I was so caught up going through my options that I’d reached for the door handle of my house before I realized Reina was following me.
I spun on my heel. “What the fuck do you want?”
“I’ve been calling your name for like five blocks, you didn’t hear me?”
I sighed. “Obviously not.”
“What are you going to tell your parents?” she asked. I unlocked my door and pushed it open.
“They won’t be home for two more weeks.” I nodded her in. “Shoes off.”
She kicked off her shoes and looked around the foyer, her gaze landing on the crystal chandelier we’d added a few years after she’d last been here. “I see you’re still rich,” she said and her voice carried down the hallway.
She followed me to my bedroom, the muscle memory still unbroken after all these years. “Sure am. Why aren’t you?”
“My parents died,” she stated flatly.
“Yeah, I heard, but like… didn’t they leave you money or something?”
She shrugged off my question and I wasn’t about to push. I opened my bedroom door and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Reina hesitate before crossing the threshold. The fraction of a second that she’d paused was all it took to remind me we were no longer close middle-school friends.
I scanned my room self-consciously, but when she jumped onto the foot of my bed, I relaxed. I lay in front of her and noticed she pulled her arms to her chest to avoid being touched. It was for this exact reason that most Serfs wore long sleeves and gloves. Extra protection from touch—it was also how they were so easily targeted.
“No Pokemon sheets?” she asked, trying to move the comforter to get a peek.
I smiled. “Got rid of those when I started having sex—” I almost caught myself, but the last word came out clear as a bell. My thoughts jumped to the video clip our former principal had shown us in her office. The black lacy panties broadcasted on screen.
She pressed her lips together and a silence settled between us that set my nerves on edge.
I raised my eyebrows and she turned her face away. Even with her dark skin tone, I could see her blush.
My eyes bulged. “Are you serious? You’re still a virgin?”
She covered her face with her hands.
“What about… what’s his name? The Serf.”
She crossed her arms over her face. “Can we talk about… anything else?”
I settled back on my bed, pleased with my investigative skills. After a few seconds, my mind returned to my parents and the fucked-up situation I found myself in. “This is all your fault,” I said. “My parents… they’re going to kill me.”
“You started it,” she said.
“No,” I said, tossing a pillow at her. “You started it by getting involved in a fight that wasn’t yours.”
“You did the exact same thing.”
I sighed. “Rei, you have no gift. You’re going to get yourself killed.”
She rolled onto her back and put the pillow under her head, her gaze fixed on the ceiling. “I didn’t know you cared.”
“I honestly don’t.” We lay in silence my mind wandering to why I mentioned she was going to get herself killed. I didn’t care...did I?.
“Kai, can I ask you something?”
I gulped, terrified of what she might ask.
“Will you come with me to GFA?”
I scoffed. “No. And I don’t know why you still go there. It’s pathetic.”
“I’m going to convince them to let me take the entrance exam, so I need you to tell me everything you can about the test.”
I rolled my eyes. “Exams are done for the year and you have no gift.”
“Why do you keep telling me I don’t have a gift? I know I don’t have a gift! I think about it every second of every day. You don’t need to remind me.” She sat up. “And, honestly, it doesn’t matter, Kai. Being Fae isn’t about your gift. It’s about being there to help people when they need you so no one dies before their time.”
I knew with her last statement she meant her parents, but there wasn’t the faintest sign of emotion in her voice or eyes when she said it.
“Without a gift, you’ll die out there. I’m not going to help you get killed. If you’re suicidal, there are quicker ways.” I picked up a pillow and pushed her over, pressing the pillow to her face. I heard her muffled laugh as she squirmed free. “Are you dead yet?” I teased. She pushed me off, but her thumb touched a piece of my neck, yanking her into my magic range.
She stiffened.
“Relax. I’m not going to do anything.”
She leaned forward. “Don’t you think if anyone could pull a gift out of me, it’s the greatest Fae academy on earth?”
I looked up, ready to answer—ready to shut down her delusion—but the way she looked through me told me she wasn’t actually asking but trying to convince herself.
I sighed. “Ugh. Fuck… let’s go,” I said, hopping off my bed.
Her face lit. “Reina and Kai, back in action.”
I stopped and turned to her. “Let’s get this straight now. We are not friends. We’re not teammates. This is a last resort because you totally fucked me over. We go to the school, we ask to get into the test, and when they say no, I go back to hating you for ruining my life.”
“And if we get in?”
“If by some miracle they let us in, I’ll continue to educate you on your place, until you learn it.”
7
Reina
Oh my god, what an asshole! Well, I wasn’t going to let him ruin this with his nastiness. He said he’d go with me and I wasn’t going to lose this chance.
I insisted to Kai that we take the bus to GFA. He, of course, was rich enough to travel through Gemini Gates, but I needed the long bus ride to formulate a plan for getting into the school and didn’t want to draw any more questions about how I'd spent my inheritance or why I’d landed in a group home.
But I couldn’t formulate a plan, not with my mind racing. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. My skin felt as if it would burst into flames the moment Kai lay beside me on his bed. I’d practically lived there in middle school, but in a few short years, everything changed. It wasn’t the room where we used to sneak tastes of liquor from his parents’ stash, or where we’d researched the top Fae and debated over whose gift was strongest after Yemoja Roux. Now it was the place where Kai had sex with the girls who fawned over him. I mean, of course, he wasn’t a virgin. Look at him. Ugh. And now he knew I was a virgin. I chewed my lip wondering which of the girls from our school he’d been with.
“So what’s the plan?” Kai asked. His gaze moved across the scattered passengers. Despite the summer heat still lingering this first week of September, many of them wore long sleeves, gloves, and scarves to prevent, as much as possible, being touched. Kai’s collared shirt was rolled up and pushed behind his elbows, exposing his hands and arms—a silent warning to anyone who passed that he was a force they’d be stupid to mess with.
“I-I’m still working on it.” And I was because, even if I didn’t exactly have a plan for getting in, I knew I wasn’t going back to my old life.
Kai grabbed my hand, setting me on edge. “You better know what you’re doing.”
When he let go, I could still feel his magic gripping me. It always reminded me of the feeling just after running on a treadmill when my body was moving both too quickly and slowly at the same time. Some intangible force had ensnared me and I had no gift of my own to counter it.
I gritted my teeth, resenting that I didn’t have the good sense to wear gloves.
When I stepped off the bus, I felt my nerves surge with every step toward the school’s front gates. I heard the scrape of Kai’s shoes on the sidewalk behind me but didn’t wait for him to catch up. This was my moment. But, as I neared, I could tell something was going on. There were at least thirty people standing in a semi-circle outside the school. I increased my pace, curiosity tearing through me. Then I saw him standi
ng at the center of the circle—Oden Gates. My heart leapt in my chest as I craned to get a glimpse of his smile. Dark skin, green eyes, and a smile that nearly knocked my knees out from under me and sent heat straight to my face. While Kai had been a god of sorts at our school, Oden was as close to being an actual god as the world had after the Fae; an apprentice Fae and leader of the Noble Four. He wasn’t even just an apprentice; he was the apprentice for none other than Yemoja Roux, the greatest Fae who ever lived.
I joined the crowd, straining to hear what Oden was saying. “No, really,” he said. “She’s as awesome as she seems. I swear.”
I wiggled my way through the crowd, bringing my exposed hands to my chest. It was an even mix of Commons and Serfs based on who was wearing gloves and who wasn’t. So I knew who would let me pass them to avoid touching me.
I got to the front, my mouth gaping at his muscular arms that were completely exposed as if he’d intentionally cut the sleeves off his uniform. I was mesmerized. As an apprentice Fae, he’d already saved people. He’d already made the world a better pla—
My thoughts were disrupted when Kai pushed passed me, reaching his hand out to shake Oden’s.
The crowd gasped.
Kai smirked. “You’re Oden Gates, right? I’m Kaito Nakamaru.”
The entire earth seemed to freeze as if our former principal’s magic lingered over us as we waited to see how Oden would react to such a blatant challenge.
I held my breath, but a moment later Oden’s shocked expression dissolved back to his bright smile and he shook Kai’s hand. They sized each other up, waiting to see if the other would dare use their gift, but after a few seconds of inaction, the crowd all seemed to exhale at the same time.
“Kaito Nakamaru? Yeah, it sounds familiar. You failed the GFA entrance exam twice, right? Heh, and they say you’re a genius.”
“They also say the third time’s the charm.”
Oden shrugged, his sculpted shoulders a treat for the crowd. “Well, I definitely don’t see a genius, but I don’t see a coward either.”
“Is that a challenge?” Kai asked.
I knew where this was going. I’d been on the wrong side of this kind of confrontation my whole life, but Kai hadn’t. He hadn’t been a weakling in quite some time. I had no doubt that Oden could destroy Kai. Without thinking, I sprung between them. I grabbed them both by the wrist to part their extended handshake. “Let’s go, Kai,” I said. But then I felt it, the dizzying magical energy of both guys at once. I sucked in a sharp breath as I released their arms and turned to Oden to beg his mercy.
“Who’s your friend?” Oden asked, his green-eyed gaze burning me as it dragged down my body and back up to my face. I knew what it looked like. Like I had some kind of delusional complex where I thought I was Yemoja Roux and could challenge multiple Elites at once. The only thing I had going for me was the fact that no one knew what my gift was, or that I had none. But now that was shot to hell. It would only take a moment for him to sense the absence of my gift the same way I could sense the presence of his. I wanted to run, but the instant I touched his skin, I belonged to him just as I did to Kai.
“Leave her out of this. This is between you and me,” Kai said.
Oden smirked, his dimpled cheeks sending a flutter to my gut. “I don’t know. She’s kinda cute.”
My stomach flipped and I wasn’t sure if I was going to cry or jump into his arms and tell Kai to get lost.
“She’s a Serf,” Kai said. “Just let her go.”
I was dead. Fucking dead. Killed. Dead as fucking shit. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted Kai. That was the absolute worst move. One which guaranteed me at least a beating. I dropped my gaze to the ground, ready to accept the punishment for willingly touching an Elite. And everyone knew Oden’s gift. Strength. Unfathomable strength. He was going to smash me into dust right here and no one would bat an eye.
I felt Oden’s gaze on my face, but I didn’t dare look up. Then I heard laughter burst from him, sweet as honey. I looked up and he asked. “Are you serious?”
Kai’s brow furrowed.
“You can’t feel that? No, I suppose not. She’s definitely gifted.”
“What?” I said, drawing his attention.
He stepped closer, his green eyes burrowing into me, sending every nerve on edge.
“How do you know?” I asked. My heart raced as he smiled down at me. My legs jellied.
“I know because you feel just like she does—like Yemoja Roux.”
8
Kaito
If Reina hadn’t been in range, she probably would have dropped to the ground right there. But just as she swayed back, I suspended her weight on my gift like a puppet caught in my magical strings. Oden couldn't have possibly known what a cruel prank he’d played on her, getting her hopes up like that. I’d known her for four years. She was a Serf through and through. If she’d had any hint of ability, I would’ve caught it.
I faked a laugh. “Whatever man, we’re leaving.”
But as I grabbed for Reina’s wrist, Oden grabbed the other. “I’m serious,” Oden said. “Headmistress Tricorn will want to meet her.”
I thought exposing Reina as ungifted would force away Oden’s interest in her, but I should’ve known he would torment her before letting her go. I flinched when Oden slung his arm around her and guided her toward the gate, but I didn’t fully understand what was happening until the gate opened and Oden walked with Reina over the threshold. The threshold that no Serf had ever crossed.
“Hurry up,” he called back to me and I scrambled after them. I thought about tossing Reina into the air and holding her out of Oden’s range to make a getaway, but once the gate closed behind me, the blurred image of the school cleared and I saw GFA for the first time.
The school sat at least five hundred yards back from the gate. Long stretches of green grass framed the cobblestone path that split down the center. There were several fountains that spurted clear blue water, with hedged mazes winding through the flower-arched courtyards. All those things were eclipsed by the school itself which resembled something between a mansion, a castle, and one of the wonders of the world.
I’d imagined it all wrong, the grounds and the secretive school. I couldn’t have been further off. There wasn’t so much as a thumbnail image of the school online. I’d hoped to catch a glimpse of it when I’d taken the test my first year, but the tests were held off-campus. Standing transfixed, I drank in the excellence.
Reina’s hands moved to cover her mouth, her eyes glinting with tears. I gaped. Reina didn’t cry. Not ever. Not when I bullied her, not even when I’d seen her after her parents died. As I watched her, I wasn’t sure what enthralled me more, GFA or Reina crying. I couldn’t let myself believe she was gifted, not after what I’d seen her go through without fighting back. Still, she’d promised me she’d get us an opportunity to take the entrance exam and she’d already gotten us much farther than I thought. If I found out that, after all this time, she’d been lying about being a Serf, I would have no reason to pull my punches.
Oden paused for a moment to let us take it all in before leading us around a fountain and back to the main path where two staircases parted, wrapped around, and came back together in front of the large maroon double doors.
“Where are all the students?” I asked as Oden pushed the door open.
“Class,” he said over his shoulder, and his hand dropped to Reina’s lower back.
My throat tightened while he continued. “This building is just where the professors keep office hours, host parties, and where the headmistress’s office is.”
The floors were made of warm hardwood but mostly covered by the golden-trimmed maroon carpets that stretched across the foyer. At the center was the school’s crest with its signature owls embroidered in jeweled tones on each side. Reina slipped her phone from her pocket and tried to snap a picture of the crest, but from over her shoulder, I could see the image come up blank on her screen.
“
It’s enchanted,” Oden said. “One of the school’s protections.”
I bit back a smile. “Rei, stop being a tourist.”
“Shut up,” she spat.
A dull tapping sent the three of us spinning to investigate. A tall, gray-haired woman stood on the half flight of stairs. Her sleek hair twisted into a bun at the back of her neck. She looked no older than eighteen, but everyone knew that the ageless form in front of me was the very first person gifted, more than two hundred years ago. It was nice to know the internet trolls had something right. Even in her retirement from Fae, she looked formidable.
“Oden, why did you bring this riff raff in here?” she said, her voice as stern as her high-set nose.
Oden seemed to shrink several inches under the headmistress’s gaze. “It’s not what you think,” he said. “This girl is—”
“I know very well what she is. Why did you bring this Academy reject into my school?”
All the air was sucked from the room as the three of them turned to me. What kind of parallel universe had I fallen into where Reina was welcomed in GFA and I was considered a reject?
“I’d like another chance to take the test,” I said.
“You failed not three months ago. Why should I give you another chance?”
Had she been there? It seemed as if she knew me before I even spoke. I wasn’t sure why, but she seemed interested in Reina, so I took a shot in the dark. “I brought Reina here.”
The long-legged headmistress turned to Reina. “Is that true? Are you here together?”
Reina’s gaze met mine, a glimmer of the love-struck daze present as it was with all the girls in our old school.
I smirked as Reina turned to Headmistress Tricorn. She said, “I’ve never seen that guy in my life.”
The Fae & The Fallen: Gifted Fae Academy - Year One Page 3