20. Serafina
TWENTY
Igasp, jerking up in my bed as big hands rest on my shoulders, shaking me so hard I think my head is about to fly off my shoulders.
“Serafina! Wake up!” Adam shouts before I feel a palm connect with my cheek, and my face jerks to the side as I groan.
“What the actual fuck!?” an angry voice booms through the room, the hands tightening on my shoulders before I’m yanked into a warm, firm chest. The covers fall to my lap as I squint against the bright light streaming into my room from the open window. The cold air makes me shiver as it whispers across the small amount of skin that’s not covered up. My mind feels foggy like I went out drinking the night before, and I can already feel how swollen my eyes are as I blink away the heavy sleep I succumbed to last night.
“Oh, shit! She’s awake!” Adam whispers, his voice dropping to the soothing tone I know so well the moment he sees my eyes open.
“Did you really just slap her?” a female voice I recognize asks from my other side, making me jump and look to my right, where Neva is watching me with a hesitant look. My face is smashed against a chest that I can’t help but sink into, the warmth relaxing my tense and sore muscles.
“I panicked!” Adam snaps, his voice coming out squeaky as he grabs my chin and turns me to face him. “She wasn”t breathing and was turning blue! Not even you were able to wake her up. What was I supposed to do?”
“Not slap her. She was already awake when you did that,” Neva points out, looking from me to Adam and then at the man holding me close. Big hands move over my back in soothing circles as Neva watches me with concern in her bright, jewel-toned eyes.
“No, she wasn’t!” Adam mutters under his breath, turning my head back and forth as if he’s searching for injuries, before he looks me in the eye, his brow furrowing. “Were you?”
I stare at him for a moment while my reeling mind tries to play catch up, before I dip my head in a small nod, making Adam’s mouth drop in horror.
“Oh my God! I’m so sorry!” he stammers, his words coming out so fast I have a hard time understanding him. He opens his mouth to say more but is cut off when a big hand darts out and wraps around his slim neck. Teos’ sepia skin is a stark contrast to Adam’s pale complexion as his fingers squeeze, making Adam’s eyes bug out of his head like a damn cartoon.
“Teos!” I snap, shoving at his chest as panic slowly rushes in. There’s a soft movement on the bed, then I feel Teos’ body tense when Neva’s voice sounds from behind me instead of at my side.
“If you want to keep that hand attached to your arm, you’ll let go,” she hisses. I turn slowly, not wanting to aggravate my magic more than it already is from Neva threatening Teos, but when I see the golden blade pressed to his throat, I almost lose my shit.
“Adam,” I warn with a shaky breath.
“Oh shit. Fuck. Right. Neva, drop the blade,” he rasps, his words coming out choked from the grip Teos still has on his throat. Neva ignores Adam, her eyes sparkling and her forked tongue darting out, flicking at the air as she blinks. Only, they close side to side instead of up and down.
Ah, shit. No wonder Adam is so comfortable around dark magic. Neva is a damn Basilisk shifter.
“Umm, S-Serafina?” Adam stutters, then coughs, face turning purple.
“Teos,” I rasp under my breath, grasping at the fragile strand of my control, refusing to look away from the blade pressed to his throat.
“Bella,” he responds in a deep voice, probably coming to the same realization I had. Not much can kill a Phoenix shifter. There are only two ways. Someone would have to remove the soul and burn the body, or they would have to be poisoned with Basilisk Venom.
“Let go of Adam. Now,” I stress, hoping he listens to me so I don”t have to kill Neva before she strikes. From the love-sick looks Adam has been sending her, I’m pretty sure that would be a surefire way to end our friendship.
Teos hesitates, pissing me off more, and my control slips, letting out the barest hint of my magic. The air temperature around me plummets, our breath fogging around us, and everyone on the bed flinches in pain, making Teos curse and release Adam.
Adam falls back the moment he’s released, gasping for breath, and Neva hisses a stream of curse words as she lunges to catch him before he falls off the bed. Growling under my breath, I shove at the arm Teos has wrapped protectively around me and glare up at him as he glares over my head at Adam, who is looking at Teos like he’s a monster.
“You touch him like that again, and I won”t talk to you anymore,” I rasp, finally causing Teos to jerk his angry gaze from Adam to glare down at me.
“He hit you!”
“He was panicking, and I’m fine,” I add.
“You can”t do that to him. He was just keeping Serafina safe,” I hear Adam chide Neva, who is ignoring him, sitting at his side, glaring at Teos.
I look over my shoulder, narrowing my eyes at her. “You do that again?—”
“I won”t,” she cuts me off, flicking her multicolored hair over one shoulder before nodding at Teos. “If he ever?—”
“He won’t,” I snap, making her grunt but nod in agreement. She sighs and looks back at Adam, who is rubbing at his red throat while scolding her. Happy with her response, I turn back to Teos, who is no longer looking at my face, but at my neck. “Teos?” I ask when he only stares, body as rigid as it was when Neva had the blade pressed against his neck.
“Who the fuck did that to you?” he growls, hazel eyes smoldering, the small embers in them gleaming like flames. “What happened? You were screaming, and by the time I got in here those two,”—he nods toward Adam and Neva, who stop their bickering to give him matching dirty looks—“were already in here.”
“Did what to me?” I ask, leaning further back. My hand moves to my neck, and my fingers dance over the sore skin there. Like a wave, the memories of the man in the red cloak come crashing back into me, making me freeze. Shoving out of Teos’ arms, I run across my room to the small connecting bathroom, my mind whirling with everything that happened.
“Bella!” Teos grunts, scrambling off the bed and following me into the small room. I hear Adam and Neva hot on his heels as I stop in front of the big mirror hanging above the vanity and reach out to flick on the light to illuminate the dark room.
Dark purple bruises circle my neck, banding in an odd pattern that looks like some morbid necklace. “That fucker,” I grind out, bracing my hands on the vanity and leaning closer to the mirror, moving my head from side to side, trying to get a better look at my neck when Teos starts to curse behind me, his hazel eyes no longer their warm color. In their place are raging pools of bright yellow and orange colors, resembling the flames of his phoenix as he reaches out with a shaky hand and gently pushes down the collar of my shirt, exposing the back of my neck and shoulders.
I hear Neva suck in a shocked breath and look at Adam as a whooshed breath tears from his lips and he pales. Frowning, I turn to look at my back in the mirror, making Teos shift with me so he can keep a hold of my sleep shirt. The sight that greets me is not a pretty one. The entire span of my shoulders is covered in bruises, marring my skin and disappearing under my shirt. From the pain in my back, I’m assuming they cover the majority of the space there as well.
“I should’ve killed him,” I mutter, gaze still locked on the mirror as Teos practically vibrates with rage next to me.
“Killed who?” Adam asks as Neva tilts her head to the side, staring at my back with a look of anger I’m surprised to see. I’ve met the girl once, so I’m not sure why she looks so mad about my injuries.
“Was there someone in your room?” she asks as Teos shakes his head.
“No, I’ve been keeping watch all night,” he grinds out, making me shoot a glare at him over my shoulders.
“Obviously not very well since we came in without you seeing us,” Neva points out, crossing her arms and looking smug as Adam eyes her and Teos warily.
“Wait,” I grumble, yanking my shirt out of Teos’ fingers and turning on them. “Why are you two here?” I ask in confusion.
“You weren”t at class this morning, and I was worried after I didn”t see you leave that weird blue shield last night. So I came here to see if you were okay. I was just about to knock on your door when we heard you scream, so I teleported in and unlocked the door for Neva,” Adam explains, worriedly scanning my face as I nod. Yeah, okay that all makes sense.
“And you?” I ask, turning to Teos, who purses his lips and glares down at me.
“Window,” he grinds out, and I scowl.
“Of course you came through the window. I”m pretty sure I locked it after the conversation we had last night,” I say more to myself than to him as I turn and leave the bathroom, sidestepping Neva and Adam as I walk back into my room.
“You were screaming. I happened to be nearby,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders, and I scoff.
“Yeah. Sure, I totally believe that,” I mutter, walking to my closet and mindlessly grabbing some clothes to yank on. I don’t have time for a shower. I need to go talk to Atlas about what happened and see if he can shed any light on this situation.
“I did see him on the field this morning with the rest of the rugby team,” Adam randomly pipes in, making Neva scowl at him.
“Are you going to tell us what the hell happened or just run around the room and get dressed like it”s totally normal for you to be hurt like this? You didn”t have those last night, Bella. Who did this? I want a name,” Teos says, walking around the room with me as I toss my clean clothes on the bed and grab my hair, braiding it and tying it off with a hair tie I found on my dresser.
“Option two,” I say after a long pause, not wanting to discuss anything until I know what the hell is going on. My body aches, the pain more annoying than helpful as I resist the urge to grimace when I bend down and yank on a pair of socks.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Teos snaps, bending down to look me in the eye as I put on my other sock.
“And you aren’t supposed to be here,” I shoot back at him, standing back up and moving from my room to the front door.
“Where are you going? You haven”t told me what the hell just happened!” I step out into the hallway, waiting for Teos to follow before I turn and glare at him.
“Leave me alone,” I snap before stepping back into my apartment and slamming the door in his handsome face.
“You do realize that he’s just going to come back in the window, right?” Neva comments, amusement filling her tone as she leans a hip on my bedroom door frame. Teos immediately starts pounding on the door, yelling my name, and I can”t help the smile that crosses my face. I thought getting him out of my room long enough for me to get dressed without an audience was going to be difficult.
“Or break the door down,” Adam says with a wince, his head popping up above Neva’s as he watches the door behind me with hesitant eyes. Teos pounds on the door again, and I swear the door bends inward a little from the force.
“Not if I’m gone by then,” I mutter, rushing back into the room and gesturing for Adam to beat it so I can get dressed. “Besides, I wasn”t really trying to get rid of him. I just wanted to get dressed, and he was attached to my hip,” I explain before shutting my door and getting dressed as fast as possible.
“Are you going to tell us why you weren’t breathing a few moments ago, or is that why we’re panic dressing?” Neva asks, her voice muffled through the door as I yank on clean underwear, a pair of flowy black slacks, and the black cashmere sweater my brother gifted me for Christmas.
“I need to go talk to one of the professors about it. I don”t have the answers,” I call out to them. Not that I would tell them if I did. I’ve only met Neva once, and as much as I like Adam, he’s still a new friend. I need to get to know them before they get to know personal things about me.
“Sweet. Which prof? I’ll check the schedule and make sure he’s not in a class,” Neva asks as Adam mutters something I can’t quite make out.
“Hawkins,” I yell back, toeing on a comfortable pair of three-inch heels. There’s a brief pause, and then Neva laughs.
“The cute new teacher?” I grimace at her description of Atlas being cute.
“Uh, yeah. The new guy,” I agree as I run into the bathroom and throw on some makeup. I do a double take at the collar of bruises around my neck and quickly glamour them, not wanting to draw any attention to myself before I see Atlas. My head spins as I mentally kick myself for not talking to him way before now. I had meant to tell him about the first dream, but it’s been a little crazy since I got here.
“His class ends in fifteen,” Neva hollers. “So if you”re quick, you should be able to catch him before he goes to lunch.”
Lunch? Shit, what time is it? How the hell did I sleep this long? My mind still feels foggy, like it’s covered with a heavy blanket, slowing my thoughts. I blink a few times, trying to clear my mind as exhaustion weighs heavily on my shoulders. If Neva is correct and it”s lunchtime, then I’ve slept for ten or more hours. But it doesn”t feel that way. I feel worse than I did last night, and that’s saying something, considering the magical low I was at.
Frowning, I think back to my class schedule and grimace when I realize I was supposed to be in Atlas’ class that’s about to end. Frowning, I rush back into my room to grab my phone and tap on the screen, lighting it up and then groaning at the three text notifications there.
Atlas-10:40- Where are you? Class started ten minutes ago.
Atlas- 10:56- Fina?
Atlas- 11:28- I swear to God I will call Gabriel if you don’t answer me, Serafina Covington.
Shit, he full-named me and everything. Not a good sign. I quickly type back a reply, letting him know I’m fine and on my way to his classroom before tucking my phone into the small pocket of my pants and rushing back into the bathroom.
“He’s going to be pissed,” I whisper to myself, brushing on some mascara before leaving the bathroom and opening my bedroom door. Neva is leaning against the wall next to one of the windows, looking over the forest, and Adam has a wet wipe in hand, wiping down my already cleaned counters. Neva catches my eye and shakes her head when she sees me arch a brow in question, so I hold my tongue, choosing not to ask why he’s cleaning.
“Come on, Adam,” she says, standing to her full height and walking over to study my neck. “Damn. I can”t see a thing. Your spells are perfect. I need you to show me how to do this. My glamour always turns out a little hazy,” she admits, leaning in and making me tense when she moves to touch me. She notices and immediately draws back, giving me an apologetic smile. “Sorry.”
“I need to go,” I say instead, changing the subject as Adam walks over to the small trash can and throws away the wet wipe before walking to the sink and washing his hands thoroughly.
“And what should we do if Hulk is on the other side of that door?” Adam asks, and Neva laughs.
“He is,” she assures us, and my gaze falls to the small golden blade suddenly spinning between her fingertips. My magic immediately springs free, making Neva shiver at the sudden drop in temperature. “Shit. Sorry. Is the jock a trigger for you?” she asks, and I grit my teeth, nodding as I move towards the door.
“I’ll handle Teos. Save me a spot at lunch, all right?” I ask him as he turns to face me, a frown on his face.
“Are you sure? We can come with you if you need us to,” he offers, big blue eyes finding mine as he shakes his head. “I think after the way we found you, you shouldn”t be left alone. We should come,” he decides, completely ignoring me. Neva sighs and walks over to Adam who continues to ramble about coming with me, before hooking an arm into his and pulling him to a stop. Adam immediately looks down at her, his words freezing on his tongue as his worried expression softens.
“Too much?” he asks, and she nods.
“Yep. If Serafina wanted us to come, she would have asked. We’re still new friends and we need to…”
Adam huffs an annoyed breath as he looks up at me, lips twisting.
“Respect boundaries,” he grumbles under his breath, making me bite my lip as Neva nods and pats Adam’s hand.
“I really am good, Adam. I’ll see you at lunch,” I confirm, making him smile and nod as they follow me to my door, where I brace myself before throwing it open.