10. Isla
Chapter 10
Isla
MONDAY
G reywood was messing with my sleep.
I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow, but I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept much at all. Tea. I needed very strong tea more than I needed oxygen, and nothing was going to stand in my way.
But no matter how much tea I needed, I had to be dressed first. Ignoring the mess I hadn’t finished putting away, I found some clothes and shoes before taking a fast shower and getting dressed. I blow dried my hair, using my brush to add some soft curls, then I did some light makeup before walking out to the suite’s lounge. Zhara was sitting there in blue jeans and a green t-shirt, her curly red hair barely held back in a loose braid. Where are the guys?
“Morning!” I grinned and flopped down next to her on the couch. “How was your night? Morning? Details will be needed.”
She sniffed, but I didn’t miss the slight blush warming her cheeks. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Oh really? So you and Aizel didn’t...” I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively.
“You’re the worst.”
“I could redo my entrance to ask in a better way. Hold.”
“Don’t you fucking dare, Isla!” Zhara shot back as I barely dodged her attempt to pull me down when I tried to stand up. I could barely keep my laughter contained as I leaned back to look at her with wide innocent eyes.
“I’m just trying to be supportive?—”
Her blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “Later. I’ll fill you in later . Besides, you should have plenty to tell me since you were also busy last night.”
I shrugged, not feeling the least bit called out. “We explored some more of the campus grounds and the forest, then we came back to the dorm.”
“That’s it?” she asked incredulously, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
“Why would I lie?” I questioned, searching the suite. “Where are the guys? I need tea ASAP, or I’m blaming them both for my bitchy attitude in class today.”
“We’re here!” Aizel called out as he glided into the room with Echo right behind him.
Memories of my heated dream started flashing across my mind. Watching him jack off for me, his blissed-out face when I finally told him he could come like a good boy... Shit, I needed to think about anything else right now, or I’d combust into flames.
‘Highly unlikely,’ Cassius drawled. ‘You’re not exactly a vampire without the ability to daywalk.’
‘Now isn’t ? —’
‘I think it is considering I had to see your fucking sex dream after you ran off with that boy last night.’
‘Boy?!’ I shot back, fighting to keep my face under control as anger heated my veins. ‘He isn’t a boy ? —’
‘He is to me.’ The promise of violence in those words made me freeze. I could almost feel him retreating, that slight show of emotion apparently too much.
‘Cassius—’
‘Run along, beastie. You’ll miss your tea, then your little boy toy won’t be as interested in you.’
‘Fuck you.’
Shields of some kind slammed into place between us, thickening until I could barely feel his presence at all. All of this happened in less than a minute, but I jerked all the same when Aizel said my name.
“Whoa there, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said, gesturing at Echo and Zhara, who were already heading to the door. “You ready?”
“Yeah,” I forced out as I stood up. “Just need that tea to fully kickstart my brain.”
“That we can do!” Zhara called out in a bright voice.
“She’s too damn perky this early in the morning,” I grumbled, falling into step with the incubus beside me. “If you’re another morning person, I might as well kill myself now. I won’t be able to live with the three of you.”
“No, that’s my brother and apparently Zhara,” Aizel replied, locking up behind us. “But I’ve been up for a bit and made coffee with a kettle in my room. Waking up slowly helps me not be an asshole this early.”
“That’s smart.” I nodded, weaving through the students running in and out of rooms, then outside, trying to not be late on the first day of class. If he had a kettle, maybe he would let me use it so I could at least have tea on hand when needed. A thought I’d bring up to him later.
At least we didn’t need books or anything crazy since the first class was self-defense, or at least I hoped so because I was already out of my room. Obviously, I was aiming to make a great first impression.
“A compliment? From you?” Aizel gasped, but a moment later, his expression smoothed out. He looked deadly serious for the first time since I met him. “But really, I wanted to talk to you, Isla.”
“Yes?” I asked, looking over in Echo’s direction to find him and Zhara long gone. They must already be at the dining hall by now.
Aizel wrapped an arm around my shoulder and guided me over to a bench. Other students walked by, and it was easy to spot the new ones as they ran from the dorms and across the quad to get to their classes early. The professors certainly made an impression yesterday.
“Should I be concerned that you got me alone?” I asked, breaking the silence between us after we had been sitting for a few minutes.
“This time, no,” he retorted with a charming smile, but I could tell that his thoughts were elsewhere given the distant look in eyes.
“Echo seems to be interested in you,” he started.
“We’re friends, Aizel,” I replied. “That’s it.”
Aizel’s gold and green gaze studied me closely, weighing my words and the truth behind them. Did I think about kissing him last night? Yes. Would anything actually happen between myself and Echo? I doubted it.
“Don’t hurt my brother,” he warned me softly.
My mouth opened to respond, but he held up a hand, stopping my words before they could even start.
“He’s had a hard go of it, worse than most incubi in fact. I don’t want to see him get crushed by you.”
“Hurt him?” I asked, my brow furrowed in confusion.
“You both went out last night. Alone.”
“We walked around campus a bit and talked, Aizel. Nothing more,” I responded slowly. I didn’t mention Echo shapeshifting for me since something in my gut told me that the man in front of me wouldn’t be happy about that particular bit of information. “I do not plan on hurting him.”
“Not many people plan on hurting someone, yet it happens all the time.” Aizel sighed.
As he went to stand up, I placed my hand on his, making the man freeze.
“I would never dream of hurting him, just for the record. To be clear, I’m not here to find a mate, coven, or anything like that. I’m here to learn what they teach me and live my life. And just so you know, if you fuck with Zhara, I’d doublecheck your drinks because I’ll make you regret ever hurting her.”
He turned his face to meet my stare, each of us silently assessing the other, weighing the threats, spoken and unspoken. A half smile curled his lips before he stood up and offered me his hand.
“I’m glad we understand one another.”
“Me too,” I told him, accepting his help. “But we are getting me tea before class. If we’re late, it’s on you, not me.”
“So damn bossy,” he replied, but he hurried alongside me into the dining hall and even paid for my breakfast tea and muffin before we met up with our roommates.
“Everything okay?” Echo asked, his gold and green eyes bouncing from me to his brother. His gaze lingered when Aizel pulled out a chair for me before going around to sit beside his twin.
“Everything is great. Why wouldn’t it be?” Aizel asked, leaning over to take a giant bite of his brother’s bagel.
“What the hell?!” Echo bitched, yanking it back to try to save what’s left of his bagel while I turned to Zhara.
“So what happened? A bonding moment between you two?”
“Mutual threats and an understanding,” I said, sipping my drink. When its soothing warmth hit me, I totally did a small happy dance in my seat. Just what I needed. “I wonder if they have boba tea here. I haven’t had any in days.”
“Is that the weird tea with balls in it?” Zhara asked.
Slowly, I faced my roommate, affronted by the disgust in her voice. Ironically, I saw Aizel and Echo doing the same. The three of us shared a look then shook our heads at the same time.
“That’s not good,” I commented. “Those are fighting words.”
Aizel nodded. “I’d have to agree.”
“I think I saw some yesterday,” Echo commented. “Maybe we can find them after lunch?”
“If not, we can order supplies and make it in our suite. We do have that kitchenette thing.” I hummed as I peeled the wrapper off my muffin. They’d had blueberry muffins, and I was excited to actually try it today since bitch Barbie had destroyed mine yesterday.
Zhara rolled her eyes at our conversation. “There is something wrong with all of you.”
“Well, I think that’s true for everyone here. I mean, why else would we be here?” I quipped, dodging when she tossed her muffin wrapper at my head. “But we should probably hurry. We don’t want to be late for our very first class. I don’t want to find out on the first day what they do to students who are late.”
“Probably just magickally lock the door so you can’t get inside like they did with the welcome speech,” Echo guessed, but we all rushed through our breakfast and hurried from the dining hall.
We got to our self-defense class with ten minutes to spare. Plenty of time to find a place to sit. Small favors from fate. I didn't see Barbie or her group anywhere. A few vampires were sitting in the back corner, obviously tired, but they quietly said hello as we slipped by them. After the bullying shit I went through at the academy, I never sat with my back or hair exposed to strangers.
I gave them a small wave before sitting down and found that Echo was right beside me with Zhara and Aizel a seat or two away. They weren’t bothering to be subtle at all, which was kind of ironic considering how she’d reacted to them when we first ran into each other. But there was nothing wrong with a little fun as long as it didn’t mess up our rooming situation.
“Do you think they sat over there to get alone time or to give us alone time?” Echo rasped with a half-smile on his face.
“Probably both.” I snorted. “Your brother warned me about hurting you on the way to breakfast this morning.”
“Nothing to hurt.” Echo shrugged as he glanced away. “We were just hanging out.”
“Exactly what I said,” I replied, taking a long sip of my drink. Sitting this close to him, flashes of the dream came back to me again. I remembered the warm and spicy scent of him from the dream, making my face flush from arousal. The memory of his moans and whimpers had me shifting in my seat, and I desperately needed to think of anything else.
If he had any idea of what I was thinking, he would get the wrong idea. Hell, my body was getting all kinds of bad ideas, or great ideas, depending on how you looked at it. Either way, it shouldn’t happen in my damn class, that was for sure.
Echo shifted beside me then froze. Incubus . Oh fuck. He could probably smell how fucking hot I was getting from recalling a dream. I could use a rescue right about now. Of course, Cassius was nowhere to be found. Asshole was still behind his impenetrable shields after his bullshit comments earlier.
Movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention, and relief filled me. I was beyond happy to see Wells walking in. When he searched the room for a place to sit, I waved to get his attention and pointed at the seat beside me. He held up a hand in greeting and weaved through people to sit down at the offered seat.
The incubus on one side of me leaned away, sipping some of his coffee, while I said hello to Wells.
“This should be an interesting morning,” Wells muttered.
“Not enough sleep?” I asked, curious to know what he meant.
“Have you met the professor for this class yet?”
“No. Why?” Echo asked, joining in our conversation.
“Heard he was a hard ass, and his personal goal is to run us into the fucking ground.”
Great.
The back doors slammed closed hard enough that everyone jumped, and all conversations ceased. In walked one of the biggest people I’d ever seen. A huge centaur had joined us, so damn tall I couldn’t even fathom how he fit in the normal-sized door. There must be another entrance he used to get in here.
The horse part of his body was lean, stocky, and powerful. I didn’t know much about horses, but he looked like a brickhouse of a beast. The whole class silently watched him maneuver himself around some of the furniture up front. I couldn’t imagine trying to walk through buildings if I was built like that, and he obviously agreed based on his ferocious scowl when he bumped into a chair and kicked it out of the way.
He had an undercut on the left side, while the right side had long hair all the way down to his mid back. He wore a leather vest with weapons strapped to him. The garment clearly displayed the thick muscles of his arms when he crossed them in front of his chest to address the class.
“This fucking lecture hall is ridiculous, and all of you may rest assured we will only be using this room today. Bullshit welcome days… as if we need to do an introduction for self-defense,” the man complained as he paced in front of the room.
“The goal of this class is to have you all be able to defend yourself so you can make it out of this place in one piece. Killing is not the point of this class, and if anyone gets even fucking close to doing it, you will be made an example of,” he growled, glaring at all of us.
“Physical self-defense will be our first concentration. Magick does not always work against every opponent and can leave you weak. We will build up your bodies then use that as a foundation for magickal defense afterwards. Any complaints, put them here.” He snagged a trash can and slammed it on the desk. “Any questions?”
The room was completely silent. There wasn’t even the sound of people moving in their seats.
“Perfect. You all seem like a promising lot already. I’ll see you Wednesday at the training center where all future classes will take place. Consider this me being nice because you will be dragging your bodies from my class from now on.”
Without another word, the doors flew open, and the centaur walked out of the lecture hall. The message was clear. He was done with us for today.
“Well, that was... something,” Wells commented.
“I don’t think our familiar class is going to be the same,” I replied with a sigh. “I’m going to take this time to actually enjoy my tea and finish putting my stuff away.”
“Mind if I hang out with you all?” Wells asked, looking between us and Zhara and Aizel who’d walked over to us.
“Not at all,” Zhara replied. “Our place probably has the most space anyway.”
While they talked about their classes, predicting whether every first session would be like this class, my thoughts were elsewhere. A glimpse of dirty blond hair and a long coat caught my attention, and the flash of orange and red eyes made my body kick into overdrive.
I still had no idea what his name was, but every fiber of my being wanted to find out.