by ERIN BEDFORD
"Anyone in here?"
I froze. What was Dex doing in the student bathroom?
I almost didn't answer him but realized he could hear the water running. "Uh, yeah. I am."
There was a pause. Then heavy steps crossed the room. I could feel his presence on the other side of the shower stall door. "Is it alright if I shower here? The faculty one has been on the fritz."
More focused on the fact that I was naked in the same room as Dex than his actual words, I fumbled out, "Sure. Why not?"
It was after the shower stall next to me turned on that I realized not only was I naked but now Dex was and mere feet away from me. My eyes bore into the metal wall separating us as if I could see through it to Dex on the other side. He must have been doing the same thing because he didn't move around for a long moment. Then as if a spell broke, he shifted out of the water spray and the distinct sound of him squirting a bottle filled the room.
I washed myself at a glacial pace wanting for some reason to prolong the time I was in there with him. Even if I couldn't see him. Another part of me wanted to just hurry up and run away before I could make this anymore awkward. He'd flat out refused to admit anything was going to happen between us and yet we are somehow drawn to each other.
Was it fate? Or maybe God was finally paying attention to me and this was how he was getting his jollies off?
"Did you get a pass for today?"
Dex's voice startled me and I dropped my conditioner bottle on my foot. "Shit."
"Are you okay?" Dex paused on his side and I rushed to answer, "I'm fine. Just dropped my conditioner."
"Oh. Okay." Was that disappointment I heard in his voice?
No. I was just projecting too much. There was no way that Dex actually wanted to rush to my rescue and yet the dream came back to me. I didn't know why but I had a feeling that the man fighting in my dream had been Dex and he'd been fighting...for me.
A tense silence filled the bathroom each of us washing on our own. It was then that I realized I hadn't answered his question. "Azazel is letting me go today."
"That's surprising."
I snorted. "Yeah. Except, I have this nifty shock collar keeping me from getting out of line so that should be fun." I fingered the metal bracelet. Should these be gotten wet? Since I hadn't gotten shocked yet I figured it was fine.
"Yeah, she's quite proud of those. I remember the day she set them up. The students almost rioted." He chuckled to himself and I couldn't help but close my eyes and savor the sound of it. Of course, that only made me imagine what he was doing over there. The water trickling down his bare skin. His muscles contracting and releasing as he rubbed over each pectoral and then down his rippling abs, taking his precious time as he made his way down his happy trail and wrapped his hand around his -"
"Elle?"
I jerked out of my daydream so hard that my foot slipped and I crashed to the ground. "Fuck," I groaned, rubbing my back and side where I hit the nearby bench. Much to my horror the shower stall flew open revealing a very naked and extremely wet Dex.
My mouth gaped open the pain in my back momentarily forgotten as my eyes raked over him. They trailed over every inch of his deliciousness and landed on the long hard length settled between his legs.
A sharp inhaled breath from him reminded me that I was naked too. I scrambled to my feet, grabbing my towel off the hook on my way up as Dex turned his back on me, giving me a glorious view of his backside.
"Are you okay?" Dex asked, his shoulders tight and the cheeks of his ass flexed.
I securely wrapped the towel around myself and turned off the water. "Yeah, I'm fine. A bit bruised but I'll live."
Dex jerked his head down once and then hurried back to his stall. The door closed with a clack and the knobs of the shower squeaked as he changed the temperature.
My face heated as I imagined the cold shower he must be having now. "Dex..." I stepped to the wall separating us, placing my hand against the cool surface.
"Go get ready to leave, Elle." Dex gruffly responded, dismissing me.
Sighing, I gathered my things and walked back to my room not bothering to change first. It was still early so no one was in the hallway not that I'd have cared one way or the other. When I arrived in my room, I shut and locked the door before throwing my towel clad self onto my bed.
This was bad. This was so unbelievably bad. I had the hots for Dex. Well, of course, I did. He was irrefutably handsome. Sexy in a dark and dangerous way. I snorted. Dex dangerous? He was a teacher for one and more angel than human. He wasn't any more dangerous than Sarah was.
Still, man did my imagination not do him justice. I sighed longingly before forcing myself to get out of bed and get ready.
I decided on a pair of Rockstar jeans that were ripped at the knees and up the thighs, a white ribbed tank top over a black bra. I topped it off with my jean jacket that my mom and I had bedazzled one lazy summer day. Wearing it made me feel close to her and I needed that right now.
Once I was ready, I made my way downstairs. I grabbed a piece of toast and an apple from the breakfast table and ate on my way out the door. There was already a group of students waiting at the front for our ride.
Ayden waved at me from her group of friends. "Elle, over here!"
I meandered over to them. Nodding and greeting them each until I reached Zephyr. He offered me a small smile and nod. "Hey."
I smiled back. "Hey. Sorry about-"
"Don't worry about it." He scrubbed the back of his head and laughed. "I let my mouth run away with me sometimes."
"I gotcha. It's cool. I was having a day." The others were watching our exchange with curious glances but didn't ask us to elaborate.
"I see you got them to let you off your leash final." Joash commented, shifted closer to Coral. I arched a brow. Back on again it seems?
"Uh, yeah." I chuckled and lifted my wrist showing the bracelet. "Only to get a more permanent one I can't duck out on."
"What did you do to get a babysitter?" Bayu asked as we began to pile into the bus that had just arrived.
I struggled on how much to tell them. Then figured the truth wouldn't hurt. "Tried to run away while you were all getting drunk."
"What?" Ayden gasped at me as she slid into the first available seat. "Why didn't you tell me?"
I shrugged and took the seat beside her. "Cause I didn't want you to get in trouble too."
"But why would you want to leave?" Bayu leaned over the back of our seat astonishment in his voice. "You're safe here."
Zephyr smacked his brother on the shoulder. "Not everyone came here willingly, fucktard."
"I know that, but you didn't have to hit me, dipshit." Bayu smacked his brother back and the two of them began to make more and more creative names for each other.
I found myself smiling as they argued back and forth. It made me wish for a sibling. Nikki was the closest thing I had to a sister. I frowned and shifted in my seat, letting the rumbling of the bus fill me.
"I would have helped you if you really wanted to leave," Ayden murmured a few moments later.
I angled my head her way. "Don't worry about it. I'm working it out."
"I knew you didn't come here on your own," she continued, her head dipped down a little bit. "And I hoped that making friends and even going to the party might help but it seems you are determined to leave."
"It's not that." I sighed and lifted a foot onto the bench of the seat. "I just got pulled out of my life so abruptly that I didn't get to explain to anyone or even prepare. My dad..." I blew out a harsh breath. "We don't exactly have the best relationship and he just showed up out of nowhere, dropping this bombshell on me and then disappearing. I just want answers, and no one seems to want to give them to me."
"That sucks, but I want you to know I'm here if you need to talk." Ayden reached out to touch my hand but then stopped, dropping it back down into her lap.
Smiling softly, I grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight, forcing back the flinch
that came with her death. "Thank you."
Chapter 18
The bus came to a stop right outside of Newbury. We all piled off and most of the students rushed off to different parts of town before their feet barely touched the ground. I loitered by the bus until Ayden and the rest of them got off.
"So, where to?" I tucked my hands into the front pockets of my jacket and waited for Ayden to lead the way.
"We're going to the game store," Bayu announced before he and his brother took off down the street.
Coral and Joash were opening holding hands now and whispering to each other. Coral blushed at something Joash said before murmuring, "We're going to go check out..." she seemed to struggle with an answer before Joash just led her away. She waved and flushed prettily. "Bye!"
"How much you want to bet they don't make it to a single store?" Ayden shook her head and giggled. "I swear those two are worse than rabbits."
I watched them leave with a perturbed feeling. "They seem a bit..."
"On again off again? Yep." Ayden popped her p's and sighed, shrugging. "Their better than a soap opera I'm telling you."
We strolled down the road heading into town. Newbury wasn't a large town by any standards. I was used to growing up in Omaha so this kind of place really wouldn't have done anything for me under normal circumstances. Except two weeks stuck in the Fallon Academy had me excited just to go to a diner. A diner! Somewhere I wouldn't have bothered to eat at before this all happened. Now, it was the highlight of my month.
What being quarantined will do you to you...
"It's a bit early to eat lunch," Ayden checked her phone and my own palm itched to have my own device back in my hands. "We can walk around and check out the stores if you want? Or just find a spot and people watch?" She looked at me expectantly.
"I don't mind either wa-" I began to tell her and then caught sight of an electronics store. "Actually, why don't we go in there?"
Ayden's mouth twisted to one side, but she didn't argue thankfully.
I had to keep myself from running to the store so Ayden and the loitering teachers wouldn't suspect anything was up. When we walked in the electronics store, I pretended to look around, but I could already see the display for pay as you go phones.
If Azazel and my dad thought, they could keep me down by taking my phone they had another thing coming.
I just needed to get my hands on one of them and then I could get a hold of Nikki. While I didn't have plans right now to take off especially after the talk I had with Ayden, I still needed to let her know I was okay.
Standing in front of the phone display was like standing in front of the holy grail. I swear it was that monumental. I felt a huge weight fall from my shoulders as my hand wrapped around one of the plastic cases.
Until my world came tumbling down around me.
A shadow fell over where I stood, and I barely had the phone in my hands before it was plucked away by Professor Rufus with a smug grin.
"Hey, give that back. I'm going to buy that." My fingers curled into fists and the need to knock the smirking asshole on his butt was almost too hard to refuse.
"You are on restriction," Rufus stared down at me hard, though he still had a gleeful gleam in his eyes. "That means no cell phone. You're lucky our liege even let you out of the school. I wouldn't have let you if I were running the academy." He sniffed and shifted away, pointing a finger at the door.
Clearly someone thought they were better suited for Azazel's job but either way he had just ended up on my shit list. Holding back the need for violence, a valiant effort on my part if I did say so, I marched out of the store and waited by a nearby tree for Ayden to come out.
She did a few minutes later confused and searching for me. Ayden spotted me a few seconds later and walked over to me.
"Hey, what happened? I thought you needed something."
I shook my head and kicked the stone sidewalk beneath my foot. "Nah, they didn't have what I wanted. Let's go check something else out."
As we walked, I noticed quite a bit of teachers and other staff members in town. None of them had been on the bus I'd been sure of it.
"Do they usually come to town with the students?" I pointed out to Ayden.
She shrugged. "Sometimes but usually it’s only a few. They must be taking extra precautions this time with all the angel sightings lately." She stopped before a clothing store window and surveyed the outfit on display. "They usually just make sure that we don't use our powers or cause a fuss."
"And what about the people who live here?" I noticed a few guys about our age staring at us unabashedly. "Do they know...what we are?"
Ayden scoffed, and straightened. "Of course not. They put up with us because we bring money to their little town."
"How could they not though?" I stared right back at the guys until they finally stopped and walked away. "We don't age the same, so they are bound to notice eventually."
"I’m sure they have but none of them have said anything or if they have, I'm sure our liege had one of the mentals do a memory alteration."
"They can do that?" My brows rose as we walked to the next store. This one had a guy making custom wood furniture. They were exquisite if a little out of price range. Not that I had anywhere to put it now. Until I got out of Fallon Academy my mom's house was just going to sit there.
"Anyway, the teachers like Dex tend to stay away from town. He has too much angel blood in his system, so he ages even slower than the rest of us." She stopped at an ice cream stand and got a cone from the starry-eyed boy who wouldn't stop staring at us. "You want any?"
I shook my head no. "Really?" I asked, when we were far enough away from the boy. "He told me he was a hundred and twenty-five."
"And he barely looks over twenty, right?" She giggled, licking her ice cream cone.
It was then that I noticed we were getting a lot of looks from the town's people. "Uh, Ayden is it just me or are they staring an awful lot?"
Ayden shrugged. "Humans always do that. They're drawn to us cause of our -"
"Angel blood. Yeah. I get it."
Except I didn't. No one had ever been drawn to me. If anything, they ran in the opposite direction any time I came around. Out of habit, I ran my finger over the mark on my hand which was now completely gone. Had the mark my dad put on me also kept humans from seeing the angelic part of me as well? It was another thing I'd have to ask him when I saw him next.
Ayden stopped before an anti-aging cream advertisement. "Isn't it great that we'll never need that kind of crap?"
“Not really.” I shrugged and turned away from it to keep walking.
Speed walking to catch up with me, Ayden asked, "Why not?"
“Too much time.” I'd had enough of this life as it was, I had no desire to extend it even further by living practically forever.
Giving an exasperated sigh, Ayden poked me on the shoulder, “You’re so bloody depressing all the time. Lighten up.”
I smirked at her. “Maybe you just need to grow up.”
She licked her ice cream in an obscene manner. “Nah, plenty of time for that later.”
Shaking my head at her action, I grabbed her arm, “Come on, show me where this dinner is. I’m hungry.”
The diner Ayden wanted us to go to was a cute little mom and pop's place. Fully made to look like a wood cabin it was decorated from top to bottom in antlers. I tried to repress my grimace as a sweet old man seated us.
My eyes trailed over a blonde guy who was far too attractive for this little town. He saw me looking and smiled. I found myself blushing as I smiled back.
I pushed the guy out of my mind which was hard since he was right in my line of sight as we sat at our table. Once more I was assaulted by deer everywhere. Even the table was decorated with them.
"What?" Ayden asked, grabbing her menu from the table.
Wrinkling my nose, I leaned forward a bit. "I'm from the Midwest and even I think this is a lot of antlers."
Ayden laughe
d. "Don't worry their food is way better than their decorating skills."
I hoped so.
Pulling my menu from the table, I scanned the contents. It was your basic variety diner. Cheeseburgers, fries, milk shakes, even a few breakfast items you could order any time of the day.
"I know what I'm getting how about you?"
Before I could answer Ayden's question Dharma appeared at our table. I was relieved to see that she was alright but apparently, she wasn't that happy to see me.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" She practically spat in my face. She hadn't even come over with her friends, choosing to face me alone. Ballsy but stupid.
"I'm getting lunch, duh?" I held my menu up to show her causing Ayden to giggle.
Dharma was not so amused. "Why haven't they kicked you out already?"
I sighed. "That's what I keep asking myself and yet here I am. It's fabulous isn't it?"
"No. It's not." Dharma slapped her hand on my menu forcing it down to the table. "You are an abomination. You're not wanted here or at our school."
"That's not true." Ayden tried to stand up for me. "I want her here and so do a bunch of others."
Dharma scoffed, not noticing that we had drawn the attention of some of the diners. "Like it matters what you and your little element-"
"Club." I finished for her with a glare. "Elemental club. Right, Ayden?"
Ayden didn't catch what I meant at first and the noticed the blonde guy from earlier. "Oh, yeah, right. Element club. We are all about studying those elements." She did a fake air punch that I would have done with a little more enthusiasm but if the guy noticed anything strange, he didn't mention it.
"Everything okay here?" He gave a dimple filled smile that made Dharma gape and stumble over her words.
"Uh, um, yeah. We're good. Right?" she turned back to me and gave me the fakest grin she could muster.
I gave her two thumbs up and matched her smile until she giggled and left. Dharma walked backward as she smiled and giggled, waving a little bit before sitting down at her own table with Bishop and Charity.
"Are you sure you're okay?" The guy asked, tucking his hand into the pockets of his jeans. God sure pulled out all the stops with this one. Golden blonde hair that curled at the edges of his shoulders, the deepest blue eyes I'd ever seen outside of cartoons, and an ass that wore his jeans like they were made for him. To top it all off those dimples were killer on the panties.