Melanie looked at me with big, innocent eyes, as if she had no clue why I disliked the boy they had chosen. As if on cue, said jerk walked by us, chatting with a group of loud, obnoxious guys. Camille and Melanie reached out their arms and yanked him away from them, dragging him across the floor.
“Hey!”
They didn’t release him from their vice grips, leaving him to yell a hasty goodbye as they continued to talk as though Travis never existed in the first place. The thought brought a wistful look to my face.
The trio stopped in front of me and Travis winked. “Don’t look so desperate, kitten.”
My face contorted instantly into what I assume looked like a snarl because pretty boy’s smile faltered just enough for it to be noticeable.
“Why didn’t you get her to come to the library with us?” Camille was not one to beat around the bush and she was obviously annoyed with Travis.
“I tried.” He leaned back against the lockers and smiled at me. “But this one,” he jerked his thumb at me, “wouldn’t hear me out.” His abysmal eyes struck me in place and I had never felt more violated.
I fought the shiver of disgust that wound its way up my spine.
“What makes you think I want to talk to you?”
He got close to me, close enough that I could smell the faint scent of alcohol on his breath, close enough to make me uncomfortable. “I see you, kitten,” he whispered, “Don’t try to deny it. I see you looking for me.”
“I have to avoid you somehow.” I sidestepped him, finally feeling a bit more comfortable with the space around me. I kept my hand on my hip, the curve of the dagger’s hilt pressing into my side. I felt my power reach for the connection, but it was limited by my shirt’s fabric.
“Sky!” Camille startled me away from my anger. “You totally should’ve been there. We were hanging out and doing nothing.”
“I wouldn’t say nothing.” Drew came behind Camille and wrapped his arms around her. I was never happier to have stayed in class. I walked away to the sound of them calling my name from behind me.
As I wove through the anxious teens, I kept my hand on the hilt of the dagger. To the average person, I looked like I was just holding my backpack. The doors to freedom were swinging open and shut with every person that walked through them. Camille and Melanie clicked their heels on the floor as they chased after me, but I was in flats and used that to my advantage as I wove around everyone as though I was dodging bullets in war.
I burst through the door and face-planted into a chest. Arms wrapped around me and I caught my breath, momentarily inhaling the wonderful scent of pine. It rushed to my head and I slumped in realization. “Dammit.”
“You okay, Blossom?”
“I’ll explain later,” I said as I heard Mel, Cam, and the guys scream after me, “just fly.”
His face went hard at my desperate tone and he held me just a bit tighter. He bent his knees and got ready to jump, ready to get me out of there when Camille grabbed my arm. Daris looked at her like she was a menace who shouldn’t even look at me, let alone touch me. I couldn’t have agreed more.
“Hold- hold on, Sky.” The girls were out of breath after chasing us and were holding onto me to keep from collapsing. The boys were still standing, but their chests rose and fell rapidly; they were just standing so as not to look weak. I mentally rolled my eyes and smirked at the thought. I wasn’t out of breath; in fact, I felt like I had just woken up from a nap and was ready to start the day.
Camille was the first one to start breathing normally again and her eyes were stabbing me a thousand times over. “Sky, hold up. We just wanna hang out.”
“No thanks,” I excused, “I rather get home and start the weekend.”
Travis made a small noise and we turned to him to see him shut his mouth in a hard line and steel his eyes. We kept looking at him expectantly. “Never mind.”
Camille looked at me once more. “I vote we all head over to Sky’s for the afternoon.”
“No.” My tone was absolute. There was no way I was letting them in my house.
“Come on, kitten. Don’t be shy.” Travis looked defiantly somewhere behind me and I realized Daris was still there. His arms had left my waist, but I could feel the heat of anger radiating off him. Melanie noticed him, too, and started staring at Daris like he was some sort of deity. She started poking Camille incessantly.
“Cam,” she whispered. Camille turned towards Mel and the shocked girl pointed at Daris. Camille’s eyes grew bigger than Melanie’s and I started counting. 3…2…1…Now. The girls screamed and grabbed me.
“She finally got a boyfriend,” they screeched simultaneously.
Travis scowled and Daris looked on, amused. I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. I tried to break free of their clutches as they somehow managed to jump in their heels.
“And thank goodness we already know him.” Melanie’s words stiffened my body and I yanked my arms away.
“What?” I kept glancing between Daris and the girls, trying to find the connection and seeing none. In the corner of my eye, I saw Travis straighten as if to try to remind everyone that he was still there. It wasn’t working. If anything, it just caused Daris to stiffen like he was ready to defend himself if Travis tried anything.
“Sky,” Melanie whispered loudly. I knew everyone could hear her. “Remember the guy we told you about? The one we wanted to get to kiss you?”
I reached for the weapon casually, wanting to touch the metal, to feel the safety of the power. She glanced at Daris and I looked his way. He looked shocked and a bit embarrassed, almost like he didn’t want them to tell me something.
I nodded without meeting the girls’ excited gazes.
“That’s him,” they said eagerly, as though it weren’t obvious by their behavior. Their voices sounded far away, my thoughts focused on what they had said when Travis had kissed me. Part of me, a much larger part than I would ever admit out loud, felt betrayed and hurt. I nodded again, acknowledging the girls’ comments before walking down the steps and beginning the trek home.
The crowd stayed behind for a few steps before I heard a muttered curse and a couple of high pitch squeals. The steady footsteps gave Daris away, but I just walked faster, needing the moment to be alone with my thoughts. Daris touched my shoulder and I shook him off.
“Blossom—”
I shook my head and kept moving, not noticing I was the only one walking until I heard his hurried footsteps try to catch up with me again.
I kept my head down and my attention to my thoughts the entire walk. The journey that took twenty minutes by foot or less than ten by air felt like it was hours long, the silence elongating the time until I was finally safe within the four walls of my room, leaving Daris in the living room.
I slumped against my closed bedroom door and heaved a frustrated sigh, releasing the turmoil of emotion within me: my anger at Travis, my annoyance with Camille and Melanie, my tiredness from school, and everything else. The only emotion that stayed was the pit in my chest and the butterflies in my stomach.
Rejection didn’t taste good.
Neither did the salt of my tears as I slammed my head against the back of my door, feeling stupid for falling for my trainer.
Saturday, I woke to a quiet apartment. No pots or pans were banging. The rooms didn’t smell like food. When I left the coziness of my bed and wandered into the living room, I learned why: fast asleep on the sofa, with short sandy hair sticking up in every direction and blue eyes hidden from the world, was Daris. I had to stifle my early-morning giggles behind my hand. I forgot about yesterday for a moment and just allowed myself to laugh at the sleeping man before me.
His arms were clutching the pillow and his body was one false move from meeting the floor. The blanket he had been using was tangled around his legs; wrapped around him like a boa. His feet hung over the edge, the largest sofa we had was too small to fully compensate for his long, lean frame. I looked at his face and felt the h
eat rush to my cheeks. He looked so sweet and innocent and attractive. Instead of the bright grin or knowing smirk, Daris bore a small, easy smile. Not one feature of his being was tense, his entire body as loose as jelly.
As quietly as I could, I crept over to the sleeping man and somehow unwove the cover from his legs, trying to keep myself from ogling him more than was deemed necessary. When the warmth was removed, Daris instantly curled into a ball a third of his size. The moment the fabric touched him again, his body went lax, his breathing so slow I considered checking his pulse. I sighed as I looked at Daris. He may not have been my boyfriend, but that did not impede on my rights to find him daringly attractive despite the hurt that stung. I sighed and glanced at the clock, my eyes widening when I realized that Daris slept past ten. Magic or not, he was still human.
Somewhat.
As soon as I turned my back to look out the window, however, that statement was questioned when an animalistic scream dominated the air—my scream. Daris jolted awake and moved that last little bit so he fell on the floor. I tried not to laugh.
Daris looked at me, and my thoughts stopped just long enough to process the disheveled hair, slumped shoulders, and drowsy, electrifying eyes.
“You alright?” he asked. His rough morning voice shook me more than I already was. I nodded once before heading to the window to get a closer look. I didn’t want to deal with him but seeing cocky, dark black eyes staring up at me from the ground jarred me enough to be scared.
“Daris?”
He yawned, “Yeah?”
“Can you come here for a second?” Daris padded over to the window where I was standing. I saw him stiffen out of the corner of my eye.
“Any ideas?” I whispered.
“Run to your room and grab your essentials. Don’t worry about your schoolwork. Just throw some comfortable clothes into a backpack and remember, grab only the essentials.”
Even though I was curious as to why we were running from a high school stalker, something in Daris’s voice struck me. He wasn’t concerned because someone found me; he was concerned that Travis had found me.
“Go Skyler.” His body language screamed defensive and it reminded me of when my father came back. I tried to push the thought out of my mind as I rushed to complete his instructions.
I ran into my room and put on a pair of dark jeans with a white shirt. I dumped out my backpack onto my bed and stuffed it with a couple of outfits and my hoodie. I snagged my phone, its charger, and my wallet. I strapped the dagger onto the outside of my jeans.
“Skyler!”
“Coming!”
On my nightstand, I saw my e-reader and its charger. Against my better judgment, I grabbed it. I didn’t know what was going on, but I would need a book eventually.
I ran out of the room to see Daris standing at the entrance of the front door. He was dressed and packed just like I was. I hurried to him before backtracking, taking a picture from the table and slipping the paper into my wallet. “Let’s go.”
The two of us ran into the morning sunlight and down the stairs. I looked behind us to see what I saw from the window: Travis, except this time, he as running after us, his dark eyes tracking Daris’s every movement. Daris kept looking back and pushing me forwards. His hand was constantly brushing his own dagger, ready to fight if it came down to that.
Something was wrong. Travis snapped his gaze towards me, and I felt a cold pit form in my stomach. “Daris?”
He followed my line of sight and released a low, barely audible growl. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me after him. “Ready to fly, Blossom?”
“What? But Travis-”
“Just hang on tight, and whatever you do, don’t use magic.” His voice was hard and had lost every bit of sensuality. I was stunned into obedience.
“On the count of three, push off from the ground as hard as you can. One…Two…Three!” He wrapped his arms around me as we kicked off from the ground and into the sky. In a flash, we were fifty feet in the air and comfortably hovering above Travis.
The boys shared some sort of violent, telepathic communication before Daris shot us across the sky. I heard the faint sound of Travis’s frustration in the distance and smiled briefly before settling against Daris. I was still tense, though. The urgency in Daris’s voice earlier ringing through my ears. I sighed.
“You can relax now. Acerlums can’t control air as well as Luxators.”
“W-What?”
“You’re safe.”
“No, after that. Travis is an Acerlum?” Daris sighed.
“Yes. And if he’s here so soon after your birthday, there’s no doubt about it. The way he found you so quickly, the way he knew exactly where to find you in the building, he’s risen in the ranks. He’s probably your father’s right hand by now; sent here to watch you grow up and see how your powers developed. That’s probably why he kept trying to be around you so much.”
I was struck silent, then said, “I don’t even want to think about it right now.”
“You have to deal with it eventually.”
“Thanks for the reminder,” I replied sarcastically.
“At least you’re safe.”
“Then why do I feel a pit in my stomach?”
Daris’s arms tightened. “Did you make eye contact with him?”
“Briefly. Why?”
He sighed. “That’s how Acerlums get their magic, remember. That pit, does it feel cold?”
I nodded against him.
“You need to make yourself happy. As long as you’re feeling any negative emotions, he will continue to feed.”
I shuddered at the thought of Travis getting power from me and my anger only rose.
Daris quickly landed on the roof of a tall building and set me down. “You aren’t relaxing.”
“I’m trying,” I mumbled through clenched teeth.
“No, you’re not. Take out your dagger.”
“Why?” My hand reached for the weapon and brushed against the leather hilt.
Daris stared at me with a gaze that said, “Just do it.”
I freed the knife and it glowed blue the moment I brushed the cool surface. Part of me was terrified, but an overwhelming feeling of happiness crushed the fear.
“That’s why. The metal of a Luxator’s blade stores emotions for the wielder to call upon later. Since you only feel hostility and fear towards Travis, the blade removed it from your system and has absorbed it to turn it into a force to be reckoned with the next time you fight.”
I admired the weapon in my hands with a newfound respect.
“It also gets your…boyfriend,” he spat icily, “off of our trail. That pit in your stomach isn’t nerves. It’s a small orb of magic that absorbs your emotions and allows the Acerlum who placed it to track the host. It’s like a parasite. Very few lucky Luxators can’t be affected.”
“So, Travis could still be following us?”
“If he is, all he knows is that we stopped here and by the time he gets here, we’ll be gone. Acerlums can fly like Luxators, but not as well. Past here, he won’t have a clue where we’re headed.” He strained a smile and lifted us once more into the air.
“By the way,” I pouted and Daris looked down at me, “that asshole is not my boyfriend.”
Daris laughed and kept flying. How he wasn’t getting tired, I had no idea. We touched ground hours later by the side entrance of a small house. He set me down and we headed inside.
“Where are we?” I questioned as we crossed the threshold. I felt something pulse within me and the dagger attached to hummed approvingly, almost as if it recognized the place.
“This, Blossom, is a Luxator safe house. We have a few scattered around the world for occasions such as this. We’ll stay here for a few weeks while I train you.”
“And then what? You won’t always be training me and I have to go back home eventually.”
“Then, you fight.” He side-glanced me and went into the nearest room. “Your room is the one on the othe
r side of the living room.”
“’Kay.” But I didn’t move. I stayed in the main room and admired the quaintness of the house. The walls were painted in a variety of different colors, the rainbow busy and soothing at the same time.
The room I was standing in had a few small sofas that were arranged in a circle around a small table with a marked map on it. Either this room was used for role-playing games or Daris did some serious strategizing in his free time.
Connected to the living room was a small kitchen that housed a stove, a small refrigerator, and a tiny sink. It wasn’t much to work with, but I could cook something up. Unfortunately, the fridge was devoid of all food. My stomach growled.
“Hey, Daris?”
“Yeah?” He came out of the room he was in, and I immediately knew he had showered. Even though his hair was no longer flying in all directions and his posture was rigid, his eyes were sleepy.
“Did you grab any food before we left?”
Daris sighed. “Nope.”
I groaned. “Where’s the nearest store?” I grabbed my wallet from my bag but stopped when I heard Daris laugh. “What?”
He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “We’re going to start your training.”
“But—”
“Let’s go.”
“But breakfast!”
“Can wait until later. Come on.” He grabbed my hand and led me to the backyard. “By the way, I hope you like fruit.”
The backyard of the house was beautiful. The grass was short and the smell of it lingered in the air while mixing with the scent of the dozens of different flowers. In the corner, there was a small pond that was being filled by a waterfall that trickled off some jagged rocks. A few trees shaded the entire area. Hanging from one of the taller ones was a wooden swinging bench with several cushions.
“Wow.”
“I take it you like it, then?” Daris said from behind me.
“Like it? It’s beautiful.” I was breathless, overwhelmed with the environment around me. My stomach growling interrupted the peaceful sound of the falling water. “Heh. I guess I’m still hungry.”
Marked by Time (The Mark Series Book 1) Page 11