26. Serafina
TWENTY-SIX
“Serafina!” a familiar voice calls to me, and I jump, breaking whatever trance Teos just kissed me into as I yank out of his arms, making him growl and curse something under his breath as he turns, reaching down to adjust the big bulge at the front of his shorts.
Holy shit! I kissed Teos! And he’s not dead.
I blink, then look back up at him, wanting to make sure and exhale loudly when I see him glaring over his shoulder at whoever interrupted us. Yep, still standing—still alive. And my magic doesn’t even appear ruffled by the kiss! I take a step closer to him, then grimace and look down. Yeah, I don’t have a boner, but I’m definitely going to need a new pair of underwear.
“Hey, wait up!”
Pressing my fingers to my tingling lips, I gather myself, trying not to glare as I turn toward the voice. Adam jogs over, leaving a frustrated Neva on the path, staring after him.
“We have to head back to our rooms. There’s been some sort of emergency or something, and the Balaur Patrol needs to sweep the grounds,” he says, wheezing slightly as he catches up to us. From his flushed face and the small amount of sweat dotting his brow, I’m going to take a guess that Adam isn”t one for physical activities.
“Dude, are you okay?” Teos asks, losing some of the anger as he steps behind me enough to hide the erection in his pants. Adam nods, cheeks a bright red.
“I don”t run much,” he admits, then frowns, bringing his hand up to wipe at his forehead. “I don”t walk much either since I can teleport. It works better for me since I have asthma. I don”t have to use my inhaler as much if I minimize my running.”
Neva suddenly pops up behind him, startling Teos and making him jump nearly out of his tiny shorts. Shorts I’m trying and desperately failing to ignore. Why the hell are they that short, and when the hell did Teos get such a nice ass? I flick my gaze down to said ass, and bite my lip as I wonder how it would feel to touch him. Wrap my legs around his waist while he?—
“Something you now have to use,” Neva chides, shocking me out of the lust-induced stupor I was putting myself in. Yanking my eyes from Teos’ delectable ass, I look up and freeze like a damn deer caught in the headlights.
“Whatcha lookin” at?” he asks, leaning closer to me, a knowing smile on his face. Glaring, I bring my middle finger up and scratch the bridge of my nose, making his smile turn into laughter as Neva unzips Adam’s backpack hanging on his shoulders and reaches into the pocket before handing him the small blue inhaler.
Stepping to my side, Teos smirks and whispers, “You can look any time, Bella.” His breath whispers over my neck, and I shiver as he reaches out and softly brushes back a loose strand of black hair on my temple. Conflicted, I stare up at him. My head is screaming for me to run into the forest and not look back, but my heart does this weird little kick in my chest, and I frown, wondering if I’m having a heart attack. Maybe this is all leftover lust from the kiss we just had? Damn, boys make life complicated.
“Why the hell did you run over here? They looked…” Neva looks at me, then Teos. “Busy, and it’s not nice to interrupt,” she says, gesturing at me before glaring at him. Adam shoots her a sheepish smile and shrugs before taking a couple of deep puffs from his inhaler before handing it back to Neva, who grumbles something under her breath as she returns it to his backpack.
“We need to get to the dorms,” she states, her gaze raking over Adam for a moment before she finally looks up at us, glaring at Teos and stepping in between them. Okay, someone is still a little pissed about earlier. Teos doesn”t seem to be fazed by Neva”s reaction to him as he looks back at the forest behind us.
“Ooh! Maybe we can all hang out and play Scrabble,” Adam suggests, a look of pure joy crossing his face. Teos stares at Adam for a moment and frowns.
“Scrabble?” Adam”s smile drops, and suddenly, Neva’s playing with her pretty knife. Damn, where does she store that thing? I need to ask her because even with my ability to produce weapons out of thin air, I still can”t have one in my hand that fast without notice.
“Scrabble is a fun game,” she grinds out, and I nod.
“Totally fun. But can we take a rain check?” I look at Adam and tug Teos back behind me, not wanting Neva to stab him.
“Fina needs to find something. So maybe we can catch up with you guys later and, uh... play Scrabble?” Teos offers, nodding at Adam, who goes up on his toes to look over my head as if the thing I need to find is hiding behind me.
“What are we looking for?” he asks, automatically including himself in my search as he reaches into his pocket and retrieves a small bottle of hand sanitizer. He dumps way too much of it on his hands before clicking the bottle shut while vigorously rubbing it in.
“We?” Neva groans, closing her eyes as Adam nods, looking at her with newfound excitement.
“I’m not sure. But I’m guessing it has to do with the dead girl on the field?” Teos asks and I glare up at him as Adam pales, stepping closer to Neva.
“Dead girl?” she asks, brows furrowing as she looks at the forest and then back at the school.
“Really?” I drawl, glaring up at him. Teos shrugs and looks at Neva and Adam.
“They would find out about her soon anyway. There were way too many students who saw her,” he defends himself, and I roll my eyes.
“It’s probably best if you take him back,” I suggest to Neva, who nods, her lips pursed as she studies me. I stare back, not sure what to make of this girl. On the one hand, she seems nice, if not a little odd, which explains how she gets along so well with Adam. But on the other hand, she seems much too aware for my liking. It”s almost as if she can see the center of who I am. See the broken and shattered pieces. But instead of the sorrow or sympathy I usually see when people find out just how fucked up I am, it”s understanding.
“Yeah. I think so,” she agrees, grabbing Adam”s hand.
“Wait. No, I want to come! It sounds fun,” Adam says, stepping away from Neva and closer to us. I sigh and look at the Basilisk Shifter, but she only glares at Adam and then nods.
“Fine. But stay close to me,” she grumbles.
“Wait. I don”t think—” I start to say, but Neva is already heading toward the forest. Adam grins and looks at me with raised brows.
“So, what are we looking for?” he asks, and I glare at him.
“A murder scene,” I say deadpan, hoping to scare some sense into him as I turn to follow Neva. I silently fume as we walk, not liking this situation at all. Having Teos with me was risky enough. Not that I really need to be scared about losing him. He just more than proved his ability to handle dark magic, but I still don”t like him being in danger. Adam doesn”t have those abilities, and it”s one more person I need to keep safe. I eye Neva and shrug at her tagging along. Besides the fact that I don’t know her well, it looks like she can handle herself, so at least I don’t have to worry about her.
“In there?” he asks, hesitating momentarily as we draw near the line of mangled trees.
“We’re not supposed to go into the void, Bella,” Teos whispers, hand softly taking mine, fingers twining together as he walks at my side. My first instinct is to yank my hand from his, but the warmth from his touch sends a shiver racing down my spine, and instead, I lean into his side. Keeping my promise as best as I can.
“The void?” I ask, glad he’s not stopping me from going where I need to. I can tell he doesn’t want to enter the forest, but he’s coming anyway. He frowns and nods at the forest, eyeing the thick fog drifting at the base of the trees like it might jump out and attack us.
“The forest. The locals call it the void. Say it’s haunted with monsters and ghosts.” Neva answers for him. Teos chuckles as he looks down at me and squeezes my hand again.
“If only it were monsters and ghosts. I’d take them over Demons any day,” he grumbles, looking back up at the trees as we step up in front of them.
“I’ve always liked the forest,” Adam pipes in, and Neva laughs. She shakes her head as she looks at Adam with a fondness I typically see in Atlas’ eyes when he talks to me.
“You little creep,” she mutters, and Teos nods in agreement, looking at Adam with a worried expression. My magic itches to be let out the closer we get to the forest, and I sigh, letting it spiral in the air. Adam whistles under his breath when he sees it, and Neva watches the dark wisps of death magic with an air of curiosity just as it circles around some trees before darting to the right. I gesture in that direction, knowing better than to ignore my magic.
“You like Demon-infested forests?” Teos asks in disbelief as he follows me without question. Adam nods his head, then frowns and shakes it.
“No. Not the Demon part. But the forest is dark and quiet. It”s soothing to walk through, and I never feel alone when I’m in there,” he says, and Neva jerks to a stop, spinning to glare at Adam, who isn’t paying attention and plows straight into her.
“Shit! Neva! Are you alright?” he asks, arms banding around her small frame just as she shoves at his chest, making him stumble back with a small pout on his lips.
“Are you still going into the forest at night? I told you to stop doing that!” she hisses under her breath, jeweled eyes sparkling with magic as she glares at him. “Do you have any idea how dangerous that forest is?”
“Neva,” he whispers, reaching out for her, and she steps back.
“I told you to stop that shit,” she growls under her breath before pivoting on her heel and walking straight into the forest. I look at Adam, feeling bad for him since I just got my ass chewed by Teos for the same thing. Teos squeezes my hand as if to remind me how stupid I have also been as Adam ducks his head, his cheeks stained red as he slowly follows after Neva.
“Demons are fucking scary. But not as scary as this damn forest,” Teos whispers as we follow Adam.
“Why are you here if you don”t like Demons? Everyone in the Fae world knows this university is a dangerous one to go to,” I ask, genuinely curious as I take my first step past the line of trees. Almost as if a light switch was flicked, darkness creeps in, filtering out the sun as we walk deeper into the trees. Teos shivers, looking over his shoulder when a few branches rustle before he lets go of my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders protectively.
I tense, and I know I’m done with the casual touches for the day, when my magic flares with a deadly intensity I try to avoid at all times. I think it has more to do with having people I care about in danger than Teos’ touch, but I don”t want to risk anything. Reaching up, I grab his arm and give him a small squeeze before letting him go. I can’t have my magic flare with Adam and Neva so close to me. They could get hurt.
Pretending not to notice the grumpy look Teos sends me as he slowly lets his arm drop to his side, I keep walking, making sure I keep Teos and Adam in my field of vision at all times. “Because of my mom,” he answers as Adam steps to my other side. “She was called here as an assistant to the headmaster and took me with her after—” He waves his hand at me then himself. “Our debacle. I’ve been trying to talk her into leaving since the deaths at the school are growing. But she refuses to leave,” he sighs in frustration, running a hand through his black curls.
“The female death rate has climbed eighty-two percent in the last three years,” Adam mutters as he watches a pissed-off Neva who is stomping ahead of us and crosses his arms over his chest, bottom lip stuck out like a damn toddler. “He has a good reason for wanting to stay and protect his mom.”
“Why the hell does anyone come here?” I ask in confusion, pulling more of my magic forward, letting my eyes shift into those of my Reaper so I can see as the forest slowly grows darker and darker.
“Because some of us can”t afford to go anywhere else. Silverwood is the only Fae University that we can attend on this continent. The one in France is almost impossible to get into. It would be cheaper to fly to Black Veil University than to pay for the tuition there. And the next best thing used to be Russia, but it was shut down when the Fae Council discovered they were using the students as test subjects,” Neva states, stopping as she looks around the forest and then back at me. “What should we be looking for?”
“Probably a dead body,” Adam muses, and I shake my head.
“Nope, we have that. We are looking for blood and a lot of it,” I tell them, my magic fanning out further, searching for anything that might lead us to the murder site. Adam looks a little green around the gills at that remark but nods as Teos shuffles on his feet next to me.
“My mom is going to kick our asses if she finds out we came in here,” he admits, and I shake my head.
“What is this? The Forbidden Forest from Harry Potter?” I ask, unamused. Spinning in a circle, my magic picks up momentum before moving to the left and twisting around a tree. I run after it, making Teos curse as he jogs to catch up.
“Basically,” he agrees, eyes wide as he tries to look around.
“Shift your eyes. Let your Phoenix out,” I command, not wanting him to trip. Something cold drifts over my skin, stealing my attention from Teos as I glance around. “Fuck, I should have left you guys at the school,” I whisper more to myself than him.
“Like I would have let you,” he scoffs, reaching for me as something moves in my peripheral.
“We’re not alone,” Neva hisses, her eyes glowing as she steps next to Adam.
“Demon?” Adam asks, and she frowns.
“I-I don”t think so. Shit maybe? I can’t tell,” she grinds out as purple and neon green magic shine at her perfectly polished fingertips. The colors twirl around each other with small sparks of pink making an appearance. If I weren”t worried about Teos and Adam’s safety, I would ask if I could get a closer look.
“Stay close,” I whisper just as something moves in front of us, tearing a girlish scream from Adam as a small gray bunny hops into view. Adam slaps his hand over his mouth, muffling the sound. After a moment of complete silence where all four of us stare at the tiny bunny, we all erupt into fits of laughter.
“Oh my God! Why was that so scary?” Adam asks, chuckling behind his hand that’s still clamped over his mouth as I wipe at the tears that have collected at the corner of my eyes. It’s been years since I”ve laughed like this, and it feels… good. So freaking good. Teos has doubled over in laughter, the joy on his face contagious as he looks at me, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth as I reach out and pull a small twig from the curls on top of his head.
Standing up, he grabs the twig from me, tossing it over his shoulder as his other hand wraps around mine, tugging me forward and to his side. I freeze when I feel soft pressure on the top of my head. Did he just kiss the top of my hair? The thought both excites me and fucking terrifies me.
God, this has been a weird day.
I suck in a deep breath, grinning over at Adam as Neva pats him gently on the back. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard a person make that sound before,” I tease, making him blush as I tug out of Teos’ arms, but stay next to him.
Adam laughs and drops his hand at his side, shrugging. “Sorry,” he laughs, stepping in front of me just as the shadows behind him shift. The brief scent of sulfur filling the air is the only warning I have as a man steps out of nowhere, directly behind Adam.
“Adam, move!” I shout, lunging forward, trying to shove him out of the way as red magic lights up the darkness around us. But before I can reach him, the entire forest shifts, the trees bowing unnaturally, and I’m thrown off my feet and away from my friends.