Academy Obscura: The Flame Within

by Briar, Cassia

  With a nod, I started walking again, picking up the pace. Liam took a couple of long strides to catch up.

  In Academy Hall we climbed the stairs up to Jaxon’s apartment. Suddenly, my heart was in my throat, my palms growing moist. What if we couldn’t figure this out? What if I caused these guys to have a falling out? They’d been best friends since childhood. I couldn’t do that to them.

  Liam noticed my sudden panic. His large hand rubbed my back, sending soothing fae magic into me, which helped a little.

  “It will be okay. I promise.” He opened the door.

  Jaxon and Angel sat on the couch that faced the entrance. They stood as we came in, wearing matching expressions of shy hope. Liam led me to the nearer couch, across the coffee table from the guys, and sat down next to me. He shifted away, putting a little more space between us. I chewed on my bottom lip.

  The guys retook their seats, everyone sitting in awkward silence for several heartbeats.

  Liam began, “We’ve talked a lot about this over the past couple of days. About you, and our individual feelings toward you, as well as how to keep the friendship between the three of us from falling apart.”

  I frowned. Maybe I was being unreasonable, selfish. I opened my mouth to speak, but Liam stopped me by placing a hand on my knee.

  “You don’t need to feel guilty,” he said. “We’ve had some really good talks. Jaxon did a whole bunch of research from May’s sources about dragons taking more than one mate. We can make this work.”

  “How?” I asked, glancing at the three of them.

  Jaxon spoke up. “First of all, you’re right. Dragons, according to all of the legends, take multiple mates.” His brow furrowed. “Though, most dragon-shifters in the tales are male with multiple wives. Seems fair enough to assume it would be the same for female dragons, that they would have more than one husband. Anyway, they seem to form a family unit. And we,” Jaxon gestured to Liam, Angel, and himself, “think we can handle that. In a way, we’ve been as close as family for a long time.”

  “Closer really,” Liam said.

  Angel nodded in silent agreement. I was still mildly surprised that Angel was part of this. I wanted him, but I didn’t know how much the feeling was mutual. He was such a mystery, never sending any clear signs of how he felt about me. I guessed I’d find out soon enough.

  “However,” Jaxon continued, “we would like to keep this arrangement between the four of us, and not let anyone else into it.”

  “And what, exactly, is this arrangement?” I asked.

  Angel spoke, his muscular arms crossed over his chest. “You’d date the three of us. Only the three of us.” The possessiveness in his voice sent a warm pulse through my stomach.

  “Okay… What do you have in mind? How would that work?” I asked.

  “We thought dividing up our time would be the most fair,” Liam said. “Weekdays would be your own. We usually eat dinner together here, you’re welcome to join us. Then weekends, we would rotate though. So, this coming weekend is for you and me. Next weekend you’d have Angel to yourself, and the following would be Jaxon. Then the cycle would repeat.”

  “Wow. You guys have really thought this through. How’d you come up with the schedule?”

  Jaxon snorted. “We drew straws, obviously I was the loser.”

  Oh, my God. Drew straws? That was both sweet and disturbing.

  Liam leaned toward me. “So? What do you think?”

  I glanced at them all again. “I think it’s very unconventional, but fair.” I wondered how this worked back when there was a whole dragon society. At that time, among them, this would have been normal.

  “You agree to the schedule?” Jaxon asked. “And to only dating us?”

  I smiled. “I completely agree. Besides, I don’t think I could handle any more testosterone in my life.”

  Liam gave my knee a squeeze. Jaxon returned my smile, the mirth softening his steely grey eyes. Angel’s glowing yellow gaze studied my face and, as usual, I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. Hopefully, I’d find out next weekend.

  “I should get going,” I said, standing. My head was spinning a bit from all this—could it really work? My heart was pounding too fast with anticipation. This was really happening. Then, like a frigid splash of water, reality hit. “What about the Tromara?”

  All three men tensed. Our fantasy world of romance could come crashing to an end in five months. Or, it could last a year and five months. Either way, when the Tromara king came for me, I’d be torn away from these guys. I didn’t want that to happen, even temporarily. I had to remember my goal: Kill the king.

  Jaxon said, “I’m going to talk with Isabella about that. As far as I understand it, under the terms of the Truce, a student may be taken only if they are in the culling. If you can get out of that, then the Council may be able to keep you from the king.”

  “Since you’re also the Council Queen’s only heir,” Liam said, “they should be able to make a good case for you. King Sebastian was overstepping when he laid claim to you as his wife anyway.”

  I frowned, biting my lip. If the king took me then I would take the opportunity to kill him. If he didn’t then I wouldn’t be forced to attempt the impossible.

  “I thought the Tromara had the final say in everything. That they can basically do whatever they want. Is that not true?” I asked.

  Jaxon shook his head. “They do and they don’t—it’s complicated. Just like last summer when they could have taken me for interfering on the full moon, Isabella negotiated an alternative. She has the authority to do the same for you.” He ran his fingers through his wavy blond hair. “The Tromara will probably require a sizable sacrifice in exchange for your life. The point is, they want to keep the Truce and the peace as much as we do.”

  I was horrified at the idea that several more people could die in order to save my life. I shuddered. If I was taken by that monster, I would at least try to kill him. I’d rather die than be his slave for life, of that I was sure. But, if there was a chance to appease him in some other way… Could I live with myself for sacrificing others for my life? No.

  Part of me wanted to seize the opportunity to end the king’s life. That was the original plan I’d come up with when I’d heard he wanted to take me for his wife. Another part of me was terrified of pursuing that idea. I’d had some time to think about it and cool down. I had no training. I barely knew how this world worked. And the king had magic. If there was a way out… But at what cost to my soul?

  Last term the Tromara had demanded a culling for Jaxon’s crime. He’d saved my life last summer, when I didn’t know any of this existed. That was his crime. Did the deaths of those students still haunt him?

  Liam took my hand, gently squeezing. “We’ll know more once Jaxon talks to Isabella. In the meantime, let’s try to live our lives.”

  I glanced down at Liam, who was still sitting on the couch. “You all know I’m not particularly good at following rules, but I don’t want to make this worse by openly defying the Tromara.” The fucking Tromara didn’t own me, but I wanted to keep the guys as safe as possible, and that meant not pissing off the evil bastards’ king.

  “I agree,” Jaxon said. “We need to keep our arrangement to ourselves. Let’s be careful with this. No one else needs to know about it.”

  I cringed, saying, “Maybe we should wait until I’m out of the culling and Isabella has come up with a solution.” I hated admitting defeat. I hated giving in to the Tromara.

  Angel shook his head. “That’s not necessary. The Tromara would have to find out about the four of us. They aren’t allowed to stay on campus, and no one here is going to tell them anything. Even Dean Wright doesn’t want trouble. She wouldn’t turn us in if she found out.”

  It seemed like a good enough argument. As long as we stayed within the Academy walls, the Tromara wouldn’t find out about me and the guys.

  “Okay,” I said, only half convinced that this was the best thing to do.
/>   “It’s a total shit situation,” Liam said. “In the mean time, let’s make the best of what time is given to us.”

  “I’d like that.” My heart raced, as my brain processed all of this. We were defying the Tromara—but I didn’t want to live in fear of them. There was a chance that I’d never be taken away, and that I could have these three gorgeous men for the rest of my life. Hope filled my chest.

  Hope was a dangerous thing to hold on to, but right now it was all I had. I slipped my hand from Liam’s. “I should go. I’ll see you guys later.”

  They all stood, walking with me to the door. At the threshold I turned, gazing up at each of them. My inner dragon swelled with an unabashed smugness. Mine. A blush crept up my neck. This was going to take some getting used to.

  We murmured our goodnights, and I left.

  Outside, in the freezing January air, I decided to take care of some business before heading back to my dorm. The past couple of days my new teacher, Montrell Freeman, had been doing his best to keep me in the Culling Club by docking my points.

  Entering the Dean’s Hall, I stood in the deserted lobby staring up at the magical scoreboard. The numbers glowed next to each student’s name, showing their standing at Academy Obscura. Near the bottom, at the ten percent mark, a red line divided those safe from the culling and those who would be sacrificed at the end of the year. Which would be the second round of sacrifices this year. Anger clenched my gut. All of the college age supernaturals were corralled into the Academy and ten percent of them were lined up for the slaughter. This year there were nineteen spots in the culling. It was so unfair.

  My name was at the very bottom of the board. I was so screwed. The hope I’d felt with the guys shattered. I was going to become the Tromara king’s slave—worse, his wife, which was probably a sex slave. Then I’d live and die at his whim.

  Biting the inside of my cheek, I pushed down the hopelessness and tears. If I was going to make it through this, I had to live in the present not the future. The future was too bleak.

  I turned and went back through the thick wooden door. My heart heavy.

  Although the snow had melted and not returned, icy rain drifted down to melt on my nose. I pulled up the hood of my coat, then headed toward Freeman Dorm.

  The hour had gotten really late, and the campus grounds were deserted. On my way to the dorm, I had to pass by Academy Hall again. All the windows were dark. Were the guys asleep already?

  A giddy happiness welled in my chest, making me feel like an emotional yo-yo. Tomorrow I’d have dinner with them, then hang out with Liam on the weekend. A yearning swept through me. I’d had crushes before, even on some of my high school teachers, but nothing compared to how I felt about Liam and Jaxon, and to a lesser extent Angel because I didn’t know him as well.

  I was so glad we’d talked, and had a plan to try. Having to choose between them would have left my heart broken. They were each so different, yet sexy in their own ways. I liked how willful and passionate Jaxon was, even if his affection came through as anger at times. We’d had a rough start, that was for sure. I finally figured out that his distance and general asshole behavior had been to hide his feelings from me, which he’d succeeded in doing until last week.

  Now, I didn’t know exactly how he felt about me, but I knew he cared. He’d been crying for fuck’s sake, two days ago when he thought he was going to lose me to the Tromara. My chest clenched at the memory.

  Liam was the opposite of Jaxon, always soothing and sweet—except his kisses, they were savage in the best way possible. He didn’t hide how much he cared, and I liked that about him.

  And Angel…so mysterious. He was a werewolf, deadly and vengeful—he’d proven that several times. Often, I felt that I should be afraid of him, but I wasn’t. His primal side attracted my inner dragon like no one else.

  Academy Hall paralleled the pathway to Freeman Dorm. On a whim, I decided to avoid some of the icy rain by going through the building instead of walking beside it. Pulling open the door to the massive structure, I slipped into a slightly warmer corridor. At least it was dry. The stone walls held dimmed sconces at even intervals.

  The main floor was all offices, shut up tight after hours. Unhurriedly, I shuffled down the hallway toward the opposite door, grinning like a love-sick idiot while thinking about the beast inside Angel and how I wanted to let it out.

  My smile faltered as movement down the next hallway caught my eye. I squinted into the dim light. Kneeling by a closed door, was the outline of a familiar red-haired woman. She was muttering, wand in hand.

  Quietly, I approached her. “May?” I whispered.

  She leaped to her feet, eyes wide, a hand flying to her chest as she turned toward me. “Caprice! My God, you scared me half to death!”

  The plaque on the door read: Ms. Duinn. I’d caught May in front of this office door before. This time, I wanted answers.

  I eyed her. “What are you doing messing with Ms. Duinn’s door?”

  May lowered her gaze to the floor. “I can’t tell you.” Resuming her instructor attitude, she put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me with her down the corridor. “Just forget that you saw me. I don’t want you getting into trouble.”

  “Me getting into trouble?” I halted, crossing my arms over my chest. “What’s going on? You’ve been hiding something for months.”

  She glanced around the empty hall. “Come with me.”

  A few doors down, May flicked her wand to let us into her office, then switched on a floor lamp by the door. Instead of going to the chair behind her large desk, she took a seat in the little sitting area. I sank into the upholstered chair on the other side of the little round table.

  For a long moment, she didn’t speak. Her body was so still, I could barely see her breathing. When I was about to press her with more questions, she opened her mouth.

  “Look,” she said, “I need you to promise that this will stay between us. You can’t even tell my brother.”

  I lifted a brow. This must be serious if she was keeping it from Liam. “I promise.”

  “I’m only telling you about this because you keep catching me—and we’re friends.” She visibly swallowed. “And I need to tell someone. I don’t know what to do…”

  Reaching out, I gently gripped her arm, giving my support.

  “For the past two summers…there’s been a guy…Josh, that I’ve been seeing.” May stared down at her entwined fingers as she spoke. “We’ve gotten really serious. Problem is, he’s human. My parents would freak if they found out. I-I haven’t told him I’m a witch. It’s a mess.”

  “What does this have to do with Ms. Duinn?” I asked.

  May grimaced. “She found out about us. Ever since I was her student, she’s held a grudge against me. She likes making my life difficult. I thought that would end once I came back as a fellow teacher, but it hasn’t. If anything, she’s become worse. Last term, she stole a few letters that he’d written me. Now she’s holding them over my head. I don’t know what she’s going to do. I need to get them back.” When May finally met my gaze, her eyes shone with unshed tears.

  “She’s blackmailing you?”

  “Sort of. She might, once she decides what she wants from me.” May sniffed. “I’ve been trying to break into her office. That’s where the letters are, I think. But her warding charm is too strong.”

  Wow. That was not at all what I thought was going on in May’s personal life. That sucked. Ms. Duinn was a twisted enough person that I had no doubt she’d go through with blackmailing May.

  “I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

  May let out a frustrated grunt. “I’m so mad at myself for letting her take those letters. I never should have brought them here. If my parents find out…I’m not really sure what they’ll do, but I think I can handle it. They won’t turn me over to the Tromara. What I’m more afraid of is her telling Josh that I’m a witch, and him dumping me. Or worse, he’ll not even bother to call, a
nd just walk away. I’ll never hear from him again. I can’t lose him.”

  “Couldn’t you beat her to it, and tell him yourself?”

  She sighed. “I should. I know I should, but I’m terrified to do it. We’ve been together for a year, and I know he thinks there’s something weird going on. He hasn’t met my family. I don’t want to ruin it all. I never meant for it to turn this serious with a human.”

  I squeezed her arm again. “He’ll be happier hearing it from you. Then Ms. Duinn won’t have any power over you.”

  “I know.” Her forehead bunched. “Thanks for talking with me about all this.”

  “Any time.” It was the least I could do for her. She’d been there for me countless times so far this year. I stood. “I should get some sleep. So should you.”

  May nodded. “I’ll try.”

  Get book two here: Academy Obscura: The Fiery Shifter.

  About the Author

  Cassia Briar writes paranormal romance with reverse harems, menages, and couples who find their happily ever after.

  She lives in the often misty woods outside of Portland, Oregon with her loving husband and five cats. Cassia’s an avid reader with a TBR list she’d have to become immortal to get through. Self-proclaimed Slytherin. Lover of coffee, gargoyle and monster art, and Halloween.

  Join the Cassia Briar Reader Group on Facebook.

  Also by Cassia Briar

  Ignite: An Academy Obscura Prequel Novella

  Academy Obscura: The Flame Within

  Academy Obscura: The Fiery Shifter

  Academy Obscura: The Searing Trials

  Academy Obscura: The Scorched Summer