by Kenna Bardot
“Let me guess. Montgomery?” She looked me up and down again, face still showing the same look of affronted horror.
“Oh, certainly. No one else would have the taste to do this.”
“Well, fine then. I guess you can wear it to honor her but, Zeevar, never wear it again.”
“I won’t!” I agreed vehemently. “I only wore it to piss you off.”
“You did? Oh, you bitch!” She rolled her eyes at me and started to drag me in the opposite direction. I dug in my heels, wondering where were headed. “Wait, where are we going? Stop making me walk in these deathtraps.”
“Kitchens. I’m desperate for some good tea before I drink myself drunk.”
“No,” I protested and pulled her fingers from their death grip around my arm. “I’m not going. Kitchen stops before parties are a thing Lot told me she likes doing, and she actually dragged me with her at the start of the year. So….” I trailed off and Mar looked at me blankly.
“So?” she prompted.
“I can’t. I just can’t.” I shook my head and tilted it towards the ceiling to stop my tears from falling. I felt two hands touch my shoulders gently.
“It’s okay, Kaia. I can skip the tea.” She wrapped her arms around my shoulder and led me away from the kitchens. “We’ll just go to the party and get stupid drunk.”
I choked out a watery laugh. “Sounds fun, Mar.”
“Sure it is,” she insisted as we walked down the crowded hallways towards the third floor training room where the party was being held. “Listen to that ear-splitting noise. You’ll have fun. We’ll drink a lot, flirt a little, dance awkwardly. Party.”
“Have to find Emers first. He’ll probably be worried. I told him not to walk me to the party. I was pretty annoyed with him for forcing me to go,” I grumbled even as we stepped into the chaos. I was quite certain Mar hadn’t heard a word I said.
“Uh-huh. He’s right by the entrance, which isn’t surprising because your men are apparently stalkers.” She nudged me towards Emerson at the same time that he spotted me. He rushed towards me but, much like Mar had done, came to an abrupt stop to look me up and down.
“Ah, Precious? What are you wearing?”
“Clothes, Emerson. You’ve seen this. You were there when Lottie foisted it on me.” I twirled, stumbling a bit since I’d forgotten the heels.
I should never forget the heels.
“Hey! Careful there, Precious.” Emerson grabbed me around the waist and brought me in closer to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, not needing to tiptoe too much for once.
He drew me closer still and nuzzled my neck. "I like this height on you. I can reach you easier."
I gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran a hand through his curls. "So you can. Imagine Ronan, though. He'd still be much taller, wouldn't he? Won't even make much of a difference."
"Sure. But he'd have torn that dress off you and carted you off to your room before you explored that option."
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? And that's different from you how?"
He let go to hold me at arm's length. "Well, Precious, I'd rather appreciate it first and also appreciate the fact that our resident caveman isn't here to get mad at you for wearing such a revealing dress."
"Oh? You don't like it." I cocked my hips, slapping my hands on them.
"Trust me, I do. But I'm afraid you'll never convince Ronan to like it."
I laughed and wrapped my arm around his waist playfully. "Well, that was a foregone conclusion. But see, he's not here, so no harm done. Figured it won't get worn any other day and this way, it gets used."
"Sure, and that means everyone else will see it. Good plan. Don't show Gale. He'll go crazy when he does."
I hummed but didn't agree since I wished desperately that Gale was there. It was hard having him so close but to have barely any contact with him.
"Let's dance."
I shook my head but let him drag me to the dance floor, the loud music pouring over us like a blanket. Since I couldn't speak to him much anyway, I decided it would be best to just attempt to move to the beat.
We were like that for a few minutes and I was starting to enjoy it.
"Kaia!" I heard the muffled sound of my name being called before I felt the touch on my arm. Still clutching at Emerson's hand, I turned and found Mar looking down at me and waving her hands excitedly.
"What?" I shouted amidst the din.
She pointed enthusiastically towards the back of the room, and though her lips moved, I could not make out any of the words she said.
"I don't understand," I huffed out, shaking my head.
She bounced on the balls of her feet and kept pointing. Emerson grabbed her wrist before he was pulling both of us off the dance floor and away from where most of the noise was.
"There, talk," he told us with a smile. "I'll go get a drink. Does anyone want anything?"
"Thanks, Hawkins. We're good. Just go." She waved him off and Emerson just shook his head before sprinting off towards the refreshments.
"Your man is just so fucking affable isn't he?"
"That he is, Mar. That he really is. What did you want? I was having fun dancing." Okay, fun was a bit of an exaggeration but at least I wasn't actively trying to escape.
"Really? You were having fun? Kaia, the party-pooper Shaw?" She eyed me skeptically.
I held out my hands and shrugged. "I wasn't actively hating it."
"Oh, that's good then. But I need you for something. Come with me!" She grabbed my wrist and began pulling me in the direction where she'd been pointing to while we'd been on the dance floor.
"Hey, wait!" I objected. "Where are we going again?"
"Game. The men are being obnoxious chauvinists so we have to prove them wrong. Girl power and all that. Yada-yada. Lottie would totally do it with me so you have to do it with me now, because she's not here, and she would just love it. If she were here, she'd make you do it, you know." She was talking nonsense and just kept dragging me along, so I stopped protesting. She was a pretty powerful lady when determined.
"So let me get this straight. I'm a replacement for my best friend?" I swallowed hard at the thought but, fortunately, while it did make me sad, it did not leave me with an overwhelming urge to cry as it would have previously.
"Well, you're the only girl I like and tolerate, Kaia Shaw. That's an Air anyway. There's just such a scant few of you, it's not really that much of a surprise. Besides, this is the first year I could actually do this with a girlfriend so, hey!"
"Ok, fine. What is it?"
"This." We stopped, and she got out of the way with a flourish of the hand to show me a group of men gathered around a large table surrounded by stands of varying heights. On the stands were two different-colored cups of liquor, or so I assumed given how drunk some of the men looked.
What looked to be an Ink stepped up and held out his hands. "Blue wins!"
People hooted and clapped and I saw Levi, the guy who had expressed interest in Emerson at the start of the year, and Jun, one of the men in my class soaking up the attention at the center of it all. Jun had been accepted into the Assassin track just earlier that day. The two men high-fived one another and the Ink who made the announcement turned to the crowd. “Any other challengers?”
Mar swaggered forward, dragging me behind her. She raised the hand that held my arm. "We'll take a stab at it."
The crowd quieted before clapping restarted in earnest and more loudly than it had when Levi and Jun had been declared winners. I widened my eyes at the crowd, having absolutely no fucking clue what Mar had gotten me into. I lowered my voice and leaned into Mar, "Ah, Mar, what the fuck is this?"
"Drinking game."
Henry, the Fifth Year Ink who was doing the announcing, gestured for the crowd to quiet down. "Okay, everyone, we have a challenger. Ink: Marisole Chesson and Air: Kaia Shaw!"
My head swiveled around to take in all the eyes that were watching us intently and landed on Emerson's horrif
ied ones. I shot him a sheepish smile and glanced at Mar to indicate that she'd roped me into the entire thing.
He gave me two thumbs up and an uncertain smile, and I just laughed.
"Okay, okay. Knock it off and let me talk. Just as a review. Reigning champions, Jun and Levi, blue. Marisole and Kaia, daring challengers take red. A review of the rules: Airs on both sides will try to navigate the maze of reinforced paper and board on the table using a single tiny plastic ball to get to any of the many exits on the sides. From there, you have to drop your ball into a cup belonging to the other team. Anyone who allows their ball to fly on top of the maze forfeits one cup. Oh, and the Inks get to drink the liquor from any of the lost cups. Game can end in one of two ways. Either win five out of nine of the opposing team's cups or when the partner Ink is unable to drink the penalty liquor, then you lose. Any questions?"
I wanted to roll my eyes. It was beer pong. Fucking beer pong. I thought I'd survived college, but I ended up dying and going back to it. But this time it was fancy beer pong with magic.
How did I get to be so lucky?
I spoke up, "I don't have any questions but can I get a bench or stool to stand on? Even in heels I can barely see over the maze!"
Two guys came up, carrying a stool that would take me to at least Jun's height, which was pretty good for me. I slipped off my shoes and braced myself to climb up on the stool when a hand gripped mine.
I turned to the side, finding Levi's dark eyes staring back at me. The shadows of the room made his already dark skin blend into the shadows, the sharp angles of his face giving off an almost menacing effect despite his grin. He lifted his hand, offering support in a gesture for me to step up. I smiled at him subtly, placing a bare foot on the stool hesitantly. The other one followed, and I finally stood tall enough to see the entire board. I studied it, analyzing which paths would take me to dead ends and which ones would be successful.
Mar stepped next to me, rising up to tip toes in her heels. "You got this?" she asked, her eyes shining with something akin to worry for the first time.
Of course. Competitive Mar would hate to lose.
"I shouldn’t just to punish you. But, yeah bitch, I got this," I laughed, taking the red ball she handed me.
"Kaia's never played before. Should we give her a handicap or something?" Levi asked Henry, who eyed me as though Levi was an idiot.
Henry fought back his smile when he glanced at my glare. I did not appreciate being underestimated. "Sure," Henry chuckled.
"Okay, honey. First one's a free shot," Levi said, stepping away and returning to his side of the table. I turned my eyes down to Mar who gave me wide eyes like the crazy person she was, biting both her lips as her body shook with laughter.
"Oh Gods," she wheezed.
"Get a hold of yourself, bitch bucket. Don't distract me," I whispered at her. She just laughed harder. I turned a smirk Levi's way, dropping the red ball into the maze.
"Don't be too hard on yourself if you suck," Mar teased. "After all, you've never played before."
I glared at her briefly, sending a burst of Air at the ball to propel it forward through the tunnel. The first turn was slightly difficult to navigate, finding the best way to curve the ball around without popping it up and over the maze at all a tricky task to get the hang of, but it got easier from there once I understood it. The ball twisted and turned, landing in one of Levi's cups on the other side with a wet plop as it fell off the table.
Levi raised his eyebrows at me as he bent down to retrieve the cup. I raised mine right back with a shrug. "Beginners luck?"
He smiled at me and downed his liquor before tossing the ball back to Mar. She caught it, grimacing at the stickiness from the alcohol.
"So unsanitary."
"Then why did you want to play?"
She shrugged as she handed me the ball. "Fuck if I know."
I turned back to Henry, finding Jun grinning at me from the other side. One of the quieter ones in my class, he was one of the few I'd never had a conflict with. I liked him for not getting involved in the petty drama Pia stirred up, but didn't know him well enough to say that I actually liked him.
Because, you know, people sucked hairy monkey balls.
Big, hairy monkey balls.
"Drop!" Henry yelled, and Jun and I both dropped our balls into the maze. He was quicker, more precise and practiced with his movements. While I understood what to do and how to move the ball, the reflexes of having played hundreds of times just weren't there for me yet. His ball dropped into Mar's cup a few seconds before mine landed in Levi's. Mar turned a glare my way as she scooped to pick it up and chugged the drink after handing me the ball. I studied the board again, using the opportunity to pick out my next path.
On and on we went.
Cup after cup.
I sank three more of Levi's. Jun sank three more of Mar's. Emerson kept me supplied with alcohol of my own, and I could feel my head starting to swim even as I readied myself for the final showdown. Mar giggled at my side, further gone into the drunk land of horny city than I was. She'd even taken to flirting with Otto, who had gone from looking completely horrified to quite amused during the span of the game.
"Drop!" Henry announced, and I jolted and tossed my ball into the maze quickly. Emerson chuckled at my back, his face pressed to my spine. I resisted the urge to rub up against him like a cat.
So maybe Mar wasn't the only one who'd disappeared into drunky-do-me land. Fuck, I’d only needed alcohol to want sex.
Secrets to the universe unlocked.
I had learned that going a teeny bit slower and avoiding the friction of rubbing the ball against the walls of the maze was the best option, but with my vision fuzzing at the edges a bit that was easier said than done.
Still, it would seem Jun was drunker than me, because I sank my ball first by some stroke of luck.
"Woooo!" Mar shouted in my ear, jumping up and clapping her hands with a giddy laugh. Otto stepped back to avoid the death traps that her heels presented to his feet if she stepped on him. "You rock!"
I laughed as she hugged me and tugged me off my stool, only Emerson keeping us from falling on our faces.
"I think I better get you back to your room." Otto frowned at Mar.
She pouted at him briefly. "Just me? Okayyyyy." The teasing smile on her face didn't give me comfort that she wouldn't do something she would regret, but Mar was a big girl. If she wanted to embarrass herself by making a move on a friend that he would tease her for relentlessly, well, I would enjoy the entertainment of it the next day.
Or I thought I would. I’d probably not remember anything the next day anyway.
"I love youuuu," she groaned in my ear as Otto tugged her away.
"I love you toooo," I giggled back at her.
Emerson turned to me. "She’s not so scary when she’s like this. Anyway, are you ready to go, Air Pong killer?"
"No, one more drink." I turned to find Levi grimacing at me, clutching his head from his alcohol consumption.
"Okay, Precious. I'll go grab you one. Be right back."
I waited a few minutes, but restlessness tugged at me. Eventually, I snatched up my heels and started walking through the room barefoot. I didn't even question it when I left the party, my feet guiding me exactly where my body screamed at me to go. A few stumbles here and there made me want to drop my shoes, but I couldn't as they'd been Lot's. I knocked on the door quietly, and it opened so suddenly I fell into the quarters with a gasp.
"Kaia?" Gale asked in alarm as his strong arms caught me up.
"Hi," I breathed, resisting the urge to laugh when his incredulous gaze met mine.
He sniffed before his eyes widened. "Are you drunk?"
"Perhaps slightly," I giggled, resting my hands on his chest and smoothing over the bare skin there. I may have fumbled a bit but couldn’t destroy the greatness of the sensation. Such perfect skin this one had. "I want to lick your tattoo. Well, all of them."
He snorted, p
inching the bridge of his nose and stabilizing me so I can stand on my own two feet again. "Where's Emerson?"
"At the partyyy," I whispered, taking a nibble at his ear. "I escaped." I added, feeling proud of keeping my voice low.
That secret was precious to me.
"Not very well it would seem," he chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. "I think you lost something." He turned his gaze over my shoulder.
"Damn," I sighed. I hadn’t even heard the door open.
"Do you have something against my dick tonight, Precious?" Emerson teased, wrapping arms around my waist.
"Not at all," I practically purred, taking Emerson's hand in mine and guiding it towards the hem of my dress. "I just want two dicks tonight."
"Not tonight, Thief. Too many students wandering the halls."
I pouted at Gale, letting Emerson take my hand and start tugging me away.
"Fine." I stuck my tongue out at him. "Enjoy Suzy Palmer then." I lifted my dress to flash him my ass as I walked away. When I glanced back at him, his eyes were amused once he confirmed there were no other people in the hall, but I could see the warning there.
There was a punishment coming my way.
And I couldn't wait.
Eighteen
Kaia
My head throbbed a bit, but other than that I barely felt any effects of a late night coupled with a substantial amount of alcohol. To be honest, I only felt sluggish because training with Gale had to happen early in the morning, and I was so not a morning person. But I had no choice if I wanted to train, as I spent most weekends cooped up in the library, studying with Emerson, or Mar.
“A little off are you, Thief?” Gale teased me, and I winced. I couldn’t remember clearly enough to say why he was tormenting me exactly, but I suspected I probably deserved it.
He flicked a wrist and a gust of hard Air swirled around me and dropped me to my knees. “Dammit, Gale.”
“Thought for sure that given how well you handled having a ball flying through a maze meant that you had spectacular control on your Air. Didn’t you win?”