"Logan," I whispered, using my finger to gesture for him to come closer to me. I uncrossed my legs and opened my arms, gesturing for him to come get a hug. He crawled over without delay into my arms and we held each other in silence for a while.
"I'm sorry,” he whispered after some time and I knew he meant it.
"I'm sorry too. I knew you were upset, but I was just really tired and not in the mood to talk. I shouldn't have brushed your anger aside for later," I replied. We pulled out of our hold so I could lay down, already feeling like I'd fall asleep again soon. I hadn't realized the exam had really taken such a toll on me and the additional mana lost from shifting back to my female form was having its effect.
Logan frowned and I shook my head, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "I'm okay. Just need a little more rest. Maybe another nap," I suggested. My weak voice didn't seem to reassure him, but he nodded.
"It's already late afternoon. You might as well sleep, unless you're hungry?" Logan inquired.
"Nah. I don't feel hungry right now. Sleep sounds like the better bargain," I admitted.
"Okay,” he replied, lifting his left hand. The lights slowly dimmed until they were off, the lamp on one of the desks the only source of light.
"Are you staying?" I asked.
"Do you want me to?" he countered.
"Yes," I replied confidently. My admission made him grin and he lowered his head. I closed my eyes and relaxed as his lips met mine. Even if I was tired, I would never pass up a kiss.
He deepened the kiss; his tongue brushed along my lower lip as if asking for entry and I moaned quietly, allowing his tongue to slip into my mouth. I enjoyed the way his tongue intertwined with mine and couldn't help but want more, my body responding to the growing tingles vibrating through my lower region.
A part of me wanted him to keep going, for his hands that gently rubbed up and down my side to slide between my legs and ease the growing ache and wetness pooling between my folds. Yet, the logical side of me realized we couldn't be any louder than our 'not so quiet' kisses.
We broke apart when we needed air and I relaxed against my pillow, taking slow breaths to focus on something other than how turned on I was. Logan's lips pressed to my collarbone unexpectedly and I closed my eyes, letting out a soft moan as I reveled in the sucking and nips he gave to my feverish flesh.
"Logan… we… should stop," I encouraged, though my mind wanted the opposite. Logan didn't stop, kissing me over and over again before he began sucking hard on my flesh again, followed by a gentle bite. I moaned again, a little louder than I expected to, but Logan seemed unbothered by the noise, his free hand moving up and resting onto my right breast, while his left arm held him up to hover over me.
"A little more,” he whispered along my flesh, lowering his mouth to my shoulders to leave another set of love bites while his hand massaged my left breast. I wished my bra and this shirt weren’t in my way, wanting to feel his bare hands on my breasts and get a chance to feel his fingers tease my already hard nipples.
I closed my eyes, fighting to keep my breathing steady while I pressed my legs together to ignore the growing throbbing sensation. If he didn't stop, I wouldn't have any resistance left in me to listen to reason.
"Logan, please," I begged and he stopped, lifting his head to meet my gaze. He lowered his lips to give me a passionate kiss before he pulled back.
"That's what you get as punishment,” he whispered. Oh baby, if that's punishment I'd argue with him every damn day.
"Okay, I accept it," I replied, wishing I could tell him my thoughts instead. He relaxed next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me into an embrace. I pressed my lips against his skin and he quietly moaned.
"Next time, I get to leave hickeys on you," I whispered, closing my eyes. I was far too weak to attempt it now, giving up my fight against sleep.
"I look forward to it,” he replied with amusement which made me smile.
"Logan?"
"Yes, my precious Jewel?"
"You suck at sharing." I giggled and he groaned.
"Do I have to share you with other people? It's irritating."
"If you want me to last the semester, yes," I pointed out.
"Fine. I'll attempt to share you. Except for Nixon. You're off-limits to him. I don't care if he likes Jinn,” he mumbled. I let out a weak giggle.
"Men are cute when they're jealous," I mumbled while I began to fall asleep.
"I'm not jealous,” he replied. I smiled but didn't reply as I dozed off.
"Jewel?"
I tried to reply but I was too far gone, already on the verge of sleep. Something soft pressed against my temple. "I love you. No matter what,” Logan whispered.
Oh Logan. I love you too.
"Go back to sleep. You can barely stand," Logan suggested, his arms crossed over his chest as he gave me a wary look.
I sighed. "I want to shower and I need to change back. I want to check out the campus more and figure out where our classes are," I whined, grabbing a set of guy clothes for later.
"You look like you’re gonna crash into something in three steps. Don't deny that hasn't happened before either," Logan pointed out. I gave him a pout as my cheeks grew hot from the memory.
"That… I was just really tired that time," I complained.
"Uh huh." He looked skeptical. I closed my eyes for a second, debating if I should take his advice and rest. I was still adapting to this whole switching genders thing. His mother did say it would take me a few times before it took less of a toll on my body, but I really didn't want to spend all day sleeping.
Hands pressed on my shoulders and I opened my eyes to see Logan in front of me. "Please, rest,” he whispered with worried eyes.
I stared at those gold orbs filled with worry and sighed. "Fine," I replied. He lowered his lips to mine and gave me a sweet kiss.
"Fuck, Maximus! Don’t!" I heard Nixon huff before the door opened. We broke up our kiss just in time to see Kage, Zane, and Maximus fall to the floor while Nixon stood at the door with a scowl expression on his face.
I blinked, pulling away to stare at all four of them as their eyes met mine and ever so slowly descended down my body.
My face grew beet red and I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, or kill someone at the realization I hadn't put Logan's shirt back on, leaving me only in my black lingerie.
"Well damn. First day in the dorm and Logan has a sexy girlfriend," Zane commented.
"Very sexy. Nice booty too," Kage complimented.
"How… what magic does he possess to sneak a girl in here?" Maximus whined.
"He didn't sneak anyone in. Morning, Jinn," Nixon said in a calm voice. I gawked at him, standing there like a deer in headlights.
Maybe if I stand here, I'll just disappear. Yes. Disappear. Hmm... Or I could fake passing out? Would that work? I really wished that would work. Wait, what was that memory-erasing spell I learned from that book? Nope, I didn't learn it cause I thought it was useless and thought knowing how to blind someone would be more useful for attacking stalkers. WHY?!
"Out."
My eyes slowly turned to Logan's whose eyes were a dark orange. "Before you get all antsy, it was Maximus fault," Nixon said calmly, pointing to Maximus who blushed.
"I didn't know there was a fucking girl here! Wait, did you just call her Jinn?! MALE JINN?! The one you’re hitting on Jinn?!" Maximus exclaimed.
"That would make sense with Ali then," Kage mumbled.
"What does Ali have to do with Jinn being a girl? Wait, Jinn is that really you?" Zane asked, looking back at me.
"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Logan demanded, a gust of wind picking the three off the floor and slamming them into Nixon and then into the hall. The door slammed shut and Logan walked up to it, holding the knob.
"Stay here,” he instructed, opening the door and closing it shut after he left. I blinked after him before I turned and climbed up to my bed. I lifted the sheets and slid beneath them, my head falling int
o the pillow.
"Well then. Guess I'll just go back to sleep," I mumbled, giving in to my tiredness as I fell right back to sleep.
So much for not being discovered.
"Alright, so let me get this straight. Jinn's mother accidentally enrolled him… I mean her, into Brighten because she has Alzheimer's and assumed Jinn was his… I mean her, older brother. Everyone went along with it because they felt bad, so now Jinn has to disguise his… herself as a boy and take classes here," Maximus summarized.
I let out a yawn, cradling the pillow in my arms as I fought to stay awake. Alice was already asleep on my shoulder, totally unbothered by our current dilemma. To be fair, at this point I'd given up caring seeing as we hadn’t even lasted twenty-four hours before getting caught.
We were in the living room; Zane and Kage were sitting on the two-seater sofa on my right, I was sitting in the middle seat of the three-seater suede couch, and Logan was standing to my left while watching Maximus, who was pacing back and forth like a crazy person.
"Pretty much," Logan replied, still looking like he wanted to kill someone after the guys got a glimpse at me. It wasn't like I was naked, but again, it was extremely embarrassing and made me want to go back home and call it a day. I looked over to Nixon who came back into the room with two mugs. I took a whiff of the air and smiled at the scent of coffee. Hazelnut coffee to be exact.
He walked over and passed me a mug. I looked up to see his usual calm expression. "This will help stabilize your mana,” he announced. I looked at the cup, reaching out to take the mug from him and took another sniff.
I sighed before smiling at Nixon. "Thank you," I whispered. He nodded, taking a seat next to me. Alice woke up, fluttering her wings before hopping off my shoulder and moving over to Nixon’s. She relaxed, closing her eyes once more. Guess she likes him too?
"Are we gonna address more pressing matters like the fact Nixon knew Jinn was a girl?" Zane asked.
"I don't think it’s a big deal. I'm more interested what he put in the coffee and if I can have some," Kage asked. Nixon grinned and offered the second cup to Kage who happily got up and accepted the other mug.
Nixon pointed to his eyes and they began to shift to red, the tiny black magic circles making their appearance.
"I can see certain things with my eyes,” he announced casually. We were all silent, as we stared at him.
Kage leaned over to Zane and whispered, "Is that like x-ray vision?"
Zane turned his head, but his eyes remained on Nixon. "I think so. Maybe he can see your most embarrassing stories, like how you wet the bed until you were eight years old."
Kage elbowed him. "You just said it out loud idiot!"
"Oops. See, it’s the power of his eyes. They distracted me." Zane pointed at Nixon accusingly.
Maximus groaned. "I can see why your brother is supposed to be here with us. We need him to watch the both of you."
"Hey!" Kage and Zane said together, glaring at Maximus who stopped pacing to stare at Nixon.
"So, how did you know Jinn was a she?" Maximus wondered.
Nixon glanced over at me as I sipped the rich hazelnut coffee. I could sense a touch of magic in the steamy liquid but it made me extremely calm and was already giving me a hint of energy with each sip.
"Everyone has an aura around them. Not your 'magic aura' that you can see when you concentrate on an individual. Just a simple aura that kind of defines you. Males are usually blue and shift to warmer colors as they grow older. Girls are normally pink or purple, depending on their personality and shift to the cooler colors as they grow older. Jinn's aura is a really strong pink. It's not something I could ignore," Nixon explained.
"Why didn't you question him… her, earlier?" Maximus asked.
Nixon shrugged. "Why should I? She could have been transgender. Who am I to get into her business and reveal what isn't present with the human eye? If she wants to be male, whether it's for her own personal reasons or for a situation like this, she certainly can and I shouldn't interfere. Doing so is simply selfish,” he replied and I had to smile.
Nixon is a really nice person. "Hoot," Alice replied. I looked at her and saw she was awake, though just barely. "He's cool. Give him a cookie," she stated before she closed her eyes again. Nixon lifted his hand and petted her.
"That reminds me, Kage. What was with your comment about Ali?" Logan asked.
"Hmm? Oh, Ali's a she too, right?" he asked, turning to stare at me.
"How did you know? Oh, her name is Alice by the way," I replied, sipping more coffee. Seeing as the cat was out of the bag, I might as well be honest.
"I told you Kage is really good with familiars. He can tell their gender and strength just by looking at them," Zane praised.
"Really?" I asked.
Kage nodded. "Yes. Our parents both had familiars and I got obsessed with learning more about them. I can tell Alice is very powerful on her own without using much of your mana. I can only imagine what she'd be like with even a bit of your power. She's friendly too,” he added with a smile.
Alice poked an eye open. "Hoot hoot,” she replied. "That's right, praise me."
I rolled my eyes. "Don't spoil her with praise. It'll go to her head," I cautioned before having another drink.
"Hey Nixon, how did you know Jinn needed a magic boost?" Zane asked. Nixon relaxed on the sofa while he pulled a black hair tie from his wrist to tie back his long red locks.
"Jinn has been looking exhausted since the exam. As fast as her mana recovery speed may be, she's using a large amount of mana in her male disguise. Literally burning mana every minute she's in that form. Then she had to deal with the exam which lowered her mana threshold even more. Think of it as a scale. Jinn was at a nine out of ten before the exam. It dropped to a three out of ten, but instead of slowly going up, it remained there because her male form was still demanding mana. By the time we got here, she should have looked a little more rejuvenated but looked worse. She slept all afternoon and then again all the way up until thirty minutes ago. Now that she's in female form, her energies can recuperate."
We all gawked at his vast knowledge on the topic. "How do you know all of this?" Logan asked.
"My mom had to do the same when she used to be a mage warrior," Nixon revealed. What?!
"Used to be?" Kage asked.
"Like she retired?" Zane asked.
"No. She's dead," Nixon said simply, with no inflection. We all exchanged worried glances, even Logan's once mad expression softened at the revelation.
Nixon rose up. “I'm gonna make more coffee,” he announced, then pointed to my empty mug. "Do you want one more cup, Jinn?"
"Yes, please! Oh, you guys can call me Jewel. That's my real name."
Nixon smiled. "Nice to meet you, Jewel. Pretty name." He took my mug and headed into the kitchen.
"Jewel is a lovely name," Kage smiled.
"Agreed," Zane commented.
"Guess it’s pretty," Maximus mumbled.
"Aww, he's getting shy now that he knows Jinn is actually Jewel," Zane teased.
"Watch, he's gonna try and avoid her all the time now," Kage whispered to Zane who chuckled in response.
"Fuck off you two!" Maximus shouted, which only made them laugh harder.
Logan sighed, coming over to sit next to me. Nixon returned with coffee for himself and another for me. I grinned, happily taking it. I took a quick glance at Logan. He looked incredibly tired, but still gave me a small smile when he noticed my gaze. I smiled back, glad he wasn't upset with Nixon giving me coffee. I guess since he knew a little bit about Nixon and his inherited trait, he didn't see him as much as a threat.
"I guess I'll gather my things and go home then," I mumbled to myself, at least glad I hadn't unpacked.
"Why?" Everyone asked in unison. Huh?
I looked back up to stare around the room. Everyone, including Logan looked confused as if I'd spoken in another language.
"What you mean why? I can't stay here now that you
guys all know. My cover was blown on the first day. What makes you think I'll survive three years here?" I pointed out. Normally school was four years, but with how fast-paced Brighten's education system was, students with higher grades and performance could graduate after the third year.
"Well, to be fair, your cover was only blown cause of Nixon's cool ninjutsu trick over there," Kage pointed out.
"Did you just compare him to a Naruto character?" Zane asked.
"You read manga?" I asked Kage, who smiled in excitement as he nodded.
"I have a whole collection. I hope our parents don't find it because they think reading them is a waste of time, but I hid the majority of it. I watch anime sometimes but the manga version is better,” he revealed.
I grinned, glancing at Logan. "You two can be friends."
Logan sighed. "Jewel, you're not supposed to tell everyone about that,” he mumbled.
"Why? I think your obsession is cute," I complimented.
"Does that mean we have a chance at Jewel?" Zane asked Kage who rolled his eyes.
"You don't even read manga. Go away,” Kage huffed.
"Last time I checked, Jewel was MY girlfriend," Logan announced.
"Hey Jewel, can I get first dibs if Logan fucks up?" Nixon asked.
"Nixon's secretly a womanizer," Maximus grumbled.
Logan huffed. "I don't share."
"My eyes tell me otherwise," Nixon grinned and I blushed glancing over at Logan.
"Tell your eyes to fuck off,” Logan scolded, his face flushed.
"You know, eyes are a part of the human body and can't hear when you insult them," Kage announced.
"I think he knows that," Zane pointed out.
"We're totally OFF topic. Jewel, you're not going anywhere," Maximus declared.
"Oh, right!" Zane exclaimed. "Ya, what Maximus said.”
"But… I can't stay… right? Aren't you going to tell?" I frowned.
"You did say the headmaster knows. Ms. Landsford and the main nurse too," Kage reminded.
"Ah, yes," I replied.
"Then what's the problem?" Nixon asked. I glanced at all of them, looking confused.
REFLECTIONS OF YOU (Brighten Magic Academy Book 1) Page 12