by A. K. Koonce
“Saint asked me to keep you company.”
My hands halt their work as a slow smile spreads across my lips.
He went back to talk to his sister after trying so hard to avoid her.
For me.
Warmth sears through my chest and I try not to show how much I’m preening right now in the middle of fucking detention.
“I’ve really come to rather enjoy your presence, Snack.” Her pure blue eyes wink at me and I swear she almost smiles. Almost.
I think that might be her way of telling me we’re real friends.
I smile back at her.
Until.
“Why are you keeping things from my brother though?”
I glance at her from the corner of my eye and her head tilts as she waits with preternatural patience for my response.
A bout of panic sinks within me, and I think about all the skittish emotions I’m keeping tucked away from everyone.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“I think you do,” she says calmly.
My spine stiffens and I take a second to search for Professor Moore. His beady eyes flick over the vampire at my side, a look of contempt on his face but it seems the Von Hunter name is worth too much for him to tell the girl not to distract his detention alumni.
“I’m not keeping things from him and it’s honestly not your place to pry, Heaven.” Everything about this conversation feels weird. She’s not pressing or demanding. She’s... concerned. I can tell. But it’s slightly offensive and I don’t know how to stop us from the argument I can feel brooding.
“He’s my brother. It is my place. We’re a family. I consider you my family, Izara. You leave for days, weeks, and then... just never mention what happened? That’s hiding things. Maybe you don’t owe it to me to be open about everything but I know my brother and I know he loves you even if he’s not ready to admit that. Do not hurt him, Izara.”
My throat tightens with all the things I don’t know how to say to her. How do I tell her I felt more alive in a place people should fear? That I had power, that the demons practically begged me to stay and rule over them? That I bested them and had an unfathomable well of dark magic that I haven’t seen a sliver of since I came back?
I don’t know how to explain what happened or how connected I felt to the flames and the power there, while here at the Academy I’m nothing more than a weak student who can’t control the Prod inside her.
I can’t even explain it to myself. How am I supposed to explain it to the people I care about?
Without a word, I stare down at my pile of bricks, my heart sinking with every silent second that slips past.
“Unless you’re going to lay some bricks, you should probably go.” I tip my chin up to her, my jaw closing abruptly before I say something I’ll regret to one of the few friends I actually have.
Heaven’s bright eyes narrow, her gaze crawling over the dirty pile of work in front of me. To be honest, manual labor is a threat in her eyes and I know it.
She shakes her head, her glossy dark hair swishing along her sharp features before she turns to stride away from me. “Talk to my brother, Izara,” she demands as she stomps across the dry dirt in perfect, graceful strides.
And that’s how she says goodbye to me.
My smooth wings sag against my shoulders and I feel like I’m messing everything up right now.
“You look like you’re carrying a weight you’ll never be able to lift alone, Miss Castillo.” His smooth voice washes over me before the emotions try to tear their way out of my chest.
Professor Shade.
His shining shoes crunch over the debris at my side before he lowers himself down, squatting there with his hands held in front of him, fingers tipped up into a steeple just in front of his serious mouth. His golden and darkened eyes assess me from where I sit slumped into myself.
“Friend troubles?” he asks with a half smile.
Why is he always so good at reading me?
“Life troubles really,” I whisper, wishing like hell this day would just end already.
“A vacation in hell will do that to you from time to time.” His hinting words carry amusement and I shake my head at him but I can’t fight the tired smile that’s pulling at my lips.
“You have no idea,” I say and start up my work once more. It’s easy to just keep going. To feign normalcy rather than admit my life is a total train wreck right now.
“You know I’ve visited hell a time or two before. It was... refreshing in a way.”
For the first time since I’ve been back, talking about what happened to me strikes interest rather than confusing bitterness or fear.
“Really?” I glance over at the man still poised at my side like he’s content and relaxed on the toes of his feet, hunched down low in an unwavering pose.
“It’s the raw energy of it all. Sure it’s terrible. I mean, it is hell after all. But the power... it feels amazing.”
My eyebrows lift as I stare at him. There’s a focused expression about him, like he’s remembering quite intently his own trip to hell, and relishing in the memory of it.
He just said everything I haven’t been able to put into words since the moment I got back.
“Yeah.” It hurts to say that one little word, but he only smiles more.
“I haven’t been there in ages. What did it feel like in the center ring?” His alluring eyes are alight with interest.
“It was like every single atom in my body made itself known. Magic radiated through my blood.”
“Yes. I do remember that sensation. Nothing on earth compares to the lick of Hell Fire.” Memories seem to blaze in his eyes. There’s something dark and promising in his gaze, but thrilling just the same.
“Do you ever want to go back?” I ask suddenly.
I don’t even know why but I have to know that I’m not alone.
“Every single day.”
Me too.
I bite the inside of my cheek and my attention falls to the pile of brick I still have to lay.
“I won’t be returning anytime soon. I shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I’m lucky I made it out without serious injury.” The warnings I’ve thought about on repeat fall from my lips but I’m all but pouting as I say it.
“There are safer ways. You certainly took the long route, judging by the time it took you to get back.” Laughter hums through his words but I’m too focused on what he just said to find any amusement.
“A safer way?”
His dark eyebrows lower and his attention never leaves me as his tone drops to a quiet whisper. “Every dark shadow has a secret passage, Miss Castillo,” he winks at me as he starts to stand and suddenly I’m standing too, hanging on his insinuation and everything he didn’t say. But he pauses before he turns to leave. “I have some free time this weekend if you’d like to—”
“Yes.” I blurt out before he even finishes his suggestion.
His warm smile lights his eyes and when he looks at me like that, I remember how much he compares me to his son. He’s comparing me right now and I can feel it. It’s surprisingly more warm than it is uncomfortable. I shouldn’t smile at the fact that he’s comparing me to his dead kid, but I feel a connection with this teacher that I can’t explain.
“Good. I’d love some company this weekend. It’s been a bit quiet and lonely since a few boys broke into my apartment.” Another small smile is passed my way but I’m not sure what he means.
He doesn't give me time to ask. And I don’t dwell on it.
Because I’m too caught up in knowing I’m going to feel alive once more.
This weekend.
Eighteen
Syko
“Are you ready for this weekend?” Her body stiffens in my arms the moment I speak.
“This weekend?” Amber eyes grow wide as she stares at me in an almost scared way.
I’d think she forgot, but this seems different.
“The... the nature weekend
Phoenix planned,” I remind her slowly.
Her shoulders relax and she nods. “Right. Yes.” Her head’s still nodding along but she just seems off today. Jumpy, distracted.
But who forgets a date with four fucking men? Nasty dirty thoughts of what we might be doing together have been slamming through my mind for days now. And I still have to suffer through today before we get to Saturday.
“You okay?” I tilt her chin up and she leans into me with the weight of her small body.
“Detention has just been draining me this week.”
Fucking detention. My blood boils in my veins and once more I consider storming into the Headmaster’s office to give him every profanity I know.
“I still can't believe they’re having you rebuild Dormitory J.”
Reluctantly I pull back from her and guide her down the busy hall to her next class. Travels through History. It’s not a popular subject and only half a dozen students are filing into the room.
Professor Thorne is already scrawling notes across the board. At least he’s one of the good ones. He won't give Izara a shit time for something petty.
Unlike most of the professors.
I’m still staring into the quiet classroom when warmth skims along my bicep.
“Hey.” Phoenix gives me a half nod at my side and it feels very… suspicious.
Can a half nod be suspicious?
Another tense nod.
It seems it can.
“Hey,” I say back and one word has never sounded so ridiculously awkward. I shake it off and press my lips to Izara’s. It’s too quick and fleeting but she pulls back from me and I suffer slightly when she kisses Phoenix too. Her hand squeezes mine, drawing my attention back to her.
I’m not jealous exactly. I just want more. All of the time.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she promises but I don’t know what it means since we didn’t have plans.
“Okay.” My fingers slide through hers as she slips away into Professor Thorne’s lecture.
But Phoenix doesn’t follow her.
His big body lingers at my side. My worst nightmare is confirmed. He isn’t here for Izara at all.
He’s here for me.
Shit.
“Did you want to talk?” I bluntly ask, turning and striding down the hall. He walks at a calmer pace. It’s like nothing in this world is a rush for him and he’s content to take his time which forces me to take my damn time too.
Phoenix and I are friends. Kind of. But this feels a little bit like caging an animal, and I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t want to be a part of whatever he’s hunted me down for. I have a free period right now and I’ve never prayed so hard to be randomly thrown into confinement in all my life.
“Tomorrow we need to be complaisant.”
I stop dead in my tracks. My sneakers even squeak in shock.
“Complaisant?”
Since when the hell does Phoenix say things like complaisant? It makes him sound so Harvard grad instead of prison encampment.
His big emerald eyes search my face and I can tell he’s really been plotting whatever it is that’s flying through his little demon mind right now.
It’s… completely fucking weird.
“Yeah, I want Malek to lead everything. Whatever he says we do, we do.”
What. The. Fuck.
“Do demons ever have like changelings? Pod people? That kind of thing?”
“What?”
“Like one demon comes in and swaps out another and hopes that no one notices but everyone totally fucking does right from the start. Is that a thing for you guys?”
“What?”
Maybe this is the real Phoenix prancing around and saying things like complaisant and let’s listen to Malek…
“I’m confused. Why are we stressing out about being complaisant to Malek?”
The bell chimes, ringing around the long corridor for several seconds as door after door closes.
And then I’m alone with Pod Phoenix.
“I don’t know what your plans are but I know Izzy isn’t going to put up with four bickering men for the next five years.” He stares me up and down for a second and I stare back dumbfounded until it clicks like a flip of a switch and then it’s all crystal clear.
Phoenix is making a fucking effort. For Izzy.
Holy demonic shit.
“So you’re trying to force a friendship with a guy you made sure hated you for a year straight?”
He nods.
Shit, this is not going to be as simple as his friendship fantasies are making it out to be.
“I’ll do whatever Malek asks. That’s not a big deal.” I shrug. “I like the guy, so it’s not really me you’re going to have to worry about. You know there’s someone else you’re going to really need a pep talk with, right?”
A small smile pulls at the corner of his lips and he nods, his arms folding across his chest like he’s already making a game plan.
“Saint will make an effort. If anything, he’s fantastic at faking kindness so it can’t be that hard for him,” he says.
We start walking down the quiet hall but I can tell there’s something else he has on the ‘Let’s Ambush Syko Agenda.’
“Parent’s day is Monday.”
Ah. There it is.
“I don’t have much family so it’s not something I mark my calendar for.” My teeth sink into my lower lip and I study the blank white walls as we walk.
Phoenix doesn’t pry into that statement and I’m more than happy he doesn’t.
“Same here. But unfortunately Saint does.”
Shit.
My gaze flicks to him but his forest green eyes never glance my way.
“I think I’ll just—” Disappear. Sink into the sand and never come up for air again. Avoid Saint’s dad like a Twilight movie marathon…
“No, you fucking won’t. Parent’s day means Saint’s family as well as Izzy’s will be here. And I know Saint wants her to meet Sister Tilly but his dad will never let her come alone. I do not want their families mingling. Tension might be high. If Tyrine Von Hunter fucking hurts Izzy’s dad I’ll kill him.” His jaw clamps closed hard and I get the feeling Phoenix would love an excuse to kill Saint’s dad.
He slams open the double doors and strides out into the morning sunlight. It casts across his pale skin, glimmering his fiery hair and his strong jawline and for a single second, I see what Saint sees in him.
Phoenix is this unmoveable, relentless force. Strong and determined.
Protective.
The type of demon who would force his way into heaven or destroy the foundations of hell if you asked him to.
“Stop staring at me,” he says flatly, never once looking my way.
And like an idiot I fling my attention away, choosing to peer up at the swaying leaves hanging above us.
“Tomorrow we’ll do the good behavior shit and Monday, make sure you’re around. Not just for Izzy but for Saint.” His palm brushes my wrist, a single second of his fingers pulling at my attention. Serious eyes meet mine. “Tilly will fucking love you. Do the wing thing. Girls love your wings, but Tilly will think you’re the closest thing to god that she’s ever seen.”
Holy shit, he’s almost smiling at me.
I nod slowly, nerves crawling up from my stomach to consume my chest. He strides down the steps and never looks back.
Even as I have a semi panic attack right here on the Academy lawn.
I have to meet a nun, a vampire, and a human and convince them all that I’m good enough. All the while being locked away in a prison Academy for something I’ll never confess to doing.
I wish it was as simple as Phoenix says it is.
Nineteen
Izara
Something’s off. Like when a check engine light chimes on just before all four wheels fall right off the car and it explodes in a heap of fiery flames for no apparent reason.
“Let me help you with that,” Saint says with a chipper smile.
He jogs over to Malek and pulls the few logs from the werewolf’s hands just to sit them down at his feet where he was stacking the other logs.
He didn’t even make a fetch joke when Malek left to go get wood.
Malek’s dark eyebrow lifts. His lips purse. Saint smiles harder. Malek’s eyes narrow. Saint winks. It’s the most bizarre standoff I’ve ever had to witness. And it’s been happening on repeat since we came out to the little forest clearing on the west side of campus early this morning.
The dirt I sit in is warm and soothing as I draw the sharp lines of Saint’s face, and the hard edges of Malek’s scowl with a short pencil-like stick. Malek steps back from the vampire with a shake of his head. Sweat curls his dark hair and makes his white shirt cling to the perfect ridges of his chest. It’s a distraction that just keeps going because seconds later he’s pulling at the back of the shirt and I watch quietly as he flings it down to the ground. The reveal of his smooth skin, the dark hair that trails down from his navel to the waist of his jeans is all I can focus on.
Until Saint also pulls his shirt off.
Syko and Phoenix stop talking and I swear this is real life but maybe it’s not, maybe I’m just dreaming because they too take their shirts off as if it’s a flash mob and they’re all about to surprise me with a beautiful song and sexy dance.
“Okay, what the fuck is with you guys?” I ask instead of enjoying the perfect sight of the four shirtless men basking in the morning sunlight.
“Seriously,” Malek says before whispering a string of Spanish curses under his breath.
That suspicious smile on Saint’s face is like a permanent display meant for window shoppers, but I happen to own this special edition of twisted vampire, and I know firsthand that he’s not as stable as the price tag smile is making him seem.
“What do you mean? We’re having a great time.” Saint walks slowly toward me. Predatorily. When he bends down to kneel in front of me, he just keeps coming and crawls up my body until I’m pinned beneath him, staring up at the most beautifully demented sky blue eyes.
Cool skin brushes along my chest from above my tank top but I don’t let his body distract me the way he’s trying to. Soft hair meets my fingers and I pull just lightly when I get a slight grip on his dark locks. A real smile shines through.