17. Seventeen
The next morning when I make my way downstairs for breakfast, Eris tells me Atlas left early to prepare for some meetings, but I know the truth. After our encounter last night, he”s distancing himself. I”m grateful I don”t have to sit at the table and pretend that everything is alright between us, especially with Eris and Nyx watching us with special interest, but it is only prolonging the inevitable. In just a few hours, I”ll have a hand-to-hand combat lesson, and I intend to get a few good licks in, if I can.
”You”re quiet this morning, Kitarni,” Nyx”s voice slices through my anxious thoughts, drawing my gaze. ”You alright?”
I bob my head and scoop a spoon full of eggs into my mouth. ”Just tired is all. Didn”t get much sleep.”
”And what were you doing up so late?” He bounces his eyebrows playfully and even though he means no harm with his teasing, my skin burns hot, and my cheeks heat.
”I – uh… I was just… ”
”Baking,” Finn kindly comes to my rescue, earning the attention of everyone at the table. ”She decided to learn how to bake with me and I dare say, she”s a promising pupil.” He lifts a piece of bread, showcasing what we created. ”She helped make this.”
”Really, Shaye?” Eris beams. ”That”s incredible! Finn is a great teacher. I bet you”ll be as good as him in no time.”
”You”re far too kind,” I shake my head and offer Finn a smile, hoping he can sense how grateful I am for his help. ”What Finn failed to mention was that he did most of the baking, while I made all of the messes.”
Finn shrugs, blowing the steam rising from his coffee. ”Getting messy is the best part,” he winks.
Nyx gulps his orange juice down and thuds his glass against the table. ”Well, I”m glad you two had fun, but we”ve got to get going, if we”re going to make it to your lesson on time.”
I glance at the clock before locking eyes with him. ”What are you talking about? Professor Riggs is at Calmara today and my training with Atlas doesn”t start for another few hours.”
”Atlas told me your lesson was being pushed up. Said he had some meetings later on and didn”t want to cancel.”
I inadvertently roll my eyes. ”Great.”
Nyx cocks his head to the side, attempting to read me, but I offer him nothing. ”Do I detect some drama between you and Atlas?”
”No,” I hiss but I know Nyx can sniff through that lie. Thankfully, he doesn”t press further. Instead, he stands up and motions toward the front door.
”I”ll be outside waiting for you.”
”Is the carriage already here?” I don”t see the buggy waiting outside the window.
Nyx flashes a wicked smile and the scone I downed moments ago sinks like a rock in my stomach. ”I thought we would go for a jog this morning.”
”To the school!?”
”It”s a nice cool morning, and it”ll be good for you. We have to keep that endurance up if you want to get better at hand-to-hand combat.”
”You”re lucky I don”t lay my hands on you,” I grumble, wiping my mouth with a linen napkin.
”Oh,” he purrs, ”I love when you talk dirty to me.”
”I hate you.”
”You don”t.”
”Well, I”d like you a whole lot better, if we skipped the run and went to Treats for some tarts instead.”
For a moment, Nyx seems to ponder the tempting idea of skipping the cardio workout for some delicious flaky delicacies, but he snaps out of his temporary stupor and wags an accusatory finger at me. ”You almost had me convinced, woman. Now go get dressed. We don”t want to be late for Atlas” class. Unlike your other tutors, he doesn”t give a shit about your titles. Late is late.”
Sweaty and barely able to breathe, we stumble into the classroom expecting Atlas to be waiting for us with the utmost interest, since we”re a couple of minutes late, but his back is to the entrance. As exhausted as I am, all I can think about when I see the back of his head is the way he felt and tasted last night. I”ve played his words over and over again in my mind, but it doesn”t lessen the blow to my ego.
”Damn, Kitarni, he hasn”t even looked at you yet and you”re that excited?”
”What?” I press my palm against the wall and bend over to catch my breath.
Nyx points at my glowing hands as he gently yanks me to a standing position. ”You”ll never get a deep enough breath that way.”
”Damn it,” I mutter as I straighten and slip my glowing hands in my pockets. ”This is ridiculous.”
”Well, maybe try thinking of him less,” Nyx teases and I swat at him.
When Nyx dodges my feeble attack and barks out a laugh, it draws Atlas” attention. He turns around and finds my awaiting gaze, but nothing in his face gives away what he”s thinking, and it irritates me.
”Good morning, Princess,” he smiles, eyeing me up and down with one quick glance. ”Looks like you got an early workout in.”
”We decided to take a nice jog this morning,” I say flippantly, even though my heart is still pounding against my ribs, threatening to tear through my chest and run off.
He points toward the benches, ”Well, if you need to rest to catch your breath –”
”No need,” I interrupt him and motion for Nyx to take his place in the bleachers. ”I feel great.”
”Are you sure?” He arches a curious eyebrow, clearly not buying it. ”It”s a long run from the house-”
”Don”t worry about my stamina, Professor.” Memories of last night flash in my mind, and by the surprised look plastered on his face, he”s clearly plagued with the same thoughts. I clear my throat when I notice Nyx lean forward with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. ”What are we learning today?”
Atlas collects himself before waving a hand to the center of the room where two students I hadn”t noticed before are waiting. By the patches on their pristine black uniforms, they”re both eighth year fire wielders. My eyes dart from them to Atlas. If he intends to have his students attack me –
”It”s not what you”re thinking, Princess.”
”If they aren”t meant to attack me,” I narrow my eyes, ”then why are they here?
He shrugs. ”Ok, so maybe you”re partially correct.” He points from one student to the next for introductions. ”This is Meena and that”s Tor. They”re the best fire wielders in their year and I trust both of them to execute this exercise with precision.”
I fold my arms across my chest, ”And what lesson would that be?”
”You rely too much on your sight.” He takes a step toward me, a storm brewing in his eyes. ”You need to be able to feel your magic and use it instinctively.”
”Meaning?”
He pulls out a black blindfold from his pocket and lifts it up, so I can get a better look at it. ”May I?
”What exactly do you expect me to do, if I let you blindfold me?” My mouth has suddenly gone dry, and I wish I had a glass of water handy.
”Meena and Tor have been instructed to hurl fireballs at you.” He holds a hand up when I go to protest. ”Your task today is to block them, and if possible, launch an assault.”
I shake my head and laugh, because how else would one respond given that task? ”You”re insane. There”s no way anyone could do what you”re asking me to do.”
”What if I did it first to show you it”s possible?” A hint of challenge hums in his voice and even though I should hold firm and not agree to this lesson, my curiosity is piqued.
I slink toward him, closing the gap between us. I notice our close proximity affects the cadence of his breathing and how his back stiffens. ”And if they singe you?” I whisper sweetly.
He peers down at me. ”Then you won”t have to do this exercise. Deal?”
Against my better judgment, I say, ”Fine.”
Atlas lifts the blindfold up, offering it to me. ”Tie this around me.”
Reluctantly, I grab it. ”If I”m going to tie this around you, I”ll need a stool to reach.”
He doesn”t take his eyes off mine as he kneels before me, causing my stomach to flip. Last night I was the one on my knees before him, and now he is on the floor like a man paying homage to his queen. Slowly, I place the silky black blindfold against his eyes and reach behind his head to tie a knot, ensuring he won”t be able to see. When I finish, I allow my hands to linger in his hair, missing how it feels to drag my fingers through his soft locks.
Despite three other people being in the room, Atlas doesn”t move an inch until I lower my hands. ”Finished,” I whisper and clear my throat to say it again, but louder and more confident. ”Finished.”
Atlas stands up and a smirk creeps across his face. ”You might want to sit next to Nyx, Princess.”
”You”re not even facing the fire wielders.”
”I don”t need to.”
”Cocky, aren”t we?”
He leans forward, so his lips hover just above my ear. ”You forget, I”m used to the darkness, Strenlys. It doesn”t matter which direction I face, they won”t singe one single hair on my head.”
”We”ll see.” When I slip around him, my arm gently brushes his, making me shudder. Thankfully he”s blindfolded and can”t see the effect one light touch has on me. Even though I know it”s impossible, I feel as if his eyes are pinned on me, watching me climb up two rows and plop down next to Nyx.
My focus is fixed on Atlas and the two fire wielders standing on the opposite side of the circular ring. Atlas still hasn”t turned around. Is he seriously going to keep his back to them?
”Worried, Kitarni?” Nyx harasses me.
I flash him a side-eyed glare. ”Hardly.” I recline, propping myself up on my elbows, matching his nonchalant posture. ”I”m just curious to see what happens.”
”You can lie to me all you want, but I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you. Did something happen between you two last night?”
I scoff, hoping to throw him off. He”s way too observant for his own good. ”What a silly question.”
”You couldn”t sleep last night, something is clearly bothering you, and your typical level of sexually charged frustration with my brother is off the charts today.” He smirks, like he”s connecting the dots. ”So, I can only assume you two -”
”Nothing happened.” I feel the panic rising in my throat.
”Kitarni -”
”Nyx, please.” I don”t mean to sound like I”m on the verge of tears, but the humiliation of rejection creeps into every bone in my body and I fight the urge to sprint out of the room and hide in a dark hole in the ground.
”Hey,” he sits upright, pulling me against his chest and squeezes. ”I”m sorry,” he says into my hair. ”Sometimes I don”t realize when I”m taking my teasing too far. I didn”t mean to upset you. Whatever happened, or didn”t happen, between you two is your business.”
”It”s not you,” I reassure him, whispering into his chest. ”It”s me.”
”If you ever want to talk about it, I”m here.”
I nod, but before I can say anything else, I catch movement in my peripheral. The fire wielders” hands ignite, balls of flame licking up their arms, not leaving a mark on their exposed skin. Simultaneously, they launch an attack on Atlas, who still hasn”t bothered to turn around.
Something deep within me stirs and an unyielding urge to protect him consumes me. It feels as if I”m the one alit with flame and it takes every bit of strength I possess not to throw a golden shield around him.
”Turn around, Atlas, turn around,” I mumble, almost plead, not realizing my knee is bouncing until Nyx rests his hand on my thigh to relax.
Atlas tilts his head to the side, as if side-eyeing the fire beelining for him.
”What is he waiting for?” I ask aloud, to no one in particular.
”Just watch,” Nyx says with a calmness that I”m jealous of.
Reluctantly, I have no choice but to do exactly that. With a flick of his wrists, Atlas” shadows emerge. He spins, whipping his shadows around him, shielding himself from the incoming blows as well as extinguishing the balls of fire before they can do any damage to that side of the lecture hall. But Atlas isn”t finished. He slams his hands down on the ground, shooting shadows across the floor like spidery veins. The dark wisps rush toward the fire wielders, zipping and zagging past their defensive strikes, until they reach the students, wrap around their legs and torsos, and pin their arms to their sides, dragging them down to the floor. With his attackers bound and rendered powerless, Atlas stands up. With his blindfold still tied around his head, he turns in my direction with a knowing smile, before slipping two fingers underneath the blindfold and tugging it off his head.
Seven hells, that was probably the sexiest display of power I”ve ever witnessed, and he doesn”t seem the least bit impressed with himself.
Without looking in their direction, Atlas releases the students from their shadowy shackles, and heads straight for me and Nyx. When he reaches us, he plants a boot on the bleacher directly in front of me, resting his elbow atop his knee.
”So.” A smile tugs at the corner of his lips. ”As you can see, I”m perfectly intact.”
Something I”m grateful for, though I won”t be admitting that to him. I barely bob my head in acknowledgement.
”Your turn, Princess.”
There”s no shot in hell I”ll be able to do what Atlas just did, but a deal is a deal, so I slip out of my seat and stomp past him, taking my place in the spot he stood moments before.
”Turn around.” Atlas twirls his index finger in a circle.
”If you think I”m keeping my back to them -”
Lifting the black blindfold up for me to see, I”m silenced. ”I need to fasten this, unless you”d prefer doing it yourself.”
I swallow hard before I rotate my back to him, flipping my braid over my shoulder so it hangs down the center of my spine. His hands lower over my head as he gently places the blindfold across my eyes. I inadvertently suck in a breath when he tugs the ends tighter.
Not having my sight is a strange sensation. For a brief moment, my heart constricts, and my fear of the dark begins to consume me, but then Atlas rests his hands on my shoulders and slowly drags his fingers down the lengths of my arms. That little bit of contact immediately calms my nerves. I”m no longer in the classroom with a blindfold tied around my eyes. I”m in Atlas” bedroom with the candles flickering, fireplace crackling, and his lips pressed against my neck. He palms my ass, strokes his fingers through my hair, whispers in my ear and sets my soul ablaze. Fear no longer grips my heart. Call it passion, lust, or attraction, I know this is more than that, deeper than that. This is…
”Happy or sad?” Atlas whispers and the small hairs on my arms stand straight up.
”What?” I furrow my brows.
”Whatever you”re thinking about right now.”
I clear my throat, the memory of our encounter gone, and twist so we”re standing face to face. I could tell him what I was thinking about just now, but he made it abundantly clear last night that he didn”t want anything to happen between us. Part of me wants to ask him why he rejected me, but my stubbornness and wounded pride won”t allow it.
”I”m ready,” is all I say in response to his inquisition. I can sense his hardened, curious stare, but he doesn”t say anything else other than, ”Listen to your surroundings and trust your magic.”
I nod in understanding. And although I can”t see him, I instantly feel his absence when he stalks off toward the bleachers. Though his light breathing has faded, his leather and pine scent lingers. Such an odd feeling of being able to sense someone”s presence with or without visual confirmation, as if there”s a connection deeper than sight.
Just as Atlas instructed, I quiet my mind to listen to my surroundings. My magic hums beneath my skin, and I smell the smokiness of the fire wielders standing on the opposite side of the room. I slowly puff out a nervous breath, shedding my anxiety. The second their hands ignite, I hear them, and once again panic begs to stir within me, but I repress those feelings, and wait. Wait for them to launch their assault. Wait for the balls of fire hurled at me to come closer.
Just as I sense the fiery assault nearing me, the most amazing thing happens. My magic spreads from my hands and ricochets through my entire body. I throw a shield in front of me and hear the blasts smash against it. Without a moment”s hesitation, I drop the shield and shoot light from my hands, zipping it across to the senior fire wielders. One of them hisses a mumbled curse and dives out of the way of my returned strike. The second wielder must have side stepped the blast and launches a second ball of fire at me. This time, I”m not fast enough to throw up a shield. I”m able to twist my body out of the fire”s direct path but still feel the painful burn brush past my upper arm. I scream as my flesh burns, but as quickly as the pain erupts, it”s stifled.
Hands grab me and pull me against a muscular chest. Surprisingly, despite the scent of my burnt flesh and the smokiness of the magic wielders, I can smell Atlas the second my cheek hits his chest. ”I”m sorry,” he sounds devastated, horrified even. Gently, he slips his fingers underneath the blindfold and yanks it off my head. I blink several times rapidly, trying to adjust to the light filling the space. But once my eyes settle, I meet Atlas” concerned stare. ”Are you alright?”
I follow his line of sight and see the blistering wound on my bicep. It”s angry and red, but I don”t feel any pain. ”I”m alright.”
”Let”s get you to the medical wing. They”ll patch you up.” Atlas releases me from his strong grasp and looks down at me. ”I”m sorry, I shouldn”t have forced you to do this lesson. You need more -”
”I want to try again,” I interrupt him, drawing a stupefied glare from him.
”What did you just say?”
”I said, I want to try it again. Put the blindfold back on.”
”Princess -”
”Professor,” I challenge. I refuse to back down on this and by the defeated and exhausted look on his face, he knows I”ll fight him on this for the rest of the day, if I must.
”You are incredibly stubborn; you know that right?” He picks the blindfold up off the floor where he dropped it.
”Maybe I just like arguing with you,” I tease, and I finally see a slight uptick in the corner of his mouth. ”Tie it.”
Obediently, he does as I ask and refastens the wrap around my eyes. I take my stance and once again wait for the fiery barrage. Just like the previous time, I hear the ignition of flames licking up their arms, smell the char of the fire hurled my way, and this time, I don”t put up a shield to protect myself. If training with Nyx has taught me anything, it”s how to avoid being struck. I let my magic, the instincts of my body take over, and dip, dodge, twist and contort limbs to avoid each and every flame the wielders have launched. I spin, feeling the buildup of my power itching to be released, and blast streaks of light at the two fire wielders. Both of them scream before diving out of the way. The explosion across the room is deafening and I don”t wait for Atlas to come take the blindfold off me. I rip it from my head and see the catastrophic damage my magic is responsible for.
Thankfully, neither fire wielder is injured, but I can”t say the same about Atlas” desk. The mahogany table is split in two and wood shavings scatter across the floor. Pieces of parchment are raining down on us like snow and I don”t see his chair anywhere.
Atlas comes into view, circling the area his desk once sat, and rubs his chin with great interest at the destruction. I take a few steps toward him, ”I”m so sorry, Atlas, I didn”t mean -”
He whips around to face me, pride in his eyes and a grin playing across his face. ”You are truly amazing!”
I halt my advancement. I must have heard him wrong. ”What did you say?”
”You, your magic, your power. You are amazing.” He motions to what used to be his desk with excitement. ”You split my desk in half!”
I scratch behind my ear and grimace. ”I didn”t mean to – ”
”Princess, I”m not upset.” He shakes his head and approaches me. ”You trusted your magic and it”s growing more powerful. Before you were only able to shoot bursts of light, but now, your light streaked across the room like a lightning bolt, and you split a solid wooden desk clean in half. I”ve never seen anything like this before.”
”You aren”t mad?”
”Mad?” He scoffs, dumbfounded. ”Desks can be replaced, but witnessing what you just did will forever be burned in my memory.” He grins, and I”m not sure why he”s smiling that way until he says, ”Professor Riggs is going to be supremely disappointed he wasn”t here to see this.”
”And that makes you happy?”
”Is it wrong of me to want to have some part of you to myself?”
”And which part would that be, Atlas? My body or my magic?”
His eyes turn molten, and his shoulders stiffen. He finally inches closer, whispering, ”What if, I desire your heart?”
”Would you offer me yours in exchange for mine?” I find myself hypnotized by him, forgetting anyone else is in the room with us.
He lifts his hand and wipes wild strands of my hair from my sweaty face. ”For you, I would make that trade.”
”What is going on in here?” Headmistress Radcliffe”s throaty voice echoes. ”Is anyone hurt?” Her eyes widen when she sees the shattered desk. ”What happened?”
”We”ve had a tremendous breakthrough, Philomena.” Atlas drops his hand from my face and struts toward the Headmistress with his typical swagger. ”Princess Ilaria has unlocked more of her power. No longer just blasts of light, she can shoot light like lightning across a room and leave this in her wake,” he motions toward the remains of his desk.
Her mouth drops when she turns to look at me. ”You did all this?”
I nod as Nyx takes his place beside me. ”Yes, I”m very sorry for the damage -”
”Extraordinary,” she murmurs. ”We”ll find you a new desk, Professor Harland. Good work.” She turns on her heel, as if she herself is on fire, and hustles out of the classroom.
”Why is she practically running out of here? Is she scared of me?” I ask Nyx and he shakes his head.
”No, she”s probably on her way to tell the rest of the faculty.”
”Why?”
”Why do you think, Kitarni?” He flashes me a look. ”Some of them are convinced you and Atlas are the reincarnation of Oryn and Naya. Others are waiting in anticipation of the first Tethering in over a thousand years. Everything you and Atlas do will be watched and scrutinized.”
”Great, more people watching my every move.”
He bumps me with his shoulder, and I look up and see him wiggle his eyebrows playfully. ”The good news is, other than Atlas, you”re the most powerful magic wielder at the school. They won”t do anything to upset or offend you, fearing you might,” motions to the remnants of Atlas” desk, ”split them in half.”
”I would nev -”
”Oh, don”t say never, Kitarni. Keep them on their toes,” he winks. ”I don”t know about you, but I”m famished. Care to grab some lunch after we get you to medical to fix up your arm?”
”Actually, we already have plans.”