I gulped in fresh air, regaining my senses as I looked back to see Julie being restrained by her friends. She shook them off and seethed at me as sand-matted hair hung about her face, but she didn’t move to follow us.
I turned on Max. “Is that why you invited me? You wanted to use me to make her jealous?”
“It’s not like that,” Max insisted.
“Yeah, he could have used any of Julie’s friends if he just wanted to make her jealous,” the tallest of his buddies said with a wry smile. “The cheerleaders are all over you, man.”
His buddies chuckled and it bothered me that they were still walking with us down to the coastline. Silver Lake Resort was one of the few landmarks next to the coveted public beaches that dotted Silver Lake. They were part natural phenomenon and part manmade, with trucks full of fresh sand brought in every year to replenish the coastlines.
My toes dug into the sand as we reached the water, leaving behind glimmering residue in my footprints. The real sand from Silver Lake had natural minerals that glimmered and was part of the tourist attraction around here.
Max’s buddies waded into the water, their larger footprints leaving behind more of the shimmering grains. Max rarely went anywhere without half of the track team to worship his every move. The tall one was Henry, and the twins with wild blonde hair and gorgeous blue eyes were Michael and Kevin, although I wasn’t ever able to tell which one was which.
“Then why did you invite me?” I insisted. “Henry’s right. You could have used any of those girls.”
“But none of them would have pissed her off like you can,” he said, his voice low.
I glanced at him, sensing truth in his words, but he was still hiding something. “I see.” I balled up my fists and turned to leave. “Well, thanks but no thanks. I’ll be leaving now.”
He grabbed my wrist, making me freeze. “Viv, look, I’m sorry. I do like you, okay? Let’s just… let’s just go for a swim and cool off, yeah?”
I glanced back at his buddies splashing in the water as they tackled each other, having a good time. I knew the water was probably cold, or at least it would feel cold to them, and a part of me longed to slip into the dark satin lake and never come out. Despite losing my father here, I loved the water. I always had.
“Only if you make me a promise,” I shot back, looking him directly in his striking blue eyes.
“Anything you want,” he said with a smile as he loosened his grip.
“I want to see my dad’s old office.”
He went still as darkness swept over his face. He schooled his features a moment later, making me wonder if I’d imagined it. “Yeah, I could arrange that. Just take a swim with me.”
He let go of me and offered his hand, giving me the choice to take it.
Going against my better judgment, I slipped my fingers into his.
That was the biggest mistake of my life.
Suppressing a shiver, I slipped into the cool embrace of the waters and tried to enjoy the moment. It felt good to be back, even though I couldn’t really remember the last time I’d been fully immersed in the lake. A small part of me rang a warning bell in my head, reminding me that Max couldn’t be trusted, and even if I was pretending that everything was okay, I had suffered a great trauma here, one that Julie had just ruthlessly reminded me of.
I don’t know if it was the alcohol, or just my own fatigue with myself, but I pushed all of those feelings aside and twined my fingers through Max’s, going deeper and deeper into the waters until I couldn’t touch the bottom anymore. I let him slip his hands around my waist and hold me close as we lingered behind his buddies who were now seeing who could swim out the farthest.
“Do you think that’s safe?” I asked, noting that it was hard to keep aloft in the water, but Max could still touch the bottom so I wrapped my legs around his waist and held on.
He took my movements to mean something else, apparently, because his fingers ran up my lower back as he hovered his lips over mine. “They can get themselves killed, for all I care. You have me rethinking all of my plans right now.”
“Plans?” I whispered as he drew in nearer, his lips threatening to close the distance between us.
“Hey!” one of the twins shouted. “No kissing the enemy!”
Max chuckled and secured me against him, his hand running low across the curve of my bottom. “You let her wrap her legs around you and you’ll change your mind too, Kevin.”
“Change your mind about what?” I asked, lucidity coming back to me as the cold waves splashed in my face. I tried to untangle myself from the track star who had brought me into some sort of hormone-induced lull, but his hard grip wouldn’t let me go anywhere.
“You’re going to tell us what your mom has on the resort,” Kevin’s twin snapped, his blue eyes rivaling Max’s with their brilliance.
I froze. “What?”
He released a long sigh. “You’re such a downer, you know that, Michael?”
Henry waded over and grabbed me on the arm, threatening to rip me off of the track star but fear made me dig my ankles in.
Max chuckled. “See? She has the hots for me, and hey, if I had realized what kind of body she had under those layers, I would have tapped her sooner.” He grabbed me hard and pulled me in close, slamming his mouth over mine as I attempted a scream.
No. This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be right. Every alarm bell in my head went off all at once and my heart pounded in my chest.
I managed to shove Max off of me and I kicked hard, launching away from him and into the water.
The one problem with having avoided the lake all my life meant I was a poor swimmer. I immediately went under and water closed over my ears, engulfing me in an aquatic roar of sound that blocked out my ability to form a single thought. Instead, my panicked senses rolled over me all at once.
Is Max going to hurt me?
They want information on my mother?
What’s this all about?
Am I going to drown?
The last fear struck a cord and I began to kick, but strong arms hauled me out of the water. I coughed and sputtered and tried to call for help, but I was dunked again.
Just when my lungs started to burn, I was pulled up and met Max face-to-face. Gone was the whimsical guy who seemed to have an understanding with me and kept his distance. Alcohol and my stupid signals had turned him into an evil creature with no kindness left in his glassy blue eyes that had somehow turned dark with the night.
“You don’t want me? Fine. I’m not going to force myself on you, but you are going to tell me what your mother has on the resort. She’s trying to pin ten years in prison on my dad and I’m not going to tolerate this sort of attack on my family all for a pathetic jab at revenge.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I seethed, only to be dunked underwater again. When Max pulled me back up, black spots sprinkled my vision.
“Hey, Max, I think she’s had enough,” Kevin said.
“No,” Max growled, throttling me by the throat. “If we don’t get what we need out of her, my family is ruined, and I didn’t work this hard just to watch my whole future be destroyed.”
I saw the fear in his dark eyes and I realized what he meant. If his father went to prison, his family’s business would pass on to someone else and the disgrace would force him to leave Oakland High. He’d lose everything. His friends, his standing, and his scholarship for when he graduated.
“I told you I don’t know anything,” I snarled, not having the energy or patience for this.
“Then why did you want me to take you to your dad’s old office, hmm?” he growled as he pulled me in close. He hand shot under the water and secured me by my hip, making me freeze as he dug his fingers into my flesh. “You aren’t wearing much, so you were trying to distract me from your real goal, was that it? Well, maybe Julie was right and you want to play the slut now.” He slipped his fingers through my bikini strap. “Let’s see if she’s right.”
Cold fear ripped through me when I realized that Max had just crossed a line, one that would have a terrible end I didn’t even want to imagine.
I screamed and clawed at his face, making him cry out when I caught his eye. He roared and dove over me, plunging me underwater.
Kicking, I managed to get away from him and I went in the only direction I could go.
Down.
IT DIDN’T OCCUR to me that diving into the lake’s depths might be a bad idea, but all I could think about was getting away from Max and his friends, the latter who were just standing by watching the whole thing unfold. Kevin had looked like he wanted to stop him, but he didn’t, and the other two? Well, they looked like they were on board with whatever Max had planned and were hoping for seconds.
Gross.
I wasn’t a bone to be chewed on and discarded, and I decided in that moment that I would rather die than be treated that way.
I kept swimming, going deeper and deeper until my lungs started to burn and a little voice inside my head started to panic.
What am I doing? Am I really going to drown just to get away from a creep?
I couldn’t face the reality of what was happening. Max had murder in his eyes, among other things, and whatever was wrong with him he was going to take it out on me. I had to get away, somehow.
I looked up to see if I could return to the surface, although I wasn’t sure how far out I had really swum. It all looked black, though, and I started to feel disoriented about which way was up. I went still, despite my burning lungs that gave me the urge to suck in a breath even if that breath would fill my lungs up with water. My body floated as I tried to regain my sense of direction, but it didn’t work.
Choosing a direction at random, I spread my arms and propelled myself and a part of me worried I was only going deeper.
This was it. My mother was going to get the news when my body washed ashore that I’d died just like my father. Lost in the dark depths of Silver Lake with those gritty little pieces of sand sparkling in my hair.
A white light flashed, startling me, and I jerked when a woman in fluttering robes approached through the water. The current swept her long, gorgeous hair from her face and an elegant sword hung loosely at her hip, glimmering from beneath her clothes as she moved through the water as if propelled by an invisible force.
Her eyes had a pleading look to them as she offered me her hand. The motion felt reminiscent of Max offering me his hand to step into the water, and I’d given him a measure of trust I never should have.
But this time, I was dying and I had nothing to lose, so I took the woman’s hand and closed my eyes as I gave in to the urge to breathe.
I sputtered and spat out sand, wincing as pain lanced through my temple. I coddled my head and squinted at my surroundings while I tried to figure out where I was. The sun blazed down and the air brought in a pleasant humid breeze that suggested it was early morning.
Had I passed out? What happened?
I blinked the water from my eyes and a blurry world came into focus. The beach didn’t look at all like I remembered it. No bonfire. No resort. No forest at the edge leading into a road that would take me home.
The sands spanned out as far as my eyes could see and the horizon wavered as if the world might catch on fire.
Struggling to my feet, I tugged at my wet, matted hair while I spun in a small circle. Waves lapped up on the shore, but a flash of my tongue over my lips told me I’d just emerged from saltwater.
Somehow… I wasn’t at Silver Lake anymore.
Rubbing my head, I tried to think if the lake somehow spilled out into the ocean, but that didn’t make sense. Michigan’s lakes were pretty self-contained, minus some levies that controlled ships in and out of the major inlets.
Another option sprang to mind.
I could be… dead.
The uninviting span of endless sand did little to convince me that this was Heaven, although it felt hot enough to be Hell.
Walking, I ignored the burn across my feet as the last events I could remember spilled over in my mind. Max had tried to… no, couldn’t go there. I was getting away from him, and that’s when I got lost underwater. There’d been a woman, which could be an angel to take my spirit on or just my vivid hallucinations that came when I gave in to the urge to breathe.
I took in a deep lungful of air to test out my body. Spreading my fingers over my chest, I met my damp bathing suit that I still wore. The warm breeze washed over my skin like velvet. My nostrils flared as I sensed distant embers, burning wood, and the humid weight of an ocean with salt and sunlight drifting off of it.
If I was really dead, then why did I feel so alive?
The answer to my question came as a hard wall straight against my face. I ran into it, grunting as I spilled onto the ground and grabbed my head. I’d been looking down at my feet, not expecting to run into anything out on this endless desert by the shore.
Looking up, I matched gazes with a male who owned the most striking whitewashed eyes. Perhaps they’d once been blue, but the sun had bleached them long ago, along with his hair that brushed over his face in soft tufts that invited me to just run my fingers through them.
“There you are,” he chided, a velvety sensual voice came from this creature and invaded my body, making a shiver work its way up my spine as I struggled to remember how to breathe. “I’ve been looking for you all morning. I’m late for class, you know.” He shot his arm down and wrapped strong fingers around my wrist, pulling me up to lean against the hard wall of muscle that I’d just run into a moment before.
“Huh?” I asked, the long breath of sound the only response I could offer right now.
Maybe I was dead, or delusional. Either was a distinct possibility right now. Maybe I was passed out on the shore somewhere, baking in the sun after I’d washed up from the night’s events. I was lucky to be alive, if that was the case, and I had probably worried my mother sick. I shook my head and pinched my arm, trying to get myself to wake up.
A strange squeak caught my attention, making me look up again only to spot a lizard-like creature poking its head through the male’s hair. What I had thought was a strange collar was actually a small animal that had itself wrapped around his neck, its tail drifting down his chest while it poked its snout through his hair just under the male’s ear, as if attempting to get a better look at me.
“What… is that?” I asked, stumbling back a step.
Before I could fall again, the male grabbed me and yanked against something on his wrist. I looked down to see the impossible, a vivid blue line of… what was that? A cord? But how was it coming from his skin. Brilliant, elaborate tattoos that were patterned over his muscular forearms began to glow and the cord came out of his wrist, growing brighter as he tugged at it and wrapped it around mine. A cold snap of energy jolted my spine straight and a sense of restraint made my knees lock.
“You’ll get all your questions answered at orientation,” he explained casually as if he hadn’t just performed actual magic in front of me, all while a strange creature hung around his neck. The beautiful male glanced at me, taking in my shock to which he offered a smile in return. It wasn’t a kind smile, or even a patient one. Just a grin with a mischievous edge that said this wasn’t going to end well for me. “I can’t have you running off, not after I’ve finally found you. Getting you here in the first place took a lot of favors, and you’re going to get me enough extra credit that I can coast right on to graduation.” He tested the magical cord that bound us together, one end wrapping securely around my wrist while the other disappeared under the layer of tattoos still glowing on his left arm. “That should hold for a little while.”
I pulled against the restraint as instinct came over me with the urge to run. When I couldn’t break free, my vision wavered and adrenaline shot through my body, but I forced down the panic and went over the options in my mind.
No need to complicate this. Ignore the magic. Ignore the snake thing with l
egs on the hot guy’s neck. You have been restrained against your will and you want to go home. Vocalize your demands and gauge your attacker’s response before making the next step.
The thought process was a gift from my mother. She seemed overly paranoid when it came to strangers, but I didn’t blame her based on the articles I read online. Far too many weirdos would pull something like this, and maybe the fantastical side of what I was seeing was just a response to nearly drowning. Hallucinations could be due to a lack of oxygen.
At least, that’s what I told myself.
“You’re going to release me right now,” I demanded, refocusing on my mission as I snapped my gaze up at my oppressor while I worked my jaw into a determined edge. “If this is some sort of sick joke, it’s not funny. I’m going to sue you so fast your children’s children are going to be owing my family money.”
He burst out laughing—which was not the reaction I was going for. “Oh, gorgeous, this is no joke, and while I am flattered you’re already talking about children, let’s take it one step at a time, shall we?” He waved to the expanse behind him and the air shimmered until a massive series of gothic towers came into view. My stomach dropped when I spotted more of the serpent things winding lazy circles around the spires.
The word came to me now, a word that I had only seen repeated in my favorite fantasy novels that I read in my corner of the library back at Oakland High.
Dragons.
“You are at Dragonrider Academy, and I am your mentor and partner.” He grinned when I blinked at him, again with that cocky smile that said he knew how ridiculous he sounded yet he was going to go on with it anyway. “What you see behind me is the campus, as well as some of your fellow students and their wyverns, or dragons, if you prefer, although the breed of dragons we bond with are technically wyverns.” He tapped his chin, sending the blue cord between us to go taut as my arm yanked up with him. “I guess Wyvernrider Academy just didn’t have the same ring to it, you know? ‘Dragon’ sounds so much cooler.” The creature wrapped around his neck gave another screech. This time the male patted his head and then ran his finger along the ridge between the creature’s nostrils and eyes. “You’re right, Topaz. I haven’t introduced myself yet.” I flinched when he knelt down to meet me at eye-level. “My name is Killian.” He tapped my nose as if I was just another pet for him to play with. “And you’re Vivienne, right?”
Dragonrider Academy: Episode 1 Page 3