Dragon Fire Academy 3: Third Term

by Rachel Jonas

  “There was a spell,” she explained, “the one I told you guys I’d try right after Rayen was taken and Noelle freaked out on Chief Makana—I mean, rightfully so, but still,” she paused to add. “Well, anyway, I told you there were specific things I needed. Rare things. On my hunt, I came up short, which was why I hadn’t reported back about it. But when Noelle … when she did what she did for Rayen … “

  No sound left Blythe’s mouth, and I didn’t miss the sudden sheen her eyes took on as she recalled it.

  “Let’s just say I didn’t think I could put it off anymore, so I did what any witch would do if she needed to improvise a spell,” she explained. “I threw virgin blood in it.”

  “But will that work?” I pressed, needing a more certain answer.

  “In theory, yes. I mean, it could, but—”

  A frustrated growl ripped from my throat when I turned, starting to pace.

  “I did the best I could,” Blythe huffed, crossing both arms over her chest.

  “It’s not you,” I assured her. “It’s just … I’m supposed to be able to help her.”

  This feeling was a bit too familiar, although I wouldn’t say as much to Blythe. I’d seen another I cared for journey down a road where I couldn’t reach her. Back then, I loved as much as I knew how, but what I held toward Noelle was different.

  Deeper.

  Something I felt in my soul.

  The thought of losing her in any sense of the word was simply unacceptable.

  “What are the odds?” I finally sighed. “What are the odds that your spell worked?”

  A shrug hit Blythe’s shoulders. “Honestly … it’s a tossup,” she admitted. “Fifty-fifty.”

  Fifty-fifty.

  That was the best chance we had, an even split down the middle.

  “Thank you,” I forced out, hoping that would make up for my initial reaction.

  “Of course,” she answered quietly, but the breadth of silence that followed felt loaded.

  Seeing Blythe fidgeting with her fingernails meant she was working up the nerve to say more.

  “Is Noelle … herself?” she asked.

  I didn’t speak right away, only breathed. It was all I could do to keep from falling apart.

  “On the outside, yes. But on the inside … no. She’s not.” But I couldn’t talk about this. Not now. So, I turned and started toward the small opening where we entered. “I’ll come find you when I have something more.”

  “And what if her family shows up before then?” she asked. “What am I supposed to do?”

  I stopped but didn’t turn to face her again as I thought. “Send them to the bungalow. The others will know how to find me.”

  I heard her take a step behind me. “So … you won’t be there?” The way her words trailed off at the end, I knew she wished she hadn’t asked, hadn’t pried.

  My shoulders rose and fell, filled with anger and regret when I shook my head. “No. Not for a while.”

  Admitting that—that I wouldn’t be returning to my home, didn’t feel connected to my hive, my queen—loneliness I hadn’t felt in a long time resurfaced.

  And with a vengeance, I might add.

  “Send them to the bungalow,” I repeated, and then took off before she could speak again.

  For the first time since the forming of the Omega Hive, I had doubts about Spirit’s decision to bring us together. If we were meant to be stronger now that our unit was complete … why did it feel like we were on the brink of destruction?

  Chapter Six

  Noelle

  He was drinking, and it wasn’t even quite six in the morning yet.

  His eyes pulled away from the clock, and then settled on a photograph of a man I’d never seen before. Because this wasn’t my own head I was inside.

  It was Ori’s.

  My parents had this ability, but I hadn’t intentionally linked myself to any of the Omegas in this way. It just happened. There I was, minding my own business, dreaming my own dream, when my consciousness was pulled into Ori’s.

  My mother said it first happened to her against her will, too. She explained that her dragon had been the culprit, reaching out to my father when she, herself, was yet too stubborn to admit to having feelings. I suppose, this impromptu invasion of Ori’s headspace meant my dragon had taken matters into her own hands. Asleep and defenseless, she must have known I wouldn’t be able to put up a fight.

  It’d been an entire week since he’d spoken to me. A week since he left the bungalow and didn’t return. The others didn’t share whether they knew where he’d settled, but their lack of concern told me they had likely communicated, and at least knew he was safe. Hopefully, they’d even worked through their differences, but that hadn’t been the case for me.

  Where Ori was concerned, I was on the outside.

  Again.

  From what I could tell, he had no idea I was with him now. He simply sat alone in this room beside a dim lamp, while the rest of the unfamiliar space was consumed in darkness. He propped his feet on an old ottoman—one upholstered in a retro orange, brown, and yellow plaid pattern that matched the couch where he rested. In fact, most of the items I spotted were a bit outdated. The old-school, console TV that rested on the floor, the brass rack of TV trays tucked away in the corner, the corded phone hanging from the wall.

  Where are you?

  I wished I’d been able to ask that question for real, but the connection wasn’t that strong. Although, even if I could have broken through, Ori probably wouldn’t have answered. Seemed like the last thing he wanted in the world was to speak to me.

  He turned the page of the album he held, and I pushed aside my hurt feelings as he stared at another photo. This time, it was a younger version of himself, standing with his arm draped around a woman’s shoulders. She smiled big and I sensed the pride in her eyes as she hugged him. If I had to guess by the closeness between them, and their shared features, this had to be his mother.

  At the exact moment I made the connection, Ori’s gaze flickered up at the sound of the floor creaking just ahead of him. His gaze landed right on her—the same woman I’d seen in the photo, only a little older now. Relief swept over me to see for myself that he’d been someplace safe. Someplace where he was being taken care of, loved.

  I’d spent the last week worried despite the guys’ reassurance, but now I knew.

  Ori had gone home.

  The woman’s long, dark hair hung over her shoulders as she secured the belt of a robe around her waist.

  “Still not sleeping well?” she asked groggily.

  Ori shook his head and leaned deeper into the couch with a sigh. “Too much to think about.”

  His mother’s gaze turned sympathetic as she shuffled closer, dropping down into the armchair beside him. Her eyes went to the three empty beer bottles in front of her son, and then leveled a look Ori’s way.

  “Well, these probably aren’t helping,” she said with a smile. “How about I make you something to eat instead?”

  She braced the arms of the chair to stand again, but Ori’s hand jutted out to stop her. He gripped her wrist gently and she turned to him.

  “Don’t bother,” he sighed. “Just … sit with me.”

  She settled into her seat again and I could practically feel their closeness. Unable to imagine what it must have been like for Ori finishing out his childhood without his father, one thing I detected was that it had made the connection to his mother even stronger.

  He, nor the other Omegas, spoke about their outside families much. At least, not without first being prompted. I had a theory that this was by design. Spirit had called them together, to form their own bond within their hive, and with the other four hives. However, I got the impression that, before being marked, they each played major roles within their own households.

  Rayen mentioned having a gaggle of siblings, while Paulo and Kai mentioned having sisters. Now, I got to see the bond between Ori and his mother for myself. It was nice to kn
ow that being Firekeepers hadn’t robbed them of their first love.

  Family.

  “You know, if you tell me what’s wrong, I might be able to help.” A kind smile touched his mother’s lips and my heart warmed at the sight of it. Her love for him was so obvious, and he needed that.

  A gentle laugh left him and the sound of it caused me to breathe deeply. Even asleep, I could feel my heart race.

  “There’s not much to tell. Things are just …”

  “Complicated,” his mother interjected. “So you keep telling me.

  She studied his face a bit longer, and then decided not to hold in her thoughts.

  “You’re very fond of her, this girl Spirit has given you. Do you … love her?”

  He’d told her about me? I swear time stopped while I waited for his response.

  “It’s okay if you aren’t sure yet,” his mother declared when he hesitated. “Sometimes these things take a little longer than—”

  “I love her,” Ori forced out, and the pain in his voice wasn’t lost on me. “I didn’t hesitate because I’m unsure. It’s just that … part of me is convinced I’m gonna lose her,” he admitted. “The chips are all stacked against us. If it isn’t already too late to save her, it won’t take much else to finish the job.”

  Seeing through his eyes, I couldn’t visualize his face, but I could tell by his mother’s concerned expression that it was just as pitiful as I imagined. All those things he said the past week, this had been the source.

  Fear.

  His mother’s hand went to his and she squeezed.

  “Son, if there’s one thing you and I should have learned from your father, it’s that love knows no limits. So, trying to hold it back, because you can’t see the future … will only bring you misery,” she told him. “You cannot keep out what has already made its way inside you. If I were to give you one piece of advice, it would be to let her feel what’s in your heart. Who knows?” she said with a growing smile. “Your love might be the thing that saves her.”

  I hung on her every word, hardly noticing the constant buzz persisting in my left ear. However, a pillow to the side of the head was harder to ignore.

  “Noelle. Alarm. School.” The sound of Toni’s groggy voice and broken English made the vision in my head fade to black, and I was snatched back to my own reality, no longer able to see into Ori’s.

  At first, having been submerged in his world, and then suddenly being back in the dorm was extremely disorienting. However, that feeling was followed by another.

  Sadness.

  For a moment, I was right there with him. Now, here I was, in my bed. Alone.

  I should have been excited about heading back to the academy to finish out my final term, but a dark cloud hung over me. So much had changed. My eyes had been opened to things going on around me that I never saw coming. Like, the role Chief Makana played in me losing myself to the Darkness, and Tristan’s betrayal. Soon, there would be questions regarding his whereabouts, but no one would know I had answers. No one would know he remained bound in the grotto behind the waterfall, completely stripped of his magic and at my mercy.

  He would remain there until I dealt with him, in whatever manner I saw fit.

  The unsavory thought brought to mind the still-fresh argument with Ori and my heart literally ached for him. I missed my alpha, resented being back at the dorm instead of at their bungalow, resented that we were still at odds. Not to mention, there was the whole ‘my-classmates-think-I’m-a-freak’ thing I’d have to deal with again, as if things weren’t already bad enough.

  I eventually shed most of the foul mood. The remedy had been the extra-long shower I took, my best friend relinquishing a packaged brownie she was saving for a special occasion, and a beautiful sunrise. The combination managed to lift my spirits just enough to wipe the scowl off my face that Toni kept pointing out to me. She also kept reminding me that it was all nearly over now, so I held on to that.

  After a while, the excitement that should have been there all along found its way into my soul, and I held on to it. I finished my hair and slipped into my shoes in preparation for my last first day here at the academy—an experience that held a strange blend of the best and worst days of my life.

  The second we left our building, Paulo was waiting.

  “Morning,” I said, greeting him with a smile in passing.

  The one he flashed back made my stomach clench into a million knots. “Morning.”

  He was always handsome, but the reddish-orange glow of early morning sunlight on his skin made him even more beautiful than usual. I studied him intensely—the precise angles that traced the edges of his hairline and tapered sides of his undercut, indicating he’d trimmed it fresh before coming to look in on me today.

  Even with several feet between us, I caught his scent, a blend of the real him mingling with the familiar fragrance he wore. Beneath the thin material of a white tee and sweats, hard muscle wasn’t well contained, leaving me to pine over him as every step I took put unwanted distance between us.

  My eyes lingered on him an extra few seconds, and the way his smile darkened, I knew he read my thoughts. Knew he sensed I’d rather spend the morning with him instead of in a classroom.

  A strong tug to the arm Toni held had me tripping over my own feet.

  “Girl, worrying about that ‘D’ is gonna earn you a real ‘D’ in Sorcery if you don’t come on,” she teased, practically dragging me across the courtyard while Paulo trailed a good distance behind us.

  “Okay, okay!” I laughed, forcing myself to look straight ahead.

  Couldn’t have any fun with this girl around.

  Eventually, I managed to stop glancing at him from over my shoulder, and Toni and I finished our steady trek across the courtyard, headed for class—Sorcery 103 with Ms. Audrina. I chose to look at that from a glass-half-full perspective. While I could have dreaded having to face who had once been my favorite instructor first thing in the morning, I chose to appreciate getting the awkward encounter out of the way early. After that, I’d get to move on with my day without it hanging over my head.

  Toni talked my ear off the whole way, and I figured it was mostly to keep my mind off things. However, it didn’t work. Every time she ran out of things to say and sunk into her thoughts, my mind drifted back to Ori, and all the other misplaced things in my life.

  Wandering into his head should have comforted me some, and in many ways it did, but it also left me with a huge knot in my gut. I wanted the situation between us fixed. Wanted him to see my side of things, and … I don’t know … maybe agree to disagree. It felt ridiculous boiling our huge issues down in such a way, but did it really have to be more complicated than that?

  What was done was done. There was no taking it back and I wouldn’t even if I could. No, we didn’t know fully what saving Rayen had done to me, but I was willing to risk the unknown for him. For any one of the Omegas, in fact.

  I didn’t get out of my head until we approached the steps of the building, and I definitely felt Toni dragging my weight a bit. I so didn’t want to do this. Like, not even a little.

  “Just a few more months,” she whispered into my ear, and I had to admit what a turn we’d taken. At first, we had both been gung-ho about this experience, both full of expectation and optimism. Now, I could hardly move my feet to walk through the door.

  Moving through the halls, there were still weird looks, but admittedly fewer than last term. Perhaps the two-week break had sucked some of the judgement out of my classmates. Also, it probably helped that my recent slipups hadn’t made it back onto campus. Only my friends and the Omegas knew how far I’d gone, and I was grateful for being able to contain the issue to a degree.

  Sorcery-103 was just up ahead and I breathed deep as Toni and I approached. She walked in first and I followed her lead, even devising a last-minute plan to try speaking to Ms. Audrina. Even if only to say hello.

  However, her expression sank at the sight of me, and I l
ost my nerve. My attention would have stayed on her longer if I hadn’t been blindsided by Blythe rushing me before I even made it to a seat. At first, I didn’t understand why she moved in so quickly, why she had that look of dread set in her eyes. Then, I glanced toward Ms. Audrina again, as she stood from her stool and crossed the room slowly.

  “Noelle, don’t … freak … out,” Blythe whispered slowly, settling into position between me and the fast approach of Ms. Audrina. “I just heard. Otherwise, I would’ve found you at your dorm,” she explained, but her explanation only confused me more.

  I froze in place, especially when I realized there were four in the room who didn’t belong—security guards.

  A breath hitched in my lungs and I held it long after Ms. Audrina’s steps brought her to me. Long after a nervous breath left her quivering lips. Until she said words I never saw coming.

  “Noelle, you’ve been expelled,” she sighed. Despite how I knew her feelings toward me had changed over the months, I could’ve sworn I saw pity in her eyes.

  “…What?” The question came from Toni, because I was speechless.

  “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news,” Ms. Audrina continued. “Had I known before a few moments ago, I would have spared you the embarrassment of coming all this way, and having to hear this in front of your classmates, but … this is out of my hands.”

  “Who did this?” Toni asked next, but I didn’t need to hear the answer from anyone else. I already knew.

  “Chief Makana.” All eyes shifted toward me when I uttered his name through clenched teeth.

  Tristan’s declaration was never far from me, his conclusion that Chief’s aim was to push me into the darkness as much as he could, hoping I would be completely overtaken. Hoping I would lose myself in order for him to use me to his advantage. While I felt myself beginning to spiral, I didn’t lose it. The only thing that helped me keep it together was knowing this was exactly what he wanted.

  Kicking me out had nothing to do with some noble desire to protect those on the academy campus, but had everything to do with testing me, pushing me to my limits.