Spearwood Book 1.5

by A. S. Oren

  I stop in my tracks as I come to the back. Jericho sits at one of the back tables typing away on his laptop. Taking a deep breath, I go to him and sit in the seat across from his.

  His green eyes glance up at me before he stops typing. “Why are you here?”

  My chest constricts. He’s acting as if it’s the worst thing I could do to step in front of him at this moment. We grew up together; he’s one of my first loves. Why is this happening? I gulp. “I guess I’ll just get to the point. Is it true you joined the Knights?”

  He sighs and types again. “How do you know about that?”

  My hands roll into fists. “So it’s true? You can’t do this, Jer. Do you have any idea what that mad man is doing? He could kill you.” The hot tears I’ve fought to keep back trail down my cheeks. I reach for his hand. “Please. Don’t do this. Come back to me, to us. I can’t imagine my life without you by my side.”

  He closes his laptop. “I’m done.” The laptop transform into a black card. Standing from his chair, he pulls his hand away from mine. “I’m not supposed to be by your side, Avalon. The Fates made that clear. Let me travel my own path, and you can go down yours. My life and safety is of no concern to you.” Taking his card, he leaves my side.

  I follow him and grasp at his arm hard enough that he can’t pull away so easily. “The Fates got it wrong. I can feel it. I wouldn’t be begging for you to stay with me if I didn’t think it was meant to be. Stop this shit with Rosemen. He’s evil. His experiments will only hurt you.”

  Jericho turns on me. “And what do you know of it? How much do you know about what he’s doing? It’s not like you’ve gone to him to get answers. It’s in your best interest if you just stay away from me and let me do what I need to.”

  I grind my teeth. Not letting go of him, I dig my nails into his skin. “No. I won’t accept that.” I pull him to me and stand on my toes to kiss him. He leans into me, and his hand comes up to place a feather light touch on my cheek.

  Breaking the kiss, he pulls back, forcing me to let him go. “I don’t love you anymore. Now leave me alone.” He turns his back on me and strides away.

  My body sways. What? Dark shadows invade the edges of my vision.

  “Avalon?” Paden rushes from the front of the library to my side as I fall backward. He catches me. The hot tears won’t stop. I clench at his shirt. “Avalon, what’s wrong? Did he hurt you?”

  I open my mouth, but no words will come out. Just more sobs. My chest has never hurt so bad. “He doesn’t love me anymore.”

  Paden cradles me to his chest. “Oh, Lon. I’m sorry.” He kisses my forehead. “It will be okay.”

  “How can it ever be okay when he’s supposed to be with us?” I bury my face into his shirt.

  “Shh…don’t think about it. Just cry, let it out. Somehow this will be made right. The Fates and Sun god will make it so.”

  “Fuck the Fates.”

  He brushes away some of my tears. “I’m going to take you to the infirmary.”

  I shake my head. “No, I just want my bed. I don’t want to think anymore.”

  “Bed it is.” He stands and carries me bridal style out of the library. I let myself give into the darkness.

  “Lon, wake up. I can’t take you into your room.” Paden’s warm voice pulls me out of the empty space I float in. Nothing about the last couple minutes feels real. How could it be? Jericho would never say something like that, would he?

  My eyes flutter open as Paden sets me down on the couch. I catch his hand. “Stay and lay with me. I don’t want to be alone.”

  He nods, and I sit up so he can lie along the back of the couch. I settle in front of him, taking his arm to wrap it around me. “Just for a little bit, then I’ll let you get to class.” My voice doesn’t go above a whisper.

  Paden pulls me as close as he can against him. “I’ve already turned in the assignments for this week. I can skip my last class. They can’t punish me. I’m the top of that class.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know why that happened to me back there. I’m stronger than this. Why am I letting him get to me? I shouldn’t, should I? I don’t need to let him define me.”

  He moves my blonde curls out of the way and kisses the back of my neck. “There’s nothing wrong about how you’re feeling. He grew up with us. We all fell in love with you and decided to wade through the waters of what it would take to make a relationship work. He’ll come back one day. He loves you too much not to.”

  Again, hot tears course down my cheeks as my chest tightens, and I draw my legs up to my chest. “Then why is he doing this? He said he didn’t love me anymore.”

  “I don’t know, Lon. I wish I did.” He unwraps his arms from around me and uses his thumb to brush away my tears. “I love you, Mav loves you, D really likes you. With us by your side, you can make it through anything. I have no doubt.

  I frown as I stare at the glass coffee table; the gold edging shines in the fake sunlight from the window. “I’m so selfish. I’m sorry.”

  He sighs; his hot breath ghosting over my ear. I shiver. “Stop apologizing. If this was some random guy that wasn’t a member of your Fold, then we would be upset. But this is Jer, we understand. We’re hurting, too.”

  With some effort, I turn over so I can look into his eyes. “See, I am a bitch. I never even thought about how you and Mav must feel not having him around.”

  His eyes roll as he pushes my hair away from my face and then kisses my forehead. “Stop it.” The hand moves down my body to rest on my hip.

  “Thank you for putting up with me.” I kiss his neck. He groans as I suck on the area just under his Adam’s apple. I found out by accident that he likes that, a lot.

  His fingers grip at my skirt.

  I stroke my fingers over his ear as he arches his chin, allowing me more space to move. I run the end of my tongue over the sensitive skin, placing small kisses every few inches.

  His hand moves under my skirt and runs over my ass. I relax my legs and place one over his hip, bringing us even closer to one another. I move away from his neck to push my hand under the hem of his shirt and pass my hand along his toned abs and hot skin. Fuck, I want him, but I don’t know if he’s ready. I don’t want to force him into anything.

  I grab his hand and move it from my ass to underneath my shirt. His warm fingers don’t hesitate to move along my side up to my breast. I moan as I kiss him. He deepens the kiss within seconds. Maybe he wants me the same way, too.

  He presses on my shoulder, and I move onto my back so he can hover over me. I like where this is going.

  His lips meet my neck, scraping his teeth along the area just above my collar bone. I arch my body into his. His hand massages my breast through my bra. “Mmm, yeah, right there.”

  Gripping at the end of his shirt, I pull it up his body. He pauses in kissing my neck to pull it all the way off; he tosses it to the floor.

  Wrapping my legs around his waist, I pull him down to lie on me. I want to feel his body over mine. He groans as his hard on becomes evident. “Lon, you’re making it very hard for me to be able to stop from doing more.”

  I cup his cheek. “If you want to stop, we can.”

  He moves his lips to meet my hand and kisses it. “I don’t want to stop.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  I lie with Paden on the couch, my head and hand on his bare chest. His arm wraps around me from underneath my body.

  He takes a breath in. "Wow. I didn't expect it to be like that."

  I grin. "It was really good." The warmth of the end still courses through my body. All pain magically gone as if it hasn't been plaguing me for the last nine years.

  "Does it always feel that good?"

  A laugh escapes me. "Well, I don't have a lot of experience. You're my second time, ever. So, maybe?"

  He tilts my chin up and kisses me. "I don't think I've ever been this happy.”

  I push his long, dirty-blond hair out of his sapphire eyes. "Me too." I close my eyes
and rest my head on his shoulder.

  "What do you want for Yule?" His fingers rub small swirls into the skin above my hip.

  "That's not for another three weeks. It's not like we can go shopping here."

  "I know, and I can order something online. It's not hard. So, what do you want?"

  My own fingers mimic the swirls on his chest. "I don't want anything you have to buy me. I just want to spend time with you and the others."

  "Let's go to the Cabin then. We can make dinner there. A roasted butternut squash for you and Amr and turkey for the rest of us, with mashed potatoes and greens. We can watch winter themed movies and maybe read A Christmas Carol. Hell, we have the whole week off, why don't we just stay at the Cabin? Amr said your parents had to go out of the country for something, and Edgar is finally going to have a romantic getaway with Miss Nezbit."

  "Finally. She's only been bugging him for a year to take her somewhere during the off season. It took that poor woman nine years to get his attention and make him see that she was actually interested in him. He only relented because we came here. She deserves Bali and some R n R with Edgar. What better time than Yule?” I laugh. "I'll be right back." I get up from the couch.

  "The mark on your back has gotten bigger."

  I rush to the bathroom and turn to look at my back in the mirror. The two curved, black lines that meet at a point have gotten longer and, at their ends, two more black lines arch away from them. "Almost like the top of a heart." I count on my fingers: Bullock, Dante, Mirren. Those are the other members I know of, and it's doubtful I'll allow Mirren to touch me in any form that would lead to sex. Will I ever figure out what it is or means?

  Three weeks later, a day before Yule on the 21st.

  I sigh as I walk yet another one of the secret passageways that lead to a dead end on the blueprints. A fireball blazes in my hand, making it easier to navigate. Enid follows at my side. This has to be the last one. I snuck out of the Cabin at five in the morning for this. I had Enid bring me my jewellery, and with it on, I'll be able to stay in my human form until the sunrise hits. The guys haven't noticed me leaving early in the mornings. With no school, they sleep in until noon, at least.

  Over the past month, I've explored at least twenty of these dead end tunnels that go on forever. I have yet to find any that lead down, but this one has too. I don't have any more to explore, and I'm running out of time. I've kept my distance, but Jericho doesn't look well. His skin has a yellow tinge, his hair has dulled to an off light brown, and his anger knows no bounds. He threw a table in the dining hall just before Winter break; Mirren was with him.

  "C'mon, there has to be something down here. I need to stop Rosemen from hurting Jericho and those other guys any longer."

  "All you needed to do was ask for help. But, it appears you're stubborn like your father."

  I whirl around. Perlow stands there, with his hands behind his back. I pull back my arm, ready to throw the fireball if I have too. "Why are you here? How did you know I was here?" I glance at Enid. Has something gone wrong with Hide program?

  He laughs. "Don't worry, your friend's program works. The Watchers don't know the difference. However, I'm the headmaster of this school. I know everything about what goes on in its walls. I don't need the Watchers. What do you plan on doing once you find Oliver's labs? He isn't going down without a fight, and though you are powerful, I doubt you could take him on, plus his experiments."

  I growl. "You're letting him do those experiments? He's making Jericho sick, and I still get visions of Minos. He has my curse, but it affects him during the day."

  He stares at me, his eyes appearing a strange brown-green in the firelight. "You act as if I have any control over him. He's the Head Governor. He could set this whole place ablaze, and I wouldn't be allowed to lift a finger to stop him."

  "Why are you here?"

  "You're close to his labs. Another seven hundred meters and you'll find a drop off point. That leads down into his labs. If you're going to do something, do it soon. Before the end of Yule tomorrow. He's planning on moving his labs out of here and taking you and the Knights with him to do more experiments somewhere with a lot more space. You'll have to kill him. He won't stop otherwise. Take your bodyguards with you. You cannot take him on alone, and as soon as you jump down that drop off, he'll know you've finally found him."

  "Why are you helping me? How do I know I can trust you?"

  "You don’t. If we had the time, I'd explain my complicated reasons for me helping, but I can't stand watching what he's becoming. He's turning into a mad scientist and nothing I've done will stop him. I know he has your friend, and that you're willing to do anything to save him, so I'm using you to make sure he is stopped. Here." He reaches into the inner pocket of his suite jacket and pulls out a tube.

  He hands it to me, and I hold it up to the light. A small microchip clinks inside the glass. "What's this?"

  "Your friend, Mr. King, should be able to do something with it. Be careful, Avalon. Your father will murder me if you get killed. But, I think you're the only one capable of doing what needs to be done. Don't waste time, you have until midnight tomorrow. After that, you will be taken from here to somewhere only the Sun god can see.

  I grip the tube tighter. "No one is taking me anywhere. You can be assured of that."

  He smiles. "I have faith in you and your bodyguards. Good luck." He lifts his hand and points his palm at my fireball. It freezes into a ball of ice and lets the thick darkness back into the passage. I drop the ice ball and relight a flame in my hand. He's gone. The only proof he was ever there is held in my hand.

  I turn back around. I need to make sure he was telling the truth. I hurry my steps. The light from the flame bounces my shadow along the walls. My determination keeps my fear of the shadows and the dark to a minimum. I can make a bigger fireball once I find the drop off.

  I come to a halt at the edge of the hole. I almost didn't see it. I'm almost tempted to throw my fireball down it, see how far it goes, but I don't want it to set off any alarms. It's time. I need to tell the guys everything.

  I let out a heavy sigh whilst sitting in the study of the cabin. I sit in the middle of the curved couch, with the guys sitting around me.

  "Lon, what's wrong? Why did you call us all up here to talk? What's going on?" Paden leans his elbows onto his thighs and folds his hands together. He sits across from me with Dante, both in overstuffed arm chairs.

  "I've been keeping things from all of you, important things, but I didn't want to say anything until I knew more. I found out more this morning, and it’s time that you all know everything."

  Amr places a hand on my left shoulder. “You're scaring me a bit, Avvi. What have you been keeping from us?"

  I bite at my lower lip and glance at Dante before focusing my line of sight on the fireplace behind him. "I guess it started with the dreams, or at least, I think they were dreams. I was seeing through Minos's eyes. Rosemen has been experimenting on him and the other Knights. He's been blackmailing Minos into letting him pump the boy full of black serum stuff. And now, he has my curse, but it doesn't affect him at night, he's forced to turn into his dragon form during the day. He's been sick, too. I didn't think any of it as real until about a month ago when Dr. Quinn told me it was. It's because of the blood bond."

  Maverick runs a hand through his hair, and the white forelock falls into his face. "I thought that was supposed to go away after a few weeks?"

  I shake my head. "Quinn said he's probably one of my Fold members. Because of that, the blood bond could stay around for a lifetime, if he doesn't die from these experiments first. I've never touched him with skin on skin contact before, so I don't know if it's true or not.”

  Dante rubs at his eyes. "You're certain this is happening to my brother? He isn't doing any of this willingly, right?"

  I roll my hands into fists. "No, most certainly not. Rosemen has been psychologically manipulating him. Of that, I'm certain." I don't think Dante needs
to know that the catalyst for his brother to do all of this was him.

  Paden runs his fingers across his lips as his sapphire eyes stare at me; of course, he’s annoyed with me. "So why come to us with this now? What's changed?" His voice remains even. Shit, he's not annoyed; he's mad.

  "There's more. During my conversation with Quinn, I tried to get answers out of him about the experiments and Rosemen, but all he would tell me was that Rosemen has labs somewhere below the school. So, I've been exploring the dead end passageways to see if any of them led to below the school. I've been doing that in the early mornings or when you're all busy with school work, so that you wouldn't notice me being gone."