Chapter 48 #2
The targets start to move again, and my Chaos Magic crackles, pouring out.
The destructive forces seek out the red targets, shattering their wood into a thousand splinters, which I use to stab the next one and the next.
A field of sharp wood swirls around me, creating a second shield made of the remains of the targets I decimated.
My power instinctively protecting me without me even having to think about it.
He claps his hands as the bells chime and the splinters rain all around me. He follows me out the door, sprinting to class.
We make it just in time, but because we’re the last in the door, once again, I’m forced to sit next to him.
This will be beyond distracting. His shadows hum beneath my skin, begging me to touch him.
I struggle to imagine how he focuses in class at all having already accepted this bond.
I move my knee against his, and relief settles over us both.
Professor Gloomnight takes the stage, her powdery moth wings fluttering nervously behind her.
“Good morning. In light of recent events, we have decided to move up the Fortress Battle to next week. Today, you will have aerial maneuvers with your entire Wing, and then we will practice aerial combat where you wield your magic while flying.” She shifts her weight uneasily.
We aren’t ready for this.
Why are they rushing us through this? The Chivalries can barely fly through coordinated formation switching—now we’re going to add in the rest of our Wing while we sling magic through the air?
This is reckless. Maybe in the past I wouldn’t have cared, but now I have one too many fucks to give.
One for each member of my Zenith, our bounded creatures, and Pip, too.
My power thrums, feeding on the ensuing chaos as the crowd grows into a raucous fit. Light flares from my hand.
S?las covers it with his hand on mine, blocking the pastel rainbow light with his shadows.
I can feel him not wanting other people to see my light, and I’m not sure why.
I can’t read his thoughts like he can read mine, unless I accept the bond.
Maybe he’s afraid I will lose control of it.
The light magic that hums beneath my hand is very different from my Chaos Magic.
It’s like pulling atoms together instead of ripping them apart.
That should be the next thing we practice in the Warded Hollow.
He squeezes my hand gently; somehow, anything feels possible with him by my side.
Professor Gloomnight raises her hand, the room falling to silence.
“I know this may all seem rushed, but you are the very best of Cascara, and I have no doubt you will rise to the challenge. We are working on extending the wards around Raeya’s Fortress to ensure it’s safe for next week. Please, make your way to the southern field for flight practice.”
The field is even more chaotic than normal with the addition of the Pegasuses. I enjoy the familiarity of routine, of structure. This is an unsettling change, utter mayhem as we all take flight. Horribly underprepared.
My position at the top of the sky allows me to see the numerous times creatures nearly take each other out while moving through the maneuvers. Every beast flies at different speeds, depending on their shape and wingspan. After two hours of total disaster, we seem to finally find a rhythm.
I’m beyond thankful when we stop for lunch, but I don’t have much of an appetite when I remember we’ll be practicing wielding magic while flying next. I know we aren’t aiming at anything, just avoiding others’ magic to start with, but… something’s off, and I don’t like it.
The hairs on my neck sway as tattooed fingers graze down my arms, sending delightful shivers through my body. No one’s touch has ever felt like his. The all too familiar smell of amber and spruce fills my senses as his breath tickles the hairs by my ear.
“You seem lost in your thoughts. I’m almost jealous they’re not of me, Luxsula,” he purrs with a smokey voice that dissolves the world around me.
I’m not sure if I can ever get used to the way he affects me, but I’m not going to let him distract me again like this morning. I elbow him in the taut muscles of his abdomen, hearing an oomph from behind me.
“You’re a shameless flirt!” I snicker and hear the grumbling laugh of Calais across my mind.
I attempt to walk away, but he grabs my waist, pulling me into him, gliding my hair back to whisper along my neck, “You’ve done so well with your Celestial Gift. Stop worrying. I dare say Calais’ wings stand a chance thanks to your excellent teacher.” His lips hover near my neck in pure torture.
I’m not sure if I want to punch him or mount him at this point. Perhaps both could be a satisfying combination.
Thankfully, Calais makes the decision for me, snapping next to his head. He has the audacity to wave her off. I guess he’s accustomed to her temper, growing up spending time with Scáil.
The grumble that emanates from her chest shakes us both.
I pry myself from thinking of his naked body against mine to see a pair of neon violet eyes flaring like flames in front of me.
Shit.
I shove away from S?las, who reluctantly lets me go, his sadness and longing washing over me. The bond in my chest attempts to tug me back, but I brush it away, gritting through the pain.
I run after Winx. The heat radiating off her sears my flesh as I try to get close to her. I barrel through it. I can’t keep dodging talking to her, especially now with our rushed schedule.
“Winx. Please, can we talk?” I beg as I gently grab her wrist, singeing my flesh. She whips around, her pixie-shorn hair now a mess of bright violet flames.
“What’s there to talk about?” she snaps, anguish marring her petite features.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” I can barely look her in the eyes because I know I’ve done exactly that. And not talking to her about things sooner just makes this so much worse.
“I could tell you felt uneasy about showing affection in public. If you came and talked to me, I would have told you I was okay keeping what we shared a secret while we figured something out that makes us both happy. But you kept making excuses and blowing me off while I kept forgiving you. I’m so stupid, falling right back into your arms, even after you walked into the Dawning Festivities clearly dressed in his fucking shadow magic.
” Her fists clench tighter, knuckles white as violet flames roar from her shoulders.
My eyes water from the heat as I stumble a step back.
“I know he’s your Bloodline pairing, so it’s not like I can be mad that you’re fucking him.
What I’m mad about is how easy it is for you to be with him in public.
You melt into his touch like the world around you doesn’t matter.
That’s how your touch makes me feel. I want to light this whole fucking campus on fire, knowing that he can do that to you.
I wanted to be the one to melt your icy walls, to light up your cold nights.
What makes it even worse is you… you look like you fucking belong together!
” On those last words, all her fire goes out with her breaking heart.
I want to hug her, but I know that will only bring her more pain, especially as her last words echo through my heart, inappropriately skittering.
I’m afraid to tell her about the bond. It may break her.
It may bring her father down on me. Or it may finally make sense of everything.
I know my Zenith won’t be happy with me sharing secrets without talking it over with them first.
She slices through the heavy silence. Wrapping her arms around herself, as if bracing for the answer to her next question. “Is it because he’s a male. Is that why it’s easier for you?”
“Absolutely not. I don’t care what’s between anyone’s legs. Why would you think something like that?”
“You should be afraid of him, like everyone else is. His bloodline is unknown, and the last-known Shadowmancer was Wuvon. Yet you are drawn effortlessly to him… What does he have that I don’t?
” she whispers. Winx can’t even look at me now.
It’s breaking my heart that she could even think this is because he’s a male, like that can offer me something she can’t.
Bloodline pairings can be of the same biological sex.
It’s the first thing Gildora and Raeya had the Runic Engineers complete, once they created artificial wombs.
They retired as professors so they could raise their children together.
Even the lay folk can be put on a waiting list, having a child of their own after a few years.
We are free to love how we please, to live a full life free from biological restrictions of conception. It’s been like this for hundreds of years at this point.
It’s clear her feelings for me are much more than I thought, making me even more leery about revealing the bond. If word gets out, I don’t know what will happen. It’s not that I don’t trust her—or maybe it is. Her natural wildness is exactly what attracted me to her in the first place.
“S?las is a flirt, but he requires more connection to be intimate for our Bloodline pairing.” The words stick to my tongue like putrid honey. It’s a partial truth, but it doesn’t feel any less horrible.
“And you’re telling me that not only are you suddenly okay feeling things in public for him, but your Zenith is okay with him requiring feelings from you to meet your genetic contribution?” Her eyes flare neon violet again, clearly not buying my lies.
“We’re making do.” The words sputter out under my breath.
She cackles in response. “That’s Ritherin-shit, and we both know it. Since you are not willing to tell me anything, maybe I’ll scorch some answers out of your Shadowmancer you can’t seem to stay away from.”
“Winx, he is my Bloodline pairing. Stop it,” I snap, but she leans in closer, heat radiating from her once more as she scrapes her nail under my chin.
“If all it takes is being your Bloodline pairing to make you mine, then consider it done,” she purrs in a threatening way that sends a chill through my chest as she turns and walks away with a prance in her step.
Celestials be dimmed. I just fucked this up even more. Some days, I don’t even know why I bother.
“Hey, you. We’ll figure it out together.
I snuck away some food for you and Pip, on the other side of the hill.
Would you do the honor of joining me? I know you haven’t eaten, and I’d hate to see what hungry Chaos Magic looks like.
” A smoky voice slips across my mind, releasing the tension in my shoulders from my last conversation.
I let myself enjoy the sensation, fighting my instinctive urge to suppress it. I already fucked up enough today. Hopefully, I can fare a little better at this.