Chapter 6 Evira #3
“Absolutely,” Carnis commented. “Ready to roll it out, get them partnered up, Jornol?”
“Let’s see to it.”
A chuckle rang out at how buddy-buddy they were, and Carnis bringing a very informal element to it all.
I loved it.
This was a great start to my time at Loxley Academy!
So, lo and behold, Zayn and I had remained where we were, partnered up.
His Ifrit fire wasn’t elemental in nature, it was more arcane like how a sorcerer’s power worked, mana-based. It was a kind of metaphysical living flame, not powered by an elemental affinity.
On my end, as a dragon, I was considered a primal species.
But I also possessed dual magic affinity.
My physiology and instincts were animal-origin supernatural, and I could unleash frost breath which was elemental in nature, even use a Chill Blast to put out flames, heal with Frost Flame.
But I could also teleport, deliver ice blasts and streams, and a magical lightning strike that drew from arcane power—mana-based like Zayn, not from elemental-created storms.
I looked out to see Vaxan working with Christalyn.
She’d been advised to pair with a Light Fae and to have the Light Fae draw on her elemental aspect that involved impacting flora and the earth.
The professor had even prepared to take a group outside around nature just beyond the classroom, while Carnis would remain here supervising and assisting hybrids in particular because hybrids not only had to worry about the arcane versus elemental thing, but also their dual makeup.
It was technically twice as hard for them.
Anyway, Vaxan had insisted on working with Christalyn.
As I’d observed with him tensing when she sat down next to him, it wasn’t about him taking a shine to her or liking her company. It was something much more calculated.
It seemed he was testing her. Well, testing what his abilities and power could accomplish against Celestial might.
I jolted as a short-range shockwave erupted from him and slammed into the golden wall she was holding against him with one hand, while her other was streaming at him and pushing against his controlled citrine stream.
The shockwave was a sickly green and as it hit her wall, it began… eating it.
It was his Basilisk venom.
“Cool,” I heard her say.
He didn’t seem to like that, his eyes narrowing. Ah, he didn’t want her seeing it as a good thing, but a very real threat.
I choked as I saw his petrification ability working into their dueling streams, turning hers to chalky stone.
He couldn’t make it into actual solid stone, but the fact that he could even manage the chalk aspect was a hell of a thing with him being up against Celestial power.
Carnis strode over as Vaxan pushed harder and Christalyn grunted then spat out the nasty taste of his venom, which had obviously affected her.
I thought when he’d sent out that shockwave, it had just rolled off her.
I mean, the fact she was spitting it out then seeming fine meant it couldn’t significantly hurt her, but still.
She pushed more power into her stream, and it forced Vaxan’s petrification back.
The wall she had up against his venom surges also grew more vibrant, and then he was the one grunting.
“That’s enough,” Carnis spoke as he reached them and frowned curiously at Vaxan. “Pull it back and merely stabilize now. No more offensiveness, focus on coexistence.”
As I saw Vaxan blink, then a lot of the tension leave him, the two of them beginning to do that, I turned back to my own business—yeah, sometimes my curiosity could get the best of me—only to jolt as fingers were snapped in my face.
I looked to see Zayn glaring at me.
“What is it about him, huh?” he snapped.
Whoa.
“What are you—”
He pointed his finger at me. “Tell me what’s so fascinating about snake boy that all attention goes to him, even when you’re supposed to be doing this exercise with me right now?”
I snatched his wrist and nipped at his fingertip.
He jolted, his eyes shooting wide.
I grinned.
“What was—”
I startled him again as I kissed over the little mark I’d made.
“Chill, hellion.”
“Pun intended?”
I released his wrist. “Oh, definitely. That’s kind of a thing with me.”
He stared at his finger, then lowered his hand. “Huh.”
“I felt a flare of intensity and power. That’s why I looked over there. And other people’s powers intrigue me. I’ve spent most of my life just around dragonkind.”
“So, it was just about that? Not actually him?”
“Well, he’s obviously got a smoldering sexiness about him, so there’s that.” He tensed and I added. “Although, you’ve got that fiery sexiness about you.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “So, there’s also that.”
“You would fuck him, then?”
“Would you?” I fired back, knowing he’d obviously intended to shock me like he had before class had started with his raging hard dick comment.
But I’d already experienced it from him now, so I knew what to expect, and I could adapt very quickly.
I guess there had been one advantage to having dragon politics swirling around me my entire life—never a full participant but needing to behave appropriately had taught me how to read patterns and how to prepare to avoid surprises.
“I’d rather break him into pieces.”
“Afraid, huh?”
“What? Why would I be afraid? Because of that venom shit?” He scoffed. “I could counter it if I had to.”
“That’s debatable given how potent his is. So, word of advice: tread carefully there. But I actually meant afraid in the sense that it would be more intimate with him, nowhere to hide. He’s not gonna let you get away with it like Winter does.”
“How are you getting that?”
“I’m pretty good at reading people.” I eyed him. “Although you don’t seem that surprised, so you already knew that somehow?”
He lifted a shoulder. “Might have overheard some shit between him and Win.”
I did start at that.
A devious smile played on his lips. “You want to know what I heard, don’t you?”
“No,” I said, averting my eyes. “It’s their business.”
“Yeah? You’re sure?”
I shifted my weight. “Let’s just concentrate on this exercise.”
He chuckled. “Now you’re all about the exercise.”
I nudged him. “Stop being a dick.”
“A dick, huh? Speaking of that, I can—”
I slapped my hand over his mouth. “Swallow down those vulgar words that were about to come spilling out, bad little hellion.”
He tried to pry my hand away, but I held fast, my strength exceeding his.
“Nod your agreement.”
His eyes flamed with his pink power, but there was amusement there.
He gave the nod I’d asked for.
I dropped my hand.
And then I turned my attention back to the little sphere we had levitating over our desk that had his fuchsia magical flames swirling inside my ice-blue magic.
As we’d been talking, I’d felt his flames flaring unstably, but I’d held them steady with my power, stopping them from raging out of control and breaching the sphere—and likely raising all kinds of hell.
“You wanna go out with me, icicle?”
I sucked in a breath.
“Is that the way a guy like you asks for a fuck?”
He slapped his hand to his heart. “A guy like me? Are you calling me a whore, baby?”
“Are you such a thing?”
He grinned. “Maybe. Why, you want some pointers? You know, given your limited experience in that area?”
That comment, combined with the manner in which he’d brought up Winter… he knew. He knew we’d been together.
But even though he was brash and so very open and far from putting on airs, he hadn’t actually spoken to it directly. That actually said a lot. He wasn’t the asshole he liked his rivals—like Vaxan and Keuric—to believe.
“No pointers wanted.”
His gaze softened, then he nudged me gently. “I wasn’t asking you for a fuck. I actually meant a… a… you know…”
“A date?”
“Sure.”
I grinned. “Say it.”
He growled low in his throat. “You’re maddening.”
“I guess you bring it out in me.”
His eyes sparkled.
And then he straightened, rolled his shoulders, and asked, “Evira, dragon princess, tough little cookie, about-to-become-the-bane-of-my-existence gorgeous wonder… will you go out on a date with me?”
I beamed out at him. “That sounds really nice.”
He flinched.
And then something happened.
He tensed and gestured at Vaxan. “You can still fuck around with him if you want. It’s just a date, okay? And I wouldn’t expect it to be all nice either, all right?”
Ah, so this was what had happened with him and Winter. He didn’t like the vulnerability of things. Like, he seemed to want it, but when he got close to it, he panicked and turned tail.
“Sure thing,” I responded. “I’ll get right on that.”
His eyes narrowed. “Good. You do that. Maybe you, him, and Win can have a dirty fucking threesome, make a whole sex fest out of it.”
I made a show of fanning myself. “I can’t wait.”
He glared.
“Although, it seems you’re the one who wants to kneel before him and open wide. Maybe I’ll stick around and watch, see how I feel, then take it from there?”
He tapped his fingers on the desktop, and I saw his magic inside the sphere going crazy, sparking everywhere. “He’ll be the one choking on my big fat cock, baby.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
He grasped my arm. “And you’ll be—”
His words caught in his throat as he met my gaze.
Not sure what he was seeing there, but he loosened his grip.
“You’ll be… taken care of in every way imaginable.”
“I will?”
He let go. “Yeah. I mean… in that fantasy version you just created.”
“Sure. In the fantasy of it all.” I turned my attention from him and studied the sphere. “So, figure out the details of our date and let me know.”
“Details?”
“Yeah. You ask a person on a date, you need to make the arrangements. The asker handles all that.”
“They do, huh?”
“Yep. So make it good.”
“Wow.”
“And to be clear, me healing you after this class doesn’t count as a date.”
“Damn,” he uttered with a chuckle. “Then, your wish is my command, icicle.”
“Good.” I grinned as I continued focusing on the sphere.
We settled into the next stage of the task then.