“Cas! You scared the crap out of me!”
“Good God, Love. Who were you expecting? The grim reaper?” She said, not knowing how right she was. She rested a palm on my cheek, her eyes scanning every inch of my face.
“You look like hell,” she blurted, and she was right, I looked even worse than I did last night when we met up to discuss my run with the bullies through the mystical sciences wing. I didn’t mention a word about Alexander though. My cheeks burned at the thought. I’d take that little tete-a-tete to the grave.
“What are you doing here, Cas?” I asked and she laughed, resting a hand to her waist.
“Well, this is a school. Remember? It’s almost time for class and first period is all the way in Ravensted hall.”
I sighed, looking away. “Cas, this is a really bad time, I...”
“Come on love, you can’t live your life bottled up in this room forever. Screw Rebecca, screw everyone who doesn’t like you. Let’s just go!”
“I’m not so sure-” Before I could finish my sentence she grabbed me by the arm and tore through the passage like a jack rabbit on steroids, yanking me along for the ride.
“Cas, no!”
“Life happens today, love!” She yelled, smiling excitedly, her glorious red hair whipping over my face every few hops.
We slowed down, entering a long hallway coated with ivory lockers and dazzling marble floors. A line of diamond-studded chandeliers decorated the ceilings.
The room went silent as the chatter that flooded the passage only moments ago fell down a sinkhole. Every student's eyes were on me, wide and menacing.
You’d figure this stupid game of leering at the Void User would get boring at some point. I guess not.
I glanced back in the direction we came. Was it too late to go back to my dorm? Maybe I could just slip away. As if reading my mind, Cas’s grip around my arm rose to almost herculean proportions and my head fell in disappointment.
And then I noticed something. For every glare and snide whisper, I got, there were dazzling smiles lined up for Cas. Well, then. At least I hadn’t messed up her street cred, but why wasn’t hers helping mine?
We neared the end of the passage and Cas stopped, looking over the crowd of gaggling girls to our left. A tall guy emerged from behind the crowd, his eyes fixed on Cas. Dude must have been well over six feet, shoulders wide enough to fill a room.
Twirling black hair dangled delicately down his high cheekbones, his sun-kissed skin warm and inviting. Too bad his eyes weren’t. He slowly strutted toward us, his shoulders shifting from side to side like a model. The instant his eyes fell on me he scowled slightly, before dawning an artificial smile. He paused dead center in front of Cas.
“Hey babe, what you doing later?” He asked, proudly running his fingers through his hair and pushing it to the side.
She grinned up at him, like a cute little puppy, wagging tail and all. “Why Alessandro, hanging out with you, of course.”
“By the way,” she clenching my shoulders and pulled me in front of her, “have you met my friend yet? This is Aria Kolgrim.”
His eyes focused on me and his head jerked back, his lips tightening, as if offended by my closeness.
“Oh,” he whispered, “the Voi- erm.” He paused, then continued, correcting himself. “Hello. Aria, was it?”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, reaching for his outstretched hand but before I could even touch him, he yanked it right back like a yo-yo.
His head snapped back to Cas, and he grabbed her by the waist, pushing her against the black locker behind and she let out a squeal of excitement.
My cheeks were ablaze with embarrassment. Was this really what I left my dorm for? I pictured myself just melting into the floor.
“Oh my,” she gasped, her face reddening, eyes darting around the heavily populated hallway. “Not in front of all these people, Ally.”
“What, the Void User?” He whispered, not sparing a glance in my direction. “Ignore her. I’ve been dying to kiss you all day.”
“Hey, be nice to her,” she cooed, “I love that girl.”
Ignoring her, he planted one on her, hot and heavy. You could hear the gross suction of wet kissing filling the room.
Ick. I looked away. Shame pooled in the pit of my stomach and my face must have looked like a tomato by now.
That’s it! I’m getting the hell back to my dorm.
I took a step back in the direction we had come, but before I could take another, a firm hand wrapped around my elbow and yanked me back.
“See you later, Ally, we’re late for class,” Cas said pulling me along again, waving goodbye to her boyfriend. His frown followed me down the hall, as if I’d just stolen her from him. He flung his back against the lockers, folding his arms clearly annoyed.
“You weren’t thinking of leaving me were you, love?”
“Of course not!” I donned on my most convincing smile.
We passed another set of doors and entered another wing. This one had pukey lime green walls with tiles the color and texture of snakeskin.
The lockers were a clashing beige and the students traipsing along didn’t look any friendlier than the last.
Before I could comment on Cas’s new beau, another cute guy, this one blond and even sexier, sprang up from behind.
“Hi!” Cas stopped dead in her tracks, her face lighting up like a 100-watt bulb. “Rudy! Baby! How are you?” She said dropping my arm. They ran to each other, and he pulled her into his arms.
This was a bit odd. Why did it look like she and this guy were making googly eyes at each other? And why was… Okay, so they were kissing now, and I think his tongue must be digging for gold in there cause it just seemed to hit her tonsils.
What the…? I thought... wasn’t the other guy her boyfriend?
After a few more sucks, their lips parted. They made plans for later and she traipsed back over to me, flushed cheeks, looking pleased as hell.
“Cas?”
“Yes, love?” Her brows shot up, and she latched her hands around mine again. “Oh damn! We’ll be late if we don’t hurry!” she squeaked, pulling me through another set of double doors and down a series of other passages.
And sure enough, in every successive hallway, corner, and room we passed through, there was a new guy, taller and hotter than the last, all stopping us dead in our tracks to suck faces with Cas and make plans for later. And with each one, I just stood, mouth ajar, eyes staring open. Damn, she’s been here what, four days? Man, she works fast!
Finally, we approached a big mahogany sign that read ‘Ravensted Hall.’
This was like another world, I thought. All those years in the forest, I had no clue what dating was like in the real world. But now I sure did.
Many, many, many, many lovers! That’s what counted as romance these days. I laughed inside. Poor Mom didn’t know what she was missing.
No wonder I was ogling all four kings at orientation hall. I couldn’t help it. Monogamy was dead. I nodded to myself. The kings were still off limits but at least now I knew I wasn’t going crazy.
We walked through the doors and before we were more than three steps inside, Cas slammed my back against the nearest wall pinning me there, eyeballing me like an angry schoolteacher.
My eyes shot wide open, my heart pounding in my chest. What in the hundred hells?
“Don’t think I don’t see you there, love. I know exactly what you’re doing!” she accused, pointing the barrel of her finger between my eyes.
“What are you talking about?” I squealed.
“I see you there, judging me.”
“I don’t understand what you mean,” I responded, blinking rapidly.
“Play dumb if you want, love. But I’m an evolved woman! A proud feminist. I see what I like, and I take it!” She said, passion flowing from her every word.
My eyes widened in realization, and I gasped.
Wait a minute! She’s been cheating?
“Wait, are
you not allowed to date all those guys?” I blurted.
She paused, taking me in with a questioning look on her face. Then her hands fell from mine and laughter exploded from her lips, echoing off the walls. Her hands braced her sides with every chuckle.
“You are too funny! They let you have thirty boyfriends in the forest, love?” She said wiping a tear from her eye.
“Cas!” I whispered, shielding my mouth. “Haven’t you looked around and seen this death trap? I bet they kill people for less here. What if the guys find out about each other? What if they get mad? What if you get...”
“Love! Love! Love!” She pleaded pulling me in for a hug. “Relax. It’ll be fine. You handle your shit, I’ll handle mine okay?”
“But, but.” She put two fingers on my lips, silencing me. “Don’t worry, be happy!” She sang with a wink and a smile. And for the first time I began to suspect that Cas might not be altogether normal.
Rinnnngg. Cas’s eyes flashed open when the bell chimed.
“Good God! That’s the final bell. Hurry and get to class. Before you get in trouble!” She called out, turning away to speed toward a heavy white door up ahead.
“Wait, Cas! Don’t we have the same class?”
“Not this period, yours is around here somewhere, just look at the whiteboard.” She pointed to a lonely glass encased board on the long grey wall. Cas sprang through the door and like that she was gone, leaving me out here with only the sterile white walls for company.
I sighed.
Okay, Aria. So maybe you are a bit crazy, but so is Cas. We both really, really liked hot guys. Was that really such a crime? A twinge of jealousy rose in the back of my throat.
Maybe Cas was even more normal than I was. Couldn’t I have just liked normal guys like her?
I walked over to the board and read the year one schedule. My eyes trailed down the long lists of names and my breath stopped. This couldn’t be real.
First period: Control of Dangerous Magics class.
My name was near the top of the list, and a few lines down haunting the page were the names, Bane Brighton and Rebecca Vanderwall!
Crap! Crap! Crap!
The handbook had said this class was one where all the years studied together, but I never thought she’d be in here too.
The sight of Rebecca’s baldheaded rage was so burned into my corneas I shuddered to think what she might do to me when I dared walk into class.
And what about Bane? Or should I say, His Majesty Bane, King of Assholes.
My head drooped and I collapsed against the case, rattling the cold glass. Anxiety bubbled up in my stomach. If that burnt picture really was a threat, I was sure as hell about to find out.
Going back to the dorm was only a band-aid, sooner or later I would have to face the music. Maybe there was something I could do.
I refused to apologize to that raging bitch, but maybe if I could find a way to undo the hex we could make peace and she’d just leave me alone. That’s it! My head flew up in triumph.
It was an accident, after all. And then when she saw the gesture of good will, I was certain she’d realize I’d be the last girl to impede her relationship with Luca.
Yeah, Aria! I cupped my fist in my palm. This would work for sure.
And Bane? Now that I thought about it, he hadn’t done anything more than send a stupid little picture of me, he hadn’t actually harmed or said a word to me. Maybe I just needed to stay away from him, and he’d forget all about me.
Okay, that was the plan. Go inside, crouch down in the deepest darkest corner I could find and he wouldn’t even see me. Then after class, I’d go talk to Rebecca.
I eased open the classroom door as quietly as witchly possible and crept inside.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Aria
Holy crap. This place looked like an indoor coliseum. Smaller, of course, but still. So grand. There were ten rows of stone seats, mostly full of students with a wooden desk lined right across them. The seats all spiraling around a big black desk and whiteboard, on the floor in the center of it all. Lights bright as the blazing sun fell on the professor standing by the board.
The moment I came inside the room went quiet and one hundred eyes whipped in my direction.
Curse the stars. I was so quiet. Why were they all staring? The force of their stares practically dug right through me, coming out the other side like spears. Even the professor had stopped his lesson to glance over at me. My cheeks flushed with the heat of embarrassment, likely turning a deep red, and I turned, crouching down to spring my way over to the nearest empty row.
I chose the emptiest, darkest row I could and plopped my butt in the seat, squeezing myself down so deep you could barely see my blond hair over the desk.
All eyes finally slugged their way over to the professor in the center of the room and I sighed with relief. He was an older man in a pink suit, with a friendly little black bow tie on. His hair was grey and playfully fluffy, sitting on his wrinkled head like a wool hat.
I glanced around the room hunting the sea of students for Rebecca, but she was nowhere in sight.
But then, my eyes came to a screeching halt, halfway across the room.
It was them! Two heads of shiny blond hair, soft enough to sleep on, and two pairs of crystal blue eyes you could get lost in, were fixed on me from the seats across the room.
Bane and Luca. Bane being here I got, but why was Luca in this classroom? His name was nowhere on the roster. Luca looked over at me with a cold mystery in his eyes. My breath slowed, my every inhale a labor as Luca’s gaze explored my lower half, chilling me from the inside out.
I sat up higher in the chair, and for some reason Luca’s eyes flared excitedly and he smiled at that.
Just the sight of Luca lit the air with the delectable aroma of spring. I could almost taste the lemongrass and sweet oranges warm my tongue. I couldn’t take my eyes away from him. But I did, just for a moment, to glance over at Bane.
He was hunched over, eyes fixed on me. His huge, rippling arms folded on the table, his expression softer than I’d ever seen. Still, there was an air of obsession circling around him; he slid forward on his seat, close to falling off, as if enthralled by something going on right where I sat.
My legs trembled and both their shoulders jumped as if they’d just been hit by something. Smiles warmed both their faces at the same time, their eyes widening.
They didn’t act like that the last time they saw me. What’s so interesting? They look like they are about to fall off their seats.
Bane placed a finger between his teeth to bite down on it. And two drips of blood slid down his hand. There was something wild in the shine of his eyes, brightening the room like a desperate cry for release. Bane’s expression hardened, growing more intense as I shifted in my seat, unable to stay still under their double scrutiny.
Their relentless attention was making me nervous. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t stay still. I tried to pay attention to the teacher but my eyes just kept going back up to the twins, as if drawn to them like a magnet.
Luca’s shoulders puffed up, and he licked his lips, peering right at me in a daze. It was as if he were half here and half a hundred miles high, lost in heaven. The only hint he was still among the living were his fingers, squeezing the life from the poor splintering desk in front of him.
None of this made any sense until I glanced down to my skirt and gasped.
Oh. My. God. My legs were wide open. They were looking right at my panties the whole time! I slammed my legs shut with a bang, a cold shameful shiver running down my spine, and my eyes raced back over to them.
All joy had disappeared from Luca’s face. He scowled, looking more like a wounded animal than a sex god now. Bane leered at me, throwing himself back miserably into his seat, his arms folded tight in disgust.
My hand flew over my cheeks and I shut my eyes so tight they stung.
This is so embarrassing. God take me now!
; This is your own fault Aria, you know they're off limits if you want to get out of this school in one piece. You can’t afford to get mixed up with them any further. It was bad enough the flame hurdling psycho just got a front row seat to the Aria Kolgrim panty parade, all while I sat here lusting after them like a lovesick monkey. Well no more. Besides, I still have to make peace with Rebecca if I want things at school to normalize. That was more important.
“Aria Kolgrim?” A voice sounded from the center of the room and my head rose.
“Is Miss Kolgrim here?” The lecturer called out, holding a long parchment in this hand.
“Um, that’s me,” I said, so quiet you could barely hear me, raising a wary hand in the air. And just like that all eyes whipped back to me like my face was a damn billboard.
He looked up at me with a smile stretching his wrinkled cheeks.
“Oh! You’re our new resident Void User. Welcome!” The room was waft in a mist of snickers and whispers and I pushed myself down in the seat as far as I could go without breaking my back.
Luca’s eyes zoomed around the room and he scowled.
“Thank you,” I said under my breath.
“We’ve never had a Void User student here before,” he chirped, waving his hands with boyish excitement. “You were a few minutes late, so you missed the introduction. This is Control of Dangerous Magics class and I am your lecturer, Professor Whitlock. In this class you will learn the theories behind the more volatile types of Magic and the best techniques for controlling them. This is a very exciting class!”
The entire room mumbled restlessly, and he twisted his mouth in disappointment before saying, “Well, at least I think it’s exciting. Are you excited, Miss Kolgrim?” His voice held way more cheerful energy than I was prepared for.
“Yes,” I groaned.
“Good, good then!” He nodded, eyes raising to the rest of the class. “As a Void User, Miss Kolgrim is a member of a very unique and interesting subset of witches. I think it’s only fitting that before we continue, I give you all a brief history of Void Users so you all might relate better to your new classmate.”
Chased by Darkness: A Reverse Harem Academy Romance: (Four Kings Academy Book 1) Page 10