Exordium (Emberhold Academy #1)

12. Oren

Chapter 12

Oren

W as swallowing your tongue possible? I hoped not because when Hawthorne dropped her pants, I thought I might be in danger of choking on mine.

Those moronic friends of Kristine’s were trying to make fun of her body and calling her tits saggy. Those girls sounded ridiculous, when anybody with eyes could see she was perfection. Reverie’s tits looked like two perfect plump melons, and that ass. I was an asshole, but I wasn’t ignorant enough to try and insult a body built to make a man lose his mind.

Damn, this girl was fine. How could someone so short, have legs that looked like they went on for miles? Was her skin glowing? That midnight hair hanging down her back against all that pale skin was striking. I didn’t think it could get any better, then she put it up, and her neck’s beautiful lines were displayed. I would fantasize about biting it for weeks.

Minions? What the actual fuck?! Would I ever be able to watch my favorite little yellow buddies without a hard-on? This was getting ridiculous.

I discreetly felt to make sure I wasn’t drooling and put my bitch face back on. I hoped she had trouble with the course because if she didn’t, she was damn near the perfect woman.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I came out of my thoughts and saw she was already past the beam and climbing the first wall, scaling it like a monkey. When she reached the top, she stood up and leaped to the next wall.

What the fuck?! That was the only phrase that came to mind as I watched the most amazing, sexy, badass I had ever seen go through this obstacle course.

Landing in a crouch, she paused and eyed the third wall. It was significantly taller than the wall she was on.

“Hot Damn girl, you can move! I’m in love and don’t care who knows it!” Zane yelled, but ended in a gasp when Nathan punched him in the stomach.

“Don’t distract her! I love you, my Reverie!” Nathan yelled.

“How in the Hell is that different from what Zane did?” Zeke asked in confusion.

Zane was still trying to breathe, but it looked like he wanted to ask the same question. What a trio of dumbasses. This was who she chose to spend time with?

“It’s coming from me,” Nathan said, completely serious. I couldn’t believe these idiots. If they ended up in the same Faction, it would be fucked.

Hearing a grunt, I looked back at Hawthorne and saw that she had made the jump and was holding onto the ledge of the last wall by her fingertips. It would be too bad for her when it started to ice over. Then I could see what she was really made of.

Just before the ice coated the top of the wall, she used her upper body strength to pull herself up. Looking over at me, she stuck her tongue out and dropped, going so fast down the wall that she used every other hold.

What kind of training did this girl have? If her parents were responsible, then all the hype about the Hawthorne family must be true. Coming to the maze entrance, she paused momentarily to catch her breath. Watching this reminded me to breathe, I had apparently begun holding my breath when she started her descent.

No way would she make it through unscathed. Every student in my group had come out covered in glowing marks from the darts. They better hope they took advantage of the conditioning and became quicker on their feet. If not, initiation was going to be impossible for most of them.

Hawthorne entered the maze. On average, Passives took about ten minutes to complete this section. I was curious to see how long it would take her and how many darts she would be hit by.

I looked at my watch, it was just hitting the five-minute mark when she came out and headed for the tunnel. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The only mark on her was her upper arm and I didn’t see any others. She was amazing. This wasn’t going as planned.

I was curious to find what the Academy would deem her greatest fear. She better hope she recovered enough to find a way around my precious pet. Pantar would be waiting for her at the end of the tunnel, and I had encouraged him to be as vicious as he wanted. Seeing all that pale, glowing skin shredded would be a shame. I resisted the sudden need to stop her from entering, she needed to be tested.

As a small child, I had to deal with a new addition to my father’s Faction, a raging bitch at that. The Hawthorne family was no better than us, nor was their little princess. I wasn’t cutting her any slack.

There were strategically placed cameras throughout the maze so that I could watch later and see what each Passive needed to work on. I couldn’t wait to see how she made it out so fast. I hated to admit it, even to myself, but Hawthorne was incredible. She had to be Nexus. What abilities would she bring out in her Faction? She might end up even stronger than her mother.

The three guys had moved closer to me. The twins looked terrified, but the newly found Passive Nathan didn’t look worried in the least. I needed to look a little deeper into that. Next class I would be sure he was in my group.

Zeke approached me, “How long did the other Passives take to get through the tunnel?”

“The time differs depending on what Emberhold throws at them. You just witnessed their different reactions,” I said, looking at Zeke like he was an idiot. “Damn, man, find your balls. The way you’re worrying about her is disgusting.” I completely ignored the feelings I had experienced earlier. I was a hypocrite, so what?

“Go fuck yourself, Storm, Zeke growled. You’ve really turned into a sadistic asshole.”

“She’s probably going to come out crying for her Mommy,” I smirked, just to rile him up. “There’s no telling what the Academy has in store. I hope it’s tough, it seems like she needs to be brought down a peg or two. I doubt a princess that’s been coddled as much as she has can make it.”

“Reverie will make it. She isn’t scared of shit. I bet she comes out of that tunnel with a smile and her middle finger up.” The annoying as fuck, Nathan smiled, like he knew something the rest of us didn’t.

“You are an idiot,” I said snidely. “Let’s make a wager. I bet she comes out bleeding and sobbing, if she comes out at all. If I win, you must leave the Academy and remain a Passive bitch forever.” Let’s see if his balls have dropped.

“Don’t worry, Nathan,” Kristine called from the stands. “I’ll let you perform the ritual and join my Faction.” All the girls around her started tittering in glee. Nathan just gave her the finger.

Zeke warned in a gruff voice, “Watch your mouth about Reverie. She’s exceptional, and you’ll regret being such an evil bastard one day.” Turning to look at Nathan, he said, “Just ignore him, he used to be a decent person, but now he acts like a cunt.”

“No, Zeke, I’ll take his wager. If I win, which is a foregone conclusion, you have to wear a shirt to class all week that says Reverie’s Bitch on it.” Nathan smiled evilly.

This motherfucker was crazy. After seeing her wreck the obstacle course, I’d be hesitant to take that kind of bet, but I knew Pantar waited at the end of the tunnel, and he was a vicious, bloodthirsty beast.

“I’ll take that bet. I can’t wait for you to leave your precious love here alone. Who knows, I may take pity on her and fuck her over my desk.” I taunted him.

Zane jumped in front of Nathan before he could attack me, holding him back. He should have grabbed Zeke, too. Before I could react, Zeke had punched me directly in the face, and I was looking up at the gym ceiling.

“I told you to watch your fucking mouth. Unlike Nathan, you can’t do shit to me, and you know exactly what I’m capable of.” Zeke said in a spine-chilling voice.

People thought Zeke was an easygoing guy who disliked making waves. Zeke made sure he was perceived as such. He liked to watch his target and plot his moves. He was the kind of guy who befriended the person he wanted to hurt, learned everything about them, and then quietly made them disappear. He loved nothing better than stalking and hunting his prey.

Fortunately for me, I was just as cold-blooded as Zeke, with a little something extra the Moons knew nothing about. I would take on Zeke if I had to. But I didn’t want to. Zeke was the kind of stone-cold to be very wary of, Passive or not. Getting up and wiping the blood off my face, I nodded to Zeke.

“I’ll give you that one. I may have been slightly out of line. But if you do it again, I will retaliate.”

Zeke nodded back, “I would expect no less.”

Hearing clapping coming from the course, we all turned and saw Reverie headed in our direction. She looked at Zeke and smiled, “Zeke, you have one hell of a right hook.”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. She had dried tear marks running down her face, and it was apparent she hadn’t come out completely unaffected. But there wasn’t a mark on her, and my beloved pet, who was vicious and bloodthirsty, was walking behind her, nuzzling his nose in her hair, giving her an adoring look.

Kristine and her friends were utterly silent. This was unbelievable, and even they knew something special had just happened. Zeke and Zane looked as stunned as I was. Nathan, on the other hand, looked terrified.

“What the fuck is that?!”

Well, well, a change of plans might be in order. It seemed like Miss Hawthorne was stronger than I expected. The next few months at the Academy were going to be very interesting.