CHAPTER 34
We lay in each other’s arms for as long as possible before we had to get dressed and return to reality. He planted a quick kiss on my forehead right before we left the room, but then the door opened, and we both jumped back.
“It smells so sweaty in here!” Ulric said while scrunching his face.
“Must have been a good training session.” Maya chimed in.
Oh, good, they were ganging up on us now.
Someone needs to put you in your place.
Of course. Not you too.
A low rumble of a laugh echoed through my head. Jerk.
“What do you want, Ulric?” Zen leaned against the door frame with crossed arms.
“The new guards are gathered and waiting for you in the sparring ring.” Ulric reached an arm around Maya’s shoulder, which instantly dropped when I shot a try-it-and-you-die kind of glare.
“Great. Avyn, would you like to come watch?” Zen asked me while pushing off the doorframe with his foot.
“Watch what?” I replied, stepping in between Ulric and Maya.
A smile spread across his face. “You’ll see.”
The four of us walked outside and made our way to the sparring ring.
About twenty guards stood on the edge of it, all facing inwards.
It was an odd sight; most of them were of similar height and build, and they all wore black leather coats with silver buttons running up the front, a belt loop resting just above the waist, which caused the bottoms of the jackets to flare.
Their pants, also leather and black, shocker, were designed for their build.
Both the jacket and pants had reinforced sections, similar to my own, and their hair was cut short, so close to their heads that it could be mistaken for a shadow.
The only difference between them was what side their swords lay on, which I assumed depended on which hand they fought with.
Maya and I stood at the edge of the ring near the water table, and two servants had brought us chairs to sit in.
Zen and Ulric stepped into the middle of the ring and talked silently to themselves until Zen stepped forward and crossed his arms, his muscles flexed with the movement.
“Guards.” His voice boomed and caught me by surprise, but also sent blissful shivers through my body.
“You have been selected as the top guards from the kingdom. We have gone to many villages, towns, and manors to bring you back here. As Ulric has already informed you, we face a threat that lies beyond the mountains,” he motioned towards the mountain range behind us; its peaks reached into the clouds, watching over us, judging, and looming just out of reach.
“If our house is to fall, the others will follow, and our world as we know it will cease to exist.” That was a loaded statement, but I refrained from rolling my eyes.
“That is why we took you away from your previous assignments.” He turned to look at the other guards surrounding him.
“The threat is nothing you have seen or heard of before. We call them the Soulless. These creatures have powers. Powers that will drain the life, your soul, right out of you without laying a single finger on you.”
Murmurs erupted from the guards; I wondered how much Ulric told them in preparation for this, or if this was the first mention of the Soulless.
“GUARDS!” He shouted, and the murmuring immediately stopped.
I was intimidated by this version of Zen; his presence alone was commanding. Shadows began to gather at his feet, but besides a couple of nervous shifts from the guards, they all stood in their designated spots.
“I know this is a shock to you, but it is our reality. We will train you to defend, fight, and kill the enemy. You will be equipped with the proper weapons and gear. Finally, you will be given lessons about our world. It is much different than the world you came from.” He raised his hand, motioning to his left, and a stream of black shadows erupted from his palm, engulfing the Professor, whom I didn’t see walk up.
He walked right through the black cloud and wafted it away from his face.
“Always putting on a show, I see.” He said to Zen, who only replied with a coy smile that would have women lying down at his feet.
Zen stepped back to where Ulric stood and let the Professor take over, giving them a condensed lesson on the world they were now part of.
The lesson was like the ones he taught me, but with a lot less detail. Some of the guards looked stunned, others were bored, and a couple looked like they shit their pants.
This man could talk to a wall for hours. An audible yawn played in my head with its words.
I stifled a laugh. You’re distracting me.
I think you’re the distraction; that one guard has not stopped looking at you since you sat down.
I scanned the guards, looking at each face, wondering what the voice was talking about.
Each one was paying close attention to what the Professor was saying now, which was something about the different houses and their powers.
As I looked at the next guard, my heart dropped right out of my chest and hit my stomach with a thud.
A pair of deep brown chocolate eyes held my gaze. Max. Fuck.
The Professor finished, and Zen dismissed the guards, but Max didn’t join the rest of them.
He walked over to where Maya and I were sitting.
I stood up as he approached, and before I could react, he reached for me and hoisted me into the air in a tight embrace.
I could feel Zen’s jealousy radiating off him, so I glanced over Max’s shoulder to see his eyes narrowing on him.
A black, darkening mist was creeping across the ground, inching closer to us, and I shook my head at him with stern eyes; the black mist hesitated for a moment before retreating to its owner.
Ulric slapped him on the shoulder, laughing, and went to where Maya sat, no doubt wanting to find out who the guy was that had me in a tight squeeze.
Zen followed behind him, hoping to join in on the gossip.
Max placed my feet back on the ground and held me at arm's length, “Would you look at you!” He pulled me in for another hug and then let me go. “Decided to get tattoos? What have I missed these past couple of months?”
“Oh, a few things,” I replied while kicking the dirt with my feet, ignoring the audience now at my back.
Understatement of the century.
Quiet you! “Well, a lot actually.” I looked over my shoulder to where the other three stood; all of them were watching me, so I flipped them off behind my back. “We can catch up later. I’m sure your captain is looking for you.”
Heartache carved into his features, and a pang of guilt ran through me, but I didn’t want our conversation to be a spectacle.
At some point, I would have to tell him that I was with someone else, but I couldn’t tell him who, and I needed time to think about how to approach this.
I never thought I would even see him again after leaving The Academy, and now here he was, standing a couple of feet away from me.
“Well, I am glad to see you again, Avyn.” He reached out and hugged me again before running to catch up with the group of guards. Turning around towards the eavesdroppers behind me, but before I could scold them, they looked away and began a conversation.
“And then I said, ‘That’s how I got banned from the brothel,” Ulric said, trying to make it appear that they were not just listening to every single word.
Idiot.
Agreed. I spun on my heels and walked away from them, but a wall of black shadows stopped me before Zen was at my side.
“Anything I need to know?” He asked casually, trying to act normal and not like the simmering pot of jealousy that he was.
“Don’t you mean, you’re jealous and want to know who just hugged me?” Looking at him from the corner of my eye, I could see his act was failing, especially since the shadows looming around him gave him away.
“Hey now, I just asked if there was anything you wanted to tell me. You’re the one calling me names.” He defensively raised his hands, as if to say I didn’t do it.
“Oh, so you’re not jealous then? Fine, I will keep this my little secret.” I continued my careless stroll and didn’t look back at the man I left standing there with his emotions clear on his face.
He moved to stand in front of me this time instead of his shadows, stopping me in my tracks. I crossed my arms and stared him straight in the eyes.
“Fine. I’m jealous. Is that what you wanted to hear?” He crossed his arms.
Yes, that is what I wanted to hear. My lips curved in quiet victory. “Yup. Now you know how I feel. Except, I’m not betrothed to him.”
A hint of irritation tightened his jaw, “Avyn…”
He was not going to let this go, so I told him.
“I knew him from The Academy; we had a small, I guess you could say, fling. It was nothing serious, well, at least on my end. I think he was more into it than I was. It was an escape for me at the time, and since coming here, I have hardly thought of him, especially since meeting you.”
His smile glowed with unspoken affection. “Ah, the other man that you kissed.” He half laughed, half spoke, “We will add this to the list of things we need to figure out, but we will figure it all out. I only want to be with you, Avyn.”