Chapter 6
Unfortunately, we didn’t make it out of the swarm of sprites before time ran out and we were unceremoniously yanked back through the whirlpool into the lagoon.
From there, we were expected to climb to the top of the waterfall and then haul ourselves back to the pool through the tunnel we’d come down.
Needless to say, going up was way more difficult than going down had been.
Many students didn’t make it and when time ran out, were yanked back to the pool in the same way we’d been yanked from the sprites’ clutches.
Climbing the waterfall wasn’t so bad. But climbing back through the tunnel was horrendously difficult as we had to climb against the current in extremely tight quarters.
The only thing that made it even slightly possible were the handles in the ceiling.
Still, it took a massive amount of body strength to move against the current, lunging from one handhold to the next without being pushed back down the tunnel.
By the time I climbed out of my tunnel and swam to the surface of the pool, I was exhausted.
Somehow, every time I went down the tunnel and over the waterfall, the rush made me forget the ordeal of climbing back up it.
Was it worth it?
Probably.
Predictably, the moment everyone reappeared in the pool, either by sheer force of will or because they were deposited there by magic, Puddlemoan started yelling.
Pacing back and forth, he detailed everything we’d done wrong and ripped into us for our lack of creativity in solving the day’s challenges.
“And how pathetic that not one of you managed to outwit a bunch of water sprites!”
None of us said anything. Back when we were new at the Academy, we might have argued back, pointing out that sprites were mischievous, but not cruel, which limited our abilities to fight back.
It was actually illegal to harm any sprite, no matter what mischief they got up to.
We might also have pointed out that we were all exhausted after fighting a water dragon and a sea serpent, but we’d all learned back on day one that arguing would only make things worse.
As in, swim twenty-five laps worse.
So no one said anything.
We just let Puddlemoan rant and shout, though we did groan when he ended with the assurance that our next obstacles wouldn’t be anywhere near as easy as today’s.
Finally released with a sharp, “Go on. Get out of here!” We made a beeline for the locker rooms.
Inside, I warmed up with a hot shower, then got dressed and headed out.
I stumbled to a halt when I saw Vorzak waiting for me outside the girls’ locker room. “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to talk to you.” He fell into step beside me. “First, I wanted to thank you for your help today. I never would have survived without the shell you gave me.”
“You’re welcome. You need to be better prepared next time.” I started up the stairs.
“I know. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s obvious I’m missing out on some basic knowledge for this class, so I was wondering if you’d be willing to tutor me, catch me up on what I missed.”
Shit.
I stopped halfway up the staircase. Vorzak stopped as well and students began streaming around us.
This was quite the dilemma.
Avoiding Vorzak this year was obviously a complete impossibility, what with him being in two of my classes and repeatedly showing up wherever I was.
But willingly spending time with him, whether to go on a wine hunt or to tutor him, was going to make guarding my heart even harder than it already was.
I started walking up the stairs again.
Spending time with him posed significant risks.
To my heart.
And to my sanity.
Still, I couldn’t help but remember Jasmine and Mikaela’s insistence that Vorzak was into me.
If they were right, was I truly going to throw away my chance at what I’d been desperately wanting for two and a half years?
I scowled as I remembered how he’d ignored me for those same years.
Okay, yes, I was going to do everything I could not to fall for him again.
But I also wasn’t willing to sit back and let something happen to him in Extreme Water Sports Ed simply because he didn’t have the necessary tools for survival.
“Fine,” I said abruptly as we walked through the foyer. “I’ll tutor you, but not in the water. This is strictly need-to-know information.”
“Great!”
“We’ll start tomorrow. Sixteen hundred hours. I’ll meet you in the library.” Where I was reasonably certain I wouldn’t fall prey to his magnetism. Without waiting for a response, I bolted.
That night, at dinner, I informed Mikaela and Elliot that Vorzak and I would be joining them for their regular tutoring sessions.
“What? Why?” Mikaela demanded. “You’re not in Inner Beast Management.”
“Vorzak is, though,” Elliot said. “Does he need help?”
“No, it has nothing to do with tutoring.”
“I’m confused,” Kasi said.
“I need them to act as chaperones,” I said. “Keep Vorzak from getting any ideas. Keep me from doing anything stupid.”
“Like what?” Mikaela asked.
“Like falling for the gorgon again. I just got over him, now he wants me to tutor him. I need you both to help me keep things as business-like as possible.”
“Uh, you do realize we don’t get much studying done in our sessions anymore, right?” Elliot grinned.
“What? Why not?”
“Elliot was assigned to me because they thought I needed help learning to control Miki-Leopard, but we’re getting along great and I’m doing fine in my classes, so I don’t really need the tutoring anymore. So, now we’re just meeting for fun.”
“And the kisses,” Elliot said.
“Exactly! Because our tutoring sessions are all about the kissing now.”
“In the library?” I asked incredulously.
Elliot and Mikaela looked at each other, shrugged, then nodded.
“Yep,” Mikaela said cheerfully, scratching her biceps.
“With Mr. Brecken wandering around?”
“I’m not a witch for nothing, you know.”
“Oh, my goddess. You two are going to be the worst chaperones in the history of chaperones!”
Kasi snickered. “Do you really want them to be good chaperones? I mean, you don’t have to admit it in mixed company, but we all know you think Vorzak is hot.”
“Hey,” Jahrdran growled.
“I didn’t say I thought he was hot, just that Jasmine does.”
“You’re not fooling anyone,” Jahrdran growled.
“Oooh, look!” Sunny suddenly exclaimed, pointing at Mikaela, who was still scratching her arm.
“What?” Mikaela glanced down, then gasped, jerking her hand away to reveal a perfect set of cat whiskers on her biceps. “I can’t believe it. She actually did it, or part of it anyway, and now she’s strutting around in triumph in my head.”
I snickered.
Shadow, who’d been lying dormant on Kasi’s arm, lifted her head just enough to sniff at Miki-Leopard’s whiskers, setting them to quivering, before retreating back onto Kasi’s arm and falling asleep.
One side of Miki Leopard’s whiskers peeled away from Mikaela’s skin, quivered in mid-air for a moment, almost as if Miki-Leopard was trying to sense the world around her, then slowly settled back on her skin.
A moment later, the whiskers faded away entirely.
“That was adorable,” Daya said.
“So cute,” I agreed.
“Almost like she wanted to come out and say hello,” Sunny said.
“Well, it must have exhausted her since she’s sound asleep now,” Mikaela said, “though she did have a little celebration in my head first.”
“What kind of celebration?” Sunny asked.
“Her favorite kind.”
“Confetti again?” Kasi guessed.
“Yep. She was tossing it everywhere, rolling around in it, chasing it back and forth, paws kicking it up in the air, basically filling my head with huge explosions of color.”
My heart melted at that description.
It also ached just a little bit because I desperately wanted what my friends had. I wasn’t even sure which one I wanted more: the mate or the adorable cat companion.
Probably the cat.
* * *
The next morning was another chaotic Dragon Riding Class with Professor Vesely finally ordering Vorzak to, “Keep your snakes fifty feet from the dragons at all times.”
This was difficult, to say the least, considering the cuties just grew an extra foot for every foot Vorzak put between him and the dragons.
Finally, I went and stood at his side, which effectively drew the snakes’ attention away from the dragons to me.
They immediately shrank back to their normal size and spent the rest of the class period either petting me, nudging my hands for scratches or hovering in front of my mouth, waiting for the kisses they knew I couldn’t possibly resist delivering.
Sunny and Daya kept glancing over at me and raising their eyebrows.
I just shrugged helplessly back.
A few moments later, I winced and sent them a look of commiseration, for Vesely had just announced the groups we’d chosen this week were now permanent. We would continue the rest of the semester in those same groups, working with our assigned dragons.
This meant Sunny and Daya were stuck with Taggart and Magnolia, and I was stuck with Vorzak.
I glared at Mikaela and Kasi, but they just smirked back.
They were no help at all.
This became even more evident that afternoon when I met Vorzak at the library.
The look on his face when he saw we were joining Mikaela and Elliot made it clear he’d been hoping for some time alone with me.
Unfortunately for me, Mikaela and Elliot hadn’t been kidding when they said they spent more time kissing than studying during their tutoring sessions.
Even worse, once Vorzak’s snakes realized what was going on, they seemed to believe that was why we were there.
To engage in kissing games.
At least, that’s what I assume they believed, since they were all over me in an instant.
It didn’t matter that I’d made Vorzak sit across the table from me.
His snakes simply dropped below the table and made their way to me, wrapping around my legs and heading north.
“Vorzak!” I hissed.
He gave me a ridiculously innocent look.
“Retract your snakes!”