Second Transgression

by Wendi L. Wilson

  Electricity from the storm tickles across my skin, and I look around to see the dark cloud has enveloped us. I can’t see anyone except Asher, who looks like he’s concentrating hard to form the mist around us. Sparks of lightning streak here and there, not close enough to hurt us, but seeming to strike in just the right areas to keep everyone else away.

  “All right, give it to me,” he says, a trickle of sweat running down his cheek.

  That’s when it hits me—no one can see us. Not even the cameras.

  Asher has created a private space for me to unleash my powers. To really stretch them out and feel the same release everyone else does after keeping them tamped down for extended periods of time. And he’s giving me permission to unleash them on him while he simultaneously holds this cloudy shield around us.

  Warmth pools in my belly as I realize I’ve just lost the fight...a fight I’d been losing all along.

  Instead of attacking, I feed my power into his storm and take some of the strain off of him. Some of the tension in his body fades, and he looks at me in confusion as I stride toward him. When my toes nearly touch his, I stop.

  Placing a palm against Asher’s cheek, I Glamour us invisible, just in case. He stares at me in awe as I take control of his storm, darkening the cloud and forcing the lightning to spin in great arcs around us, making it almost like we’re trapped in a cyclone made of electricity.

  I place my free hand on his shoulder, lift up on my toes, and press my lips against his. His arms circle my waist and he jerks me forward, plastering my body against his as he takes over the kiss. When his tongue slips inside my mouth to brush against mine, heat scores through my body and I almost lose my grip on our storm.

  Asher kisses me like he’s starved for it, then breaks off with a shake of his head. As I stand there panting, he runs a palm against the back of his neck and looks at me from beneath hooded eyes.

  “I’m sorry,” he says.

  “You are?” I ask, my face heating with embarrassment as my eyes drop to the floor.

  Maybe he didn’t really want my kiss. Maybe he just got caught up in the moment and kissed me back because…well, he has been in prison for a while.

  “No,” he says, striding forward.

  One warm hand reaches out to lift my chin. When I meet his eyes, I see nothing but sincerity in their oceanic depths.

  “Don’t do that,” he continues. “I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I laid eyes on you in that sparkly blue dress.”

  “No, you haven’t,” I scoff. “You hated me, then.”

  He shakes his head. “No, I hated myself for wanting you after everything Lilah—that’s her name, Lilah—did to me. I felt like an idiot, being so attracted to another girl who would surely break me even worse than she did.”

  His fingers slip from my chin to cup my cheek for a moment before sliding into my blonde hair. He grips the strands gently, bringing his face close to mine. His lips press against my cheek before moving to my ear.

  “Wanting to taste you has practically become an obsession, especially since that first kiss in your room.”

  His breath and his words send a shiver through me. His lips brush my neck before he pulls back, putting a little space between us. He watches me with blue fire in his eyes as I calm my frazzled nerves and my breathing slows.

  “No lustnado this time?” he asks with a smirk.

  Our first kiss was punctuated with a tornado of fire—the same thing my mom used to inadvertently conjure when she made out with Dad in their early days. Her best friend Shaela coined it the lustnado and told me and my sister Robbie all about it just to embarrass Mom.

  I smile. “Nope.”

  “I guess I’m just going to have to try harder next time.”

  A thrill of anticipation streaks through me as he says the words. Next time. Like it’s a foregone conclusion that there will be more kissing.

  “We should probably show ourselves before Chase sends in the cavalry,” Asher says, grinning.

  His abrupt change of subject breaks the spell he’d cast over me with his kisses and promises of more. I have no idea how long we’ve been sequestered in our storm, and the last thing I need is to draw anymore undo attention.

  I silently break the Glamour that rendered us invisible to the others and release the elements holding the storm together. The cloud dissipates, and as I look around with hot cheeks, I realize no one is paying us any attention.

  The other prisoners are busy fighting their own battles, and a sigh of relief puffs from my mouth. Then I lock gazes with a certain dark-eyed vixen and squeeze my eyes shut before focusing back on her face.

  Lark lifts one black brow and smirks, letting me know she knows exactly what was going on while we were hidden. I shake my head, unable to restrain my smile. I’ll be getting the third degree from her later.

  I glance back at Asher, who’s got a huge, cheesy grin on his face. He saw his cousin’s reaction, too, and isn’t the least bit troubled by it. I narrow my eyes at him, and he laughs.

  “Good luck with that one,” he says, nodding at his cousin.

  “Yeah. Thanks,” I grouse, but I can’t hold my frown in the presence of Asher’s obvious joy.

  Like he’s so happy to be out of the friend zone, nothing can dampen his spirits. Truth be told, I am, too. I know I’m not here to meet a boy, that there are serious issues with this whole situation and we could all be in danger, but I can’t help how I feel.

  There’s something between us. Something that prison walls and secret agendas can’t contain or extinguish. Thinking of those secret agendas, I pull back the Glamour surrounding us to look for Echo’s hidden cameras.

  I spot no less than three trained on us from different angles. Great. I can only hope the storm hid us from the devices, since Glamour doesn’t work on electronics. I don’t know what would happen if Echo saw us kissing.

  We have to be more careful.

  Chapter Three

  My cell has become a bit of a meeting place for the Con Crew—the group made up of me, Lark, Asher, Cedric, Jolene, and Acadia. After I told Lark and Asher the truth about my heritage and identity, we found out Acadia already knew. She’d recognized me and hadn’t told a soul, not even her two best friends. After deciding I could trust them, I told them all the truth and we made a pact—the six of us—to try to figure out what Echo is up to and work together to put a stop to it.

  Having them in my life fills a void in my heart that’s been there since I started attending the academy. The whole reason I snuck off and got myself into trouble in the first place was because I didn’t want to return to school. There was nothing there for me. Nothing but loneliness and bitter anger.

  Who knew I’d find what I was searching for in freaking prison?

  “So, what’s your sister like?”

  Acadia asks the question, and I focus on her young face. She’s only fourteen, and apparently obsessed with the royal family. But it doesn’t bother me. She’s so kind and honest, I can’t help but feel protective of her and am prone to indulge her curiosity.

  “Robbie is the best,” I say with a smile.

  “You call her Robbie?” she asks, and I glance around to see I have the attention of the others, as well.

  My sister’s official name is Princess Robin Ellie Oberon, after Great-Grandpa Robin and his daughter, Grandma Ellie. Only our family calls her Robbie, and only in private.

  I nod, saying, “And she looks like me, except her eyes are light blue like our father’s.”

  Acadia’s eyes widen a bit. Robbie and I are both Glamoured to look like Zephyrs when we go out in public. The whole world thinks that’s what we look like, so I guess it’s a bit of a surprise to find out that neither of us actually have black hair or eyes.

  “She’s really funny,” I continue. “Sassy and smart. She’s so loyal, completely trustworthy. I miss her so much.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her,” Lark says.

  “Me, too,” Asher adds.

>   Their words mean so much to me. And not only because they want to be closer to me and meet my family. With their words, they are reinforcing the belief that we will get out of this place eventually. That we will bring Echo down and find justice for all those wrongfully imprisoned here.

  “You’re all going to love her,” I say, a mist of emotion burning in my eyes.

  I lock eyes with Asher, and see something scorching in his own gaze. I can’t name it, but whatever it is makes my body flash hot as the rest of the room fades away. Lark says something I don’t catch, and the others mumble a response as I remain frozen in time, my eyes blazing with the need to blink.

  I finally give into the need and my eyelids flutter up and down a few times, the trance broken. I look around the room to see the others are gone, and the door is firmly closed.

  “Where did everybody go?”

  I feel a little silly asking the question. It’s an admission that I was so caught up in him, I failed to notice everyone else leaving. But Asher doesn’t laugh. His face remains serious as he rises from his seat on the floor to sit next to me on the edge of my bed.

  “Lark made up some excuse to get them out of here,” he whispers.

  “Why’d she do that?” I mumble, my tongue darting out to wet my suddenly-dry lips as his fingers brush my hair back behind my ear.

  “Because she realized we needed to be alone.”

  “Needed?” I ask.

  “Yeah. Needed.”

  He barely gets the word out before his lips are on mine and any other questions I may have had fly right out of my head. A groan vibrates from deep inside me as his hands dive into my hair, using it to tilt my head so he can deepen the kiss.

  As new as I am to this whole kissing thing, I somehow know that what I feel when Asher’s lips touch mine is something really special. I wonder if he feels it, too. When he breaks off our kiss and leans his forehead against mine, I decide to ask him.

  “Tell me the truth,” I whisper.

  “Anything,” he murmurs in response.

  “Does it feel different? Kissing me, as opposed to other girls?”

  I know I must sound a little desperate, like I’m fishing for compliments, but I don’t care. I don’t have any experience with this, and I want answers. Asher pulls back and looks at me with a gentle smile.

  “It feels inevitable. Like I’ve never kissed anyone before you.” He pauses for a moment, his head tilting as he peers at me. “What’s it like for you?”

  “Like…magic,” I say, my gaze dropping from his.

  I know I must sound naïve, my inexperience glaringly clear. Asher pulls me into his chest and falls to the side, pulling me down with him so we’re lying side-by-side. Once we are settled, he brushes his lips against mine once more.

  “Magic is the perfect way to describe it,” he whispers between kisses.

  His mouth worships mine for a long time, his hands brushing up and down my back before weaving into my hair. He rolls onto his back, his hand gripping my thigh and pulling until I’m lying on top of him with my knees on either side of his hips.

  The full contact and dominant position make me feel things I’ve never felt before, and my fists curl in his dark hair as my tongue delves into his mouth. There’s a fire in my veins that makes my movements frantic, and Asher smooths his hands over my back and down my arms and back again, the steady motion meant to soothe me, I’m sure. But it only stokes the fire.

  “Rory,” he says, breaking through the haze. “Slow down.”

  Shame floods me, quenching the fire like a waterfall. It’s too much, too fast. I’m too eager.

  “Hey,” he murmurs. “Look at me.”

  I meet his gaze and see the same fire I feel banked in their azure depths, confusing me. He smiles softly.

  “You don’t know how hard it was for me to stop that, do you?”

  “Then why did you?” I mumble back, my voice breaking.

  He nods to the right, and I look over, seeing the remnants of a fiery cyclone dissipate into the air, leaving nothing but a tendril of smoke. My eyes widen, and I look back at Asher.

  “Because I didn’t want us to burn the whole place down,” he answers, grinning. “At least, not yet.”

  I love the way he says “us,” not “you.” It would be really easy to use my unintentional conjuration as an excuse to keep his distance, if that’s what he wanted. A freaking tornado of fire is scary and dangerous. But he doesn’t do that. He calls it like he sees it—the lustnado is a creation of our passion for each other. I wouldn’t conjure it without him. It belongs to us both.

  I roll off of him and burrow into his side, my head tucked against his shoulder. His arm wraps around me, his fingertips dancing across my shoulder as we just enjoy holding each other.

  A gentle warming sensation flows through me as we lay there together, Asher’s steady heartbeat thumping against my ear. There’s a certain serenity, a sense of peace and satisfaction that I’ve never felt before.

  It just feels right, and I never want it to end.

  “RORY, TAKE A SEAT.”

  I slide into the chair in front of Echo’s desk, forcing my hands to lay still in my lap so he won’t see me fidgeting. The last thing I want is for him to think I’m nervous. It would give him even more power over me than he already has.

  I know Jax is waiting in the hall for me, and his proximity gives me confidence. I almost smile, thinking of his red cheeks when he swung open my cell door to find me cuddled next to Asher in my bed. Officer Woodrow is not as tough as he pretends to be.

  “I’ve been watching you,” Echo says, pulling me back to the present.

  “Sir?” I squeak, glancing down at the gold bracelet strapped to my wrist.

  What if he’s seen me do something I shouldn’t be able to do? This plan to expose him could be over before it’s even begun.

  “It seems you’re settling into the routine here and may be ready to take on some extra training.”

  My heart pounds in my chest, and I struggle to keep my expression neutral. This is it.

  “You’re going to tutor me?” I ask, my tone equal parts humble and hopeful.

  A satisfied smiled graces his thin lips. “Yes. I will teach you many things, Rory Finley, and when you leave this place, you will be ready for whatever the future holds.”

  I force a smile to my lips even though my veins fill with ice. His words are innocent and straightforward enough, but there’s something behind them, a meaning I can’t quite grasp, that scares me.

  What will my future hold when he’s done with me?

  I don’t know yet what his end game is, but it’s nothing good.

  “Thank you, Headmaster,” I say, swallowing against the dread closing up my throat.

  “I’ll be in touch with a schedule for our private sessions,” he replies, shuffling some papers on his desk. “You are dismissed.”

  I hop up and rush from the room, hoping he sees my eagerness as excitement and not what it truly is—a basic need to be free of his oppressive presence.

  I don’t know how I’m going to get through our training sessions without letting him see the true depth of my disgust for him. Or how I’ll hide the full extent of my powers, since they seem to show themselves against my will when I’m frightened or angry.

  I breeze past Jax without a word and head for my cell. I need to be alone to think about this for a while. It was easy to decide to be strong and brave when surrounded by my friends, but dealing with Echo alone was another story altogether. They can’t be there with me as I try to fool a very old, very powerful faery into thinking I’m devoted to his teachings.

  I don’t know if I can do this.

  Chapter Four

  I have no idea what time it is or how long I’ve been here, lying in my bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. Scenario after scenario has played through my mind, each one ending the same way—Echo discovers my true identity.

  In some of my imaginings, he keeps my presence here a s
ecret, locking me away to never see my family again. In others, he spreads the news far and wide, causing humans and Fae alike to revolt against my parents’ rule. In every scenario, the end result is devastating.

  I can’t seem to find that confidence I had when I decided to move this plan forward. I know Great-grandpa Robin has faith in me, as do my friends, but here, alone in this room, I feel nothing but incompetence.

  Five minutes with Echo Oberon did that to me. What will hour after hour of working closely with him do?

  I try to imagine Lark’s response to my internal debate. While I know she’s one of my biggest supporters, I can only see the disappointment she’ll surely exhibit when I tell her my fears. She has too much faith in me. I don’t deserve it.

  I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, the clicking sound of the lock on my door disengaging is echoing through the silence. I rub the heels of my hands into my gritty eyes as my cell door swings open.

  “Shower time,” Lark’s voice calls out cheerfully.

  I blink a few times before my bleary vision clears. Once it does, I see that Lark is staring at me with a concerned expression.

  “Are you okay?” she asks. “You look like crap.”

  “Gee, thanks,” I retort, pulling my tired body from the bed. “I didn’t get much sleep.”

  “Obvi,” she says. “Come on. A shower is just what you need to perk you up.”

  She links her arm through mine and pulls me out into the hall. As we walk, she leans in close so I can hear her quiet words.

  “Did something happen between you and Asher?”

  “No,” I say quickly, then take a deep breath. “I mean, yes, but nothing bad. Why? What did he say?”

  She shrugs. “I haven’t talked to him. It’s just, everything was good when we left you two alone yesterday, and this morning you’re all doom and gloom. I just want to know if I need to give him a beat down or not.”