Chapter 4 #2
I can feel the electricity in the air as thunder rumbles. Practically tasting the smoke on my tongue as I take the familiar path towards the dorm in the back. Half nearly hidden by forest and foliage.
The students out and about – I can feel their eyes trained on me. I was not subtle with my aura or my magic. And now, well I’m sure the proof is obvious in my eyes. I never could practice my abilities without showing it through my eyes.
Ricka is at the desk when I step through the door to my building. Her head lazily turns but her body jerks as she stands and her eyes widen.
“Mavyn,” she breathes. “You’re up.”
I twist that second key locked and feel everything draining back within. My eyes turning pink again which causes Ricka’s eyes to widen further.
Then I sag my shoulders and sigh. Leaning against the wall and sliding down it. I had been so well rested not even thirty minutes ago. I wish I had never woken up. I don’t even know what happened to wake me up.
“Are you okay?”
Ricka leaves the desk and rounds it to come over to me. Her uniform the same as mine though the stitching and her symbol are different. Her’s is a green lightning bolt signifying her lightning mage status. I’m assuming it’s green because that’s the color of her lightning.
It tracks since I’ve always seen sparking threads of green in all of its shades around her.
“What day is it?” I ask. “And what time?”
She straightens and gives me a perplexed look. “Novam 11th, and it’s about twelve. Did you just wake up? Aren’t you supposed to be in the infirmary?”
I throw my hand in the air between us and grunt. She begins to frown.
“Should I go get Jullia and Asher? You look like you won’t be able to get yourself up.”
She’s probably right.
Eh. . . actually wrong.
I drag myself up and begin making my way to the stairs. A pair of girls comes walking down and they both gasp when they see me. When I pass they begin whispering before Ricka scolds at them and pushes them off.
It makes sense there will be whispers and rumors. I doubt secrets this big become known that often.
No matter.
It’s whatever.
Or at least, that’s what I’m telling myself. What I will continue telling myself because I’m still stuck here for the next five years. I’m still stuck. Still caged. Still a prisoner.
I open my door and realize there is one drawback to the sound barrier.
Jullia screams as I slam the door shut, but not before I had seen Asher’s bare-ass fucking ass thrusting into –
“Ghahhhhh!” I begin rubbing my eyes hoping it’ll vanquish the sight from my memory but it doesn’t do anything.
The door gets ripped open and I immediately spin around and book it to the stairs.
“Mavyn!” I hear Jullia yell but I’m already on the stairwell and making my way down. Asher had opened the door with at least shorts on but still shirtless and I just don’t want to be near that. “OH MY GODDESSES I’M SO SORRY!”
I plug my ears and sing, “La la lalalalalalala.” As I run down the stairs and back out the dorm building.
Good for her, good for her, good for her, I chant in my head. Until I hit a brick wall that has me falling back before hands grip on either side of my waist. I’m still plugging my ears as I look up to red incased in gold.
My face already feels like it’s on fire and now that large hands are firmly gripping my sides I feel like they flame hotter.
Behind me I hear my named muffled and glance back at a still shirtless Asher and Jullia who threw on a giant t-shirt.
An embarrassing squeak comes out of me as I try to side-step the professor but he only tightens his grip and one of his thumbs rub up and down making my stomach dip. Then he pulls me closer into his chest and snakes his hands around my back. Pushing my head into pure rainy dewy meadows.
He smells like a field after a storm right before sunrise. Everything tinted in cool colors and such a freshness. Clean and like life. The red devil with his shadows and truth-pulling and world-destruction smells like life.
I take in a deep breath of it as a hand begins stroking up and down my back. Then shadows begin swirling from the corner of my eye and everything dips for a second before my bare feet are no longer touching stone.
I wiggle my toes and it feels like some sort of wood or laminate flooring.
Did we just shadow twist?
His chest rumbles and I realize I’m still plugging my ears. Dropping my fingers, I keep my arms up because his are still wrapped around my middle and I have nowhere to put mine. I don’t take my face from his chest though because he smells so good.
I feel like I could lay against a grassy hill right now and take a nap. A rainstorm around the horizon but enough of a gap to allow the pink and orange sunrise through.
His hand hasn’t stopped stroking my back, but after a pass he changes from the pads of his fingers to his nails. It causes a shiver to run up my spine and the feeling has me arching against his hand. It tickles, but it pushes my front even more so into him.
I wrap my hands on his biceps since there’s nowhere else to really put them – though that’s putting it lightly since my hand barely extends around half of his giant arm. I don’t think even using both hands would wrap around completely.
Maybe I should try.
His chest slightly rumbles again and I finally pull my head back and look at him. Gold is ringing red irises, but his pupils are nearly swallowing all of the red. I also now notice his blood is rushing and his heart is beating hard against his chest.
“You were right.” His voice slightly raspy and low. “It was not runic magic turning me on.”
And right at this moment I can feel the bulge digging into my stomach which has heat flushing my body and my stomach dipping again.
My brain glitches and I have no idea what to do next. I can feel every point of contact from him to me with his fingers still stroking and lightly scraping my spine. It feels like a slow burning fire building.
His eyes that are nearly swallowed by his pupils rove so slowly over my face. Like he’s trying to memorize every feature. It makes my cheeks burn with how close we are.
Wait.
When did his face get this close?
His nose is about to brush my own and my soul within yanks the hardest it ever has.
Jolting my body against his and his scent turns heady making my eyelids flutter down.
My control on my blood gone as my heart beats nearly as fast as his is.
That building fire licking throughout my body and my scent swirls within his.
Berries and florals with fresh rain-cleared meadows. A rainstorm on the horizon with rolling hills full of blue bell-shaped flowers.
His lips make the smallest of contact against mine. Tracing over mine as he mouths my name and I tilt my head and close my eyes right as a door busts open.
It makes me jerk back as someone shouts at us to stop. A growl begins vibrating in Varian’s chest as my cheeks go red and I shrink down in his arms before looking back.
Callahan is behind his father with a scowl on his face and his aura swarming around him. The devil councilman the one who busted through the door. Entering a room I don’t recognize with his arm raised and another plea for us to stop.
“There is a raging red electrical storm going on outside that no one can stop. And a fire at the edge of Nagihoshi Sea no one can put out. Most of the flames are red and orange but they’ve started tipping to blue. You both – whatever you were doing – needs to stop.”
My brows immediately furrow as I push out of Varian’s hold and this time he lets me go. Within all four of my keys are turned and their doors are open wide.
Everything goes still for a moment as I snap each of them shut and lock them as I look down at my hands. Faint lines of red were starting to trace along my hands and wrists. I can feel the storm stopping and the fire disappearing.
Uncontrolled.
But I’ve always had control. I’ve always been able to open and shut those doors within me at will with ease.
Though what had stilled me most, what keeps me frozen as tingles from lightning sparks continue to trace along my lips, was that there was no pain.
Without thinking my fingers come up and trace my lips themselves. He had nearly kissed me – made physical, skin on skin contact with my face. . . and there was no burning.
I look up to Mr. Arcturus with a finger pointed at Varian looking like he’s scolding him. Mr. Armani behind him with a disapproving expression and arms crossed behind him and Callahan watching me. His eyes zeroed in on where my fingers are still touching my lips and I drop my hand.
I notice Thorne is behind him with a similar frowned expression, though I ignore them both and focus on what the devil councilman is yelling at Varian for.
“ – you could have taken this whole school down with you, boy! We told you not to conflict her emotions because this could have happened! Stupid, insolent child! You would have thought teaching would have matured you but you are still behaving like the troublemaking brat you were when you were a student. I’d expect this behavior now from Castiel. ”
“What?”
The scowling sneer that had been pointed at Varian gets turned on me and I glower at it.
Clapping his hands together and closing his eyes, the blood demon takes a deep breath before approaching me.
“Ms. Tsukkenai. . .” He opens his eyes and gives me a serious expression. “You understand that some magic can be tied to emotions?”
He waits as if he’s actually expecting me to answer.
I nod, feeling like this could be a trick question. “Everyone knows that. Emotions can give strength to power that is virtually powerless depending on how strong the emotion is. Usually it’s associated with rage or hatred.”
He gives me a sharp nod. “Yes. Good. Esmirra said you could influence such things – use your anger to further your magic past certain limits?”
I straighten my spine and shift my weight. “. . . Yes. I can control my emotions to funnel through my magic.”
He gives me another sharp nod. “Good. Good. You’ve practiced with such emotions, that’s what Esmirra said too. But there is one strong emotion you have not practiced with. One that could garter even more power than anger or hatred.”
Oh fucking hell.
My cheeks feel like they’re on fire as I clench my jaw and glance at Varian. I didn’t think –
Fuck!
“Lust,” the demon states bluntly. I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my fists because this is completely embarrassing. “Which is what we told you, Varian,” he ends on a growl.
“They said it was a possibility, not something actual,” he rumbles back.
The demon hisses, “But it was a high possibility. You heard what Elaycia said! And you thought what. . . seducing the innocent fated death blow wielding vampyr was a good fucking idea?”
I wince when he says innocent. Technically – from a religious, popping your cherry, penetration aspect – I am innocent. I try not to think about all the things I am not innocent in.
“Father – “ Thorne starts but something cuts him off. Then someone sighs heavily and I wish I was back in front of my door walking in on Asher and Jullia.
Actually –
I wince again at myself. I’d prefer none of this. I’d prefer to be home in my room waiting on Ana to finish her next batch of fruit tarts.
I hum to myself as I think about them. The raspberry and blackberry mixed one is my favorite. With the buttery, flaky crust that just melts in your mouth. Then, rather loudly, my stomach grumbles and I’m back to being embarrassed.
I can feel a presence coming at me and stopping just before me. Crackling embers and cedar. My soul tugs and I finally crack my eyes open to softened black ringed gold ones.
“Firecracker. . .”
My shoulders drop and he pulls me into his chest now.
Wow.
How fucking weak.
But I’m so tired, and now I’m hungry, and I thought I would be able to go home but now I’m once again stuck here. So much stress and anxiety could kill a girl. Plus the fact that it felt like I had been right on the edge of combusting just to be ripped away.
The whiplash has my body protesting.
And Varian touched my face.
I pull out of Callahan’s hold to look at him. The devil is staring at me with longing as the councilmen whisper to themselves.
Walking over to him, I look over him. From his face to his lips to his chest to his hands. Was it just his lips that were able to touch my own? Does he have some sort of countered spell or curse on him.
How was he able to touch me?
Deciding to test the theory, I grab his hand in mine and bring it up to my mouth.
“Mavyn. . .”
But I don’t listen to Callahan. I press my lips to the back of Varian’s hand and immediately jerk it back as pain obliterates my face.
White stars dance in my vision as my hearing goes in and out. I shake my head to right myself and can feel Callahan on my back as I blink a couple times and everything comes back into focus. Varian has his head lowered with a concerned expression and his mouth is moving but I still can’t hear him.
Pain still singes my mouth and face. A headache is already forming, but I take my hands and grab Varian’s face before crashing my lips to his.
Pain.
Burning.
This is my first time kissing another person’s lips. I think it might also be my last.