And there had been that image of his face floating over the crowd with a huge slash through it. The children of those protestors were standing around us, watching carefully.
“Daaaamn,” Disha said, eying him. “No wonder you want to hit that. Mama likes.”
I elbowed her, my eyes glued to Rowan.
He reached the top in no time, walked to the edge, and turned around. His eyes found mine for a split second. I shook my head, trying to communicate that he didn’t need to risk his neck for some stupid stunt, but he merely smiled, crouched down and sprung into the air backward.
I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as he whirled end-over-end, arms out like a diver before tucking them in, then plunging feet first into the water with a huge splash.
A cheer went up from the crowd. He had made it look flawless.
Disha and I hurried to the lake’s edge, peering into the murky black depths for him to surface. Time ticked by as we waited.
Thirty seconds. One minute. Panic built in my chest.
“Where is he?” Disha asked.
Someone behind said, “Vamp probably bit it,” and then laughed at his awful joke. Another person whooped. Assholes. I would kill them, but first I had to make sure they were wrong.
I kicked off my shoes, wading into the water. The chill bit at my thighs, but it didn’t matter. I was going in.
His head surfaced just as I was about to dive.
“Rowan,” I shouted, relieved. But why had he—?
“See. The water’s fine.” He smirked and flicked a little spray in my direction.
The crowd groaned and started to filter away, but I stood at the water’s edge, my emotions running from relief to anger and back again.
When he pulled himself out, I wasn’t even swayed by the water glistening on his pecs.
“Why’d you do that?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest and squashing his clothes.
Rowan shook his hair out and reached for his pants. “Vampires don’t really need to breathe, remember? Nothing to worry about, Charlie.”
I glowered. There were things in that lake. It was off-limits for a reason.
He leaned in to kiss me, but I pulled away.
“What?” he asked, oblivious. “You know I can’t get hurt, right? Not like that.”
He’d forgotten that I could get hurt, mainly by him and his thoughtless actions. I opened my mouth, about to tell him so when three figures cut across the lawn toward us.
Disha grabbed my arms. “Oh, god, it’s Bridget. Turn me invisible, or into a tree or something.”
When I glanced up, Bridget had penetrated our circle, and with her, a very large male with flaming red hair identical to hers. A sickly-looking girl with blonde hair and blue eyes drifted up behind them, looking unsure and ready to bolt at any sudden movement.
“Rowan, is it?” Bridget said, sticking her hand out to shake like they were business associates and not students at a college party. “I’m Bridget Nowak. I’ve been dying to meet you.”
Rowan’s brow furrowed before he finished tugging on his pants. “Nice to meet you, Bridget. Disha’s told us so much about you.” He nodded to where Disha was ducked down behind me.
“Has she?” Bridget said brightly, wide eyes blinking. I’d read somewhere that when people showed the whites around their irises it was a sign of mental illness, so I worried for her and that crazy-eyed stare.
I thought maybe she’d berate Disha for hiding or ditching her, but she kept her eyes on Rowan. “A vampire, eh? That’s exciting! What’s it like?”
Rowan’s mouth tightened. “What is the whole of my existence as a ‘Lessernatural’ being like? You want me to sum that up right now?”
She nodded, oblivious to his sarcasm.
“It’s… great.”
“Awesome.” She bounced a little, her red curls bobbing. “Anyway, this is Bobby. He’s my brother. And that’s Ava Marie. She’s a new student here, just like us.”
The large man beside Bridget grunted, giving a nod of hello. It seemed that the family’s talkative genes had been hoovered into Bridget’s open mouth. He didn’t utter a word, choosing instead to cast a bored gaze on the entire festivities like a red-haired Lurch.
Ava Marie didn’t say anything, either. Her eyes flicked from Rowan to me and then back down to the grass. Like a timid animal, she stepped to the side and let Bobby’s giant profile hide her from sight. The only way I knew she was there was when she sneezed and a cloud of snowflakes flew into the air, so that was something.
“We just wanted to come over and tell you that we did not sign that student petition trying to ban you from campus.” Bridget smiled.
“What?” Rowan asked, growing alarmed. “There’s a petition?”
“Yes. But we did not sign, like I said.” She leaned in and hid her mouth behind a raised hand as she said the next words. “Ava Marie is an elemental and Bobby is a werewolf. My brother and I made the pact just like you guys. And Ava Marie made a pact with one of her many cousins. I think she had to pay them, but whatever. Anyway, not everyone knows about us yet, but we are on your side.” She gave Rowan a wink.
“Thanks,” Rowan said slowly, glancing around. I’m sure he was wondering who at this party did sign that petition. Hard gazes stared back at him.
“I think I’ll go,” he said, tugging on his shirt. “You girls stay here. Have fun.”
“Oh, no! Stay,” Disha yanked on his arm, but then suddenly let go with a shriek. “Vincent!” She took off running.
Rowan gave a short laugh. “She really talked me into staying. Anyway, I mean it, Charlie. Please stay. I don’t want to ruin your fun.”
My eyes stared after Disha who was now lip-locked with Vincent. She would be preoccupied, so that left Bridget, Bobby, and Ava Marie who I wasn’t sure I wanted to bond with just yet.
“I’ll go with you. This isn’t really my scene.” I slipped my hand through his smooth, cold fingers. A night in with Rowan wouldn’t be half bad. Not bad at all.
“Yeah, get out of here, vampire lover,” a voice called.
Rowan whirled, his teeth bared, looking as if he might tear someone’s throat out.
I put a hand on his chest as my own heart hammered. “Not worth it. Definitely not.” I tugged him toward the path.
“Leaving without taking a dive?” someone behind me asked. A clucking sound followed. More chimed in. They were calling me chicken for not jumping.
Me, chicken? I’d lived alone at sixteen after my father left. I’d walked the dangerous Atlanta streets after that, dodging meth heads and mean cops. Then, I’d faced a lich, a thirsty vampire, and an evil warlock.
I was chicken?
Turning around, I glared in the direction of the other students. Then I made a beeline for the goddamned platform.
“Charlie?” Rowan called, but I couldn’t stop or I’d lose my nerve.
I kicked off my shoes once more and climbed that platform like my life depended on it. Then I walked to the edge and glanced down. The murky lake seemed miles away and were those rocks below?
Yep, I’d face a lich any day over this.
“Do it!” someone yelled.
When I glanced back, everyone was watching.
Rowan was watching.
I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and jumped.
The wind rushed past me, ruffling my clothes. My stomach climbed up my throat and my arms wheeled through open air. My last thought was “What have I done?”
Then I hit the water.
My body plunged down, slicing through the black depths. Bubbles sprung up around me as the cold water sucked me down, down, down. My panic grew as my body plunged further. How far would I fall? How long would it take me to reach the surface? I’d already come to the end of that last gulp of air.
My feet hit the gritty bottom, seaweed tangling around my ankles.
I readied my legs to kick up, but as I was about to, something caught my eye. My cuffs flashed with a dull glow, two quick
blinks.
Then, something buried much deeper in the lake, flashed back.
Something was down here.
Something important my cuffs wanted me to see.
Chapter Five
FALL SEMSTER
EARLY SEPTEMBER
When I broke through the surface of the lake, my lungs burned as I took in huge gulps of air and pushed away the weeds and hair plastered to my face.
“Charlie!” Rowan came swimming in my direction and seized me in his arms. “You’re alright.”
We sank a little until he let me go, then we swam back toward the shore. I was cold and a bit traumatized, but the fact that he’d care enough to swim out warmed me up a little.
“Gah!” Disha exclaimed as she helped me out of the water. “Don’t ever scare me like that again. I swear I’ll kill you.”
She wrapped me in a hug, then held me at arm’s length to make sure I was in one piece. Beside me, Rowan checked me too, his shirt and pants dripping onto the gritty beach sand. After he’d gone through the trouble of keeping them dry, he’d gotten soaked to save me.
My heart got all warm and fuzzy again.
He reached out and removed a strand of lake weed from my hair, his hand lingering on my shoulder. His brown eyes were full of concern and relief. I smiled, and he pulled me into a wet hug that quickly caused my body to heat up.
He spoke in my ear. “Like Disha said… don’t ever scare me like that again.”
The brush of his breath in my ear sent a shiver down my spine. “Now you know how I felt when you didn’t come up right away,” I pointed out.
A strange expression crossed his face before he recovered, nodding in agreement.
Wait a minute… Had he been distracted by the same thing I had? I pulled away to ask, but a jeering comment from the side pulled his attention away from me.
“What did you say?” Rowan demanded, turning to face a guy whom I’d seen outside the administration building, protesting. A big mouth, for sure.
“I said… you two are perfect for each other. The hobo witch and the unwelcomed Lesser.” He laughed and so did those around him.
The kid was the warlock equivalent of a burnout, one who spent all his time with his dumbass friends, concocting ways to magically get high. Right now, they were probably tweaked on mangrove root or something. I knew they grew special pot in the woods and sometimes broke into the potions cabinet, but their parents were well connected, so they never got kicked out. He and three of his friends stared at us with red-rimmed eyes and sauntered over, weaving a little even as they challenged Rowan.
Unfortunately, Rowan took the bait.
There was a whoosh, and next thing I knew Mr. Big Mouth was against a tree, feet dangling several inches off the ground with Rowan’s hand wrapped tightly around his neck.
Those around the guy scattered, some of them with their hands up as if ready to unleash a magical attack, but most were just dropping their drinks, turning tail, and disappearing through the trees.
Without hesitation, I ran to Rowan’s side, but when I took in his expression, I realized I’d rushed into an extremely unpredictable situation.
His face was a mask of fury, pointed fangs exposed and black veins creating a web around bloodshot eyes, while a deep growl resounded in the back of his throat.
His features looked… savage. Like he could kill at any second.
My first instinct was to shrink away and take cover, but I stood my ground.
“No one interfere,” Disha said to the crowd behind us. “Let her handle this.”
I didn’t bother to see who was trying to meddle. Instead, I lay a hand on Rowan’s tense arm.
“Rowan,” I said calmly.
He growled without taking his deathly focus away from the guy, though his chokehold seemed to relax a fraction at the sound of my voice.
Mr. Big Mouth’s eyes darted my way, pleadingly as he gripped Rowan’s hands and bicycled his legs in a vain attempt to free himself. Apparently, some air was still getting through Rowan’s grip on his throat because he was whimpering like an abandoned puppy. Not so macho anymore, huh?
“He’s not worth it,” I said, my tone even and soothing. “He’s just a prejudiced jerk with air for brains. He’s probably tweaked out on bath salts or something.”
The veins around Rowan’s eyes began retreating. He shook himself, and his enlarged pupils shrank a little.
He glowered back at the guy, setting him on the ground, but keeping him pinned to the tree with one hand.
“Apologize,” he said, his voice sounding as if it’d come from inside a coffin—not the analogy I wanted to think of, but the only one that sounded right.
“I’m sorry, man,” the guy said in a hoarse voice.
“Not to me.” Rowan gestured with his head in my direction. “To her.”
“I’m sorry, Charlie,” Mr. Big Mouth said, his voice nothing but a high-pitched whine.
I blinked. He knew my name? Weird.
“Sure,” I said. “No worries. Just… uh, don’t call anyone a Lesser or a vampire lover, okay? Labels are wrong, dude. And lay off the drugs. They make you stupid.”
Rowan released his grip. The guy dropped to his knees, which is when I noticed the dark stain spreading down his pant leg. Yikes. He was not going to live that down with his bros.
“Let’s get out of here,” Rowan said, taking my hand and pulling me toward campus.
As we went, his face slowly turned back to normal. I kept stealing glances his way, unsure of what to say. When we made it out of the woods, he let go of my hand and squinted at a nearby lamppost as if it hurt his eyes.
“The spells are wearing out,” he said to no one in particular.
I frowned and was about to ask what he meant when it dawned on me.
“How… often do they need to be renewed?” I knew that until he became a pro at controlling his vampiric instincts, he would require magical help, but I didn’t know how often his father needed to fortify the restraining spells.
“Every three days,” he said between clenched teeth. Then gripping his head, he shook it. “That was so stupid. I was so out of control. If you hadn’t come over…”
I put my hand on his arm to reassure him that I would always be there. But three days between spells? That was more often than I’d guessed, which was clearly maddening to Rowan. It meant he was dependent on his father the way he was dependent on me due to the pact.
I stared at the ground, feeling like an idiot for not understanding the full length of his frustration before.
“Maybe… I can learn the spells, so you don’t have to go to your dad all the time.” I made the offer without looking him in the eye. I knew it wasn’t the best thing to say, but I didn’t know what else to do.
He huffed, walked away from the lamppost, and sat on a stone bench, facing the lawn. Electric light couldn’t hurt him—not like the sun could—but from what I’d read, vampires preferred the shadows.
“They’re complicated spells, Charlie. Very advanced.”
What he was saying was that he didn’t think I was capable of learning them. I tried not to let his assumption hurt and determined myself to prove him wrong if I had time between my classes.
“I could’ve killed that stupid stoner,” Rowan said, rubbing his forehead.
“But you didn’t,” I replied, sitting by his side while I wrung my T-shirt of excess water.
His mood turning on a dime, he faced me and took my hand. “Are you alright?”
I nodded, warmth spreading through my chest like thick honey. It had been some time since anyone, besides Disha, showed they cared about me.
“I’m fine.” I smiled, then frowned as I remembered what I’d seen at the bottom of the lake.
“Are you sure?” Rowan cocked his head to one side, a lock of wet hair falling to his forehead.
“I think I saw something… in the water,” I said.
“You did?” he asked, his expression shifting once more, a bit of hi
s previous wildness returning.
I scrutinized his face, the events of the evening slowly shaping themselves into a bothersome realization.
“Wait… you know what’s down there, don’t you?”
He didn’t answer, but the slight tightening of his eyebrows confirmed my gut feeling. Rowan let go of my hand and stood, turning his back on me.
“All kinds of things are down there, supposedly. I’ve heard a bunch of rumors,” he said with a shrug, “but they’re probably wrong.”
It wasn’t exactly a denial, but I could sense he was trying to change the subject to get me to leave the topic alone.
“What are you trying to hide?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
I stood. “Then why don’t you look me in the eye?”
He turned and faced me, his impression impassive. His gaze was cold and pointing straight into mine. A chill went up my arms.
“I thought we were in this together,” I said. “But you’re keeping something from me.”
He didn’t deny it and just went on staring at me.
“This isn’t going to work if you don’t trust me, Rowan.”
“What about you trusting me?” he asked.
I huffed. “That’s ridiculous. You’re pretty much lying to me.”
“I’m only trying to protect you. And when I say trust me, I mean... trust that I know what I’m doing,” he clarified.
I threw my arms up in the air. “That’s great, Rowan. Awesome way to treat your girlfriend.” I shut my mouth, a knot forming in my throat. Had I just said that out loud?
Rowan’s expression softened. He rose to his feet. “Girlfriend?”
I could back down and play stupid, but he wasn’t the only one who could set the pace in this relationship.
“Yes, girlfriend,” I said, taking a step in his direction and lacing my fingers through his. The coolness of his hand was strangely soothing, seeming to temper the fever I felt every time I got too close to him. “What? We can make an unbreakable bond, but a silly label is too much?” I smiled trying to lighten this heavy conversation.
Rowan’s eyes wavered, suddenly looking as if he were about to cry. He inhaled sharply and blinked. My heart squeezed as a freight train of emotions hit it. I’d never seen him cry, not even when he was dealing with that nasty curse and found himself at the brink of death.
Supernatural Academy: Sophomore Witch Page 4