Chapter 1
***TAYLOR***
Squinting at the bright morning sunshine, Taylor climbed the steps of the building that had become his second home over the last few years, then paused at the top to take a long sip of the coffee in his hand.
Feeling the burn as it went down, he waited for that first burst of energy, then took another long drink, wishing the dark brew would start working its magic.
Looking around at the nearly deserted campus, he wondered how he was going to make it through an entire semester with little to no sleep, but reminded himself that their problems, Diego and the Kappas, were over, and his time would be his own again.
Taking another sip of his coffee, he looked around campus, grimacing when his eyes settled on the stadium and its ruined bleachers, then let out a long sigh, knowing that he was a fool to think that it was all over.
Diego had taken the fall for all the recent problems on campus, but he didn’t believe for a second that he’d acted on his own, no matter what the clan leaders wanted them to believe.
Someone was behind the attacks on campus, someone much more powerful than a student or even a fraternity, and his gut told him that it was their rival clan.
He just couldn’t figure out why they wanted to cause problems at the school in the first place.
Draining the cup with one final sip, he turned and headed inside the old brick building, wishing he was looking forward to class instead of worrying about the school's fate. There wasn’t much he could do; the clan wouldn’t recognize the threat, and Dean Proctor was completely in the dark, a regular human without any knowledge of the magic around him.
His hands were tied for now until something else happened; silence and vigilance were his only choice, but he wasn’t sure he had the energy, not with his new financial endeavor finally beginning to pay off.
The thought of all the lovely money slowly stacking up in his bank account brought the first smile of the day to his face and he reminded himself that a little lost sleep was more than worth the freedom he was slowly earning with each deposit.
It had all been a mistake really, a mistaken pizza delivery late one-night last summer, an invitation to join a poker game, then walking away the next morning with a pocket full of cash and a vision of what the future might look like.
Now, months later, low-paying part-time jobs a thing of his past, he’d learned how to use his intelligence to line his pockets with the money that would finally allow him to begin the painful process of breaking free of the clan.
Not that he was even close to that goal yet, but he was learning, sharpening his talent and biding his time until he could afford to hit Las Vegas for a big score.
That would be just the beginning. If he played it smart, he could hit the big casinos multiple times, and maybe by the time he graduated in the spring, he’d be sitting on a pile of money.
There was still a smile on his face when he walked into the classroom, but it quickly faded as he took a seat in the front of the room and braced himself for the boredom he knew was coming.
It wasn’t a new problem; he’d been bored in school for as long as he could remember.
He was just getting worse at hiding it from teachers and other students, especially when he was tired like he was that day.
Only a few seconds later, the classroom's back door opened and Professor Whitmore appeared, his grey hair sticking out in all directions, his arms full of books and papers, which he dropped onto the desk with a thud before pausing to look around the room. After shaking his head and letting out a long sigh, the professor pulled a stack of papers out of the pile, and he remembered the test they’d taken the week before.
It was clear by the excited whispers around the room that the rest of his classmates hadn’t forgotten, and the room began to fill with tension.
Professor Witmore stood at the front of the classroom listening to the students whispering about their grades.
Taylor couldn’t help but smile with confidence knowing that he didn’t have to worry about his grade; he never did.
When the whispering finally died down, the professor cleared his throat, then came out from behind the desk and began placing the corrected tests upside down on the desks in front of his classmates.
His was the last test in the older man’s hands, and he just shook his head at Taylor when he put it down in front of him, then walked back up to the front of the classroom.
“I know that you’re all anxious to see your grades but I’d like to take a minute of your time before you flip those tests over,” he said, a look of regret on his face.
“This has been a difficult semester for all of us. We’ve all been a bit on edge and I’m afraid your test results aren’t going to make things any easier, but I want to assure you that we’ll work through this together. ”
Silence fell over the room when the professor paused to take a breath.
The tension in the room was suddenly laced with a tinge of panic, and he even wondered if he’d somehow flunked the test. Finding himself squirming with his classmates was a new sensation.
He looked around the room at all the worried faces and then turned back to the front, but his eyes were on the test in front of him.
“Before we discuss your scores, I just want to say a couple of things.” Professor Witmore finally continued.
“First, this test was designed for all three of my senior classes, but since we’re down to only one class, that affected the scores.
Second, something I never thought would happen has occurred.
One of your classmates received a perfect score, further distorting the final grades.
I’m afraid that there’s not much of a curve, thanks to that score, so many of you will be disappointed, but I don’t want you to worry.
We’re going to find a way to raise your grades.
This should not be a test that makes you fail this class. ”
Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. There was no doubt in his mind that he was the one who scored a hundred on the test, but the feeling drained away a second later when he realized what he’d done.
Cursing his mistake, he stared down at the test, wondering how he was going to explain his perfect score if someone asked, and he was sure that they would.
Before he could come up with a plan, Professor Witmore gave them the okay to flip their tests over and the chaos that followed made it impossible to think.
***Emily***
Emily’s hand was shaking as she reached out to turn the test in front of her over.
She’d never failed a test in her life, but there was always a first time, and she had a bad feeling that this was it.
Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, then with a quick flip of her wrist turned the packet over, her entire body tensing when she saw the grade circled at the top of the page.
She’d tried to prepare herself, tried to convince herself that one bad grade wouldn’t be the end of the world, but seeing it so boldly written in bright red ink made her stomach twist painfully.
Forcing herself to inhale and exhale, she stared at the top of the first page at her grade, then blinked several times just to make sure she was seeing it right.
Her heart started to race as it sank in that she’d gotten a D on the test, not quite failing but close enough, and she couldn’t help but envision her academic career slowly going down the drain.
“Hey, are you okay?” Valerie asked, a look of concern on her face. “You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“I thought you said no one ever failed this test,” she said, unable to hide the panic in her voice. “I thought you said it was a practice test…”
“It is, I mean, it’s supposed to be. Something went wrong.” Valerie said, shrugging her shoulders. “But you heard Professor Whitmore. He’s going to find a way for us to raise our grades. There’s no reason to panic.”
“I can’t help it. If I lose my scholarship, I won’t be able to finish my degree, and I’ve worked too hard to get here.” she said, but the shock was beginning to wear off. “Who is that guy anyway? I don’t remember seeing him before. Is he even part of this class?”
Valerie didn’t answer right away, and she looked over to find her new friend staring at her, mouth hanging open, eyes bugging out in shock. “You don’t know who that is?” she asked. “How could you not know?”
“I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks,” she reminded Valerie. “I’m just getting settled, and I swear I’ve never seen him in class. How did he get a perfect score on that test anyway? Is he a genius of something?”
Valerie rolled her eyes. “Emily, he’s one of the hottest guys on campus, just look at him,” she said. “I don’t know if he’s a genius or not. He doesn’t really have a reputation for being smart; in fact, he barely comes to class, but who knows, he kind of keeps to himself.”
“So, he’s a loner,” she said, glaring at the back of his head. “You still didn’t tell me his name.”
“He’s not a loner, he’s part of a fraternity, the Sigma something or the others. I can never keep that stuff straight,” Valerie said, waving her hand in the air. “I just meant he doesn’t date or anything.”
“Or have a name, apparently,” she said, getting impatient.
“Taylor Gordon,” Valerie said, a wistful smile on her face. “His name is just as dreamy as he is.”
“Gross, aren’t we a bit too old for crushes?
” she asked, then leaned closer. “Do you think he cheated on the test? I mean, what other explanation could there be? You said he never comes to class, and Professor Whitmore has been giving him funny looks since class started. I bet you anything that’s why; he cheated. ”
Valerie shook her head. “No way, Taylor wouldn’t cheat, he’s not that kind of guy,” she hissed, giving Emily a dirty look. “It’s not his fault that you failed the test, most of us did. Get over it and move on, it’s not the end of the world.”
“I still think he cheated. You said he never comes to class,” she said, unwilling to let go of the feeling in her gut.
“How did he get such a good grade without coming to lectures? It just doesn’t make sense.
I hate cheaters. They ruin everything for the rest of us; he should be kicked out of school. ”
When the last word slipped from her mouth, Emily realized that she might have gotten carried away, that almost flunking the test had freaked her out a little more than it should have.
Snapping her mouth closed, she felt her cheeks beginning to fill with heat.
Telling herself to calm down, she took a deep breath, but then, to her horror, Taylor turned around and looked right at her.
“You might want to get some proof before you start throwing those kinds of accusations around,” he said, his voice full of so much arrogance that she instantly wanted to punch him.
“Cheating is a big deal at this school, even being accused of such a thing could hurt my chances of getting into a good law school. You’d better be careful what you say, missy, or you’ll be sorry. ”
“Missy…how dare you…” she growled, then clamped her teeth shut and sucked in a deep breath through them. “Eavesdropping is a nasty habit, Mr. Gordon. Maybe you should mind your own business.”
“It is my business when you’re talking about me,” Taylor said, leaning across the desk that separated them and locking his eyes on hers.
“I’m going to make this very clear here and now, I didn’t cheat on that test. I got that grade fair and square, and anyone who says differently had better be able to prove it. ”
Emily never backed down from a fight and had learned a long time ago how to stand up for herself, but staring into Taylor’s eyes, something strange began to happen to her, and she found herself unable to breathe, let alone speak.
Warmth began to spread through her body, followed by the distinct tingle of attraction, and she sucked in a shocked gasp of air, hoping that he couldn’t tell what was happening to her.
Completely surprised by her body’s reaction, it took her several seconds to start searching for control.
Still, to her embarrassment, her nipples hardened under her sweatshirt, and there was a familiar tingle between her legs.
With a huge effort, she broke eye contact with Taylor, relieved when her body instantly cooled, her heart rate returned to normal, and she could breathe freely again.