70. Summer
Chapter Seventy
Summer
A s I reach the top of the stairs, Alice leaves her room, yawning. “Where did you go?” I blink at her, and she rubs her eyes. “You were in my room, and now you’re not.”
“Oh, I woke up.”
“And went?.?.?. ?” Alice’s eyes go wide as they lock onto my neck. “Oh, my Drac. Did a vampire attack you?” She moves in closer. “Or an incubus?”
I frown and brush my fingers over my neck, and it throbs under my touch. That fucker.
Alice moves in even closer, nearly burying her nose against me as she investigates. “Are those fang marks?”
“What?” I ask, my frown darkening. I gently brush my fingers over the sensitive, bruised skin, but I can’t feel anything.
Alice grabs my arm and pulls me into my room, pushing me in front of the mirror. I gape at the massive hickey he left on my neck and the two almost puncture wounds.
Alice flashes her fangs and uses her fingers to measure the distance between them, and then she holds them to my neck. Her fangs are wider. “Not vamp. They are too close together.” She thinks for a moment. “Show me your fangs, Sum.”
“What? Why?”
“Just do it.”
I throw her a look in the mirror, once again wishing she’d focus more in species studies. “They don’t just come out for fae, Al. ”
Alice huffs. “Okay, well, how do we make them?”
“I either have to work on it for decades and be in complete control of my fae instincts, or I need to be fucking my mate.” I tilt my head and lean in closer to the mirror. “Also, he didn’t pierce me.”
“He as good as pierced you.” She sniffs me and bristles. “That glamourized scent is fucking me off.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “At least we know he has fangs. That narrows things down a little, but I still want to see the distance between your fangs.”
“Possibly not. You know he can change his appearance. He had fangs when he was in his demon form.” I pout, brushing my fingers over my neck again. “I doubt he would leave a mark if it meant he could be more easily identified.”
Alice narrows her eyes. “I’m offended that he didn’t pick a vampire form to bite you. That’s literally our whole thing.”
I sigh. “He bit me in his demon form?.?.?.” I say, remembering being in that hotel room with him. I shake my head. “I need to get to the gym before I see the headmaster. Is Rafe up?”
Alice nods, but she looks distracted. “Yup, I heard him moving around.”
I grab my gym clothes and go into the bathroom to get ready. I emerge, zipping my hoodie over my pink shorts and matching sports bra, trying to cover my neck. Alice is still pondering, standing in the same position. I hug her and leave the room, walking down the hall to Rafe’s room.
“Rafe, if you’re not ready in three minutes, I’m going without you,” I call, pounding on the door.
Rafe opens the door, already dressed and ready to go. “Wow. You wouldn’t wait for me to get ready?”
“No, I have shit to do.”
“Harsh. I’m your favorite brother.”
I roll my eyes. “Can we go?”
Rafe pushes past me and pounds down the stairs. “Now who’s waiting on who?”
Max is waiting at his desk for us when we arrive at the gym, and when I unzip my hoodie, his gaze immediately locks on the mark on my neck. “Whoa. What happened to you? ”
“Dammit,” I curse under my breath.
“Wait,” Rafe says, looking at me. “That’s not from you?” he asks Max, and I’ve never wanted to punch him square in the face more.
I cover my neck. “It’s not from anyone.” Max’s gaze remains on my neck, and I shift away from him slightly.
“Summer,” Rafe says, frowning.
“Can you drop it?” I ask pointedly, but Rafe pulls my hand away. I swat at him, but he easily restrains my hands so he can really look at the bruise. “Rafe!” I growl.
“It’s huge!” he says, ignoring me. “I thought for sure it was from Max.”
“I’m leaving,” I growl, but Max grabs me by the shoulder. “Go work on cardio. I’ll take care of your nosy brother.”
I stomp my way to the treadmill, grumbling all the way about arrogant, bossy, impossible men.
Max pulls Rafe to the sparring room, and they immediately launch into training.
It’s more brutal than any of my lessons, but they both seem to be getting a kick out of it.
Rafe seems much lighter on his feet, and every time we come here, another piece of the dark cloud that always seems to be hovering over him lightens.
They are in there for close to an hour, and when they return, Rafe is bruised and battered but smiling. Max is glistening with sweat, but barely winded.
“Your turn, Sum,” Max says, and it’s wild to me that he can do sessions like this back-to-back. He is truly the fittest person I’ve ever met, and I shouldn’t be surprised by his stamina .
Rafe heads to the mat to start on the weights as I walk into the sparring room.
Max throws me my sai. “So, want to talk about that?”
“Talk about what?”
“Really, Summer?” he asks, staring pointedly at my neck. His sword glows as he activates the runes.
No, I’d rather die, thanks.
I block the first spell, which flies at me slowly.
“Don’t make me ask,” he says, sending another rune, faster this time.
I block it, and then I drop my sai to my sides, the exasperation and irritation clear in my tone when I say, “No, I haven’t fucked anyone.
No, I’m not planning to fuck anyone else.
No, you and I are not fucking again.” I think for a moment, putting my hands on my hips and tipping my head. “Did I cover all the bases?”
Max quirks a brow, obviously not willing to let this go. “That is a claiming mark, Sum. Whoever gave you that definitely did it on purpose.”
I exhale heavily. “It’s not that deep. I promise,” I say with a shrug. “Why do you even care?”
“Because,” he says, lowering his sword, “you’re my friend.”
“I know,” I say, dropping the attitude. “And I promise that I’m fine.” I look away. “But nothing happened.” I’m not sure why I need to add that, but it feels necessary, and it’s more or less true. Nothing sexual actually happened.
Max holds up his free hand. “It’s not my business if it did. I just want to know you’re okay.”
I’m not sure why, but his words feel weird against my skin, making me uncomfortable.
“Okay, well, today has already been a shitshow. I think it might be best if I head home, take a nap, and see if I can start it over,” I say, putting my sai back on their shelf and turning to leave the sparring room.
Max grabs my arm, and I stop to look up at him with a soft sigh.
“We’re friends first,” he says, shifting his hold to squeeze my hand lightly.
“I know.”
“You swear you’re good? I don’t need to kick anyone’s ass?”
“I’m good,” I say, giving him a small smile.
“Sure you don’t want to finish up here?”
I shake my head. “No, I want to go home.” I’m not sure why, but I’m just not feeling it today, and the stranger has left me in a bad mood. I don’t want to take it out on Max, especially when he’s helping so much with Rafe.
I squeeze Max’s hand and leave the sparring room. “Rafe,” I call on my way through the gym. “Time to go.”
“Go? You barely started,” he says, dropping the ridiculously large weight he was using.
“She’s not in the mood ,” Max says, heading toward the front desk.
I roll my eyes and leave the gym, not waiting for Rafe to tidy up his weights. A few moments later, I hear his footsteps pounding on the path behind me.
“What’s up?” he asks, a little winded as he slows to match my pace.
“Just want to get home,” I say, and while he stays close and watches me carefully, he doesn’t push or demand anything else .
Back at the house, I go straight to my room.
I don’t know if I am tired or more emotionally exhausted, but either way, I know I can’t actually go back to bed.
What I really want to do is hide away today, but I have my training with the headmaster soon.
I flop onto my bed and pull my pillow over my head, wondering if I should cancel, but quickly dismiss the idea when I remember how annoyed he was the last time I was late.
Ugh, these men just won’t give me any peace.
Forty-five minutes later, I peel myself from my bed and make my way across campus to the headmaster’s office. I was hoping the fresh air and sunshine would lift my mood, but it’s even more sour when I knock on his door.
“Enter.”
I step into his office feeling irritated with everyone. After the time I spent last night with the stranger, I was frustrated, and every minute since, my mood has turned more annoyed and angry.
The headmaster doesn’t look at me for a long moment, and I’m about to say something when his gray eyes flick up.
His gaze immediately lands on my neck. There is a flicker of surprise at the bruise, but he masks it quickly and wordlessly waves his hand, opening the portal to the training field. I step through, and he follows.
“You seem on edge, Miss Tuatha De Daanan. Is something wrong?” he asks once the portal snaps closed.
“I’m fine.” The words come out sharper than I intended.
“Then let’s begin,” he says, and I can feel the annoyance dripping off him that I dared to snap at him.
The headmaster pushes me hard for the whole session, and by the end I’m still frustrated, but I’m too worn out to be prickly anymore.
He hands me a towel. “Now, I am going to ask you again, Miss Tuatha De Daanan. Are you okay?”
“Yes, sir. Did I not perform well?” I ask, and I can still hear the sharpness of my voice. I guess I was wrong about the prickliness.
He shakes his head, his jaw tight. “The opposite, but I did feel the start of malevolence in one of your counters.” He watches me. “There is a crispness to it,” he says, answering a question I’ve not asked yet. “A sharper edge to the rune.”
“I apologize, sir.” Using malevolence in rune-wielding can be dangerous, potentially fatal, with Daoine Sith anyway .
“Do not misunderstand. Infernal runes are not like the others, including Daoine Sith. They are strengthened by the caster’s more volatile emotions. An enraged demon is a deadly one.”
I frown. “So?.?.?. I should be drawing on malevolence when using Infernal runes?”
“It is not something I can endorse as your headmaster, but if it comes to a true fight, Lucifer will not hold back.”
I nod, my mind already reworking the runes and how I use them.
We have been playing with Infernal runes a little in the last couple of days, and while demons require demon blood to use them, I am able to use my own on my skin, though they are powerful and should not be wielded often.
They are also more powerful if using demon blood, so I have taken to keeping a small vial of Rafe’s blood on me at all times.
“You are extremely powerful, Miss Tuatha De Daanan. More so than you realize.” I meet his gaze, a little surprised.
His praise is hard-won. “Infernal runes powered by one of the three M’s, any of the three M’s, are more targeted, more dangerous, more powerful, and Lucifer will be betting on you not knowing that.
It has been his mission to ensure that the Infernal language is only known by his people. ”
I nod, taking it all in. “Sir? There is something else I wanted to ask you.”
“Ask away,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. His bare forearms flex, drawing my attention to them.
Clearing my throat, I look away. “I was wondering if you might know of a rune or a potion I could use for a dreamless sleep? I have tried every rune I can conjure up, but none of them help.”
He pauses, watching me. “There is a reason for that, Miss Tuatha De Daanan. Dreamless sleep is a dangerous thing. It allows for the void of dreams to be filled by anything or anyone, potentially with malicious intent.” He tilts his head. “Show me the rune you’ve been trying.”
I turn and move my hair, showing him the rune that sits right beside the hickey.
“And how many dreamless nights have you achieved with this?”
“None.”
“None?” he asks, and I glance at him. “That’s odd. Have you found your dreams to be?.?.?. fantastical or more memory-based? ”
“They are not memory-based,” I say quickly and drop my hair, turning back around to face him.
“Are there elements of your dreams you couldn’t possibly have experienced? Places you’ve never seen?”
“They are things I’ve never done, I guess.”
“Hm. Let me look into it. We would need to safeguard your mind to allow for a safe sleep.”
“I am already working on that with a?.?.?. someone.”
He frowns, studying me for a long moment. “All right?.?.?.”
“Thank you, sir. The dreams are not conducive to restful sleep, and I think it is starting to affect me.”
“Nightmares?” he asks, his brows shooting up.
“Not . . . exactly.”
He watches me for a moment, and then he blinks. “Ah.” He clears his throat. “Those kinds of dreams can negate runes.”
“They can?” I ask, my voice coming out a bit squeaky. The desire to be swallowed up by the ground is overwhelming as the heat burns up my neck to my cheeks.
“Yes. If the desire is strong enough.”
So it’s my desire that’s the problem?
“I should go. Thank you, sir.”
He lowers his chin in a shallow nod, his face once again that stony expression of the uncaring, brutal headmaster. He opens the portal and I step through, leaving his office, wanting to die from embarrassment.