by Elena Lawson
This couldn’t be right. I narrowed my gaze at the numbers staring back at me.
There had to be some mistake.
“How did you do?” Bianca asked gently, and I knew right away that she didn’t think I was going to pass, either.
Turns out both of us were wrong…
The tingling sensation of being watched crept over me and my eyes swept over the dining hall until they rested on the culprit. Granger stood near the entrance, her arms folded at her front, a cheeky grin crinkling her nose and turning up one corner of her mouth as she watched me—trying not to smile outright.
No way…
I grinned back at her and then turned to Bianca. “I passed,” I said incredulously and handed over the parchment.
Bianca gasped. “No fair!” she whined. “There is no way you did better than me in Alchemical Sciences. You suck at science.”
“Your GPA is higher than either of us,” Marcus added, unable to hide his own surprise. Even though I knew the grades weren’t accurate, it ruffled my feathers they both seemed to think I was incapable of achieving them without the added flourish of Granger’s quill.
I turned to mouth a ‘thank you’ to Granger, but by the time I looked back over to the entrance she was gone.
“That’s because I’m smarter than you…obviously,” I joked, and Bianca grudgingly handed my report back to me.
I’d tell them the truth…later.
7
Leo and Lara were eager to leave and if I was being honest, I was a little eager to get them out the door.
I’d spent a small fortune on clothing and fancy designer luggage Bianca insisted I needed to have. I hadn’t had a chance to show Cal and Adrian all the clothes I got for them, or to shower, or to call Elias to see when he was supposed to be arriving in Andorra—and subsequently when I could expect him to come to La Casa Rosa to be with us. I wasn’t even properly packed yet—everything was still in bags—tags attached.
But I mostly needed them to leave because Draven would be here any minute and where I had the excuse that Cal and Adrian were my familiars, I couldn’t think of any sort of excuse Leo would accept when it came to him.
Lara might be easier to coax into accepting him as being my…well, whatever he was. Friend? But Leo wouldn’t like it. He’d had a run in with a few vamps when he was younger, and he’d been soured to their kind ever since. I could hardly blame him. Vamps were generally a mixed bag.
There were some good apples among all the spoiled ones, but not as many as you’d think. I supposed all that power went to a person’s head. Add in the ability to compel and the lust for human blood and you often ended up with a bunch of self-important leeches walking around like they could do whatever the hell they wanted without consequence.
Things were better with their race now than they had been before. I wasn’t entirely sure what changed, though. We hadn’t gotten to that bit in Elias’ history lessons yet.
“We’re so sorry we can’t stay longer,” Lara said with an impish grin as she walked, arm in arm with Leo out the front door and turned back to face me. “We left the caravan warded, but it will only hold so long.”
They didn’t need to say more. It was a wonder they’d left the caravan at all. They never did. One of them almost always stayed back with it at all times. There were too many unexplainable things inside it. And if another witch came upon it—well, they’d have their one-way ticket to a trial with the Arcane Council for supplying potions to mortals—no matter how diluted they were.
They wouldn’t last in a place like Kalzir prison.
“It’s ok. Maybe next time I can come to you?” I offered, finding the idea of sleeping in my old bunk with only a foot of space between me and the roof of the caravan oddly comforting.
Leo reached out and squeezed my shoulder. “Stay out of trouble, would you?”
“I’ll try.”
“Oh, my girl,” Lara said with a crack in her voice and gathered me up into her boney embrace. “We’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“Harper!” I heard Adrian calling from back inside the Abbey. “We have to leave soon, are you packed?”
Lara let me go and I winced. “Not yet,” I called back, and both Leo and Lara chuckled.
“You should go get ready. You don’t want to be late,” Leo said. It was his way of saying goodbye.
I smiled at the two of them—as big of one as I could manage without it seeming too forced. “See you soon?”
“See you soon,” Lara echoed just as Cal came out onto the stoop, a giant sub sandwich in his great big hand.
“It was nice to meet you,” he called down to them as they descended the last step.
They called back their farewell and Cal snaked an arm around my waist and hooked me back into the house. “You are so slow,” he said and tore another huge bite off the sandwich.
Did they ever stop eating?
“I’m going! I’m going!” I said, disentangling myself from his grasp. “Don’t rush me.”
“The airplane isn’t going to wait for us,” Adrian said from the top of the stairs, his hands crossed over the edge of the banister. He looked positively green.
I squinted my eyes at him and ran up the stairs. “Hey,” I said as I passed, Cal joining me at the top a second there. “Are you feeling alright?”
My heart leaped as he turned, and I found there was a thin sheen of sweat over his brow and he seemed pale and a bit gray. Maybe even a bit green. “Are you sick?” I lifted my hand to check his temperature, but he batted it away.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Just…don’t like the idea of—” he broke off, looking away. “…flying.”
I balked at him. “Seriously?”
I wasn’t buying it.
“No—really,” Cal said with a chuckle in a teasing tone. “He’s fucking petrified.”
“Well I wouldn’t say that,” Adrian replied, clearly put off.
“Would you rather take a boat? Because I can arran—”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. He turned and began stalking down the stairs to head in the direction of the kitchen. Probably going to find some whiskey to take the edge off—poor thing. “You know, if wolves were meant to fly they’d have wings!” he hollered back over his shoulder before he vanished.
Cal and I shared a look before he lifted his brows at me and we both laughed.
I’d admit I was a bit nervous about flying, too, but how many planes actually crashed? You know what, I didn’t want to know. It was going to be fine. Great, even.
“I missed that sound,” Cal said around a mouth full of sandwich.
I cocked my head at him, still grinning. “What?”
He reached out a hand and softly caressed my cheek, passing his thumb over my chin as his gaze zeroed in on my smile. It faltered when I realized what he meant, and all the ugly emotions started to pour back in.
“Hey, don’t do that,” he said, his gaze darkening as he stepped in closer. “Don’t retreat back into yourself. Everything is going to be alright,” he nodded. “I promise.”
I didn’t see how he could promise something like that, and I almost asked him to take it back, but I didn’t. I promised myself I would try harder to put the past and the grief behind me. Not to let the weight of everything we’d learned and everything I feared we had yet to discover drag me down—for them.
“You’re right,” I told him.
“Harper!” Adrian bellowed again from below and I jumped.
“Shit,” I cursed, and Cal’s hand dropped from my face. “I better go pack. Give me a hand?”
He backed away a step. Then another. Averting his gaze. “Hey! It’s your clothes, too!” I told him. “You really going to make me do all the work?”
That got his attention. “My clothes?”
I made a spectacle of looking him up and down. From his half-torn grass stained jeans to his bare feet to the mustard-stained collar of his deep gray t-shirt. They’d be
en recycling the same three or four outfits for weeks now. And they wouldn’t admit it, but I knew they didn’t have the cash to buy themselves new clothes. And they’d go buck ass naked before they asked their mom for a dime.
“Yes,” I said smugly. “I can’t have you getting into a limo in that getup.”
His mouth fell open and from the indignation I saw in his eyes, I thought he might argue, but then he clamped his mouth shut and glared at me and I knew I was in trouble.
I squeaked involuntarily before I took off at a sprint down the hallway to my bedroom, planning to slam the door before he could reach me, but he was faster. He lifted me from behind, pinning my arms against my chest as he plowed us both through the door and into the room.
I felt more than heard his quiet gasp against my back as he surveyed the room. There were bags and clothing everywhere. I’d already started pulling some stuff out, so there were pants strew on the bed. Dresses piled by the door. And bits of lacy panties I found a fancy boutique store here and there. The shining colors of plastic bags and ribbons of receipt paper accented the beautiful disaster.
I’d never owned so many things in my life. Things I picked out for myself. The whole first hour of us shopping was literally just me trying to figure out what I actually liked. I’d been living in hand-me-downs and had the choice of these torn jean shorts or those ones from the bins at Thrifty’s. I never had the luxury of having a particular style that was my own.
Turned out, I liked black. But I already knew that. Dark colors with pops of vibrancy and weird little flourishes. Like the simple navy dress that would be almost drab and boring…if it weren’t for the kitty-shaped collar complete with ears and a tail.
And the purse that looked almost totally normal—a simple brown leather thing—except when you set it down on its side you could see it was actually made to look like an old book, with a spine and everything.
I hardly knew those sorts of things existed. And once I found them, I refused every bland pink and purple kami Bianca tried to pass my way.
“What have you done?” Cal breathed.
I bit the inside of my cheek and tried to squirm out of his arms, but I was entirely locked in place. “Um… I shopped?”
“Did you leave anything there for anyone else to buy, or is this everything?”
When he let me go, I stumbled and almost fell into the mountain of dresses, scrambling back onto my feet, clearing my throat.
“I just thought that maybe…” I trailed off as Cal lifted a bluish gray button up shift from the floor. A size large I hoped would fit his brawny muscles. “You know…since—”
Cal was standing in front of me so I couldn’t see his face, but I saw how his grip tightened on the shirt and his back muscles clenched beneath his threadbare t-shirt. “I’ll pay you back,” he said, and I could sense the discomfort in his tone.
“No,” I said and tugged his arm so he would face me. “No, I don’t want you to.”
He wouldn’t look at me.
“Harper, I’m not going to—”
“It’ll make me happy if you just take it and say thank you,” I blurted in a rush, not playing entirely fair and knowing it. I knew there was a chance they would feel…I don’t know—emasculated, maybe? I mean, I thought Adrian might be more alright with it than Cal, but I didn’t anticipate it making him this uncomfortable. The look of his face was making me uncomfortable for fuck’s sake.
Cal huffed and I could almost see the steam rising from his ears. “That’s just cruel,” he said with a snarl that didn’t reach his eyes.
I knew all they wanted was for me to be happy—especially lately. But… “I never said I’d fight fair.”
He tsked me and shook his head, his green eyes never leaving mine. “You bad girl,” he growled, and my stomach flipped low and hard in my stomach as the sound reverberated down my spine. “What am I going to do with you?”
I caught my lower lip between my teeth and Cal elicited a tight breath before his composure broke and his hand came around my waist again, pushing me roughly back into the wall. This time there was no playfulness in his stare. There was heat and enough raw desire to make my nipples pebble and gooseflesh rise along my arms and the back of my neck.
Oh my…
My lips parted in a ragged breath that Cal swallowed up with a kiss that stole whatever remained of if it in my lungs. I whimpered at the surge of energy rushing up through my feet and the explosion of butterflies in my stomach. His hands explored the curve of my lower back, pressing between my skin and the wall to curve over the mound of my behind. His tongue slipped along the seam of my lips, asking for permission.
I opened for him and he entered, the feeling so intense it made dark spots crowd in at the edges of my vision. I was so hot. Suddenly so damned hot I thought I would melt if he didn’t stop.
But I didn’t care. Even if I was reduced to a pile of ash and bones, I wouldn’t want him to let me go. Fuck, it felt so good to be held. To be touched.
Lost in my pain and swallowed by all the death surrounding us, I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to live.
8
I was right.
Adrian wasn’t even half as upset as Cal had been about the clothing. He’d tried to offer to pay me back as well, but I guilted him into accepting them just as I had Cal. Worked like a charm.
And damn if they didn’t look amazing in them. I wasn’t sure what they liked, so I’d purchased a whole slew of different options for each of them. Tons in size large and even extra-large for Cal to be able to fit his wide shoulders and heavily muscled frame. And some in medium and large for Adrian.
I’d bought dress clothes and street clothes. Jeans in several sizes and t-shirts of every color. A few sweaters for fall. Swim shorts for the beach—just in case we had the chance for a swim. And boxers—though I suspected they usually went commando beneath their clothes since they tossed those aside when packing their suitcases with their favorites of what I’d bought.
As we waited for our flight to board, Cal was in loose-fitting jeans in a dark wash and a deep, forest green t-shirt—the leather jacket I got him, slung over his shoulder. Out of all the shoes I’d gotten for him only one pair fit him. The ones that looked like dress shoes and sneakers had a baby. Leather for the most part, but with little patches of denim-like fabric along the sides and thin, taupe laces.
I’d have to remember he was a size thirteen for the next time I had a chance to shop. I’d assumed he’d be an eleven or twelve.
Which happened to be Adrian’s size. So, he got almost all the shoes to keep for himself. He’d decided on the distressed tan-leather combat-style boots that went up to cover his ankles. He, too, was in jeans, but his were in a lighter wash with trendy tears and a few bleach ‘stains’ that were already there when I bought them. The white long-sleeve tee fit him like it was made for him.
He had it rolled up so the soft material bunched in the crooks of his elbows, making his biceps seem larger somehow—and his forearms more tan with the contrast of the crisp white. It made his whiskey-colored eyes seem brighter, too.
They looked hot.
Even standing next to the model-like form of Draven. He was in his trademark dark jacket and black tee, a pair of designer jeans on with worn casual shoes. So plain compared to Cal and Adrian and yet he exuded sexiness. Something in his crooked smirk, maybe. Or how his dark—near black hair made his electric blue eyes sharper—gleaming under the fluorescent lights in the airport. The chiseled angle of his jaw so taut it made my fingers itch to trace the line of it.
He winked at me when he caught me staring, making an angry blush claw up my neck. Bastard. He knew what he was doing to me. Liked it, even. But he was the one who pulled away last night in my dorm room.
“I think they’re boarding,” Cal said, reaching down a hand for me to help me up from my seat. I looked to find he was right, and my stomach dropped. We were going on an airplane. In the sky. Flying over an ocean.
I caught si
ght of Adrian who was doing his best to conceal the strain in his expression and the worry making his hands ball to fists by shoving them deep into his pockets. I gulped. I was excited and nervous all at once.
“Flight 822 to Valencia is now boarding,” the flight stewardess’ accented voice came over the speakers. “Swish Air would like to welcome all first-class passengers at this time.”
“That’s us,” Draven said with a devious smirk, pushing off the wall where he was leaning. “First time?” he asked as he bent down in front of me to scoop up the little messenger bag I brought as carry-on.
I nodded without saying anything—trying like Adrian was to conceal my fears.
“Sit with me,” he said, and I wasn’t sure if it was an offer, a request or a demand, but the way he said it made it seem like a good idea. “It’s really not so bad. I’ve flown hundreds of times. I’ll walk you through it.”
“Ok,” I replied and caught Cal’s barely concealed sneer of distaste as he moved from our path so Draven could link his arm through mine and walk me into the small line leading down the runway to the aircraft. They got along with Draven well enough now, but I got the distinct feeling from them that they wished he wasn’t with us. They were still a little put off that I’d let him feed on me, I thought.
Heat rose in a path up the back of my neck and I shuddered. I wondered what they would think if they knew I wanted him to do it again…
“Will you and Adrian be alright sitting together?” I tossed the question back over my shoulder, looking mostly at Adrian. I knew Cal would be alright, but Adrian was looking pretty green again. All traces of his usually fiery, jokester self had been missing lately, but since yesterday, they were pretty much gone altogether.
I hoped he would go back to his usual self once we were safely on the ground.
Adrian gritted his teeth as he fell into line behind us, drawing out his new passport from his pocket. It had been a bitch to get theirs so last minute. But it turns out, you can get your passport in just three days if you’re willing to pay for it. “Fine,” he growled. “Quit babying me.”