Mud (Chromatic Mages #1)

Chapter 23

Rosabel La Rouge

2 years ago

Meet me when the world burns, said the text with a grinning devil emoji at the end, which could have been created with Taland’s face in mind. It was exactly him—minus the purple color and the horns.

I shook my head, looking up at the sky, at the sun that was getting ready to set. I had another few minutes before I had to go.

“I’m telling you, I’ll never recover from it,” Briar was saying, hands on her burning cheeks, eyes on the blanket we were all sitting on. It was a nice day out, though it was August, and the entire week had been hell but today the wind blew a little harder. Today the wind was cold, and we were thankful for it—especially after what had happened in class.

“Did you see his eyes? The way they went all white…” said Kayla, and she, too, was completely shaken. We all we re, all seven of us sitting in the backyard of the school, drinking iced soda from the cafeteria, trying to come to terms with what we’d seen.

Which was basically one of our classmates, a Bluefire named Chris Carrol, being possessed by a different dimension. Technically speaking.

Our school had plenty of anchors for students to use, plenty of magical beasts to teach us with, as well as magical artifacts to allow us to better understand the lessons—like what we called a veler , which was basically a radar for magical energy. With it we learned the basics of searching for missing objects or people, or even of thoughts and memories in some instances, if the mage was strong enough to cast the spells properly. Bluefire magic worked the best with this as most had the gift of foresight, but every other school of magic could master it, too.

Through the veler, our professor said, we could find anything, even other worlds, other dimensions, other galaxies entirely, but that history had taught us that that was the surest way for a mage to go mad. To see beyond what we were made to see, things we could not understand, had dangerous, sometimes fatal consequences for the frail human mind, and that’s why now one needed a special permit to create a veler, and nobody other than the IDD and private investigation companies had it.

We were supposed to try to connect with it just to feel its magic, to think of something we lost or misplaced and never found again, to try to understand how the veler searched for it. Chris Carrol had been the fourth to try it, and whatever had been on his mind, whatever he’d lost or tried to search for, it had messed him up within seconds.

The veler was a circle slightly bigger than both my fists together, made of pure black obsidian that hardly even reflected the light around itself. It looks like it can absorb your soul and imprison it forever, Kayla said when the professor revealed it to us in class. She was right—it did.

But never in a million years did any of us think it could do what it did to Chris. Within the second, he’d started shaking, couldn’t take his hands off the smooth surface of the veler, and his eyes had really turned in their sockets while foam came out his mouth. The image of him was imprinted in my mind so vividly still. The professor managed to pry him away and healers came to take him to the infirmary in no time, and all they told us was that he’d tried to access another dimension before they dismissed us for the rest of the day.

Another dimension.

Shivers washed down my back at the mere thought of it— which other dimension? We had no clue if others existed, if there were other habitable planets out there, if aliens were real. The curiosity burned me as much as it scared me. Definitely something I’d think about for weeks to come.

“I heard his mother died when he was fourteen,” Briar said. “Maybe… maybe he…” She shook her head because she couldn’t finish her sentence.

Maybe he’d tried to find her wherever it was that we went after death.

Which left a bad taste in my mouth.

I’d lost both parents, but I hadn’t even thought to search for them with the veler—I’d planned to search for a necklace I couldn’t find since I got here .

When people died, they died. There was no going back.

But I still understood the pain Chris must have gone through to make that call.

“Poor Chris,” said Kayla in a whisper, tears pooling in her eyes .

“But he will be okay, right?” Gina asked, so pale she resembled a ghost, and the white shirt of our uniforms wasn’t helping at all.

I probably looked even worse—and it wasn’t just because of Chris, either.

It was because tomorrow was that day of the month. The day in which I had to call Hill with my monthly report about Taland.

Goddess, I hated tomorrow with all my heart.

“Yes, he will. He’s in the infirmary, and they said he’d pull through in a matter of weeks,” Kayla said.

“Do you think they’ll let us visit?” I wondered, though we weren’t really friends with Chris, just like we weren’t close friends with the other students who weren’t in our chambers. Those determined your circle of friends in the Iridian School of Chromatic Magics.

“I doubt it. Maybe his dad or close friends,” Kayla said.

“Guys—I will never recover from it,” Briar said again. “I can’t get it out of my head— I can’t! ”

The girls sitting closest to her patted her back.

“Do you think he’ll make it for the Feast of Hope?” Bethany asked, looking up from her drawing for a moment.

Who cares? I wanted to say. It was just a party.

They held it in honor of the graduates, a symbol of hope that we continued to learn and grow and make our community of mages as proud out there in the world as we did in here. I’d been excited about it when they first gave us the date, but right now I couldn’t care less.

The other girls shrugged. “I hope so. It’s our last celebration before school ends,” Kayla said, and that made me flinch. I couldn’t care less about the party right now, but it would be the first and last party I’d attend with these people. Even though I’d only known them for about four months now, I knew I would miss them.

It would be my first party with Taland, too, and I’d been wondering if he even knew how to dance. The thought of him sweeping me off my feet and spinning me around on the dance floor made me want to smile.

Now, I couldn’t wait to find out.

“He will, he will. Let’s be positive, ladies!” Gina said, clapping her hands, smiling so fake it hurt my eyes. “Cheer up—Chris will be just fine. It’s a magical school—of course accidents are going to happen. Remember what happened to Doris junior year?”

“Guys, I gotta run,” I said, as the girls nodded their heads, lost in thought. Whoever Doris was and whatever had happened to her junior year, I hadn’t been here then, and I didn’t have the time to listen to the story right now if I was going to meet Taland on time.

And I always met Taland on time.

“Sure, sure. Go ahead, go creeping around like you always do,” the girls teased, waving me off.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Stifling my smile, I turned around and ran toward the third tower, and all the way up to the rooftop deck.

Taland was already there, sitting on the ledge, in the same place where we’d had our first date. Though it was later now—it had been April then, the day shorter—the timing was perfect. The sun had just touched the horizon, and the world looked like it had really caught fire.

“My favorite human makes an appearance, at last,” Taland said dramatically.

I rolled my eyes just for show, threw my backpack on the ground, and went and wrapped my arms around his side .

“I’m right on time,” I said because I was. He said when the world burns, and the world was burning in the distance, right in those moments.

“You’re always late, even when you’re on time,” Taland said because that somehow made sense to him.

I shook my head, smiling, my head on his shoulder. He hopped off the ledge to hug me properly, grab my face in his hands and kiss me. I loved how the sunlight made him look when it was at his back like this, like the outline of him was burning, too. Beautiful. Absolutely breathtaking—but I was in love with the guy so maybe that made me a little bit biased.

“You okay?” he whispered, and I nodded.

“I’m fine. Chris is gonna pull through. The girls said he’ll be out of the infirmary in weeks,” I said, and he nodded.

“He will. I know Chris. He’s a tough guy—he’ll pull through,” Taland said.

When he said it, I believed him.

I sighed, putting all my weight against him, knowing he’d never let me fall. “I can’t believe they even let us use the veler in school, if it can do that .”

“Exactly. Dangerous stuff,” Taland agreed. “Nobody should be allowed to play around with such powerful artifacts, least of all teenagers who haven’t even graduated yet. Who haven’t even prepared their first anchors.” And right now, he seemed pretty pissed off about it. Couldn’t blame him—I was, too. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

I was glad he was okay, too.

“This is messed up,” I said, but the fear and the panic were already fading the tighter he held me with his arms around my waist .

“Let me get you some popcorn, sweetness. What do you say? We can relax for a bit tonight.”

That did sound mighty fine. “Mhmm. I think I need to be spoiled tonight.” Because of Chris, and because of the awful tomorrow that awaited me. The thought of hearing Hill’s voice had me exhausted already, and I just wanted to unwind right now. With Taland.

He didn’t hesitate. “Then let me spoil you, baby.”

He took me to his room where all his friends greeted me now. We no longer hid when we went to his chamber, no longer waited for it to be empty to climb to his room. Taland said his chamber mates were trustworthy, and so far, they had been. No professor had come to the door to take me to my room, even when I’d slept over the whole night. I’d done that at least five times in the last four months, and nobody had said a thing about it.

He left me in his room and went to the cafeteria to get us popcorn and drinks. When he came back, he took my sneakers off and turned his laptop on and put on whatever show we were currently pretending to watch.

Then he lay down with me and massaged my feet, wrapped me up in his arms—and he lasted all of four minutes before he slipped his hand under my shirt and began to play with my boob.

From there, it took him another three to get hard, hard enough to push us down on the bed until we were lying on the pillow. The show continued to play in the background— for the ghosts who pass by here, he always joked.

I still had half a bag of popcorn left, but I could eat it later. Right now, I was starving for Taland.

Slowly I raised my head and kissed the side of his neck, his jaw, all the way to his chin and up, while he moved his head lazily. When my lips met his, it always felt like that first time. It always sent electric jolts down my back and woke every part of my body. Now every inch of me was perfectly alert and waiting for the mind-blowing pleasure it knew it was going to receive soon.

Taland slipped his other hand underneath my skirt—the reason why I hadn’t once worn pants when meeting with him. I liked his hands under there too much. His rings were cool against my skin, making goose bumps rise on my thighs that he chased away by rubbing me as we kissed. Then he gripped my ass, and inch by little inch, he brought his fingers between my legs.

“My naughty little Rosabel,” he said with a growl. “You’re soaking wet.”

Well, we were in bed and he had his hands all over me—what did he expect? I said nothing, just kept my eyes closed and smiled as he slowly pushed my wet panties to the side and slipped a finger inside me.

I lit up like a Christmas tree, just like that.

My back arched and a moan escaped me, and I gripped his shirt with one hand, and moved the other down to his cock. I rubbed him over his pants first as he played with me, curved his finger just like I liked until I was screaming against his lips. We didn’t keep it down now—true to his words, Taland had bought a third-degree Greenfire ward that locked in all sound from this room, so I was free to scream as much as I wanted—and, boy, was I a screamer. I never even knew.

He moved us the next second, lay down on his back and put me over him, gripped my ass with both hands and slammed me down on his hard cock. I was grinding against it already, my hands moving down to his pants as I pushed his shirt up at the same time. His skin was warm, soft, made for me. I kissed him hungrily, bit his lips like a savage, but he never stopped me or complained. He always let me have him in any way I needed.

Then he moved us again, put me on my back and fell on top of me, taking the air from my lungs. His hands were everywhere, down to my pussy and on my boobs, squeezing my neck one second and fingers digging into my thigh the next. He drove his hips forward, teasing me with his cock, rubbing against me until I screamed again.

“Fuck, I love the sound of you,” he said, then put all his weight over me, arms secured tightly around my waist, his lips on my ear, his warm breath against my skin.

“Tell me all your fantasies, sweetness. I want to know how to make you scream every time,” he whispered.

My arms squeezed around his neck as my hips rose up to meet him, our clothes still in the way. “ You ,” I barely choked. “Everything you do. All of it.” He was my fantasy—my wildest, most beautiful, eternal fantasy, and he was real.

Taland growled in my ear, then took my earlobe between his teeth and bit hard.

“Then you’ll have everything. All of me,” he said, and now I wanted to bite him, too.

“Taland,” I breathed instead, his name a prayer on my lips, and he moved us once more, rolled us over so I was on top of him again.

“Sit on my face, baby. Let me give you all of it,” he said with that devilish grin that was made out of our favorite sins, and chills rushed up and down me instantly.

There was a time when I’d been too shy to even look him in the eye when he talked about things like this, but that time was long gone.

“Yes, sir,” I now said, knowing how much he loved it when I obeyed him. He was fully in charge of us when we were naked, and he wanted me completely submissive. I more than gladly complied. His words were my command, literally, because I knew that all he did, he did it to please me first. It was always, always about me, so it was easy to give up control. So damn rewarding.

He slapped my ass hard as I made my way up to his face with my knees on either side of his body.

“That’s my good girl,” he said, when I settled with my legs under his arms, and I held up my skirt so I could see his face between my legs.

“I need you to come on my mouth, sweetness. My sweet tooth is killing me,” he teased, kissing around my panties, on my pelvis, over the fabric.

Then he brought his hand up and slipped his finger underneath, and—holding my eyes all the while—he slowly pulled the fabric to the side and stuck out his tongue to lick my clit.

My head fell back, and I sat on him lower, needing him all the way inside me. There was no need to think or wonder how I looked or how hard I was screaming or if I was hurting him or if I was moving the way he wanted me to—he took care of all of that. With his hands on my hips, he pulled me down on his mouth as hard as he wanted, stuck his tongue inside me as deep as he could, and moved me up and down while he played with my clit until I couldn’t even tell you my name anymore.

And the sounds he let out while he ate me were my fuel. So easy to see how much he enjoyed it in the way he pulled me down and moved me, the way he moaned and devoured me without a second’s hesitation, until I lost control of my body and mind, and I exploded into a million rainbows. My head fell back, and I called out his name as he continued to move my hips against his face and play with my clit to make the feeling last as long as it possibly could.

It was perfect, just like every other time.

And to think we were only getting started…

I was too exhausted to move for a moment, so Taland raised me up and put me on the bed gently, kissed my face, my closed eyes, my cheeks, and whispered, “Do you want to taste yourself, sweetness?”

I smiled and only nodded, knowing I couldn’t speak right now.

“I’m warning you, though. This stuff will get you addicted,” he said, and I heard how he licked his lips.

I grabbed his face in my hands, brought his lips to mine, and licked and sucked every bit of my juices that remained on his skin. He was right—I tasted really sweet. He said he knew since the second he saw me that I would taste exactly like this—hence why he’d started calling me sweetness. I’d lie if I said I didn’t love his dirty mind.

When I let go of his lips, he stood up near the bed and took his clothes off while he watched me, then ordered, “Get on your knees. Take that top and that skirt off.”

Like I said—when he spoke, I listened, so I was on my feet right away, pulling my shirt off, then undoing my skirt’s zipper to let it fall to the floor.

I got on my knees as he pushed his boxer shorts down to reveal his hard cock, and I shivered all over again. Not sure yet if that thing was made in heaven or hell, but I knew for a fact that it was made for me.

“Come closer,” Taland said, lifting one foot onto the bed. I dragged myself closer until my face was right in front of his cock, and I grabbed it in my hands. Thick and smooth and so damn delicious, my mouth watered when I kissed the pink tip .

Taland wrapped my hair around his hand like it was rope and watched with his breath held as I planted kisses all over his cock, then licked the length of him slowly, and finally took him in my mouth.

His moan vibrated through me when he thrust his hips in and held my head in place, until he touched the back of my throat. I gagged, and he absolutely loved the sound of it, so he kept himself there for a good moment before he moved back and allowed me to breathe again.

“Eyes up, sweetness,” he said breathlessly.

Our eyes locked, and to see the way he reacted to each movement of my hands and tongue and mouth was pure bliss. The first time I took him in my mouth, he taught me how to do it, what he liked, as I was clueless. Now, I knew perfectly well how to make him come within the minute. Tonight, I wanted this to last so I took my time. Sucking on his tip, I held his eyes and twisted my hand around the base of him, watching his lips part farther and farther, feeling his grip on my hair tighten. His moans were my favorite sound in the world after his chuckle, and I moved a little faster, took him in a little deeper until his precum coated my tongue.

Fuck, he was delicious—I couldn’t get enough.

“Pull down your bra and grab your tits,” he ordered, and I eagerly did. Playing with myself for him might be the sexiest thing I’ve ever done, just as sexy as when I was watching him jerking off to the sight of me. There was just something about it that I was addicted to.

I continued to suck him and play with my boobs until his eyes turned so bloodshot they looked completely red.

“I want you to come together with me,” he then said, pulling at my hair harder until my scalp burned. “Touch yourself, sweetness. Put those fingers in your pussy.”

I cried out with his cock in my mouth, and he growled as the sound vibrated throughout him. I did as he asked, spread my legs wider apart and jutted my ass out to give him a better view, and I touched myself with a new urgency because I wanted to come together with him, too.

We did.

We lasted for only another minute, but seeing the pleasure we brought each other, hearing each other’s moans, and keeping our eyes locked was magic—there was no way we could keep from surrendering to the feeling all the way. He came in my mouth and I swallowed every drop of his cum, and I came on my fingers, imagining they were his.

By the time he grabbed me in his arms and lay me down on the bed again, my limbs were made of jelly, my eyes half closed, and a big lazy smile stretched on my face.

“Goddess, you’re perfect,” he muttered against my lips with a chuckle that warmed me to my toes, even in the half-asleep state I was in. He proceeded to kiss every inch of my face, lay down beside me and wrapped me up in his arms, and he let me rest there for a whole ten minutes, maybe more.

Then Taland said, “Ready for round two?”

Hell, yes, I was ready, but all I was able to give him was a moan. That’s all he really needed, anyway.

Again, he chuckled.

“Don’t worry, baby. All you gotta do is lay down and take it. You’re so good at that,” he whispered in my ear, and his words poured heat between my legs. Yes, yes, absolutely—I can take it. I was really, really good at that, indeed, and I was no longer ashamed to admit it.

Taland moved me, grabbed me by the hips and flipped me over on the bed so that I was lying on my stomach. He lay on top of me, on my back, and he began to touch me everywhere, bite my cheek and chin, run his hands down my body, press his hips onto my ass. I felt his cock getting harder by the second.

“Spread your legs,” he ordered and slipped his hand under me, lower and lower until his fingertips reached my clit. My screams came out muffled as half my face was against the mattress. I spread my legs as far as I could, and continued to move in rhythm with his fingers, until I was fired up and about ready to come in another couple minutes if he kept going

He didn’t, though. His cock was hard, pressing against my ass, and the more I moved, the louder he growled and the harder he bit me. Then he let go of my pussy, grabbed himself in his hands and brought his tip to my entrance, teasing me slowly.

I pushed back with all my strength, but he was much heavier than me so I couldn’t move too far. I couldn’t take him in until he decided to thrust himself deep and hard and all the way at once.

I screamed my heart out—Goddess, he felt so good. After all this time, and he still felt incredible when he stretched me like that, when we connected all the way. He no longer gave me the chance to move because he pounded into me with a new urgency, one hand on my hip, the other in my hair, turning my head to the side so he could kiss my lips and bite my jaw and ear and neck as much as he liked.

Just like he said, I lay there and took every delicious second. Nothing existed outside of this bed—not the school or the city or the world. It was just us and all we had was the pleasure we brought each other, and Taland didn’t stop going for a long time.

Eventually, he pulled himself up to his knees and replaced his cock with his fingers, curving them the way he knew I liked. With his other hand he caressed my back, grabbed my ass and slapped it until he was moaning together with me. He still loved the sight of his fingers, his cock, his mouth disappearing inside me like the first time.

“Ass up,” he then said, voice low and hoarse, sexy as sin. I raised my ass, and he grabbed a pillow and put it under me. Then he slapped me a few times, and he really was good at it because it never hurt, barely stung a little. But the sound of it never failed to turn me on more.

Whispering praise under his breath, Taland kneeled between my legs, grabbed my ass cheeks and spread them all the way until it hurt but also felt incredible. He licked my folds and stuck his tongue inside me, moaning.

“ Goddess, you look good like this. You taste so, so good… ”

And when he had enough of licking me and looking at me all stretched out for him like that, he moved back and brought his cock to my entrance and thrust inside me again.

Digging his fingers in my ass, he moved me the way he needed while he fucked me faster by the second. I came screaming his name into the mattress as everything faded away, and all that remained was the feeling of him inside and outside of me.

He came soon after, his cock buried so deep I felt him in the center of my being, my name a whisper on his lips.

Lying on my back, he kept himself inside me still as his cum slipped down my thighs slowly. We stayed there with our eyes closed, just breathing in until we were aware of our surroundings again.

Then Taland whispered in my ear, “I think we’re gonna be up till sunrise.”

“Absolutely,” I muttered, unable to contain a goofy smile .

The show kept on playing on his laptop. We continued to fuck like crazy until the sun turned the sky grey, and neither of us had energy to even make it out of the bed anymore.

That’s how I ended up sleeping in his room.

The next morning, I felt him moving before I was aware of where I was or what had happened or even what time it was.

He was behind me, had me wrapped up in his arms underneath the blanket, my ass to his cock that was hard and ready. He slowly brought it between my legs and put his tip inside me. Warm, soft, perfect, all of it.

A sleepy moan came out of me, my body awakening quickly as I raised my hips higher to take him in deeper, put my hands against the wall to brace myself, knowing full well what was coming…

“Good morning, baby,” Taland whispered in my ear.

“Morning,” I said breathlessly.

We didn’t say another word for the next ten minutes.

My stomach was a mess. The nerves had gotten the best of me even before I pressed the phone to my ear. My eyes were closed, and I just stood there in front of my window and let the sun rays warm my face. Let them ground me until I got this over with.

Then…

“Hill,” said the voice from the other end of the line, and my stomach fell all the way to my heels.

It’s as good as over now, I said to myself. I’d called. He’d answered. In a matter of seconds, it would be over .

So, I got my shit together.

“La Rouge,” I said, just like I was supposed to.

“Good to hear from you, Rose,” he said in that fake polite voice of his I’d come to dread. “Any updates?”

“Yes—the same as always,” I said. “He hasn’t engaged in any suspicious activity, hasn’t spoken about anything in particular, hasn’t expressed any interest in whatever it is you suspect he’s after.” My voice was steady and calm, just like when I rehearsed. “Like I told you the last time, Mr. Hill, he is not the guy you’re looking for.”

Taland was innocent of whatever crimes the IDD suspected he was going to commit. I was with him most of the time, in class and in private, and the only times when I didn’t see him was when he was doing homework or studying, during which time we were regularly texting, too.

“And you’re certain of that,” Hill said.

“I am.”

“I am inclined to believe you, seeing as you spend more and more time in his dorm room lately, and even stay the night,” he said, and my cheeks burned bright scarlet. I knew Hill was watching me—of course he would be, and he’d let me know that he knew I was dating Taland since the second month I called to update him. But it still made me want to run away from my own skin screaming every time he mentioned it because he thought he knew why I was doing it.

He thought I was doing it for the mission, but even so, David Hill was not someone I wanted to talk to about these things, not even close.

“So, believe me,” I ended up saying, but he pretended I hadn’t.

“However, you will continue to keep an eye on him, and I do trust your judgment isn’t being impaired by… anything , Rose.” I knew exactly what he meant, of course, but I pretended that I didn’t.

“Of course not,” I simply said. Because no matter how infatuated I was with Taland, I would know if he was up to something—like stealing a magical artifact from our school, as Hill and the IDD believed. I would know all about it by now.

“Good. We have reason to believe that he will make an attempt at your Feast of Hope celebration in two months. If you find any evidence before then, call me at any time. Otherwise, I will be in touch with you before the party.”

“The Feast of Hope? But that’s?—”

Hill hung up.

Cursing under my breath, I threw the phone against the bed, and grabbed my hair in my fists just to try to let out some of the frustration. He was fucking insane—Taland was not a criminal. He worked hard and studied hard. Maybe he paid people to do his homework sometimes, but he had a brilliant mind and could learn a lesson faster than any of the other classmates, including me.

He was not a damn criminal!

A knock on my door. “Coming?!” Briar called.

“Be right down!” I called back, then grabbed the phone and hid it in the closet. I’d promised the girls to get brunch together today, and I wasn’t going to miss that date because of Hill.

He was wrong about Taland, and I didn’t need to be so stressed out about it because he would know soon. Time would tell. Who cared how long it took—Hill and the entire IDD would know eventually that Taland was not their guy.

And when school was over and we moved in together like we planned, I was going to tell Taland the whole truth about who I was and why I came to this school. He’d be angry, mad— no doubt about it, but eventually he’d understand.

Because he knew me better than anyone, better than I knew myself. He’d believe me, and though I would hurt him, I would also make up for every ounce of pain I’d cause him. I’d spend my whole life making up for it until my dying breath.

We were going to be okay, Taland and I. I believed that with all my heart.

We were going to be just fine.