6. ~Ariana~ #3
“I pulled away because you closed yourself off. Emotionally and magically. We were learning and exploring our abilities and our power together, but you got scared. And you’ve remained that way ever since.”
“Things were more complicated for me than they were for you. You didn’t even try to understand.”
“You’re wrong.”
I scoffed. “Sure.”
“I’m here because of you , Ari.”
Ari.
That was the first time he’d called me that in years.
“Excuse me?”
“Do you think I wanted to attend this academy, one so closely linked to my parents, when you know I was adamant about treading my own path, and being far out of their circle of influence? I had my eye on Castlebrook Academy over on the other side of the fucking world. Until I learned that you were planning to come here.”
“I don’t understand. Why have you barely spoken to me in the last three years that we’ve been here then?”
“You think you just cut yourself off to others in order to protect yourself from those ignorant buffoons who fear you, that you locked down your power, but you also cut yourself off from a whole lot of other things, including me. You weren’t open at all.
You didn’t want me to interact with you.
You couldn’t handle it. And that only altered the other night when you made that mistake that gave me the in that I’d been lacking before when it came to reconnecting. ”
“So, I’m not just a toy to you, then?”
“Oh, you are. Just in a completely different way.”
I shoved at his chest, pushing him back. “Wow, I almost fell for your heartfelt words for a moment. Shame on me.”
“They were the truth.”
“Sure they were.”
“Why are you doubting that? I don’t lie.”
“You’re spouting all of this in some strange attempt to stop me from befriending somebody else, out of what appears to be jealousy. Or, more like, you not wanting to share your toy with anybody else.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what?”
“Inciting harsh reactions in you from my harsher methods is the only way to elicit anything from you. The only time there’s a reprieve, however brief, from that numbness you put forth to everyone and everything.”
“So, making me hate you is better than nothing? Is that what you’re actually going with?”
“Before this, there was nothing, so you tell me.”
I stared at him for several moments.
“I’m waiting,” he pushed, getting agitated by my lack of a response when he clearly needed one. Badly, it seemed.
“And you’re going to remain waiting.”
“What if the blackmail wasn’t a factor? What if I told you that it never really was?”
I scoffed. “Seriously?”
“You still would have succumbed to me either way. The moment I touched you. Isn’t that right?”
“Your arrogance really knows no bounds.”
“This isn’t about me. It’s about you .”
I shoved a hand through my hair. “What we’re doing here… it’s sick and twisted.”
“And you’ve loved every moment of it.”
When I went to rebut, he held up his hand. “Speak the truth. For once, don’t cower.”
How fucking dare he?
I was about to bite back, when emotion dripped from his voice as he implored me, “Not about this, Ari.”
Our gazes clashed.
Intensity flared until I could barely breathe through it.
And that internal war I’d been raging for so long, especially since this weird development between us had come to pass lately, trapped me in its merciless grip.
He was pushing toward a kind of intimate closeness that was far beyond the confines of the depraved sexual play we’d both immersed ourselves in. A closeness that posed a whole lot of issues.
“I wanted it. I wanted everything you did to me. I could’ve stopped you at any point, you know that.”
“But you didn’t. It didn’t even cross your mind, did it?”
“No. I wanted to experience those things, to explore that, and I wanted to get lost in it. I wanted to feel.”
“And?” he pushed.
“And that’s it.”
“No, it’s not. It’s far from it. Fucking admit it. Be honest.”
I shook my head. “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“Ari—” he implored, reaching for me.
But I stepped back. “No. I can’t give you more than this. I can’t. My life… my existence… it isn’t built for that.”
“You’re wrong.”
“No, this time, you are.”
He tried to reach for me again, but I bolted for the door, and then I was throwing it open and rushing outside, leaving him back inside, stumped.
I’d only made it a couple of steps away, when I smacked into somebody I hadn’t noticed passing by in my haste and discombobulated state.
“Whoa there,” a familiar voice uttered, before I felt hands on my shoulders steadying me.
I jerked back at the heated touch, and looked up to see Vorzyr standing there eyeing me with a mixture of worry and curiosity.
“Sorry,” I offered.
“No need to be.” He looked me up and down studiously. “What’s happened?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“You’re clearly out of sorts.” He scented the air, his eyes narrowing slightly, before they zoned in on the Ruminat hut I’d just hightailed it from. Oh no.
He dragged his gaze back to me and he shook his head, then told me with so much vehemence that it caught me off guard, “Someone like you shouldn’t kneel, Ariana. Ever.”
“I don’t—what are you—”
“You’re worth more than that. Much more.”
Before I could even begin to process that, let alone formulate a response, Kai emerged from the hut, carrying my shorts and sports bra. He conjured a bag, then handed them to me. “You forgot these.”
“Right… thanks,” I murmured, taking the bag and feeling my cheeks flaming, as it was so obvious what had just happened in there now, obvious to someone I barely knew, the one person who hadn’t judged what I was. And now here I was making a crappy impression.
“Kai,” Vorzyr rumbled at him.
“Vorzyr,” Kai returned, glaring up at him, their mutual ferocity clashing with one another’s. “Can we help you?”
“ We,” Vorzyr mused.
“That’s right,” Kai rebutted.
“Hmm, I don’t believe it is. Just like with your driving, you’re a little slow on the uptake where that’s concerned.”
“And just like with your driving, you’re being an interloping cunt.”
“Kai, stop,” I uttered.
Instead of doing that, though, Kai took an aggressive step toward him.
Vorzyr merely smiled. “You neglected to scent-proof what was transpiring inside that room. Or even soundproof it either. I guess you were too eager this time to privacy spell yourselves. Or could it be that you wanted others to know what was going on? That you wanted anyone who happened to be passing by to believe that you were owning Ariana?”
Kai sneered at him. “I knew you were the only one passing by.”
“As I figured. You’re more transparent than you realize. You had your little blue devil watching me. I’m dragon, sorcerer, I’m well aware of when I’m being followed. My instincts are next to none.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.
Vorzyr gestured disdainfully at Kai. “He clearly believes he owns you. And not just as his dirty little slut.” He screwed up his face and told Kai, “She deserves better than being treated derogatorily.”
“You’re talking about things you don’t understand,” Kai bit back at him.
“You don’t, Kai,” I said, rounding on him. “You don’t have a claim on me. So let’s clear that up right now.”
Vorzyr chuckled. “There you go. Right from the lady’s mouth. I guess this means you better back off, huh?”
“If you don’t, we’re going to have one fuck of a problem,” Kai warned him, his eyes flashing with his rose-gold magic.
“Stop,” I ground out.
“No, you stop. All this denial is getting old,” Kai told me.
“Kai—”
“You do this and continue on in this vein and you won’t like how I respond.”
Vorzyr stepped forward. “Are you seriously threatening her? She could smite you where you stand, magic-wielder.”
Kai sneered. “Once again, you have no clue what you’re talking about.”
Vorzyr looked at me, confusion all over him.
And then he stepped back and shoved a hand through his long, silky hair, as he uttered sadly, “They repress you here. Your abilities, your potential, who you even fucking are.”
That was the last thing I wanted to talk about.
Hell, none of this was.
So, in the next second, I made that known, and teleported out without another word, leaving them both stunned into inaction, and leaving the strange and wholly awkward interaction far behind me.