34. Mavrik
Mavrik
The Life Changing Magic of Being a Creep
The training yard is empty as I practice my dance. I’ve been at it for hours and can’t get the moves right. I should go, it’s past the time Thea agreed to meet. I should’ve known it wouldn’t last. Letting myself hope was a stupid mistake.
I screw up the dance again.
Gah! I start packing up my stuff in a huff. Tossing things roughly into the bag.
The shadows freeze.
“What?” I ask them. Standing and looking around.
They take off towards the woods. I stand there stunned for a moment. Can they leave me? They yank me forward. Guess not. I take off at a sprint after them.
Magic slams into me and I have to put my hand on a tree to stay upright.
Thea’s magic.
She doesn’t want me around.
She needs me.
I run towards the explosion.
The wind tears at my clothes. She’s in the eye of the tornado, a man has her wrapped in his arms. That’s brave. I wait, holding onto a tree. Her power keeps rising. More than I’ve felt in some whole coven gatherings. How strong is she?
The wind collapses.
Oh. It’s a goblin with her.
That makes less sense.
He helps her up. Wiping at her tears. The shadows reach for her, but I pull them back.
“Wait,” I whisper.
Someone tears through the woods and the goblin blocks Thea from their view as a security officer comes into the clearing. The shadows wrap around me, making me invisible as his eyes scan the woods.
“Where’s Thea?” the officer asks.
“Ollin?”
Okay, she’s safe. I try to sneak away but the shadows hold me.
“It’s not my first explosion this month.”
Thea’s words stop me cold. She vented in class last week. She used a ton of magic between combat and our extra practices.
How much power does she have? That meltdown was epic, and if it’s not even the first time this month. She needs to vent more.
They leave the woods and I follow behind. Thea and the goblin walk towards her dorm and I follow, letting the shadows hide me from view.
“Whose there?” Ollin calls, his yellow eyes zeroing in on me.
I let the shadows drop. He scans me.
“What are you doing here?” He shines his flashlight in my face even though I know he can see me in the dark.
“Same as you, I felt Thea’s magic and was making sure she was safe.”
He studies me and drops the light.
“You’re the friend she trains with?”
“I—I.” Friend? I don’t think that’s the word. I nod anyways.
“Let me give you my number, call me if something happens.”
Like what?
He leaves without another word after I put his number in my phone. I send him a quick text:
This is Mavrik.
The shadow guy.
Seems most honest.
The shadows have run out of patience and start tugging me again.
“Fine.”
We head across campus and I stop in front of the girls spiritborne dorm. They don’t like that, they tug me again. I sneak in behind a girl, blending into the shadows.
“I don’t know which dorm is hers,” I tell them like they care. They move with confidence and it takes all my concentration to remain invisible. We stop at the top of a side stairs and I see Zair and the goblin leaving.
The shadows jerk me again.
“We’re here already.”
Yank.
“You want me to sit in front of the door? I won’t be invisible there.”
Yank.
These things are seriously obsessed. I’m sure it has nothing to do with me. I stand in front of the door like a creep. This isn’t going to help my reputation at all.
They’re still not happy. They’re going under the door and keep wrapping around the handle.
“It’s locked,” I attempt to reason with them.
It clicks. What the hell? I had no idea they could do that. The door opens slowly.
Guess we’re going full on creep.
I step inside and shut the door behind me, locking it again.
She’s sleeping fully dressed as the shadows wrap around her, like they’re making sure she’s safe.
I lean against the door and slide down. Unsure how I got into this situation.
My head rests against it as I close my eyes, I trust that if anything happens the shadows will wake me.
***
Crunch.
My eyes fly open and I scan the room. Shit.
Thea is sitting on her bed, eating an apple and watching me.
I’m so busted.
She takes another bite, each crunch audible as she chews.
“How are you feeling?” I ask like this is completely normal.
“Weak,” she replies.
“Do you have any protein, it will help.”
She looks at a bag of food on the floor. I push myself to my feet and pick it up. Dig inside until I find a protein bar. I open it and pass it to her.
She takes it with a half-smile.
“Want anything?” She gestures to the bag. “I bet you didn’t eat dinner.”
As if my stomach heard her, it growls. She takes the bag from my hand and then pats her bed by her feet. I stand awkwardly as she digs inside and offers me a sleeve of donuts.
“No,” I tell her flatly. She grins and digs again, this time passing me another apple. I take it and take a bite. She taps the bed again, a little impatiently. I sit as far from her as I can.
We eat in silence as I count the tallies that are on her wall.
“Want to tell me why you’re in my room at one in the morning?”
The bite I’m taking hurts as I swallow it early.
“Not really.” I risk a look at her, thankfully she’s smiling. “I felt your meltdown in the woods and, the shadows weren’t okay with being outside your door.”
“They’re separate?”
“Yes and no,” I tell her. “They’re part of me, I can usually control them. But they also are separate and have…” I struggle for the word. “Thoughts.”
She looks down at the one wrapping around her wrist.
“That’s got to be difficult to deal with.” She offers me a smile and finishes her protein bar. “Shall we get some sleep?”
“Yes, of course.” I finish mine and stand. Taking her trash, I head to the door and I pick up my backpack.
“Are you not staying?” I whip around. She’s shimmying out of her pants under the covers. They hit the floor and all thoughts leave my mind… and blood. “The shadows don’t seem like they’ll leave, and I’m still weak.”
Bad idea. Really bad idea.
She wants you for protection. I nod and put my back against the door, preparing to slide down.
“Just climb in bed with me.” She scoots against the wall and opens the covers. I walk in a trance towards her. “Take off your sweater and pants and climb in.”
My body obeys her. I know I’m hard. I’m sure she can see it as I get into the bed next to her. My boxers offering little protection. I roll, facing away from her and reach out and shut off her lamp.
“Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” My voice cracks. I am such a loser.
Her breath evens out as she falls asleep. I’m about to drift off when she turns in her sleep and cuddles against my back. I’m hyper aware of every inch of her. The skin of her ankle touching my knee.
***
The alarm on my phone blares.
I don’t remember falling asleep. Where’s my phone? My pants pocket. I reach to dig in them, finding Thea’s hand on my stomach.
I’m not wearing pants. Right. The floor.
I attempt to climb out stealthily but my leg gets stuck on the covers and I trip. Landing on my hands and knees on the floor. I rummage through my pants pockets and pull my phone out silencing it.
“What time is it?” Thea asks, her voice soft and sleepy.
“Three thirty, sorry. I normally run before Combat,” I tell her.
“Eww. Get back in bed, we have another hour.” She rolls towards the wall.
I really should go running. I put my phone on the nightstand and climb back into the bed.
The alarm goes off again.
Thea taps my arm.
“Mavrik, we need to get to Combat.”
I grumble in my sleep. Her hair tickles my nose.
Oh shit. My eyes fly open. I have my arm wrapped around her, I’m out of the bed like I was electrocuted.
“I’m so sorry.” God. Its morning. I reach for my pants. Like she couldn’t feel it when she woke up.
“It’s fine,” she yawns. Standing and stretching. Her shirt pulls up. I spin around, grabbing my sweater. Try to think of anything else.
“Are you good? I need to run change,” I say like the lifeline it is.
“Yeah, I think so.” She sounds unsure.
“Give me ten minutes tops and I’ll be back.”
I’m out the door and running across campus. Why did I tell her I’d be back? She didn’t ask. Doesn’t care.
I change into fresh clothes that are almost identical to the ones I’m wearing. I pull them off and try again. Grab my water bottle and I’m on my way. I reach her dorm as she steps outside with Zair.
I freeze and let the shadows swallow me.
Idiot. What am I doing?
“We have to wait for Mavrik,” Thea says. She scans the area and then tilts her head. “There he is,” she calls while making a motion with her hand like come here. Can she see me? I step out and jog over.
“Morning.” We exchange greetings and head to Combat class. Thea’s magic is almost back to normal this morning. I’ve never seen a recovery time like that. Meltdowns usually leave a witch defenseless for more than a week.
After class we all walk together. Thea and Zair are chatting away like nothing happened. I’m such a third wheel. But we’re all going the same place, I can’t exactly peel off.
Zair stops me after we leave Thea at her dorm.
“Thea had a meltdown yesterday,” he whispers. “I don’t think it was a full meltdown because she seems fine today. Just keep an eye on her, if you can.”
She didn’t tell him?
“Okay.”
I take the coldest shower possible to make sure I don’t think of last night. I still fail but don’t give in.
“You can be hard all you want. Not happening,” I tell it as I struggle to zip my pants up.
Okay, talking to my penis is weirder than talking to my shadows. Let’s not do that again.
Drinking my protein shake, I bypass the cafeteria and head straight to calculus. And of course Thea is the first person to show up.
She slides into the seat beside me.
“Hey.” She smiles at me. “I want to thank you for last night.”
I nod, because I have no idea what else to say.
“You’re a good friend.”
My heartrate accelerates as oxytocin floods my system.
“We’re friends?” I say before I can stop myself.
She huffs out a laugh. “Yes, Mavrik.”
A smile spreads across my face and she returns it.
“Are you free tonight to train?” she asks.
“Yes.”
For you, always a yes.