Chapter Thirty #2
“I am not scared of you.” I say firmly, and the feral look that was in his eyes flees, “you pulled me out of that panic attack. I trust you. Please don’t ever hide who you really are from me, Storm. I fucking hate it.”
He studies my face, and I let all my emotions show and hope he can fucking see them. Finally, he nods, “Are you sure?”
“Fuck yes, I’m sure. I love your wings. You’re right.
The first time I saw them, they reminded me of something, and when you approached me angrily in the locker room and your wings came out, it did trigger me.
But I know you. I know you are a good person, and I know you would never hurt me,” I glance over his shoulder at his wings, watching them move lazily behind him.
“They don’t scare me, and now that I can see them properly, they couldn’t be further from the ones that do trigger me. ”
I’m not lying. Storm’s wings are perfectly formed, they’re black, but they have very subtle dark red designs on them, and they’re beautiful.
“Fine,” Storm starts and then his voice gets firm, “but you need to promise me that if they ever do start to give you flashbacks, you tell me before it gets to the point that you can’t.”
“I promise.”
“Are you guys going to come down now?” Rival calls up to us.
I frown and look down, sure enough, we’re at least ten feet up in the air, and I hadn’t even realised, especially since Storm is keeping us steady with such ease. He looks at me cautiously, probably waiting for me to freak out.
My grin is full of dirty intent, “So, do you think you could keep us flying if we were naked?”
He chokes, and we drop slightly as the shock makes his wings stutter. I hear the guys groan beneath us, clearly having heard my words.
I tap Storm’s chest, “Maybe we’ll build up to that.”
He growls and pulls me closer.
“Guys, come on. I want to make sure Farren’s okay myself!” Killian calls up, interrupting, and Storm sighs heavily, lowering us to the floor.
As soon as I’ve stepped out of Storm’s arms, Killian’s tail whips out, wrapping around my thigh and making me stumble into his chest. He pulls me close, burying his head in my neck.
“You scared me,” he whispers, “did you just bond with Storm?”
“I’m sorry,” I whisper back and then add, “and yeah, I’m pretty sure I did.”
“Good,” he replies, letting me go, and I find myself pulled into everyone’s arms. Even Zev pulls me in.
“That was fucking insane,” he mutters.
“Welcome to the team,” I tease.
Storm’s eyes suddenly widen, and I realise that my bonds are open.
He glances over at Kill, who doesn’t say anything but just nods, confirming what Storm’s asking him.
His eyes collide with mine, and a breathtakingly beautiful smile crosses his face.
I guess I don’t have to worry that he will be mad at me for the bond.
My eyes catch on Loki, who immediately started pacing as soon as he let me go. I open my mouth to ask if he’s okay, but he starts talking before I can get anything out.
“What the hell was that?” He asks but carries on before anyone can clarify what he’s talking about.
He points at me, “Her eyes were doing that all black and gold thing that happened last time we were in the Void, the wind was blowing around her like she was the eye of a freaking storm, and she said a whole bunch of stuff to the Void Beast that I couldn’t understand, but it seemed to, and it fucking bowed to her, it bowed to her right? ”
“Yes, it bowed to her,” Killian replies, much calmer than Loki.
“I was speaking the same language I did in the Void?” I ask, and everyone nods, “Huh.”
“What the fuck was that?” Loki asks again, throwing his hands up into the air.
Killian and Zev share a loaded and knowing look.
“That was the beginning of destiny,” Zev states, and there’s no mistaking the truth in his voice.
No one speaks. Loki’s mouth drops open as he finally stops pacing and just stares, his gaze pinging between Zev, Killian and me.
He scrubs a hand through his hair, “Fantastic, that answer was super mysterious and gave absolutely no answers whatsoever.”
I can’t help but chuckle at the exasperation in his voice. “It’ll all work out, and we’ll know what it means eventually when the time is right.”
“That was very insightful of you,” Reaper compliments, and I grin.
“Alright, we’ll leave that for now,” Storm agrees.
“What now?” Mayhem asks, “What did the scroll say again?”
“The same portal that brought us here should appear and take us back,” Storm replies.
“Thank fuck. I want my bed,” Zev grumbles.
“Whoa, guys, look!” Rival suddenly exclaims, and we all turn to see the green portal finish materialising and the horses calmly walking through it.
We all start to walk towards the portal, and I’m slightly surprised that it hasn’t pulled us in like it did when it brought us here.
I suppose that could be because no one will want to try and escape going back to the academy, but some people are likely to try and get out of being pulled into the Warrior Games.
I don’t know about the others, but I am more than ready to get back to the academy.
I have several things that I want to look into, and I have the fallout from the death of my father to deal with as well.
That I’m not looking forward to at all. I highly doubt that he’s left anything to me, which is more annoying than anything else because he has many books that he shouldn’t have, books that were banned or supposedly lost in the wars and ones that, with him gone I could’ve had full access to and maybe even find out some real answers about my gifts.
I’m walking between Rival and Storm, and I try to hold in my reaction when Rival reaches out his hand and threads his fingers through mine, holding them tightly.
He and Mayhem are the quieter ones in the group and the ones that I know the least about.
I’m going to change that as soon as we get back to the academy.
I may not know them as well as I’m getting to know the others, but they are just as important to me.
We all need to get to know Zev better, too, especially since he’s going to be coming into the games with us, and I know with certainty that this wasn’t a one-off.
Storm’s wing reaches out and wraps around my shoulder, seeming to be similar to Killian’s tail in their need to touch me whenever I’m near. I’m not complaining in the slightest.
We’re a couple of feet away from the portal, Rival’s horse having just walked through when it snaps shut.
“What the fuck?” Reaper exclaims.
“Did we fail?” Zev asks, looking just as confused, which is not a good sign.
“No, we can’t have. We did it in the time frame, and the Fae Realm gave us gifts to show we were on the right track,” Mayhem frowns.
“That was only our interpretation of it though,” Rival replies.
Before anything else is said, a second portal appears, and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.
“Everyone back up!” Storm suddenly yells, and we immediately stop our approach. “It’s the wrong fucking colour. It's purple. That doesn’t lead back to the academy.”
My eyes widen, and I find myself being pulled away from the portal by Storm and Rival.
Our efforts prove useless though, as we all start to be dragged back towards the purple portal, there’s nothing we can do to stop it, and I feel Storm’s wing tighten around me as my hand grips Rival’s tighter as we finally breach the portal, and I’m blinded by purple light.
We better all still be together when we come out the other side, or heads are going to fucking roll.
Fuck.