31. Thea
Thea
My Subconscious Has Questions
Strong hands work my shoulders as I let out a sigh.
“Feel good?” a deep voice asks before he presses a kiss in the middle of my back.
“Lower,” I tell him.
He moves his hands down a little and I shake my head. A soft chuckle.
“Like this?” he asks as he leaves scalding kisses down my spine. I make a sound of soft confirmation. He reaches my waistband and pauses, then kisses as he pulls them down.
“Here?” he chuckles, softly biting my butt cheek.
I’m already about to explode as his tongue traces the curve.
My alarm shatters the moment, followed by tears.
Soon, I tell my body. I’ll find him soon.
I force myself to climb from bed and run to Combat, pushing myself harder than necessary to try and hide the arousal still coursing through my veins.
I don’t wait for Zair and Mavrik as I take a cold shower and head to breakfast, piling a plate overflowing with pancakes. Carbs fix everything.
“Benson!” I call through a mouthful as the goblin in question passes my table. He waves off the other two guys he was walking with and takes a seat across from me, setting down his tray with a quiche on it. I eye it hungrily.
“That looks good.”
He looks down at his eggs then at my pancakes.
“Split?” he offers.
“I thought you’d never ask.” I take another large bite of pancakes leaving him with a little less than half the stack. He pushes his quiche to me and I steal his fork. He raises an eyebrow.
“I don’t want syrup in my eggs.”
I’m already halfway through his breakfast when he grabs my used fork and chuckles deeply.
Oh god, that chuckle.
He takes a bite, licking the fork clean and suddenly my stomach is in knots. Is the quiche bad? He takes another bite and my eyes can’t leave his tongue.
What the hell?
Forcing myself to look away I take another bite that now taste like ash. The heat low in my stomach pooling.
Lazlo couldn’t be a goblin, right?
No, he’s technically a witch, able to cast.
So why did I dream of Benson? Like that?
“I’m done,” I announce and shove his food at him, I’m out of the booth and on my way to calculus so fast I’m more than twenty minutes early. I press my forehead to the cool desk.
Okay. Benson is definitely not Lazlo.
I’m just horny. It’s normal.
Something prickles along my neck and I jerk upright.
“You okay, little firefly?” Mavrik asks as he takes his seat. His shadow slides down my arm, giving me goosebumps.
Okay. Something is going on with me.
“I—I can’t train tonight,” I spit out. No way am I being alone with anyone.
His face falls.
“Oh, okay. Make sure you let off some… pressure.”
“Pressure?” My face heats and he tilts his head. How does he know I need to do that?
“You haven’t released any all week in Misfits.”
My magic, he means my magic. I let out a slow breath and nod as he shakes his head. Yes, I’m not going to be alone with anyone today. I take off in a hurry to avoid seeing Benson before class. Halfway to English Reuben calls after me and I step off the path to wait for him.
“What can I do for you, Reuben?” I ask with a smile, putting my arms behind my back.
“There’s a library in the Goblin building. It has geology books.” He looks around rapidly as he says it.
“Oh. Thank you. Am I allowed in there?”
“Witches are allowed everywhere,” he says a little resigned. Then steps into the throng of people on the pathway.
“You know that’s not what I mean,” I yell after him. I still get to class early enough for Anita to ambush me.
“You haven’t given me my essay,” she whispers, extending her hand. I don’t even look at her.
“I didn’t do it.”
Her jaw tightens. “Then give me yours.”
“No.”
Her whisper turns sharp, “You’re being really difficult lately, Adora.”
“It’s Thea,” I remind her.
“Well, I don’t like Thea.”
I smirk, finally looking at her. “Your point? You didn’t like Adora either.”
Anita halts for a moment, her lips pressing into a thin line. She opens her mouth but closes it again, visibly holding back. After a long pause, she sighs and waves a dismissive hand.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m only trying to help you. You’re my sister. I want what’s best for you.”
It’s a lie. I remind myself. She only wants my soul.
“No. You want what’s best for you.”
“That’s not true.” She tries to argue.
I raise an eyebrow. “You literally just asked me to give you my homework,” I remind her. “And it’s not gonna happen. Now, if you don’t mind…”
She huffs a breath and I see her eyes dart to the bracelet illusion. I don’t think it’s holding up. She knows something is going on. With a tight flick of her hair, she spins on her heel and strides back to her group, her posture stiff.
I really need to replace the bracelet. I pull out my phone and quickly text Zair.
Can I ask a favor?
No questions asked.
Well now I’m intrigued.
Anything spicy?
NO QUESTIONS.
Ugh, no fun.
Fine yes.
I need you to take me to the mall this weekend.
HAHHAHAHAHA
I’m serious.
Have you ever even been to a mall?
It’s not exactly a secret lair.
That’s not the no-questions part.
It’s what I need to do there.
Hmm. Alright.
But on the condition that you come to the Halloween party at Dylan’s pack house.
Do I have to dress up?
YES!
Damn you. Fine. I’ll be there.
I put the phone away as the teacher starts the lecture.
Heavy boots echo in the hallway followed by Fable coming in. She takes the seat next to me as she gets a side eye from the teacher.
She smells like blood.
When class is over, I’m following her down the stairs when I see Benson.
“Fable, can I buy you lunch?” I ask.
She looks a little confused but agrees, I wave at Benson and walk right past him, Fable leads us to the nightblind cafeteria and honestly, I could kiss her.
Am I a bad person? Maybe.
Coward? Definitely.
Fable grabs a cheap sandwich as I pile my tray full. I start piling things on hers too as she objects.
“I didn’t get to finish my breakfast and don’t want to look fat.” Not entirely a lie, but I heard her stomach growl during class. We head to a small booth and sit. She pulls off her fingerless gloves and starts picking at her food in silence.
“Thanks for having lunch with me,” I hedge. She looks up and meets my eyes. “Do you mind if I—” I wave my hand around.
“Um, sure.”
I cast a quick illusion spell that makes it sound like we’re talking about shoes.
“Now we can talk freely,” I tell her.
“What do you need?”
Witches have really ruined my ability to make friends.
“Honestly, I needed an excuse to avoid someone. But also wanted to ask if you were okay. You’re bleeding.”
“Who are you avoiding?” she asks, taking a bite of the fruit I put on her tray.
“It seems you’re avoiding the question.” She presses her lips together. “I’m avoiding my friend I had a wet dream about.”
Her eyes get huge and then she snorts.
“That seems rational.” She smiles. “Aren’t you witches a bit, free? Just get him out of your system.”
“He’s not a witch, and I’m waiting for my mate.”
She cocks her head. “I didn’t know you guys had mates.”
“You think the goddess favors shifters?” I tease. “We have them, but not like you guys.”
She nods and takes a big bite of her sandwich.
“Speaking of, when shifters find their mates, they lose attraction to other people right?” I ask.
“Yes. That’s what they say,”
“I didn’t ask what they say.”
She purses her lips. “I’m probably not the right person to ask about this, I’m not the child of a mated couple and have no desire to ever find my fated mate.”
“Then you’re exactly the right person.”
She studies me for a moment before nodding.
“Yes, that’s supposedly how you know when your about to find your fated one. You lose all interest in sex with anyone else. But, I call bullshit on that.”
“Oh?” I quirk an eyebrow.
“Mates cheat on each other all the time,” she says around a mouthful of food. “I think it’s just one of those stories they use to convince us that finding our mate is our ticket to happiness.”
“Hm, thank you. That actually helps.”
“Really?” she asks.
“Yes. I had a… premonition and I found my mate in it. So I know he’s out there. But I’m still attracted to other guys. Was starting to think I was broken.”
“Nope, just human.” She smirks. “You are human, right?”
“I’m not the one who turns into a wild animal every full moon.” I wink at her and she starts laughing.
“That’s such a silly stereotype. Seriously where did the nightblind get this crap?”
We both laugh and go back and forth naming ridiculous things the nightblind believe about us as we both eat our plates clean.
“Want to tell me about the blood?” I ask while watching her for a reaction.
“Got a cut on my leg from a box at work yesterday.” It’s probably a lie but I decide not to press it. Even if she let me, I’m shit at healing. “Actually, I should probably head that way.” She starts to pull on her gloves.
“Do you have gloves like that with fingers?” I ask. She looks down at her gloves. “Elbow gloves with fingers.” I wiggle my fingers like she doesn’t understand what they are. Realize I’m doing it and drop them to my lap.
“Oh, yeah. Why?”
“Can I borrow a pair?”
“Now?”
“If you have time.”
She nods and we pick up our trays and I follow her towards the dorms. She leads me to one of the nightblind ones.
“Why do you live here?” I ask in a whisper as I pass a group of nightblind girls staring at me. I hear them whisper Zair’s name. Great.
“What do you mean?” she asks as we take the empty stairs.
“This is a nightblind dorm. Why don’t you live in a shifter house?”
“Because I don’t want to.” She opens a door to a tiny room with two beds. It smells decidedly human in here.
“You know the spiritborne dorms have full sized beds.” She looks at me then kneels in front of a tiny dresser. “And private bathroom.”
She presents me with a pair of elbow length silk gloves.
“These are perfect, thank you so much!”
“Sure,” she says a little shyly as she stands in front of the mirror and straightens her skirt. “Ready?”
We head towards the library and talk of little things. As we split off I call after her, “Hey Fable.” She stops and turns back.
“Yeah?”
“Your leg isn’t cut.”