Forbidden Tutor

by Chantal Cross

  It’s possible. Plenty of spells will give you that ability. Plenty of people have that kind of power and Ivora would be the perfect person to set up.

  I narrow my eyes at her. “Why are you asking so many questions? Why are you pushing me so hard?”

  “Because I care about you! How many times do I have to say it? Can you hear it? I feel like I’m talking underwater here.”

  My expression won’t soften now. Not now that I’ve realized she could be a pawn. Unwitting or not, I can’t trust her. I can’t trust anyone.

  “Ebony.” A deep voice calls out nearby. I look up to see Leo in the doorway, waving to me.

  “I’ve been looking for you. I need to see you, please.”

  “But break is almost over, and I have to—”

  “Never mind that now. Come up to my office, now. We have something important to discuss.”

  I shrug my shoulders, quickly picking up my book bag and cocoa. I pour it out on the grass and jump to my feet, hurling the paper cup into a nearby bin.

  Ivora doesn’t look up. She stares at the grass with red spots on her cheeks, mouth set in a hard line.

  There are so many things I want to say. But those things belong in another time. A place where I was innocent and free to take whatever friends I chose. A place where I could trust myself and everyone around me.

  That place is dead. Yearning for it does me no good. Wanting to comfort Ivora is a sharp ache in my chest.

  But I can’t. Especially if someone is using her. She’d never forgive herself.

  “Bye.” I say it quickly, sharply. She waves a hand at me, shaking her head.

  I take off after Leo. He’s waiting for me just inside and beacons with a cross frown. Always impatient to get somewhere else. I wonder if Leo is ever really happy, and I’m not sure where the thought comes from.

  Are any of us ever happy?

  Or is happiness a dream, a fleeting state between one hurt and the next?

  For someone like me, the sharp jaws of pain seem determined to kill my happiness at every turn.

  11

  Ebony

  I trot down the hall after Leo. He doesn’t slow down and wait for me and that pisses me off a bit.

  As he pulls away towards his office the bell rings and I get jerked in every direction as I try to move against the flow. It always amazes me that a bunch of creatures that are so individual can become a many headed mass that undulates in perfect harmony.

  People case to exist and only the mob does. Shrieks and laughter rip through the crowd and I get shoved in every direction. I finally manage to get to the edge of the hall and break free from the throng. No one else is going to the principal’s office—the stream of students has to reason to flow in this direction.

  I walk quickly up to the doorway and see Leo already sitting at his desk.

  “You didn’t wait for me.” I can’t help sounding cross. He looks up at me, hiding a smile that he can’t stop from shining in his eyes.

  “I didn’t think you needed to be walked here.” Leo raises an eyebrow. “You know the way, don’t you?”

  I know he’s joking, but it doesn’t come out like idle humor. It sounds like he is quite literally mocking me.

  I take a few steps into the room, trying to get control of myself.

  I’m happy to be pulled away from Ivora. That was one conversation I did not know how to finish. I know I’m hurting her and whichever way this goes, I will keep hurting her. It might be better to break off from her entirely. I don’t know.

  I’m so conflicted about it the whole thing is hurting my guts. Right now, I just feel intense relief that I don’t have to have that conversation right now.

  At the same time, I can feel myself getting mad. I don’t appreciate being called to heel like a dog. First, Leo gestures at me and calls me as if I exist to do his bidding, then he takes off into the halls making me chase him.

  I feel like his run to get ahead of me before the halls flooded with students was kind of deliberate. The little grin on Leo’s face does nothing to disabuse me of the notion.

  He gestures to the sit.

  “Sit.”

  My blood boils. Surely, lava is leaking out around my lashes.

  First, Leo calls me like a pet, makes me chase him like I’ve broken my leash, now he wants me to ‘sit’? He has to be kidding.

  I stand there for a moment, clinging to my book bag. His grin lights up his eyes and I can’t help thinking… he is way too self-satisfied.

  What the hell is going on here?

  He points to the seat again. I drop myself into it, pulling my bag close as I glower across the desk.

  “You aren’t still sore after that last training session, are you?”

  I shake my head. “No. I’m fine.”

  “Good. You seem to be making so much progress.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.”

  “Ebony.” He clasps his hands, looking very serious. “I can’t help you if you don’t let me help you.”

  “Oh, wow. This sounds familiar.”

  His smile is sharp, sudden and just a bit creepy.

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “Everyone seems to want to help me.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing?”

  “It depends on what they mean by help.”

  “Ah, I see.” The way he says it, he makes it sound like he doesn’t see at all. He pushes up from his seat, taking a few steps across his office, looking at his bookshelf and tracing a finger along a line of dust. He lets his gaze sweep outside the window before turning back to me.

  “People want to help you, but you feel they are only helping themselves.”

  “Yes.” Something loosens in my chest. It sounds good to have the words said out loud. “I’m not sure if anyone actually wants to help me.”

  He nods, stepping slowly back to the desk.

  “So, you don’t know who to trust. And you go running off trying to deal with your power spikes on your own. But you can’t. And you feel yourself losing control.”

  The statement is too direct, and I can feel myself closing down again. I know I can’t trust him.

  He looks out the window, them back at me.

  “But you know you can trust me, right?”

  I look up at him with frustration and a little fear. That’s too close to my own thoughts. What is going on here?

  I shake my head, not really in answer but in disbelief.

  He sits down again, reaching across the table. I don’t reach back, just keep my hands wrapped around my book bag.

  “I’m disappointed, and a little hurt.” He makes his eyes big and round, like a puppy.

  But there is a big difference between an innocent puppy and a bad, naughty dog who is covering up the fact he just slaughtered all the chickens.

  I keep staring, trying to stay balanced. If I can’t smile, the least I can do is not scowl.

  “You know how much I want to help you, Ebony. That’s why we have been doing our special training sessions.” He leans back, realizing I’m not going to take his hands. He sighs, running a hand through his hair.

  “It really hurts me to see you so withdrawn. You know I only have your best interests at heart. I just want to help you gain control of your powers, so you won’t hurt anyone anymore.”

  That makes a sharp jab in my chest. I do hate it when my powers misfire. I do appreciate him trying to help me with that. Maybe no one else could.

  But it doesn’t mean I can trust him.

  I narrow my eyes. I try to smile but it won’t come.

  “I do thank you for that, Leo. I’m grateful. I need help in that area.”

  As I say his name he smiles, and it’s not like any smile I’ve ever seen before. He looks warm and somehow… surprised.

  “You are very powerful Ebony. Your powers have been firing out of control for some time now. You really could hurt yourself. Or someone else.” His grin changes, like it has pointed edges that could snag me, trip me up.
<
br />   “That’s exactly what I don’t want to do. I’m still not even sure how my powers work, or why emotion sets them off.”

  “Oh, magic and emotion have always been closely linked.” He makes a dismissive gesture. “The issue is that you don’t know what triggers your magic. You can’t get it under control.” He loses his smile and his eyes reach a new intensity. Something about his look is almost triumphant.

  “Maybe you never will.”

  My guts shriek at the very idea of that.

  “What do you mean, never?”

  He shrugs. “It could be too much power for one person. It seems to get the better of you. Unless you are deliberately using it then trying to pretend it was out of control?”

  “No! Never! I would never lie like that!”

  “That is good then. I know I can rely upon you. I mean,” he grins warmly, like he’s just thought of something really funny, “if you had uncontrollable outbursts as well as terrible power that you used willfully—and ruthlessly—you’d be just like the evil queen.”

  He’s still grinning, like this is a great joke. I feel sicker than this morning when I felt I’d rather toss my cookies than eat them.

  “Why… why would you say something like that? What is your connection to the demon queen? Why bring her up, why now?”

  He has the grace to look a bit uncomfortable. He looks at the table then back at me.

  “It was an idle thought, Ebony. Nothing to worry about.”

  “But… surely you know how dangerous it is, to compare me to her. I’m not like her. She’s not out of control, that much I gather.”

  “No, she’s never that.”

  My eyes narrow. I don’t feel so hurt now—only angry. Something is going on here.

  “You sound like you know more about it than me. More than you should.”

  He shakes his head. “I’m sorry. I never should have voiced my thought. I see now how it could have been upsetting. I only meant in terms of power, actually. Not in intent or personality.”

  If my eyes narrow any further, I won’t even be able to see him. He gives me a bright, easy smile. It feels so false I want to smack it right off his face.

  My thoughts are racing. I sit up a little, trying to ease the anxiety cramp in my back. Leo sits up immediately, watching my every move. I put my book bag on the floor and sit up straight, watching him.

  He doesn’t take his eyes off my hands. When I settle back into a comfortable position he seems to relax. I want to keep picking his brain—I can feel he has already revealed more than he planned to.

  Revealed more of what? Why would he be hiding anything?

  Am I just really freaking paranoid of every single person in my life now?

  I look down, sadly. Yes, I am. I am completely isolated.

  “I’m still not sure that you—” I’m not even sure what I’m going to ask when Leo cuts me off.

  “It doesn’t matter.” He snaps. “None of this is why I called you here. We got way off track.”

  “You brought up the demon queen.” I shoot back hotly.

  He grins, a little boys, naughty grin.

  “You don’t have time to talk about that now.”

  “Oh, why not?”

  “Time to train.”

  I barely hear the words in time. I see him cock his fist back.

  Then there is nothing but light and shock.

  12

  Leo

  I love how much she trusts me. Even now, with all her suspicions.

  Ebony doesn’t move as Snow would, she’s less assured, nervous even. As I watch her reel back from me in shock, I’m amused by how easily my attack surprises her.

  She should have been ready.

  Straightening up once more, I allow the light to dissipate and the room to return into focus for her; somehow I feel Ebony needs it.

  “You should have been ready,” I tease, my grin widening. Instantly, she retaliates, her body a coiled spring. Unfortunately for her however, I see her coming.

  As her feet connect with the ground, I sweep them out from under her, leaving her to come crashing down on her ass. Then, before she can give out the smallest of cries, I whisper an incantation her way. Light flares around us, illuminating the room.

  My grin morphs into a smirk.

  Our poor, dear, little Snow is a shadow of herself these days. Even though she’s started to grow in strength, she’s nowhere close to the power she wielded before her death. And best of all, this Ebony is easy to manipulate. A taunt here, a jibe there — it all riles her, causing her to attack without thinking. Her youthfulness is her undoing, and while I wish to train her, I relish watching her failures too.

  I love her naivety.

  “Don’t tell me this is all you’ve got?” My eyes flash her way as I watch her face twist into a grimace; she’s pissed, annoyed that I hold all of the power. What tickles me the most is that she thinks this makes her bold, but all it does is make her foolish. She’s too desperate to prove I’m wrong.

  Flying into another attack, she comes at me with her fists this time, all her magic forgotten. She’s too furious to use her brain. Ebony throws one of her fists straight at my face, but I halt it mid-air before she gets anywhere near the curve of my cheekbone. Holding her firm, my grip strong yet gentle so as not to unduly hurt her, she growls at me through gritted teeth.

  “You’re not fighting fair!” She complains, her aggression melting away just as her strength does.

  “Ah, Ebony, fighting is never fair,” I whisper, my eyes alight with mischief while hers reflect only annoyance. “if you fight fair, you’ll lose.” I throw her back then, her body tumbling over itself. She becomes a sea of flailing arms and legs. To my surprise however, she pulls it back just in time, her warrior reflexes finally coming back to life.

  Using her hands to push herself back up, she twists into a kick as she comes up to meet me… I’m not even upset when her foot lands heavily against my chest, the force of it slamming me backward. This change of pace invigorates me. It makes me want more of this aggression — the angrier she is, the better she’ll fight. I know it.

  I don’t fall back completely, much to her dismay. However, my stumbling gives Ebony the chance to gain the advantage. Embolden by her success, she hurls a spell my way, the poor execution of it halving its potency before it fizzles into nothingness. I can see she’s disappointed.

  This is when I strike.

  Barreling her over, I pin her down onto the floor, my body hard and heavy against the slight curves of her frame. Ebony squirms underneath me, but there’s little she can do to even the playing field now — she made the error, now she’s paying for it.

  Looking down at her thrashing to get away, I lose myself to the possibilities of what could be if she was truly mine. Right now, we play the roles of teacher and student well, however that’s not how I want us to be. Far from it, in fact.

  What I yearn for is for her to be mine in ways that the others have only dreamed of. I want to be able to feel more than a lustful kiss between us… I want my bare skin pressed against hers as I take her to heights she never knew were possible.

  It’s more than about intimacy, though. I can be as close as I want with any woman I desire, second only in my charms to Lucien. No, it’s about having a connection that transcends all reason.

  Oh, how I’ve hungered for it over the years. I’ve allowed it to consume me to the point of near madness, the only means of grounding myself found in the security of knowing that my Queen will return.

  My heart races as I stare at Ebony, the thoughts bubbling inside of me too great for any normal man to bear. Then, quite suddenly, I’m tossed backward. Ebony knocks me back the same way she knocks my affections.

  “I’m not as weak as you think.” She gasps while standing, the determination on her face admirable, if not misplaced.

  “I know you’re not weak, Ebony,” I admit, my body still sprawled on the floor. “but you’re not at full strength either. Your belie
f in thinking your memories give you strength is what’s holding you back. Ignore the past, simply embrace who you are right this moment.”

  A look begins to fall across her beautiful dark features. She understands, finally. After all that I’ve put her through so far, only now does she recognize how foolish it is to attempt to be a woman she isn’t. Ebony can’t ever be Snow as long as she only plays the part. She has to be her. There’s no room for make-believe here.

  For a moment we share a brief window of calm. The two of us attempting to regain some composure as well as our breath. Nonetheless, as much as we need to rest between our fervent blows, we also can’t help but wage war all over again.

  This may be “just training”, but there’s a bite to it unique only to us.

  I see her mouth move, though the motion is soundless. Still, I feel the energy explode throughout the room, her spell gathering momentum as it snakes through the air toward me. I act to deflect it, firing it back with my own spell, my expertise adding more weight to the attack. Ebony snarls at me as it slams into her stomach, an explosion of red and orange all that surrounds her for a few seconds.

  She’s mad because my spell-casting is faster than her own, however she fails to remember that I have years on her; while she’s been sleeping, I’ve been preparing. I’ve honed my skills, read more books than the school library holds, and still there’s room for improvement. Her frustration is understandable, but it’s a childish way of dealing with the problem. All she needs is time.

  I don’t even bother exerting any more physical energy when I throw my next attack, choosing instead to send more magic her way with a backhand. As I predicted before casting it, she’s so consumed by her emotions that she fails to act. She’s not as slow as our very first session, however I’m vexed that she’s still so behind.

  My students owe me better. Ebony Black owes me better.

  Ire growing inside of me, I rush her, darting from one side to the next so that she has no time to counter me. We should be using more magic to fight off one another, yet all we seem to do is use our bodies, leaving our minds to go idle.