Dacia Wolf & the Fallen Prince

by Mandi Oyster

  Heat crept up my cheeks. He stopped walking and tipped my chin up. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

  “It’s okay.”

  “You’re normally so reserved. It was a nice change.” He bent down, resting his forehead on mine.

  My heart thudded, trying to break free from my chest, and my breathing hitched in anticipation. When he pressed his velvet lips against mine, a spark ignited inside me until it grew into a raging inferno. Damon started to pull back, but with my hands tangled in his hair, I held his head down.

  “Don’t stop, please.” My voice sounded low and throaty.

  “I think we better,” he whispered against my lips. “We have an audience.”

  Several students looked at us. I lowered my head and put my hands in my pouch. As soon as my fingers brushed against Cody’s note, I regained control. My head dropped even lower, weighed down by overwhelming guilt and regret.

  “I need to go.” I turned away from him and sprinted back to my dorm. I stopped outside the door, not sure if I was ready to face my friends. Does it matter? They’ll find out eventually. My steps were slow and measured as I walked down the hall. I was looking for an excuse to turn around, but I knew if I did, there was a chance I’d see Damon again.

  “Hey,” Samantha said when I got back, “how are you doing?”

  I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, staring at the carpet. “Believe everything you hear about me, no matter how repulsive it sounds.”

  “Why? What happened?” Dan asked.

  “It seems Damon was controlling me, and we gave several students a show. It’ll crush Cody when he hears about it.”

  “Maybe he won’t find out,” Samantha said.

  “Yeah, right.” I barked out a laugh. “He will.”

  Chapter 33

  It’s My Life

  Mavros and I stand on a rocky outcrop, looking at the scenery below us. Tiny specks move along winding roads. From here, life down there seems insignificant. I step away from the edge. “I’m tired. Can we go back now?”

  Mavros turns to face me. He looks exhausted; dark rings circle his normally vibrant eyes. “Join me, Dacia.” He kicks at the ground. “I don’t want to go back to the Abyss.”

  “I can’t be with you.” I shake my head. “There is no happy ending for the two of us, just an ending. I’m sorry.”

  His hands rise palms up in front of him, then fall to his sides. “You don’t want the life that has been set before you. Change your path. If you don’t, you’ll endure hardship after hardship. Bind yourself to me. I promise your life will be better if you do.”

  I fold my hands behind my head and glance up. Fluffy white clouds dot the deep blue sky. “I know my life isn’t going to be easy, but it’s the life I was given.” I lower my head, looking him in the eyes. “God chose me for whatever reason. I can’t back down from that.”

  “Is that what you think?” He shakes his head and laughs. A cynical smile plays on his lips. “God didn’t choose you for this life. It was a roll of the dice, the luck of the draw. There is no divine intervention.”

  “I don’t believe that. This is my fate, my destiny.” Anger flares inside of me, and I narrow my eyes at him. “It was given to me by God. For some reason, He chose me. For some reason, He believed in me … believed I could handle this.”

  “Sure, if that’s what you want to think.” He shrugs and steps toward me. “If you truly believe that, then there is more you should know. You haven’t been told the whole truth. There’s more to the prophecy. You will never find happiness or relief. Yours will be a tortured life.”

  “Maybe so—” I chew on my lip “—but there is good in it.”

  Mavros’ eyes flash with anger. “So be it.” He spins on his heel and vanishes, leaving behind a puff of black smoke.

  i

  Shaking off the last dregs of slumber, I tried to hold onto my dream. Could it be true? Was Mavros right? Was there more to the prophecy than I was told? If so, why was it being hidden from me? I got up off the couch, grabbed my bathroom bag, and headed out into the hall. Instead of going to the bathroom, though, I found myself knocking on Aurelia’s door.

  She opened the door. Her blouse and slacks were wrinkle-free, not a hair out of place, and her skin looked perfect. “Hello, Dacia. Is everything okay?”

  I felt like a disheveled mess. “Yeah, well … not really.” I rocked from one foot to the other. “Can we talk? Do you have a minute?”

  “Sure, come in.” She moved aside and ushered me through the door. Her room was filled with plants. Tall ones skimmed the ceiling. Vines spread across the floor. Leaves spilled over the edges of hanging baskets. Some flowered. Some didn’t. But, all of them were thriving.

  As soon as she shut the door, I turned toward her. “In my dream last night, Mavros told me there was more to the prophecy. Do you know anything about it?” Before I finished asking, I knew the answer. I saw it in her eyes. Whatever I hadn’t been told was bad. “Just tell me, please. I need to know.”

  “I am truly sorry, Dacia” She tilted her head. “The elders will not allow me to tell you. With time, everything will become clear. Until then, you have to be patient.”

  I threw myself on her couch and tugged my hand down my face. “Why can’t somebody tell me? Why does my life have to be a secret … from me?”

  She sat beside me, rubbing my back. “Prophecies are not meant to be divulged until the time is at hand. If you know the remainder of it, you might try to change things. In the end, it could destroy you.”

  I pulled away from her. “Not knowing could do the same.” I stood and headed for the door.

  “Do not dwell on this.”

  “Yeah … sure … whatever. Just one more thing for me not to worry about if I somehow manage to make it through this week.”

  Chapter 34

  Two Sides To The Same Coin

  Classes were difficult the days following my date with Damon. Instead of walking to them with Cody, Damon walked with me. His arm was either wrapped around my shoulders, around my waist, or we were holding hands. In class, he scooted his chair as close to me as he could. If he couldn’t hold my hand, he made sure his leg or foot touched mine. All of this was hard on me, but it had to have been hell on Cody.

  Cody didn’t acknowledge my presence, didn’t so much as look at me. I knew it was better this way, but I wanted to talk to him to make sure he was okay.

  I carried Cody’s letter with me everywhere I went. Since the day after our date, Damon hadn’t controlled my mind, but I had no way of knowing if it was because he hadn’t tried or because I had steeled my mind against him.

  i

  Damon threw my bag over his shoulder before placing his hand on the small of my back and leading me through the doors. The crisp air was a slap in the face, snapping me out of my stupor and relieving some of my stress. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

  “You seem tense today.”

  I looked up at Damon and nodded. “A little.”

  He led me to one of the benches and knelt down in front of me. Holding my hands in his, he looked me in the eyes. “You know who I am; don’t you?”

  My heart slammed to a stop, and my mouth fell open. I snapped it closed. Where did this question come from? Why now? I wanted to lie to him, but with him staring into my eyes, I couldn’t. I looked down and nodded. “Yeah.” I dragged my hand down my face. “Mavros.”

  “And you’ve known from the beginning?” He rubbed his thumbs over the back of my hands.

  I looked at him from behind my eyelashes. “Yep.”

  He stood up, turning his back on me. “Did the Dragon tell you?”

  “No”—I shook my head—“Aurelia didn’t tell me. She didn’t know. I figured it out that first day in class.”


  His eyebrows rose in disbelief.

  Students walked by. I hoped Cody was far away from here so he wouldn’t see me with Damon. “Don’t you remember me asking if you knew Mavros? Your eyes gave you away.” I remembered that day and chuckled. “Well, that and the fact that you barely even glanced at Aurelia. All of the guys and a lot of the girls here drool over her.”

  “Why this form?” He paced in front of me. “Why do you prefer Damon?”

  I shoved my hands in my pouch and slumped against the back of the bench. “I feel safer with you.”

  “Why?” He shook his head. “They’re both me.”

  “Because I don’t like being controlled, and when I met you as Damon, you didn’t try to control me.”

  He looked away for a moment. I could almost see the gears turning in his head. “So, you hung out with me so I wouldn’t come to you as Mavros and control you?”

  “At first, but then I found that …” I gazed over his shoulder, not wanting to meet his eyes. “Well … I like you. You can be quite charming when you want to be.”

  Before my eyes, he became Mavros. His features were as stunning as the first time I’d seen him. I sucked in a breath, waiting for him to control me, but he didn’t. “I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, ‘He’s a demon. There’s no good in him.’ But, Dacia, there is good and there is bad in everything. They are two sides to the same coin. Each and every one of us has both of those sides. Each of us has the capability to do great things, and each of us has the power to do the unspeakable. The side that is encouraged is the side that becomes dominant.” He took my hands in his again. “If you help nurture the good in me, I can do great things. Without you …” He shook his head and looked up, his eyes pleading with me to understand. “I can’t do them on my own. If I go back to the Abyss, the only thing for me there is hatred and corruption. Which side do you think will win then?”

  A chipmunk scurried across the sidewalk and disappeared into the trees. “If that’s true, why should there be any hope for you now? You’ve only been back from the Abyss for a short time. How can there be any good left in you?”

  “There wasn’t, not until I met you. Before I met you”—passion burned in his eyes, and I wanted to trust him—“I never had a reason to nurture the good, to let it grow.”

  I rubbed my hand down my face. “How can I be sure you’re not just saying this?”

  “Can’t you trust me?”

  “I want to.”

  He reached up and brushed the hair back from my eyes. His fingers traced down my face and neck. I shivered from the contact. “I know it’s not me you want to be with. I see how you watch Cody. I want you to be happy, but if you choose him, happiness will elude you.”

  “What if you’re wrong?” I whispered.

  “Ah, Dacia.” Mavros shook his head, and his shoulders sagged. “It breaks my heart that you didn’t even try to deny your affection for the boy.”

  My head fell forward. I couldn’t believe I let him trick me so easily. “I’m trying.” I looked up into his eyes. “I’ve spent this past week with you. I haven’t spoken to Cody.” I lifted my hand up. “I quit wearing his ring. I’m trying to be open-minded. I’m trying to make the best decision, to do what’s right.”

  “And, I appreciate that, but you’re going to have to decide. If you choose me, Cody can still be part of your life.” His features rearranged until I found myself looking at Damon. “If you choose Cody, you’ll never see me again. You say you’re my friend. Am I that easy to let go of?”

  I closed my eyes, lowering my head. “Something tells me that no matter what choice I make, I’ll lose.”

  “You could be happy with me.” He squeezed my knee.

  I knew he was right. He made me happy, made me feel alive. It might’ve all been in my head, but that thought never even occurred to me until I wasn’t with him anymore. “Yeah, I could be, but will I be?”

  “The choice is yours.” He cupped my cheek. When he pulled his hand away, the touch was tender, like a whisper on my skin. “Don’t wait ‘til it’s too late.”

  I sensed Damon walk away. When I opened my eyes, I was on the bench alone, a single tear dripping down my cheek. I walked back to my dorm room with my head hung low. I knew Cody would be my choice, but Mavros was right. I’d miss my friendship with Damon. How could I live with myself, sending a friend to the Abyss?

  There was one bright spot in an otherwise dreary day. Mavros hadn’t threatened the lives of my friends.

  Muffled voices sounded from behind my door. As soon as I opened it, they quieted. Cody, Samantha, and Dan looked up at me, their faces riddled with guilt. “If I interrupted something, I can leave.” I turned back to the door.

  “No,” Cody said. “Your room. I’ll leave.”

  My shoulders slumped forward, and fresh tears dampened my eyelashes. “I wish you wouldn’t. Mavros knows how I feel about you.”

  “How do you know?” Cody’s voice was steely. “How do you know we aren’t fooling him?”

  “Because he knows everything.” I spun around to face them. Cody’s eyes were hollow. He looked haggard, broken. “He knows that I know Damon is him. He knows I love you. He told me. He knows everything. We were only fooling ourselves. Please, Cody. Please, don’t go.”

  He took a couple steps toward me and then hesitated. “I don’t know what to do, Dacia. I wanna stay, but I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”

  “If he knows,” Samantha said, “what difference does it make? Stay. You two deserve happiness. Dacia’ll think of a way to end this without anybody being hurt.”

  “Why don’t we go get something to eat?” Dan grabbed Samantha by the hand. “Excuse me,” he said when he got to the door.

  I moved to the side, and Cody and I were left in awkward silence. I slumped back against the door, my chin falling to my chest. “I can’t do this without you. I know you want to protect me, but I need you. I feel like I’ve already lost you, and I don’t think I can handle it any longer.”

  Cody stepped closer, but I didn’t look up. Silence filled the room making my heart race and my breathing ragged. I felt like all the air was being sucked out of the room. Then Cody spoke, filling the room with warmth and light. His voice was hopeful. “I’ve been thinking, can you or Aurelia create an illusion?”

  I looked up at him, my eyebrows crinkled in confusion. “Like what?”

  “Well, I was wondering if you could make it look like you were sleeping here, but actually, uh …” Heat crept up his face from his neck. “And, actually stayed with me in my room.”

  “Oh.” A smile spread across my face. “I don’t know. You realize Sarah would kill us.”

  “Only if she knows.”

  “I can’t, but let’s see if Aurelia can.” I reached my hand out. When he took it in his, my spirits lifted.

  We walked across the hall, and Aurelia opened the door before we knocked. She looked at our hands and raised her eyebrow in an unasked question.

  “Cody and I have something we want to ask you,” I said.

  We sat down on her loveseat, and Cody told her what he wanted. “Can you help?”

  Aurelia tapped her finger against her chin, reminding me of Sarah. “Dacia would not be able to do this herself. As soon as she fell asleep, the spell would break.”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “Oh.”

  “I can do it for you, though.” She stood amongst her plants, trailing her fingers over the leaves.

  “But don’t you need to sleep?” I asked.

  “Not every night. Dragons are not like people. Our sleep patterns vary. There are times when I do not sleep for weeks on end.”

  “Hmph. Weird.” I tilted my head and thought about it for a minute. “I never knew.”

  “I will make it look like you a
re sleeping on the couch. You will either have to teleport to Cody’s room or make yourself invisible and walk over there. Stay hidden. Who knows what Mavros will do if he finds out things are not what they seem.”

  “Thank you.” Cody’s eyes were alight with happiness.

  I jumped up and hugged Aurelia. “Thanks. I need this. Time with Cody, I mean. I feel like I’m losing myself.”

  “It is my pleasure.” She smiled. You need to find yourself before it is too late.

  “Can you make sure Cody gets back to his room safely?” I asked. “If he goes back over with me, Mavros will know something is up.”

  “Yes.”

  I turned to face Cody, wrapping my arms around his neck. “I’ll be there tonight, but I need to wait until Samantha and Dan get back. They have to know it’s an illusion.”

  “Sure.” His fingers lingered on my arm. “Don’t take too long.”

  I went back to my room and wrote a note explaining our plan. As soon as Samantha and Dan returned, I handed it to them. “Read this.”

  “Oh.” Samantha looked up from the note, smiling.

  I put my finger over my lips to keep her silenced. Dan grinned and handed the paper back to me. A small fire burning in the palm of my hand destroyed the evidence. “I’m going to hit the showers.” I winked. “I’ll be back soon.”

  On my way to the bathroom, I checked in with Aurelia. I’m taking a shower. From there, I’ll teleport to Cody’s room. Is that okay?

  Yes, be careful, she warned.

  As planned, I teleported into Cody’s room. His back was turned to me. He sat on the couch, staring blankly at the TV. “Hi,” I said.

  He jumped up. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry.” I walked over and stood in front of him, not sure how to act or what to do.

  Cody slowly lifted his hands toward my neck. He tilted my head back and looked hungrily into my eyes. His lips pressed against mine with an urgency that let me know how much he’d missed me. His hands traced a path from my neck to my shoulders and down my arms. When they found my hips, he pulled me closer to him, moaning with desire. I wrapped my legs around his waist and twined my fingers in his hair, never wanting to let go.