by J. L. Weil
It was weird being on the other side of the car, and I hated to admit it, but I liked the look of Torent behind the wheel. He seemed to be able to fit into every part of my life without trying.
Rubbing my hands together in front of the heater, I snorted. “Hardly.”
Easing back onto the road, he asked the question rolling around my own head. “Still think it’s Brooklyn screwing with you?”
“I honestly don’t know. She does have friends in low places. I’m not ruling anything out at this point.” I was more afraid of it not being Brooklyn. I had dealt with her animosity before. A new enemy was the last thing I needed.
“You’re just making friends all over the place.”
I frowned. “I’m a bucket of rainbows and unicorns.”
The drive to Havenwood Falls Garage should have only taken a few minutes, but the storm hampered our time. It was a silent drive, with Torent concentrating on the slick road and me stuck in my head. I had a million questions. Mysteries weren’t something I enjoyed, not even in my movies or books. I liked to have all the answers and absolutely hated open endings.
Why would a writer do that? Just why?
I exhaled in relief when the garage came into view, and Torent eased my car into the parking lot. Joshua, the owner, was in the garage, and Torent waved at him as we switched vehicles and jumped into Torent’s black Jeep. He had the kind of car that would be able to handle any weather Colorado unleashed. I felt ten times safer.
Snapping my seatbelt together, I glanced over my car one last time. We’d been lucky. The accident could have resulted in more than a broken windshield and shaken nerves. My mind relived those terrifying seconds over and over again. I chewed on my nails as the Jeep began to move.
What if the animal I hit was a shifter? It was possible. I didn’t know what was going on, but I was officially on the verge of an emotional meltdown, which would undoubtedly send Torent running for the hills.
“Hey, are you going to be okay?” he asked, and I blinked.
The Jeep was rolling into my driveway. I had spaced the entire ride home. I turned to him and gave him a weak smile. “Yeah. I will be.”
What a strange day.
“You’re going out with me on Saturday,” Torent reminded me, reaching out to tuck a piece of damp hair behind my ear.
I flushed. “I haven’t forgotten.”
His hands returned to the steering wheel, and I instantly missed his touch. “Good. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”
“Thanks for the ride.” His eyes caught mine in a trance that warmed my blood. I sat unmoving. Get out of the car, Mallory. Maybe it was because he looked mouthwatering soaking wet. Maybe it was the brush with disaster. Maybe it was because I hadn’t kissed him since Halloween night. Or maybe it was because he wasn’t expecting it, but before I changed my mind, I leaned over in my seat, invading Torent’s space and pressing my lips to his.
At the brush of my mouth against his, something akin to magic rippled along my skin. Waves of it rose inside me until I could hear the crashing of water. A dizzying excitement fluttered within my chest.
Slowly, watching his stunned eyes, I pulled back to whisper in his ear. “See you tomorrow.”
His fingers curled into my wet hair. “We’re not finished yet.” He reclaimed my lips.
Hunger swept through me as I tasted his breath and the cool metal of his tongue ring. My body ached to press against his, and it took every ounce of my willpower to not climb across the seat into his lap.
God, it was so, so much better than I remembered.
When the kiss ended, he left my lips trembling for more, unfulfilled. Unable to believe I had broken my no-kissing-demons rule, I gathered up my stuff and shifted to open the door, only to quickly spin back to face Torent.
“Wait. I just remembered I have class tomorrow night at the Academy.”
Torent cocked his head to the side. “Thursday Awakening class. Not a problem. I can swing by and give you a ride. It will give me an excuse to see you.”
“Don’t get used to it.” I exited his Jeep and ran through the frigid rain into the house, feeling as if my feet never touched the ground and wanting more than life itself to be back inside the warmth of his arms.
Dropping my wet book bag in the front entrance, I ditched my shoes and hoodie before heading toward the kitchen. Gigi had something simmering on the stove that made the house smell like cinnamon and chocolate.
“Was that the Stark boy who dropped you off?” she asked, giving me one of her famous knowing smiles. Her long silver hair was braided to one side.
I nodded, my cheeks flaming with color. Had she seen me kiss him? Or more like devour him?
She opened one of the drawers and withdrew a ladle. “What happened to your car?”
I sank into one of the kitchen chairs, watching her pop around the kitchen, her flowing skirt swishing as it stirred with her movements. It was comforting and homey.
“I got into a little accident.”
She flipped her eyes in my direction, suddenly alarmed. “Oh, dear. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I quickly assured. “It was a freak accident.” Or so I desperately wanted to believe. I didn’t want to worry Gigi.
“Another wolf dart into the road?” She was teasing me now.
“No,” I said slowly. “I think it was a fox this time. Something sprang into my windshield and cracked it to smithereens. Torent took my car to the shop and gave me a ride home.”
Lucky for me, she didn’t ask for details. Clucking her tongue, she turned back to the stove. “And in such weather. He seems to always be around when you need him.”
Wasn’t that the truth, but it was the implication in Gigi’s voice that gave me pause. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was encouraging a relationship with a demon. “I guess.”
“You like him,” she said, not beating around the bush. Her forthrightness was one of the reasons we always got along so well, unlike me and Mom. Gigi joined me at the table with two mugs of hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and peppermint shavings.
My hand wrapped around the Santa mug, letting its warmth seep into my still-cold fingers. There was something to be said for living with Gigi. Mom might not have liked it, but I had never felt more at home or happy. Gigi seemed to always know what I needed.
“The jury’s still out.” I swiped my finger over the mound of whipped cream and licked it off, doing everything in my power to not think about the kiss Torent and I had shared.
“Hmm.” Gigi pursed her lips. “You can’t always control your heart.”
Sipping on the hot cocoa, I folded my right leg underneath my left. “Boys are complicated. Demons are out of my realm.”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t let your mother’s past dictate your future. You deserve to be happy and have fun, Mal. Enjoy every second of your youth.”
How did she know I’d been thinking about my mom and her past relationships? It was uncanny. “I know.”
We talked about school, how my night classes at the Academy were going, and my powers. But not once did I mention the dead birds that had been sprawled outside my window this morning. I didn’t want to worry her more than I already had with the car incident.
When the hot cocoa was gone, I went to my room feeling better about my crazy day. How foolish would I feel if I was wrong or jumping to crazy conclusions? My life had been anything but simple since I’d come to Havenwood Falls. Was I looking for trouble when there was none?
Chapter 4
Tucked away near the main waterfalls in town sat Sun and Moon Academy. It was at this exclusive and hidden academy that students with supernatural abilities like me attended classes. Some went full time during the day, but for students who attended the public schools, the Academy provided night classes during the week.
Torent steered his Jeep through the guarded gates and drove up the long stone road flanked by trees on either side. The perfectly manicured yard was bla
nketed with white snow that twinkled under the numerous stars and the lanterns placed along the driveway.
“How are classes going? Have you accidentally almost killed anyone else?” Torent asked.
He was referring to my first week in class, when I had nearly embedded a pair of scissors into Otis’s chest. Thank Goddess for inhuman reflexes. Word spread quickly about the girl with unpredictable affinity to magnetic energy. I had made quite the name for myself, and not in a good way. Making friends after that had been difficult, to say the least.
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Not yet, but you might be my next victim.”
“Being your victim doesn’t sound that bad.” Torent guided the Jeep around the circular driveway used for drop-offs. When the car halted, he angled toward me and brushed a lock of hair off my cheek. “Try not to stab anyone in the eye tonight.”
I couldn’t help but notice how frequently he found little ways to touch me. It happened more and more as of late. I gathered my books and notebooks into my arms before we had a repeat of the other night and ended up making out in front of the Academy.
“Is that why they lock up the weapons before I get there?” I quipped.
He chuckled, and I shut the door on the deep sound, but it had a way of staying with me, even as I walked away.
Stone pathways led up to the main entrance, and the heels of my boots clattered on the cold rock. My fingers pinched the lapels of my coat together. Don’t look back. Don’t you dare look back at him, I chanted in my head, and I made it all the way to the door before I gave in, glancing over my shoulder.
His Jeep was idling, and through the passenger window, he winked at me. I didn’t bother to see if anyone was around when I flipped him an obscene gesture and turned around smiling.
Strolling through the arched doors and into the interior courtyard, I headed for the Falls Campus. It was the wing closest to the gushing waterfalls. Christmas was only weeks away, and the town had begun displaying its festive décor. That included the Academy, but the means of decorating was a bit different here than in the town square. Leave it to a magical school to use a holiday as a training session. Magic trembled in the halls as I walked by a group of witches who were streaming strands of garland with fairy lights along the archways, no electricity needed—not when you had magic.
Thursday night at Sun and Moon Academy was Awakening Lab, my favorite class. It was there I got to work on honing my magnetic powers.
Monday nights I had basic supe 101 class. The things I learned in there blew my mind. I never imagined so many different kinds of supernaturals were running around in the world. How had I never noticed before? You’d think I would have seen something, just once, but then maybe I had. The mind conjured justifications for the impossible.
Vampires, fae, werewolves, witches, and many, many other types of teens with mystic abilities moseyed down the halls to class and to the library, or hung out in the halls. I came to the Falls Campus wing, where classrooms spanned off the corridor. I hung a right into one of the rooms. Gianna, the instructor’s daughter, smiled at me as I took my seat in the third row beside a fae with blond hair and pretty blue eyes.
There were about twenty other students besides me. I had a few minutes to kill, so I flipped through the supernatural bible, as I referred to the thick textbook. It was a guidebook to the different species. I’d already combed the sections about nymphs and demons.
Because so many of us had different skills, we often split up into groups. I pitied the ones that got stuck with me, but I wasn’t the most dangerous. Far from it.
Mrs. Augustine glided into the room as if her feet never touched the ground, her black tunic flowing behind her. Dark curls swept off her neck into a waterfall up-do today.
“Good evening.” Her voice was radiant with infectious enthusiasm as she dropped off some papers at her desk. Instead of sitting in the chair, she breezed to the front of her desk and sat on top, letting her feet dangle just above the floor. “As many of you are discovering, your abilities can be linked to your emotions. We’ll be exploring some ways to control your powers when your feelings get the best of you.” She dove into her lecture.
Mallory, a deep voice murmured, interrupting my note-taking. It sounded as if he was sitting directly behind me, but that was impossible, considering a pretty girl with bright red hair was in the desk at my back.
I lifted my pen from the notebook as my eyes darted over the room. Was one of the guys playing a trick on me? Telepathy was possible. I just hadn’t met anyone who could project thoughts into my head. Concluding I was losing my mind, I tuned back in to the lecture, but it was harder to concentrate. I kept waiting for the voice again.
Eventually, we were divided into pairs to work on our individual powers. My partner was a witch with an affinity to earth. Elise was a little taller than me with beautiful rich sienna hair that reached the middle of her back. She gave me a polite smile, but I could see in her soft brown eyes she would rather be partnered with someone else.
“Hey.” I smiled back, hoping it would put her at ease. “I promise not to use you as a pin cushion.” I cringed inside. I had wanted to make a joke, but sometimes they sounded funnier in my head.
Lucky for me, Elise giggled and didn’t immediately demand a new partner. “You have an extraordinary gift. Is it true you’re dating Torent Stark?”
I choked. Were people really talking about us? “Um, it’s complicated.”
She let out a dreamy sigh. “Half the girls here would like to be complicated with Torent.”
Good to know . . . Actually, I didn’t want to know. It caused a hot fire to lick inside my belly. I was jealous. The idea of other girls lusting over my demon caused irrational feelings, a dangerous cocktail for a newbie nymph with strong emotional ties to her powers. Bad things happened if I lost my shit.
The pen on the table beside me trembled. I slapped my hand over it.
Hold on. Did I really think of Torent as my demon?
God, I’d fallen for him. It’s just a high school crush, I told myself, not feeling better at the idea.
Something in my expression must have given away what was going on inside my head. “You have it bad, huh? Not that I blame you. I’d take any of the Stark brothers.”
So not helping.
Before I started to become a possessive maybe girlfriend, I suggested Elise start her portion of the lab first. She nodded and went to gather some materials. All around the room my peers practiced honing their skills. Elise came back with a pot of dirt and a package of orchid seeds. Tearing open the paper packet, she put a single seed into a small pot. Then with a wave of her fingers and a few soft spoken words, she lifted her hand, encouraging the plant to grow. And grow it did. No water. No sun. Just magic.
“That is amazing,” I commented in awe. The ability to inspire and nurture life seemed so much more important than my gift. My hand reached out to touch the velvety pink petal, but the moment my fingers grazed the plant, the petals turned a nasty shade of black and withered to dust.
Uh. Holy crap. Please tell me that did not just happen.
I jerked my hand away, mortified. Half the class gasped.
Elise took a step away from me, staring at me in horror. “You’ve been touched by death.”
I glanced around the room, seeing so many eyes on me, and panicked. “I-I don’t know what that means.”
Everything metal in the classroom began to wobble. Chairs. Staplers. Screws. If it was metal, it was vibrating. I had begun to grasp the inner workings of my abilities, but tonight all the training of the last few weeks came undone. And I was horrified by my lack of control. Everyone in the room was now staring at me.
“Mallory,” Mrs. Augustine softly spoke my name. “Take a deep breath like we practiced.”
Deep breaths, my ass. I was past breathing exercises. Hell, I was struggling to get air into my lungs at all. Mrs. Augustine guided me into a chair and gently eased my head forward so the blood rushed downward.
Oh, God. I
was having a legit panic attack in class, and the only person I wanted to see was Torent.
After a few minutes, the air going in and out of my lungs returned to normal, as did the surge of my powers. The trembling of metal objects ceased.
I didn’t believe it was death that had touched me, but a vengeful nymph who would do just about anything to gain her powers back.
Damn you, Brooklyn.
“You’re not going to believe what I did in my class last night.” It was Friday. Beck and I were in study hall.
He scooted his chair closer to me, getting comfortable, the textbooks beside us forgotten. “Oh, do tell. I hope it’s juicy.”
“Not exactly. Try humiliating.”
He rubbed his hands together. “Even better. Dish.”
I relayed the events of my incident with the plant. He already knew about my car and Torent coming to my rescue. Beck approved wholeheartedly, declaring Torent my knight in shining armor. Gah. Beck was such a hopeless romantic and soaked up every nice thing Torent did or said.
Sympathy shone on Beck’s face. “Between the dead birds, your car, and the death omen from Elise, I’d say you’ve gotten yourself into a witchy mess.”
“So Brooklyn had me hexed?” I concluded, trying to make sense of what was happening to me.
“It’s possible,” Beck said, tapping his black-painted fingernail against the table, thinking. “But she is going to great lengths for revenge. Brooklyn doesn’t like other people to do her dirty work. It wouldn’t give her the satisfaction or attention she craves. This feels like something more.”
Ugh. I hated to agree. This didn’t feel like jealousy or vengeance. It was subtle. Dark. And personal. Had I made another enemy without even realizing it? “So how do I find out for sure?”
“You need a witch or . . .”
“Or what?” I prompted, a weird feeling of dread opening up in my chest.
“Or an immortal,” he murmured.
I sunk back, exhaling loudly. “And where would I find one of those?”