincere.
“It’s okay,” I said to Braeden and put my hand on his arm. He stepped back next to me. “What do you wanna know?” I asked.
“Where you’re from for starters,” Dash said. His interest seemed real. The smirk momentarily slipped from his face, and he looked like a man who actually cared.
I could have asked them the same question but already knew part of their history. “I’m,” I turned to Braeden, “we’re from a place called Sayre City. It’s in the south near the Gulf of Aidan.”
“Used to be the Gulf of Mexico before the war,” Oliver said. “Sayre’s what once was a city called Tampa.”
“Many cities changed names after the war,” I said. “We were no different.”
Braeden nodded. “We moved north when Cassandra’s parents died. We’ve been a team ever since.”
“They didn’t die,” I said. “They were on a mission for the guild when they were ambushed by someone using black magic. They were murdered.”
“I was sorta adopted into their family since my father was always traveling and my mother had already passed,” Braeden said.
“I was fourteen, old enough to take care of myself,” I said. “The guild agreed to let me move away as long as I joined another guild. That’s when I met Guildmaster Ren. He took us both in, and the guild tried to guide us.” I glanced at Braeden but didn’t wait for permission. “I was asked to leave the guild and told not to come back if I didn’t graduate from the academy.”
“Wow,” Oliver said. “I’m sorry.”
Dash opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it. We locked eyes for a moment, and what passed between us would setup the rest of our relationship. Ruby had been spot on. The way the guys were in awe of my story, I knew if I wanted more, then I could have more. But if I wanted more, what would people think of me? What would they think of me?
“So, you just showed up on their doorstep,” Dash asked Braeden. The smirk returned
“Fall into formation,” the professor said.
“Not gonna answer?” Dash pushed.
“Mister Bancroft, are you a ready?” the professor asked.
Dash nodded. “Sorry, teach.”
“I’m sure everyone has noticed we have a new student in class,” the professor said. “Nicolette, introduce yourself please.”
She moved from the line and stood by the professor, who rolled her eyes and checked her watch. “I’m Nicolette Myers. My father’s in the military, and we just moved to the area. I was a student at Crystal Academy in San Francisco.” The guys awed as if impressed. “Yeah, that academy,” she said. “I’m hoping my father doesn’t get transferred anytime soon so I can finish up my studies here.” She looked down the line. “I can’t wait to work with all of you.”
I leaned close to Ruby. “What’s up with the Crystal Academy? Why’d she say it like that?”
“It’s the west coast rival to the Enchanted Academy. If any academy can produce better witches and warlocks than Enchanted, it’s them.” She glanced toward the professor. “The students are some of the best in the world. Their use and control of magic is unprecedented.”
“Thank you, Miss Myers. Fall back into line,” the professor said.
Nicolette smiled at the guys and returned to the line, standing next to Braeden. She elbowed him in the side and said something he didn’t find funny. She leaned back and looked in my direction. Things had been going so well during the semester, but it looked like that was about to change.
“Combat assignments are as follows,” the professor said. “Dash and Kyler. Oliver and Ruby. Cassandra and Nicolette. Braeden will take on the winner of Dash and Kyler.” She started to walk away and then added, “This is training, folks. Don’t hurt each other. You’ll be judged on effectiveness, strength of the spell, and your ability to maintain the spell you use.”
Nicolette and I split off from the group and stood together. “I hear you carry one hell of a destructive fireball,” Nicolette said under her breath. She laughed at herself, and I looked over at the guys. “Let’s see what you got.”
“You have nothing to worry about,” I said, unsure. Someone had been talking. Yeah, I wanted to send one of my destructive fireballs to the back of her head and watch her hair turn bright orange.
“Remember,” the professor began, “you’re not trying to kill each other. Fight to learn. The winning will come later.” She stepped away to the podium overlooking the arena. Her look of disinterest would get one of us killed. “You may begin.”
Nicolette stared me down, waiting for me to make the first move. From the corner of my eye I saw Kyler bring up a wall of dirt from the ground to block Dash’s streams of fire. The smell of scorched earth filled the arena. Just as I turned back to Nicolette, she hit me with a wave of water, sending me sprawling to the ground. She laughed and stood over me, eventually offering her hand to help me up. I knocked her hand away and stood on my own. Water dripped from my hair and nose. My clothes were drenched and cold, and my attitude shifted to simmering hot.
I moved away from Nicolette, my hands glowing, the searing heat working up my arms. Nicolette’s face dared me to try something. Anything. Just let her have a chance to thwart my attempts to take her down. I knew never to fight with anger, but I did anyway, casting two large fireballs directly at Nicolette.
Nicolette raised her hands quickly, casting a water spell at the oncoming fireballs. Everyone stood in disbelief when the water encircled the fireballs, suspending the molten balls in the air. It was obvious her training had been extensive. She then pulled back her hands and shot them forward, sending ten icicles speeding toward the suspended fireballs. Eight of the icicles hit their targets, dropping the fireballs to the ground, the water dousing my spell.
I saw the other two icicles much too late to dodge them, one catching me along the cheek, the other grazing my left knee and tearing through my pants. I was careful not to cry out in pain, instead glaring at her. I stood and prepared the next spell, trembling from anger. I created another fireball in my left hand, using my right hand to conjure a blade of bright light. I needed to blind her in order for the fireball to hit its mark.
“Cassandra,” Dash said when I wiped my fingers through the blood oozing from my cheek. Unfortunately, I didn’t listen to him. He said my name again, and once again I ignored him.
“I thought she was supposed to be destructive,” Nicolette said to the others. “You said she’d single-handily destroyed cities.” She laughed, and her eyes dared me to make another move.
I turned on Nicolette and prepared to retaliate. Her hands already raised and ready to send a spell in my direction. The shards of ice shot from her fingers, but never made it to me. Dash’s fireballs knocked them to the ground, creating small puddles that quickly evaporated when he sent a wave of fire overtop.
Nicolette screamed and sent another set of icicles toward Dash who rolled out of the way and sent fire at Nicolette’s feet, setting the ground ablaze. He’d missed on purpose. She screamed and raised her hands, bringing down rain from the sky, pu
tting out the wisps of red and orange flames. She brushed back her hair as if to say, “Try me again.”
I watched Dash battle, the intensity in his eyes, the strain in his body as he fought. Every spell Nicolette cast he had a response for. Something drove him. I needed that same drive. As Dash fought Nicolette he did so defensively. He had no intentions of hurting her.
“Cassandra, no!” Ruby screamed, Braeden by her side as they ran toward me. My body glowed like embers in a raging fire. My hair, ablaze, flapped orange and red in the wind. I raised my hands, wanting to end Nicolette’s life. She wanted to see the destruction I could cause and that was exactly what I was going to do.
“Enough!” the professor ordered. She raced down from the podium and onto the field.
Everyone stopped. Including me, letting the glow in my hands die.
The others stood frozen, watching Nicolette and me. Dash brushed himself off and took a deep breath; he’d enjoyed the battle.
The professor looked at me and then Nicolette. I believed she realized then she’d stopped the fight just in time before someone was injured or killed. That wasn’t going to be me. “You’ve all successfully passed your combat exam,” the professor said. “Try to have a good winter break and come back even stronger next semester. Class dismissed.” She pointed at Nicolette and I. “Leave the anger here.”
Nicolette left the arena alone, smirking because she had obviously gotten the better of me. Braeden and Ruby left as well, Braeden looking at me as if to tell me everything would be all right. But I wasn’t sure it would be. I was bested by the new girl in front of the class. In front of people I had a growing connection with. I noticed other students sitting in the stands.
“You okay?” Dash asked. He wiped the blood from my face and wiped it on his pants. He looked at my knee. “Just a scratch.” He was inches from my face, close enough for me to smell the piece of cherry candy he’d been eating. For a waning moment the tough guy façade fell away.
“Thank you,” I said.
He shrugged. “Just helping a classmate.” For a second I thought he was about to kiss me but, instead, he hugged me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“It was kind of you to do that for me,” I said. I brushed the hair away from his face, and he stole a glance at Oliver and Kyler. He moved away as if my touch had hurt. The façade was back up.
“I’m just glad you didn’t level the arena,” he said coldly and then headed out of the arena, leaving me speechless.
“What’re you two smirking about?” I asked Oliver and Kyler.
Kyler elbowed Oliver who elbowed him back. “Like Dash intimated, we’re just glad you’re okay,” Oliver said. “None of us want anything bad to happen to you. We enjoy your company, especially Dash.”
“Ha ha,” I said. He’d actually been sort of a jerk. Yes, he probably saved me but brushed off my thanks. Of course, I couldn’t be mad at him. Probably never, regardless of what he did. He’d made a conscious effort to save me, to fight for me. And I wondered if Kyler and Oliver had not been there if his hug would have been a kiss instead? If he’d kissed me…
The thought of what his kiss may have been like sent delightful shivers through my body, bringing a smile to my face, forgetting Nicolette. I had no doubts she and I would meet again, and next time I would be better prepared.
I started to leave the arena but then heard Kyler whisper something to Oliver, catching only the end, something about Dash and I liking each other. I blushed and the two froze.
“What was that?” I asked, and put my hands on my hips. Their guilty expressions put a smile back on my face, reminding me that I had a connection to each of them in some odd, sordid way. The back and forth with them was becoming a turn on.
“We were just commenting on your magic,” Kyler said. “You know, how impressive you could be.”
“Could be?” I tapped my foot and kicked my hip out, teasing them, their eyes darting to my behind and then back to my eyes. They turned red, knowing they’d been caught looking.
Oliver stumbled over his words and then took a deep breath. “I was watching you,” he said, and I smiled. He glanced at Kyler, nervous. He moved behind me. “May I?”
“Sure,” I said, and he placed his hands on my hips. I looked back at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Trust me,” he said. “Force is a physical measurement that isn't a physical property of an accelerated mass, but it allows us to predict a value for its acceleration, given the numerical value of a force present. So, basically”—he nudged my feet apart—“in order for this force to be more efficient, you need leverage.” He moved my right foot forward with his hand. “The position where you apply the force needed in your fireball is the effort. The effect of applying this force to the fireball is called the load. The load arm and the effort arm are the names given to the distances from the fulcrum to the load and effort, respectively.” He stood back. “Understand?”
I shook my head, though I had no idea what he meant. “Got it,” I said and tossed a couple of fireballs into the air. They shared another glance. “Thank you for caring. It means a lot.” I kissed each on the cheek. “Have a great winter break.”
I left the arena with a ton of things hopping through my mind. Dash had been as caring as he could be in front of the others. If the others had not been there, I was sure things would have gone a different, more intimate direction. Maybe next time. And though I had a strong attraction to Dash, I also still had an attraction to Kyler, Oliver, and Braeden.
Life had been much simpler outside the academy walls.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Dash
I’d probably stopped her from dying. And by doing so, our connection grew stronger. I saw it in her eyes and felt it in her touch when she brushed my hair away from my face. The hug had meant to be a kiss, but at the last second I changed my mind. Growing close to someone meant I could be hurt again, and as much as I liked Cassandra, I didn’t know if I wanted a repeat of my ex-girlfriend. You could put the past behind you, but not even magic could rid the memories.
The bet I’d made with the guys had been a foolish one. I didn’t really see Cassandra as some kind of reward or trophy. But, to be honest, I was struggling with the feelings I was having for her. Everyone felt the same attraction to Cassandra and, we guessed, she felt the attraction to all of us. I was playing hard to get in hopes maybe she would find it an attractive quality. The things we wanted the most were usually the hardest to get.
Whenever she started to ask me about past girlfriends, I quickly diverted the conversation. It was a past I didn’t want to relive. The pain was too real and too devastating. I went all in on someone, and that someone betrayed me. So I built a wall and had reinforced it every day since. But I was also a guy. There were nights when I escaped the walls of my guild or the academy and went into town to hang out places people my age hung out. It was places like those I could have fun and not have to get close to anyone. Of course, I’d met girls in those places, mostly bars, and we had a little fun and then we’d go off to their place or find some out of the way location to have even more fun. I always made sure I ended up with a girl who wanted no commitment. It was just easier that way. You left that night or the next morning and neither had their feelings hurt. But now my emotions were leading me back down the path I never wanted to walk again.
I stopped at the dorm entrance and waited for Kyler, knowing I could bounce some things off him. He got me. Understood where I was coming from and knew all about my past. Even someone like me needed to confide in a friend. I wanted to tell him about the adrenaline rush I got from the day’s combat. He would think it came from battling Nicolette, but the truth was it came from protecting Cassandra when she was hurt. When I wiped the blood from her face it was a symbolic gesture. I would always be there for her. The rush from helping someone, especially her, was new to me. I’d saved other people, especially when we were on missions to rid places of monsters or black magic, but now I had a deeper sense of meanin
g when it came to doing those things. I was no longer helping others for the sake of the battle. I was doing it because it gave me a sense of pride.
I waited for nearly thirty-minutes and decided Kyler wasn’t going to show. I hoped maybe he’d gone down behind the arena where the three of us sometimes met. It seemed like the only place we could talk freely without worrying about wandering ears and eyes. The servants stayed away from the area. It was also the place we met with our mentor to get in some extra training without others seeing us hone our skills. Between the three of us, there were no other students at the academy anywhere near our skill levels. Even the students in the advanced classes steered away from us. Individually we could maybe be beat; as a whole there was no way.
When I got to the arena, Kyler and Oliver were working with Aurelius.
Aurelius, the mentor we shared with Cassandra, was once a high ranking archmage, but for unknown reasons, at least to us, he was dismissed from The Council he served for thirty-years. He did tell us he believed Edius had something to do with his removal from the council. We figured his displeasure with the council was the reason he did things to help us out that most other instructors would never consider, like the extra training and sharing of spells. In return, we treated him with ten times the respect we did anyone else. And, to be honest, Aurelius was like the father I never had. He didn’t mind talking to me about things outside magic or the academy. He didn’t share much about himself, but I certainly shared about me. We talked a lot about Cassandra and about the connection we were all feeling. He asked me what I would do after the four years at the academy, and I told him I had no idea. He suggested a stint in the far-east, maybe spending time with the monks of the Himalayas. He said they were able to do things no other witch or warlock could do. But then he told me I would have to shave my head and cook my own food and meditate a lot. I told him the lifestyle wasn’t for me.