17. Reverie
Chapter 17
Reverie
T he weeks flew by as I attended classes and tried to keep a low profile. It was harder said than done when I was followed everywhere by a giant Fellat. Pantar wasn’t fond of anyone that wasn’t me or Nathan. He allowed Chloe to pet him but that was it. Zeke and Zane tried to get close to him, but Pantar told me he was waiting on them to prove themselves to him. Whatever that meant.
Since bonding with Pantar, the Passives all knew about my Nexus status. So far, none had approached me, primarily due to the shadow of initiation looming over them and the guys running interference. I’m sure Pantar flashing his teeth at everyone as we walked down the hallway was also a factor.
Instructor Storm liked to torture me daily, and his dickish behavior didn’t go unnoticed by Nathan and the twins. Nathan took every opportunity to fuck with him. He even went so far as giving Oren a t-shirt that had Reverie’s Bitch on it. Apparently, Storm lost a bet. He tore it up on the spot and told Nathan to go fuck himself. Fun times.
Zane had found a clearing deep in the forest behind Emberhold for me to practice teleporting. I had improved enough that I wasn’t afraid of any accidents happening in front of anyone. Nathan wanted us to try teleporting home, but I didn’t want to take the chance of alerting the Dean of our absence, and my ability.
Several Passives had been taken for initiation. One guy disappeared while eating lunch, and another girl was taken just as she came out of the bathroom stall. Unfortunately, Cassandra never came back; another found Passive among several who lost their life. The level of stress everyone was under was tremendous.
Kristine apparently had no other purpose but to try and torture me. She was pissed about Pantar and constantly made comments to whoever would listen that me and my family didn’t deserve such an honor. Acting like I was the one who chose Pantar when it was the other way around. She was a bitter, want-to-be Nexus, bitch. That’s how Chloe called it, anyway. Her Bitch Brigade backed her up and tried to approach Nathan and the twins at every opportunity. I’m not sure they had a single brain cell between them.
I hadn’t heard from my family, but I felt sure they would have found a way to contact me if they’d found any answers. Hopefully, they’ll have more information soon. I was keeping my tattoo hidden from everyone but Nathan. Nathan was pissed that he hadn’t gotten one and made me inspect him all over to make sure. I was annoyed at first, but Nathan made it worth my while.
I was bothered that I hadn’t confided in the Moons about all my abilities, but the time hadn’t felt right. I needed to ask Pantar if he was okay with me sharing our ability to communicate. His decision would be the deciding factor.
Getting out of bed, I pulled on my black cargo pants with a lightweight, white cotton shirt and threw my hair up in a messy bun. Sitting down, I put on my brand-new combat boots; they were hot pink, a gift from Zeke after he had noticed my love for all things pink. Fitting my boot knife in its sheath, I turned and grabbed my backpack. I had learned my lesson that first day when Cassandra was taken to initiation. I opened it and ensured it was stocked with water and granola bars that would last a few days. I hoped that I could catch enough to eat if I was gone longer than that.
I threw my pack over my shoulder and looked at Pantar, lying on my bed, “Hey, lazybones, are you coming with me or hanging out here?” I scratched him under his chin.
“I’m coming with you, Nexus. If you are pulled away to initiation, I won’t be left behind.” Pantar yawned, looking like a giant housecat.
“Do you think the Academy is going to allow that?” I asked.
“There is no allowing. We are a package deal since the bonding. Where you go, I go. There is no alternative.” He leaped off the bed and stretched.
It was crazy to think I’d only had him for a short while and loved him as much as I did. I couldn’t imagine my life without him. I always knew my mom was strong but, after bonding with Nathan and Pantar, I knew how much strength it must have taken for her not to give up.
“You are correct, Nexus, and I love you too.” Pantar grinned, showing all those deadly teeth.
Opening my door, I smelled the aroma of coffee. Walking into the small living area, I saw Zane sitting on the couch with a giant to-go cup in his hand.
“Is that for me?” I asked, grabbing the cup and taking a big sip before he could answer me.
“Well, I hope so, piglet. Now, it has your Nexus cooties all over it.” He smiled in amusement.
“Nexus cooties?” Chloe asked in puzzlement, walking into the room. “Is that a thing?”
“If it is, I’m going to roll around in her sheets,” Zane looked at me with heat in his eyes.
I blushed and hid my grin behind my coffee cup. My relationship with the twins had been coming along nicely. Neither one had made any serious moves yet, but I thought that was mainly due to Pantar, who rarely left my side. Deciding to try my hand at flirting, I said, “As good as you smell this morning, I wouldn’t mind.” Zane looked slightly stunned for a second, and then one side of his mouth rose in a cocky grin.
“You think I smell good, Nexi?”
Nathan appeared in our living room at precisely that moment and slapped Zane in the head. Zane fell off the couch onto the small coffee table. The table broke, and he rolled into Chloe, who fell sideways into me, thus spilling my coffee. I slowly raised my head from the mess on the floor and looked at Nathan.
“Did you just cause me to spill my coffee?”
“Oh shit, your ass is in trouble now!” Chloe pointed at Nathan and laughed.
Zane got up off the floor, “I was going to fuck you up, but I’ll leave that to my N-E-X-I.” He slowly spelled it out, looking Nathan dead in the face.
Nathan did not look amused, “I’ll get to you in a minute.” Walking up to me, he dropped to his knees, wrapped his arms around my waist, and started his elaborate apology. “Please forgive me, MY Nexi.” He side-eyed Zane. “It will never happen again. I will walk on my knees to every class I have today to show just how much I regret the spilling of the most essential first cup of morning coffee: I will give up my pride, I will provide the first cup of coffee every day for the rest of my life. These things I pledge if you will only forgive me.”
Me, Chloe, and Zane looked at him in stunned disbelief. Nathan just continued to kneel at my feet, showing no signs of moving. “I assume you aren’t getting up until I forgive you,” I asked, still trying to digest that elaborate apology.
“MY Nexi,” he side-eyed Zane again, “is so intelligent, not to mention unbelievably beautiful.”
“Get off the floor, Psycho.” I couldn’t help but laugh, he was adorable. (I was probably the only one that thought so.)
“Not until I hear the words of forgiveness spilling from those plump, gorgeous lips.” He hugged me, and even on his knees he was able to lay his head on my breasts.
“I forgive you, crazy, just get up!” I had a hard time staying mad at him, and he knew it.
“I’ll see you two soon, when you’re not so overdressed.” Nathan said to my breasts. He rose to his feet, “I will now run, not walk, to replace this inferior coffee with a cup that will be much more palatable to your taste buds.” Before leaving, he turned to Zane, “We’ll be having a conversation later.”
Zane didn’t respond, I think he was trying to process what he’d just witnessed.
“Where in the hell can I get one of those?” Chloe asked, still stunned by Nathan’s crazy apology.
“He can be a little extra.” I smiled thinking of some of his past exploits.
“I bet everything is extra, and I can get behind that, or in front, maybe laying on my side,” Chloe said, still staring at the doorway that Nathan just passed through. Zane started gagging as I cracked up laughing all over again.
“Please shut up. Seeing that look on your face makes me sick.”
“I’d like to make him throw up from his little head,” Chloe said longingly. Just fucking with Zane now.
“It’s not little,” I smirked.
“Really, bestie, now you’re just being mean. You shouldn’t rub that in a girl’s face who hasn’t gotten laid since she got to the Academy.”
“What the fuck, Chloe? Are you trying to make me sick? Between you and that sickening display my soon-to-be Faction brother put on, I’m feeling extremely nauseous. I’m leaving before I lose it.” He approached me and whispered, “My second head is pretty impressive too.” He then turned and strutted out the door.
Well damn, I just bet it was. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before I found out.
Walking down the hallway to class was an experience all on its own. Pantar stayed directly behind me and Chloe. Even though it had been weeks, the students still stopped to stare. Thank goodness the Academy was massive, or he would never have been able to go with me everywhere.
“Yes, I would, Nexus. Reducing my size would solve that problem.” Pantar communicated, then growled at a guy that walked closer to us than he liked.
“Reduce your size? I didn’t know that was possible.” I was amazed at this piece of information.
“As a superior Fellat, all things are possible.” He licked the side of my head.
Wow, Pantar was just as arrogant as all the other males in my life. Why was I not surprised?
Entering the classroom, I saw an empty seat beside Jet and headed in his direction. He had been elusive the last few weeks. I saw him in class, but usually, he sat surrounded by females. Sophie was stuck to his side like a leech most days, elbowing the other girls out of the way. I was sure they were hoping he was Nexus. He was a good-looking guy and built like a brick shithouse, so I wasn’t surprised by the attention he was getting. Jet was in all my classes, but these days he avoided me and the guys. It was odd, considering he was always lurking in the background during my first few weeks at Emberhold.
“Is this seat taken?” I asked him.
“Not yet.” He replied in his no-nonsense way.
I sat as Chloe took the seat next to me. Pantar regally lowered himself in the aisle beside Chloe. He growled and flashed his teeth at any students that got too close.
“We haven’t seen much of you lately. How have you been?” Chloe leaned up and asked Jet.
“Good.” He pulled his notebook out for class. A man of few words as usual.
“I’m glad. I saw your performance on the obstacle course the other day. It was extremely impressive. What did you do before you discovered your Aurathion heritage?” I asked casually. I was curious about Jet and how he felt about Emberhold and the Aurathion culture in general. I also felt a pull to him, which I was trying to ignore at present.
“I was a bouncer. Keeping in shape was part of the job, so luckily, I was somewhat prepared for life here at the Academy.” Jet faced forward, clearly done with the conversation. Just as I was about to ask him another question, whether he liked it or not, Nathan entered the classroom holding a massive coffee in one hand and a thermos in the other.
“There you are, my precious little Nexus.” Nathan said in an unnecessarily loud voice. Several people in class looked over at me, like I was an exhibit in a museum. “Why, Chloe, it was very generous of you to keep my seat warm.” Chloe huffed out a breath in annoyance but got up to take the desk on the other side of Jet.
“You don’t have to change seats,” I frowned, looking at Nathan in annoyance.
“We both know he won’t stop until he gets what he wants, and I’ll end up moving anyway. This is much easier, and on the bright side, I can block all the thirsty bitches from sitting by our hunky and mysterious Jet.” She winked at him.
“Nothing mysterious about me.” Jet stated, obviously annoyed at their antics.
“I agree with him. There is nothing the least bit interesting or mysterious about the guy.” Nathan sat down. “He’s my roommate, so I ought to know.” Nathan then placed the large coffee and thermos down in front of me with a big smile. “This is much better than that stinky old coffee Zane brought you this morning. I was also thoughtful enough to bring you refills so you can stay caffeinated all day.” I never ceased to be amazed at the lengths Nathan would go to win the imaginary competitions he had going on in his head.
“Thank you. I really appreciate the gesture, but the large coffee would have been sufficient.”
“Nothing about me or anything I do is just sufficient.” He twirled a piece of my hair around his finger that had come loose from my bun.
“Ain’t that the truth.” I smiled in agreement.
Leaning over to kiss his cheek, I was startled when I never made contact. Nathan had disappeared. “What the fuck?” I yelled, jumping to my feet.
“I think Emberhold decided it was time to initiate Nathan.” Jet’s eyes widened in shock.
“The lying one is not wrong,” Pantar said, nuzzling the top of my head in comfort.
I closed my eyes and prayed that Nathan was as badass and clever as I thought he was. Not having him here was going to feel like losing a limb. I wouldn’t feel complete until he was back where he belonged.
Right by my side.