Winter Term

by J. J. Krzemien

  Academy Obscura

  The Culling Year - Winter Term

  JJ Krzemien

  Contents

  1. Caprice

  2. Caprice

  3. Jaxon

  4. Caprice

  5. Caprice

  6. Angel

  7. Caprice

  8. Caprice

  9. Caprice

  10. Liam

  11. Caprice

  12. Caprice

  13. Caprice

  14. Caprice

  15. Caprice

  16. Angel

  17. Caprice

  18. Caprice

  19. Jaxon

  20. Caprice

  21. Caprice

  22. Liam

  23. Caprice

  24. Caprice

  25. Jaxon

  26. Caprice

  27. Caprice

  28. Jaxon

  29. Caprice

  1

  Caprice

  I was sitting in my dorm room doing the first homework assignments for winter term when a knock sounded on my door. I scrambled off the bed and went to answer it. My brows rose in question as I gazed up at Liam’s handsome face.

  “We want to talk with you about…us,” he said, searching my eyes.

  I nodded, grabbed my coat and stepped into the hallway. “Do they always send you to get me, or do you volunteer?” It sure seemed like every time the guys wanted to talk to me, Liam appeared at my door.

  His moss green eyes sparkled. “I volunteer. I use my fae emotion-sensing advantage as the primary reason that it should be me.”

  “So you always know how I’m feeling?” That thought unsettled me.

  He nodded.

  “Doesn’t that get exhausting?” I walked with him into the cold night air, not having to ask where we were headed. We always met up at Jaxon’s apartment in Academy Hall, which was next door to where I lived with the rest of the beast-shifters and shapeshifters in Freeman Dorm.

  Liam chuckled. “Sometimes.”

  My heart fluttered at the warm sound of his laugh.

  “But I couldn’t imagine life without it,” he continued. “Not sensing emotion for me would be the same as being blind or deaf to you.”

  I glanced at him as we strolled along the well-lit pathway. His unruly red hair fell across his forehead. Below a faint smattering of freckles across his nose, were the most luscious ruddy lips.

  He cleared his throat, most likely getting hit with a wave of my lust. There wasn’t anything I could do about the lust, it seemed to go along with being a dragon-shifter. As did wanting more than one man. I hoped Liam, Jaxon, and Angel had worked out a way that I didn’t have to choose. I told them I wasn’t going to some prize for one of them. If they wanted me, they’d have to share.

  “I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to say this,” Liam said, “but I wanted to thank you for saving my life in the woods. Those Tromara took me completely off guard. Anyway, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” An embarrassed blush heated my face. “Though, I still owe you big for how many times you came to my rescue last term.” I owed all three of them.

  Liam smiled down at me. “You don’t owe me. I like being your knight in shining armor whenever I can.”

  I touched his bicep. “You’re sweet.”

  He cringed.

  “What? I’m sorry. I—”

  He halted, turning to face me, his hands on my shoulders. He gave them a gentle squeeze. “No man wants to be called sweet.”

  I had a feeling his reaction was more personal than that. Liam totally fit in the category of nice guys finished last. He was sensitive, sweet, and had no idea how attractive he was. The last thing I wanted to do was make him feel unmanly.

  “Okay,” I said. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t feel bad.” He caressed my cheek.

  A shiver ran through me at his touch. I turned my head, planting a kiss in his palm. He sucked in a breath, those gentle eyes becoming hooded with desire.

  “We’d better keep walking,” he said in a hushed voice.

  The sexual tension between us was palpable, as we stood gazing at each other. I glanced at his lips, wanting more than anything to kiss them. But this wasn’t the right time. The guys and I needed to figure this out before more feelings were hurt.

  With a nod, I started walking again, picking up the pace. Liam took a couple of long strides to catch up.

  In Academy Hall we climbed the stairs up to Jaxon’s apartment. Suddenly, my heart was in my throat, my palms growing moist. What if we couldn’t figure this out? What if I caused these guys to have a falling out? They’d been best friends since childhood. I couldn’t do that to them.

  Liam noticed my sudden panic. His large hand rubbed my back, sending soothing fae magic into me, which helped a little.

  “It will be okay. I promise.” He opened the door.

  Jaxon and Angel sat on the couch that faced the entrance. They stood as we came in, wearing matching expressions of shy hope. Liam led me to the nearer couch, across the coffee table from the guys, and sat down next to me. He shifted away, putting a little more space between us. I chewed on my bottom lip.

  The guys retook their seats, everyone sitting in awkward silence for several heartbeats.

  Liam began, “We’ve talked a lot about this over the past couple of days. About you, and our individual feelings toward you, as well as how to keep the friendship between the three of us from falling apart.”

  I frowned. Maybe I was being unreasonable, selfish. I opened my mouth to speak, but Liam stopped me by placing a hand on my knee.

  “You don’t need to feel guilty,” he said. “We’ve had some really good talks. Jaxon did a whole bunch of research from May’s sources about dragons taking more than one mate. We can make this work.”

  “How?” I asked, glancing at the three of them.

  Jaxon spoke up. “First of all, you’re right. Dragons, according to all of the legends, take multiple mates.” His brow furrowed. “Though, most dragon-shifters in the tales are male with multiple wives. Seems fair enough to assume it would be the same for female dragons, that they would have more than one husband. Anyway, they seem to form a family unit. And we,” Jaxon gestured to Liam, Angel, and himself, “think we can handle that. In a way, we’ve been as close as family for a long time.”

  “Closer really,” Liam said.

  Angel nodded in silent agreement. I was still mildly surprised that Angel was part of this. I wanted him, but I didn’t know how much the feeling was mutual. He was such a mystery, never sending any clear signs of how he felt about me. I guessed I’d find out soon enough.

  “However,” Jaxon continued, “we would like to keep this arrangement between the four of us, and not let anyone else into it.”

  “And what, exactly, is this arrangement?” I asked.

  Angel spoke, his muscular arms crossed over his chest. “You’d date the three of us. Only the three of us.” The possessiveness in his voice sent a warm pulse through my chest.

  “Okay… What do you have in mind? How would that work?” I asked.

  “We thought dividing up our time would be the most fair,” Liam said. “Weekdays would be your own. We usually eat dinner together here, you’re welcome to join us. Then weekends, we would rotate though. So, this coming weekend is for you and me. Next weekend you’d have Angel to yourself, and the following would be Jaxon. Then the cycle would repeat.”

  “Wow. You guys have really thought this through. How’d you come up with the schedule?”

  Jaxon snorted. “We drew straws, obviously I was the loser.”

  Oh, my God. Drew straws? That was both sweet and disturbing.

  Liam leaned toward me. “So? What do you think?”

  I glanced at them all a
gain. “I think it’s very unconventional, but fair.” I wondered how this worked back when there was a whole dragon society. At that time, among them, this would have been normal.

  “You agree to the schedule?” Jaxon asked. “And to only dating us?”

  I smiled. “I completely agree. Besides, I don’t think I could handle any more testosterone in my life.”

  Liam gave my knee a squeeze. Jaxon returned my smile, the mirth softening his steely grey eyes. Angel’s glowing yellow gaze studied my face and, as usual, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Hopefully, I’d find out next weekend.

  “I should get going,” I said, standing. My head was spinning a bit from all this—could it really work? My heart was pounding too fast with anticipation. This was really happening. Then, like a frigid splash of water, reality hit. “What about the Tromara?”

  All three men tensed. Our fantasy world of romance could come crashing to an end in five months. Or, it could last a year and five months. Either way, when the Tromara King came for me, I’d be torn away from these guys. I didn’t want that to happen, but had no idea how to change it. I might be forced to kill the King to free myself. The though had crossed my mind before.

  Jaxon said, “I’m going to talk with Isabella about that. As far as I understand it, under the terms of the Truce, a student may be taken only if they are in the Culling Club. If you can get out of that, then the Council may be able to keep you from the King.”

  “Since you’re also the Council Queen’s heir,” Liam said, “they should be able to make a good case for you. King Sebastian was overstepping when he laid claim to you as his wife anyway.”

  I frowned, biting my lip. “I thought the Tromara had the final say on everything. That they can basically do whatever they want. Is that not true?”

  Jaxon shook his head. “They do and they don’t—it’s complicated. Just like last summer when they could have taken me for interfering on the full moon, Isabella negotiated an alternative. She has the authority to do the same for you.” He ran his fingers through his wavy blond hair. “The Tromara will probably require a sizable sacrifice in exchange for your life. The point is, they want to keep the Truce and the peace as much as we do.”

  I was horrified at the idea that several people could die in order to save my life. But, I didn’t want to be the King’s wife, whatever that entailed, either. I shuddered. If I was taken by that monster, I would at least try to kill him. I’d rather die than be his slave for life, of that I was sure. But, if there was a chance to appease him in some other way… Could I live with myself for sacrificing others for my life?

  Last term the Tromara had demanded a Culling for Jaxon’s crime. He’d saved my life last summer, when I didn’t know any of this existed. That was his crime. Did the deaths of those students still haunt him?

  Liam took my hand, gently squeezing. “We’ll know more once Jaxon talks to Isabella. In the meantime, let’s try to live our lives.”

  I glanced down at Liam, who was still sitting on the couch. “You all know I’m not particularly good at following rules, but I don’t want to make this worse by openly defying the Tromara.” The fucking Tromara didn’t own me, but I wanted to keep the guys as safe as possible, and that meant not pissing off the evil bastards’ King.

  “I agree,” Jaxon said. “We need to keep our arrangement to ourselves. Let’s be careful with this. No one else needs to know about it.”

  I cringed, saying, “Maybe we should wait until I’m out of the Culling and Isabella has come up with a solution.” I hated admitting defeat. I hated giving in to the Tromara.

  Angel shook his head. “That’s not necessary. The Tromara would have to find out about the four of us. They aren’t allowed to stay on campus, and no one here is going to tell them anything. Even Dean Wright doesn’t want trouble. She wouldn’t turn us in if she found out.”

  It seemed like a good enough argument. As long as we stayed within the Academy walls, the Tromara wouldn’t find out about me and the guys.

  “Okay,” I said, only half convinced that this was the best thing to do.

  “It’s a total shit situation,” Liam said. “In the mean time, let’s make the best of what time is given to us.”

  “I’d like that.” My heart raced, as my brain processed all of this. We were defying the Tromara—but I didn’t want to live in fear of them. There was a chance that I’d never be taken away, and that I could have these three gorgeous men for the rest of my life. Hope filled my chest.

  Hope was a dangerous thing to hold on to, but right now it was all I had. I slipped my hand from Liam’s. “I should go. I’ll see you guys later.”

  They all stood, walking with me to the door. At the threshold I turned, gazing up at each of them. My inner dragon swelled with an unabashed smugness. Mine. A blush crept up my neck. This was going to take some getting used to.

  We murmured our goodnights, and I left.

  Outside, in the freezing January air, I decided to take care of some business before heading back to my dorm. The past couple of days my new teacher, Montrell Freeman, had been doing his best to keep me in the Culling Club by docking my points.

  Entering the Dean’s Hall, I stood in the deserted lobby staring up at the magical scoreboard. The numbers glowed next to each student’s name, showing their standing at Academy Obscura. Near the bottom, at the ten percent mark, a red line divided those safe from the Culling and those who would be sacrificed at the end of the year. Which would be the second round of sacrifices this year. Anger clenched my gut. All of the college age supernaturals were corralled into the Academy and ten percent of them were lined up for the slaughter. This year there were nineteen spots in the Culling. It was so unfair.

  My name was at the very bottom of the board. I was so screwed. The hope I’d felt with the guys shattered. I was going to become the Tromara King’s slave—worse, his wife, which was probably a sex slave. Then I’d live and die at his whim.

  Biting the inside of my cheek, I pushed down the hopelessness and tears. If I was going to make it through this, I had to live in the present not the future. The future was too bleak.

  I turned and went back through the thick wooden door. My heart heavy.

  Although the snow had melted and not returned, icy rain drifted down to melt on my nose. I pulled up the hood of my coat, then headed toward Freeman Dorm.

  The hour had gotten really late, and the campus grounds were deserted. On my way to the dorm, I had to pass by Academy Hall again. All the windows were dark. Were the guys asleep already?

  A giddy happiness welled in my chest, making me feel like an emotional yo-yo. Tomorrow I’d have dinner with them, then hang out with Liam on the weekend. A yearning swept through me. I’d had crushes before, even on some of my high school teachers, but nothing compared to how I felt about Liam and Jaxon, and to a lesser extent Angel because I didn’t know him as well.

  I was so glad we’d talked, and had a plan to try. Having to choose between them would have left my heart broken. They were each so different, yet sexy in their own ways. I liked how willful and passionate Jaxon was, even if his affection came through as anger at times. We’d had a rough start, that was for sure. I finally figured out that his distance and general asshole behavior had been to hide his feelings from me, which he’d succeeded in doing until last week.

  Now, I didn’t know exactly how he felt about me, but I knew he cared. He’d been crying for fuck’s sake, two days ago when he thought he was going to lose me to the Tromara. My chest clenched at the memory.

  Liam was the opposite of Jaxon, always soothing and sweet—except his kisses, they were savage in the best way possible. He didn’t hide how much he cared, and I like that about him.

  And Angel…so mysterious. He was a werewolf, deadly and vengeful—he’d proven that several times. Often, I felt that I should be afraid of him, but I wasn’t. His primal side attracted my inner dragon like nothing else.

  Academy Hall paralleled the pathway to Free
man Dorm. On a whim, I decided to avoid some of the icy rain by going through the building instead of walking beside it. Pulling open the door to the massive structure, I slipped into a slightly warmer corridor. At least it was dry. The stone walls held dimmed sconces at even intervals.

  The main floor was all offices, shut up tight after hours. Unhurriedly, I shuffled down the hallway toward the opposite door, grinning like a love-sick idiot while thinking about the beast inside Angel and how I wanted to let it out.

  My smile faltered as movement down the next hallway caught my eye. I squinted into the dim light. Kneeling by a closed door, was the outline of a familiar red-haired woman. She was muttering, wand in hand.

  Quietly, I approached her. “May?” I whispered.

  She leaped to her feet, eyes wide, a hand flying to her chest as she turned toward me. “Caprice! My God, you scared me half to death!”

  The plaque on the door read: Ms. Duinn. I’d caught May in front of this office door before. This time, I wanted answers.

  I eyed her. “What are you doing messing with Ms. Duinn’s door?”

  May lowered her gaze to the floor. “I can’t tell you.” Resuming her instructor attitude, she put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me with her down the corridor. “Just forget that you saw me. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”

  “Me getting into trouble?” I halted, crossing my arms over my chest. “What’s going on? You’ve been hiding something for months.”

  She glanced around the empty hall. “Come with me.”

  A few doors down, May flicked her wand to let us into her office, then switched on a floor lamp by the door. Instead of going to the chair behind her large desk, she took a seat in the little sitting area. I sank into the upholstered chair on the other side of the little round table.