Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
T he mixer took up two floors of the male dormitory. The outside of the dorm was made of stone, tall black fencing surrounding the building, white lights floated along the perimeter and lined the path to the entrance. Jeering from the party goers could be heard as we knocked on the door. No one answered, so we just walked in.
Lalita held my hand. She always got nervous at parties. “I wish we did some shots before we came,” she shouted over the music.
I squeezed her clammy hand. “You have me and Eleanore. We’ll protect you from anything that makes you uncomfortable,” I reassured her, then smiled.
I dragged them past two guys kissing on the front steps and through the main entrance. Every door on the first floor was open, students passing through them and into the hallway as they explored what each room offered. Black webbing hung over the hall and draped over the doorways. If someone tall walked through a web, it giggled and sent static electricity through their hair.
I covered my mouth to hide my laugh as I spotted the back of Jax, his dark brown locks frizzy and standing on end. His signature leather jacket covered his broad shoulders, and his firm ass begged to be bitten in fitted dark jeans. Damn, he looked sexy as hell. I took a step toward Jax, but a delicate hand wrapped around my arm.
A petite woman with a lavender pixie cut gazed up at me with adoration and heat banked in her gaze. “I don’t know who you are, but I felt compelled to tell you how stunning you look tonight.” She blushed, then batted her mascara coated eyelashes at me.
“Um. Thank you,” I replied, then gently removed her hand from my arm. She quickly disappeared into the mass of bodies. I was used to the constant attention from all sexes daily. So, I normally avoided parties, especially where alcohol was served. The lowered inhibitions just exacerbated the need my siren looks held on every living person.
I turned back to go find Jax, but ran into something solid. My nose ached as I pulled away and looked up. Josh gripped my shoulders and shook me lightly, then looked me up and down. “Well, damn.” Josh grinned. “You look incredible, Zellie. I’m glad you came.”
I flashed him a prize-winning smile. “Thanks for inviting me.”
“Us,” Jax said, then banded an arm around my waist.
Josh rolled his eyes, then grabbed two cold Noxtosis Hard Seltzers from the ice chest in the room closest to us and popped the top off with his keys. “Zellie, I need to borrow Jax for a minute. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Sure,” I said, then raised the bottle to my lips.
Jax protested and glowered as Josh pulled him into a dorm two rooms down.
It wasn’t long before another body brushed against mine. Thomas stepped around me, then clinked his bottle against mine. I avoided his gaze, then noticed Amara’s crew, minus Jayde, standing in the corner, looking at the rest of us like vermin. “I see they’re over her death already.”
Thomas shrugged. “Maybe they just needed an escape, too. What made you come tonight?”
“I came with my b—I came with Jax,” I said, then forced my lips to turn up into a smile.
A mischievous glint danced in Thomas’ dead eyes. “Ah, so he’s not your boyfriend yet, huh?”
My skin itself tried to shrink away from him as he wrapped his arm around me. I tried to shrug him off, but he only increased his hold.
Lalita saw my struggle, then gripped my hand and pulled me toward her. “Let’s go dance! They cleared all the furniture out of one dorm on the second floor!” She yelled over the music. I nodded and allowed her to lead me through the throng of people to the stairs. I grabbed Eleanore’s hand on the way by and we all trouped up the stairs in search of the cleared space.
The music got louder, and the beat pulsed through me - along with the beer—a delicious buzz was working its way through my system. Black streamers hung across the exposed beams supporting the ceiling. I kicked several silver and black balloons as the girls and I made our way into the living room dance floor. Lalita handed me another Noxtosis, then shouted next to my ear. “I’m going to find whoever is playing the music and ask them if they’ll change it.”
“Brilliant idea, L!” I shouted back.
I danced with Eleanore and lost track of time. Lalita pressed against my back as the three of us moved to the beat.
Jax finally returned with Josh in tow and walked me down to the table where they were playing snap dragon on the first floor. I watched a few rounds with Eleanore and Lalita as spark after spark of magic missed the mark. The thick stalk of the dried plant swayed as its many skull like seed pods snapped their jagged maws to collect the soaring sparks. Deep carvings on the stalk shimmered with power as it magically tallied each team’s points.
I doubted I would be any good at this game, but it at least looked entertaining. On my first try my lavender spark flew over the plant entirely and landed in the curls of a red head standing too close to the table. Thankfully, my spark fizzled out almost immediately. I covered my mouth with both hands but couldn’t stifle my laughter.
I tapped my index finger on the academy’s emblem etched onto my opaque gray glass mug and dutifully held it under one of the seed pod skulls and waited for it to pour a shot of Wrathful Lust liquor. The ultramarine liquid splashed onto my hand as someone pushed by me.
Lalita slipped away with Josh somewhere around my fourth round playing. Unfortunately, I wasn’t great at the game, and feeling tipsy quickly turned to being wasted. Thomas hovered by my side all night. Any time I made a shot, he cheered.
I scanned the dorm for Jax but couldn’t see him. All my emotions rushed to the surface. I looked up at Thomas. “I’m going to the restroom.”
He grinned. “Want me to come with?”
My brows drew in and I stumbled back a step. “No. I’ll be back in a sec. Hold my place.”
The next hour was a blur. Thomas kept handing me drinks on top of what I was already consuming playing the game, and before long, we were the only ones left. Jax and Josh wrestled nearby, and I kept catching glimpses of their barred teeth as they grappled and laughed. I wanted to snuggle up with Jax and ask him to take me to his flat, but I didn’t want to interrupt his fun. It was so rare to see him truly happy.
Everything was moving too fast, and the stone floor waved under my feet. “Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” Thomas whispered in my ear, but I barely registered who was speaking to me.
“Uhm,” was all I could manage to splutter.
He gave Dan a look and said something about using his bedroom in the next dorm over. Thomas half-carried me out of the current dorm we were in.
I tried to look around to see Lalita or Eleanore, but they weren’t anywhere to be seen. A text flashed on my phone, but Thomas grabbed my phone before I could read it.. “You’re too drunk to be answering messages.” He teased.
“I feel sick,” I told him.
“I’ll get you some water. Let’s get you somewhere cozy.”
I saw Jax in the corner of my eye, but Thomas lifted me up in his arms and I lost sight of him. The room spun as he carried me. “I need to lie down.”
“You will.” He said and carried me into Dan’s room. He plonked me down on the mattress. I fell backward onto the bed, then covered my mouth as nausea churned my stomach. My limbs moved of their own accord as I crawled beneath the covers, then stretched out my legs. My eyelids were impossibly heavy, but I fought the urge to sleep. I needed to find Jax, but the room wouldn’t stop shaking and spinning.
Thomas sat down next to me and ran his hand up my inner thigh.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, then locked the door behind him.
Ughhh. What had I done? I was never drinking again.
I was awoken by shouting outside the door. I must’ve passed out. I tried to sit up, but a wave of vertigo washed over me like the churning ocean during a hurricane. There were several loud bangs on the door until it split down the middle, just like when Jax used his power to break the door into the tower. Light arrowed into the room and I covered my eyes.
Jax’s hands were on me, stroking my arms and staring at my face. “Zellie? What happened?”
I groaned agitatedly. “What?”
I squinted, then lifted my gaze to his wide, horror filled ones. “What did he do to you?” He growled.
“Nothing,” I said, then yawned. I opened my eyes wider and blinked sleepily at Josh standing next to Jax.
Adrenaline flooded my system, and it burned through some of the alcohol sloshing through my system. “Wait, where am I? Whose bed is this?”
“I don’t know,” Jax growled. “But Lalita came to find us and said Thomas carried you into this room.”
I looked at the pair of them, slack-jawed. “I—He didn’t do anything to me…” I trailed off, then winced. “But he probably could have.”
Jax swore, then paced by the side of the bed. “I’m going to fucking kill him. Even if nothing happened, I know what he intended.”
“J-ax,” I slurred, “please take me home.” I attempted to prop myself up so I could look a little less pathetic, but the scene had already started grappling with unwanted attention. Embarrassment heated my blood as I diverted my gaze from Jax and Josh. “Wait!” I shrieked, then hissed and rubbed my temples. “I-I meant take me to you home, se,” I hiccupped, “bye, phantom man.”
Jax was pissed. I’d never seen him angrier than he was at that moment. He looked me dead in the eyes. “You’re coming with me.”
Josh walked out, probably to find Lalita.
I looked up at Jax. Our gaze latched onto the others. “Only if you kiss me,” I said, then pressed my lips together expectantly.
He wrapped his arm around my back and pulled me tightly into him. He gazed into my eyes with urgency. “You really want me to kiss you in some other man’s bed? This is when you want to do this?”
I answered by parting my lips. “Are you scared?”
Jax growled, then gripped my throat; the pressure was dominating but not enough to cut off my airway.
It wasn’t like our first kiss by far, but the alcohol swimming in my blood approved greatly. The kiss was hot and sloppy. Well, on my part, but Jax wanted me just the same. His tongue danced with mine, then smoothed over the ridges on the roof of my mouth. – I felt his burning passion and I was too deep in the throes of it to care about anything but his lips devouring mine.
When we pulled away from each other, he shook his head. “You’re fucking insane.”
I looked mischievously at the door. “So are you,” I slurred. “Take me home, Jaxi.”
Jax groaned, then mumbled under his breath and stood. “Gonna fucking kill Josh for teaching you that nickname.”
People gathered outside of the room. I emerged in Jax’s arms and hid my face. He lifted my chin up with his knuckle. “Don’t do that.” He turned and looked at everyone else. “Enjoying the show?”
They moved out of the way. Thomas and his friends climbed the stairs between levels. Their gazes narrowed as they spotted Jax and I.
“We’re leaving now, shitheads,” I sing-songed, then twiddled my fingers at Thomas over Jax’s shoulder.
The cool air kissed my face as we exited the building. Jax walked over to the side of the building, then slid me down his body.
My hip kept bumping into him as we stumbled down the cobblestone path to his flat.
“If you trip one more time, pet, I’ll throw you over my shoulder and carry you the rest of the way.”
“Pfft,” I said, blowing the long dangling gold strands out of my face. “But did you see their faces?”
Jax chuckled seductively, then scooped me back into his arms. “You’re so fucking adorable it hurts, but I also kind of want to strangle you.”
I burst out laughing, then kissed his stubbled cheek. “Do it, I’m into that.”