His calm voice and the warmth of his body grounded me. I blinked, the wetness glueing my eyelashes together. Lance held me at arm’s length and started laughing. “Holy crap. You’re like the definition of a drowned rat.”
I was still gasping for air, cold rivulets running into my bra and tickling the sides of my body. My hair was plastered to my skull, sticking wet and cold to my neck.
Julian stood motionless, shocked at the damage he’d caused. He pulled off his jacket and sweatshirt and used it to rub it across my face and hair. Together, the boys dried me off as well as they could, with Julian apologizing over and over again.
“Come on, you need to change. I don’t want you to get sick.”
Lance put his arm around me and turned me gently into the direction of the dorm wing.
“Wait a moment.” Julian sprinted to the edge of the forest. Spring had finally arrived at our northern location, and the ground was covered in yellow, white, and blue wildflowers. He bent down and picked a bunch of them. Very quickly his arms were full of blossoms.
Running to catch up with us, he thrust them towards me. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what’s going on with my stupid powers, but honestly, that’s never happened before.”
The look of regret in his eyes was so genuine, I couldn’t be angry at him anymore. I was about to take the bunch of him, when Lance gasped. His gaze was trained at the flowers Julian was still holding in his hand.
I looked down, and my stomach flipped. Instead of fragile, colorful wildflowers, I stared at a black mass of rotting vegetation.
17
The black sludge oozed off my skin, hitting the ground with a sickening splat. I stared at the mess in fascinated horror. Julian was the first to recover. He tore out some grass and took my hand. Wiping the goo off my palm and fingers, he cleaned me up as well as he could.
The whole time I fought my gag reflex. I was not going to get sick. The mantra worked until the stench of rot hit my nose, and then I had to flee. Holding my arm in front of me as if it weren’t a part of my body, I shouted, “See you guys tomorrow.”
Then I sprinted towards my bedroom before it got dark. I needed to wash, then speak with Beth. In that order.
I had to fill her in on the details. Julian had only given her an overview of the danger. He hadn’t mentioned Sibelius was likely her dad’s murderer, or that he’d tried to kill me.
I was worried I hadn’t been able to speak to her all day. I didn’t begrudge the time she spent with Luke, especially after Kenzy’s disappearance. But I needed to let her know what was going on. The more time passed, the more danger she—and I—were in.
My head was whirring so much with my thoughts, my fears and worries, I didn’t see the letter stuffed under my door at first. It was only when I closed it behind me that I noticed it. Before picking it up, I scanned the room for any threats, but it was empty. Slug had gone walkabouts, so Beth had probably called in sometimes during the day and let him out.
Beth, where are you? No students had cellphones, so we couldn’t simply call each other. I sighed. There was no way I’d go back outside now that night had fallen. Instead, I scrubbed my hand until all residue of the gross black stuff had flushed down the drain.
Then I sat on my bed and checked who the letter was addressed to. My name was on the front, but there was no sender or stamp. Which meant it had to have been hand-delivered.
Or maybe not. I remembered seeing large government envelopes filled with individual letters on Farkas’s desk. My blood ran cold. Was this a letter from the FBMA? The Federal Bureau for Magical Activities was the agency responsible for me being here in the first place.
With trembling fingers, I opened the envelope. The content was handwritten instead of typed. But when I saw the signature at the bottom, relief was replaced with pain. Kiernan.
My sweetest Amber
I scoffed. Seriously? Not sweet enough to keep him here, apparently.
As I’m sure Julian has told you, my mom decided to pull me from the Academy. I hope she allows me to return next term. She hasn’t given me a reason, but there’s nothing I can do.
I miss you so much, I don’t even know how to express it on paper. Please don’t forget about me while I’m gone.
I love you.
Yours forever,
Kiernan
There they were. The three words I’d wanted to hear from his lips. I hated that he’d left. Hated that he’d never told me himself. Hated that he’d written them in this stupid letter that told me nothing.
Tears of anguish and anger trickled down my cheeks. Why didn’t he just tell his mother he wanted to finish his studies here? What was the point of pulling him out halfway through the year?
Somebody knocked on the door. I quickly wiped the moisture off my face, shoved the letter under my pillow, and got up. Sibelius had surprised me, but now I was prepared. I gathered that ever-present ball of energy, living inside of me. When it felt bright and hot enough to burn the demon to a crisp, I flung the door open. Neither Sibelius nor Lawson stood outside, waiting to pounce on me.
Instead, Julian’s eyes widened at the sight of me. He stepped closer and cupped my face, his thumb gently rubbing under my eye. “Are you crying? What happened?”
I pressed my cheek into his warm palm for a moment before walking to my bed, pulling out the letter, and handing it to him. Julian took the paper from me and read it quickly. His brows drew together and his eyes were cloudy with thunder when he came to the end. “You know this is total bullshit, right?”
“What?” I answered. “That he loves me?”
“No. I know he loves you. He told me. But that he allows his mother to ruin his life. That’s bullshit.”
Julian continued, his anger growing by the second. “He’s my best friend, but sometimes I could kick his ass. When I stayed with him over Christmas, his mom governed every aspect of his life. When to eat. What to eat. What clothes to wear. How to spend his day, marshaled to the last minute. She’s like this crazy control freak. It was seriously creepy. And he never once fought back.”
“What about his dads? Are they also under her thumb?”
“No, they were really busy working. I barely ever saw them.”
“So why won’t he stand up against her?”
Julian shrugged. “Who knows? I’ve talked to him so many times. He’s nineteen, for God’s sake. He’s not a child anymore. And you know what’s really odd? Only a couple of months ago, his mother traveled all the way to speak to Farkas personally. She basically begged her to bend the rules so that Kiernan could take extra credits. And now she suddenly pulled him out? What’s that all about?”
A suspicion began to form in my mind. “Does she know about Kiernan and us?”
Julian’s frown deepened. “Yes, and she wasn’t happy about it. She picked a fight with him at the dinner table. She told him how he was ruining his life, blah blah blah. Kiernan was so embarrassed. He kept apologizing to me, but when I told him to stand up to her, he shut down. He does that every time I challenge him.”
I nodded. “I wonder… What does his mother do?”
“I think she’s got some management job with the FBMA.”
I stared at him. The horrible feeling that all of this was part of the same picture made my stomach ache. But there was something else. I’d been waiting to say something and now seemed the right moment.
“You know you’re not that different from Kiernan, right?”
“What do you mean?”
I tried to phrase it carefully, knowing this was a trigger for him. “You don’t stand up to Ms. Farkas, either. She gave a teaching job to Sibelius. An experienced witch like her surely would have known he was an incubus. Also, how did he find out Beth was here unless somebody told him? And Lawson works for her. You know there’s something fishy about her, yet you won’t even consider the thought she might have something to do with it.”
Julian ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “You’re right. Ms. Farkas
saved my life and has looked after me since my parents died. But lately, she’s changed. It’s like she’s hiding something. It sounds stupid, but I feel a darkness inside of her that wasn’t there a year ago. Sometimes I don’t think I even know who she is anymore.”
That was the most criticism I’d ever heard from Julian. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing. “Please don’t say you told me so. I’m not ready to turn against her. I need more evidence.”
I wanted to ask him how much more he needed when he raised his hand. “You know I look at her like my adoptive mom. So I need proof—actual proof—that she’s the one behind all this.”
That stopped me cold. Before my parents had disowned me, I would have done everything for them. I could understand he wouldn’t go against the woman he considered family without evidence. So instead of arguing, I said, “I’ll find it. And I’m sorry.”
The lock rattled, and the door opened. We both stood up, getting ready to deal with whatever might happen next. Beth entered the room, her downcast expression lightening up when she saw us. She took off her ever-present hat. Her glamor had slipped even more. Her ears were pretty, but alien with pointed tips. And her eyes swirled from green to silver. It was harder and harder for her to hide who she was.
I didn’t want to shock her with news about Sibelius straight away. As my mom once said, a little small talk never hurt anyone.
“How did it go with Luke?”
“We had a great night last night, but…” Her voice trailed off, and her shoulders drooped.
Crap. I’d meant to cheer her up. But for a moment, I’d forgotten about Kenzy. I got up and pulled her into a hug.
“I’ll leave you to it. I still need to do laundry."Julian kissed Beth’s cheek. “She’ll show up. I’m sure of it.”
When the door had closed after Julian, I filled two mugs with water and an herbal tea bag each. Then I zapped them until the tea was hot. Instant microwave, I thought smugly, as I handed the beverage to Beth.
We settled on our respective beds and pulled the covers over our shoulders. Then we sipped the calming brew in companionable silence. After a few minutes, I put my mug down. It was time.
But she beat me to it. “Luke went to class this morning with me. But he didn’t show up for lunch, and nobody has seen him since.”
I stared at her. Oh, no. “Maybe he’s just really busy? We’re getting closer to the exams.”
Even to my own ears, it sounded weak. Beth shook her head and took another sip. I couldn’t reassure her. In fact, she needed to know now what was coming for her.
“Beth, I’ve got good and bad news.”
My friend looked at me, obviously steeling herself for the worst. “What is it?”
I quickly said, “No, it’s got nothing to do with Kenzy. Or Luke. Well, not directly. But I agreed to take Farkas’s offer of internship. Every day, I’m in her office for an hour, sorting through paperwork. If there’s any clue, I’ll find it.”
Beth brightened a little. “I suppose that’s good. If anybody can find them, you can,” she said firmly.
I wasn’t sure what I’d done to earn that kind of confidence. I swallowed. “Here is the bad news. Something happened last night. I found out Sibelius is an incubus.”
The blood drained from Beth’s face so quickly, she looked as if she might pass out. I jumped up and sat next to her. She leaned heavily against me.
“An incubus?” she asked, her voice so quiet I could barely hear it.
I nodded. “I’m nearly certain he’s the one who killed your father.”
Beth’s body was shaking against me, her face a sickly gray color. “Did he take Luke? Is he here to kill me?”
I hesitated, but she needed the truth. “Yeah. Not Luke, but… I think so. Except,” I said quickly, “now that we know his plan, we can fight him off. He caught me by surprise, but that’s not going to happen again.”
“He attacked you?” Beth sounded both horrified and angry at the same time.
I winced. I hadn’t meant for her to know. It had slipped out. “Yes, for some reason he went after me when he couldn’t find you. I don’t know why, because he basically blew his cover. But hey, I lived. Now we can prepare to take him on. We’re not helpless.”
I shot a small bolt of lightning, allowing it to fizzle harmlessly two feet away from me. How ironic that it was Sibelius’s lessons that had given me so much more control over my power.
“When he tries again, I’ll light him up like a Christmas tree.”
18
Beth giggled. “A Christmas tree? Bit late for that."
The color had returned to her cheeks. I tried to sound as determined as possible as I took her hand and squeezed. “We’re in this together. You know that, right? I won’t allow this… this monster to attack either of us again.”
Beth nodded. Her eyes were still shiny with tears, but the fear on her face had gone.
I wasn’t as sure as I’d sounded. I’d committed myself to finding proof of Farkas’s betrayal and of discovering Kenzy’s and Luke’s whereabouts. My heart sank at the added pressure. Then there was Kiernan’s letter. Should I accept his apology and wait, hoping he might return? Plus the exams and Denholm wanting to teach me and Farkas expecting me after school…
I groaned and rubbed my head. “Shit, there’s just too much going on.”
Beth patted my shoulders in support. At least she had my back, despite her own problems. I’d never had a friend like her. My heart swelled with gratitude. “Thanks."
She smiled. “Don’t mention it.”
After Beth had gone to sleep, I tore a piece of paper from a pad and wrote to Kiernan. I didn’t bother with endearments or sappy feelings stuff. My stomach churned with longing for him while at the same time, I wanted to dick-punch him for leaving me behind. After several false starts, I gave up. I scribbled a few terse sentences without greeting or pleasantries.
“You’re not committed to me. I thought you loved me. What am I supposed to do now?”
That was it, boiled down to how I really felt. Folding the paper, I recalled Kiernan’s green eyes, the reddish hue of his hair, his intoxicating scent of ferns and earthy moss. Tears ran down my face and dropped off my jawline to leave round, damp spots on the letter. Slowly, I tore it up while saying a silent goodbye to Kiernan Hennessy.
I woke up with a heavy lump in my stomach. Today was going to be a hard day. Not only was P.E. my first class, but afterwards, I’d find myself face-to-face with Sibelius in Elemental Magic.
Squeezing my eyes shut, I rubbed my forehead where a migraine was building. I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t skip school. I couldn’t tell Farkas. I was trapped, condemned to sit in front of my abuser, knowing full well he’d come for me to finish the job.
I just hope my body won’t betray me and react to Sibelius with everybody watching. I’m sure he could make me if he wanted. How fucked up is that?
Slug jumped onto the bed, and before I could stop him, he’d licked the side of my face with this rough tongue. I would’ve pushed him off, because “eww","but he followed up by snuggling under my chin as if he were a kitten. I surrendered and dug my fingers gently under his jaw to rub him the way he’d trained me to do. Strangely, it made me feel a little better.
We lay like that for several minutes, finding comfort in each other, when nature called. I pushed Slug aside and went to the bathroom. On my way out, I grabbed my towel to take a shower.
When I returned, Beth was waiting for me. We chatted about the weather, boys in general, the amount of homework we had. Neither of us was keen to dig beyond the surface of small talk.
By the time we entered the sport hall, the students had already lined up in front of the teacher. Beth pulled me to the end of the line, and we waited to see what torture Mr. Castle had planned today. His gaze jumped from student to student, making sure everybody was present. When he got to me, a frown drew his brows together, and my heart sank. Yep, today isn’t going to be a g
ood day. I just know it.
To be fair, I’d never assumed he was part of the cabal running the academy, but when I’d first arrived, stories of my murderous rampage had preceded me. Castle had obviously been one of the teachers who’d believed every word of it. Not only did he dislike me—he feared me.
I was pretty sure that his constant needling and putting me down was because of his need to assert himself. Understanding that didn’t make it any easier to deal with his bullshit, though. Maybe he’d leave me alone if I lowered my gaze and made myself as small as possible. Here’s hoping.
“Listen up, class,"he began. “Today, we’re doing softball drills. But instead of a bat, I want you to use the elemental power you think will be most suitable. It may not be the one you are most in control of, though. Because incinerating the ball would be in nobody’s interest.”
He grinned, but when nobody laughed, his face turned stony. “Jamal, you’re up first as pitcher.”
A tall, gangly kid went to the top of the line.
“Joey, I want you to be the catcher."
A bulky student, a little taller than Kiernan, walked up to Castle and said something to the teacher I couldn’t hear. Castle shook his head. He addressed us, saying loud enough for all to hear, “Joey here just asked about protective gear and glove. Actually, you won’t get any equipment at all. The aim is to get you to think on your feet and practice sortie and parry. Good luck.”
We stared at him, dumbfounded. Not just a simple game, then. We were supposed to practice our practical offensive and defensive skills. I knew today would suck. I just knew it.
Castle picked a girl as the batter. Tina was a tiny thing, but I’d seen her hold her own against much larger opponents, using her wind magic. Jamal threw the ball with a vicious curve, right at Tina’s face. She went cross-eyed, watching its approach.
Before the ball connected, she pursed her lips and blew. The ball reversed direction and shot to the ceiling. We followed its ascent and cheered as it bounced off the beams.
Second Chance Hope: a paranormal reverse harem academy adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 3) Page 8