81. Ahmina
AHMINA
Ahmina jolted awake as the icy water rushed around her body and rain pelted her head and face. Everything ached. Her hair was blocking her vision, and she lifted her hand to pull the soaked strands off the bridge of her nose
Her vision blurred, and it took a moment for the two shadows to come into focus. When they did, her magic surged, sending a wave of adrenaline through her.
Lennox and Barrow met each other in combat, move for move. Barrow’s dagger had blood on it, Lennox’s blood, and her body coiled with vengeance.
Slowly, she lifted herself out of the water and gripped her chakrams. Her hands were numb from the icy water. She glanced down at stretched knuckles to confirm her weapons were secure in her hand. Her body was still weak, but her anger lent her some strength.
Both men were too engrossed in their fight to notice her.
She knew she had one shot to get this right. If she missed, Barrow would send a dagger to her chest before she could say her own name. Her aim had improved, so much so that she knew she could hit him. Maybe even split his neck open.
She hesitated as a shiver ran up her spine at the memory of his dagger against the delicate flesh of her throat.
He just tried to kill you, she reminded herself. He deserves it.
But it wasn’t about being deserving. If she did this, if she killed him, she could never come back from it.
No one would believe her story. She certainly couldn’t go around broadcasting that Barrow had targeted her because of her magic.
She would be banished from the Academy for murdering a professor and charged as a criminal under Jarrian law.
And not only that, but she would also have to live with the fact that she killed someone for the rest of her life.
She would lose everything, even herself.
She couldn’t hear through the high-pitched ringing in her ears, but she willed her eyes to focus on the men fighting, strategizing her next move.
Lennox limped, his thigh an open wound. A cut on his bicep bled freely, dark crimson caking his forearm. He wasn’t the only one injured, though; Barrow had taken a hit to the shoulder, making his right arm weak. Even so, Lennox could barely hold him back.
The sight of Lennox covered in blood sent a fierce, protective rage coursing through her.
The old Ahmina would have trouble remembering her fight stances—how to position her body just right, how much strength to put behind her throw, exactly the angle to flick her wrist. She would succumb to whatever Barrow wished, whatever anyone wished, if it meant she would be respected and admired.
If it meant she would be worth something.
She came to the Academy to gain power and it had been the one thing constantly taken from her. Discovering her magic changed all that. Because now she didn’t need to acquire power. She had it, crawling under her skin, just waiting to be unleashed.
All she had to do was learn how to use it.
But now, standing there, she knew she was willing to give it all up. Everything she had worked for at the Academy. Her dream of becoming a Defender. Her reputation. She would sacrifice every last bit of it if it meant ending Barrow’s hold on her and protecting Lennox.
Taking one deep breath, she threw her chakram with deadly precision.
She would accept the consequences, whatever they were.
Barrow’s growl was confirmation. Bullseye. It tore up his neck, and he reached to cover the blood that gushed down his chest. He fell back against the rocky shoreline, his head lolling back as he lost consciousness.
“Nice shot,” Lennox said panting, a beautifully crooked smile splitting across his face. Her heart squeezed just looking at him. Sweat made his shirt cling to his body, showing off his defined shoulders and abs. His hair, wet from the rain, was dark, wavy, and hung in his eyes.
His eyes.
Those kaleidoscope eyes captivated her from day one, and even now, they made her stomach flutter.
He looked unfairly hot, even with his arm sliced open.
Only then did she realize her body burned as though it had caught fire—and she relished in it. The way Lennox looked just added fuel, surging her inner flame.
“Give me your dagger so I can finish this.” She would puncture Barrow’s heart, and this would all be over.
“Make it deep,” Lennox encouraged, passing her his dagger and reaching for his sword instead.
She spun, plunging the dagger down with every ounce of strength she had left, but the blade only punctured the shoreline.
All that remained in Barrow’s place was a heap of blood-soaked rocks.
He had disappeared. Vanished into thin air.
“He’s gone,” she said in shock.
Lennox’s eyes were glued to her, and she glared back. For the first time since Ahmina met him, his eyes were wilder than his hair. His pupils dilated as he searched her face.
“Don’t worry, we will get him next time.” He breathed, his voice deep and low.
“Next time?”
“He won’t go far. He’s about to bleed out. Which was all you, by the way.” The way the sides of his mouth and eyes playfully crinkled made her stomach flip. She swallowed, taking in everything that had just happened.
“Fighting you and that psychopath in the Goddess-damned rain will be the end of me.” Lennox shook his head ever so slightly, the side of his lip curling up.
“You weren’t fighting me this time,” Ahmina said between breaths.
He licked his bottom lip and bit down. “Thank the Goddess for that because I barely made it out alive the first time.”
“I didn’t even hurt you the first time.”
“You didn’t have to.” His eyes searched hers intensely and she knew. She knew. That day in the rain, she had watched Lennox’s eyes rage as Barrow wrapped his arms around her. “Watching you with Barrow like that made me sick.”
“I thought you despised me.”
“Despised you?” He ran his hands through his wet hair. “Fuck, Ahmina. I craved you. Ever since I met you in the library and you told me your weird-girl theory about the lost cities, I couldn’t get enough of you.”
Ahmina couldn’t have stopped herself, even if she tried.
They crashed together with magnetic, unstoppable force as she launched herself at him and jumped into his arms, her legs wrapping around his hips.
Lennox dropped the sword he had been holding and tugged her against him.
Every feeling she had pushed down came bubbling up to the surface.
Her hands furiously searched his wild hair.
And she kissed him.
Ahmina’s lips found his instinctively, and he kissed her back just as passionately. They fit together like they were made for each other, and she pressed further into his body as her tongue found his. She wanted to be as close to him as possible. Everywhere.
He met her intensity, one hand down her back and the other holding the bottom of her thigh, fingers creeping dangerously close to where Ahmina desperately wanted them to be. It wasn’t enough, she wanted more of him. All of him.
They broke apart, panting.
“I’ve been waiting for that.” He smiled, looking up at the sky.
“Goddess, I’ve been waiting for that. I’ve been waiting for you.
” His eyes fell back on hers, his eyelids half closed, drunk on love, and she giggled.
He kissed her again quickly, pulling away to study her face, eyes travelling from her eyes to her mouth and back again.
She couldn’t think. She didn’t want to. It felt so good with Lennox.
So right. Her lips found his once again, and she tore at his shirt, pulling it off over his head.
She ran her hands over the muscles of his shoulders, arms, and chest while his hands explored her body.
Everything blurred except for him as she ran her hands down his back.
Her body ached, pain surging through her skin down to her bones.
But she didn’t care, because the achy desire for him at her core was stronger.
A soft moan escaped her as he planted soft kisses down her neck, and when he came back up to kiss her, he groaned into her mouth, making her desperate for him. She wanted him, now.
“Ew,” was all Zeina had to say to shake Ahmina out of the high she was on.
Ahmina glanced over Lennox’s shoulder to find Zeina standing, arms crossed, with a Hydra at her side.
“ZEINA!” Ahmina squealed, yanking her shirt back down over her torso. She slid down Lennox, feet making a small splash as she hit the ground.
“Oh.” Zeina waved at the Hydra. “Yeah, this is Junie.”
“Excuse me?” Ahmina choked. Lennox sheathed the weapons that had fallen into the river but didn’t bother putting on his shirt.
She glared at him. “Hello? A Hydra!? Right there!” Why wasn’t he doing anything?
A grin erupted on his face, which he covered with his palm.
“Her name is Junie,” Zeina repeated. “And we came to save your lovesick asses. Speaking of…” She looked around. “Where is Barrow?”
“Disappeared,” Lennox said through his hand.
Ahmina was in shock. How was Zeina just standing so casually beside a Hydra?
A HYDRA!?
A Hydra named Junie.
“Well, I guess you don’t need our help then.” Zeina shrugged and the Hydra snorted before launching into the sky, its wings sending strong gusts of air at them.
Lennox’s hand found Ahmina’s, his voice low in her ear. “It’s okay stress-mina. Your sister is a creature whisperer.” He wore his classic lopsided grin, and Ahmina looked up at him and scowled. He rubbed the skin between her eyebrows with his thumb, shaking his head slightly.
Suddenly, the intensity of it all hit her and Ahmina felt sick. Finding the infant creatures, fighting Barrow, kissing Lennox, Zeina and a Hydra. What little she had in her stomach spewed out of her before she could stop it.
“Woah, okay, alright,” Lennox said, pulling her damp hair back behind her shoulders.
Ahmina’s cheeks heated. They had just been making out and now she was throwing up beside Lennox’s boots. Correction, on Lennox’s boots. Why was she always such a mess around this man?
She groaned, embarrassed, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “It’s okay puke-mina, I still find you incredibly attractive—unfairly, painfully magnetic actually… even when you’re spitting up your insides.”
Zeina covered her mouth. “Okay, now I’m going to be sick.”
Ahmina held her abdomen as nausea sloshed inside her and she silently repeated don’t get sick, don’t get sick in her mind.
“Feel free to puke allllll over these boots, Mina. I need new ones anyway.”
Don’t get sick. Don’t get sick. Don’t get sick.
“I always knew you were lovesick for me, hah!” Lennox joked.
She threw up again, and between heaves, heard Zeina mutter, “your horrible humor is making it worse. Shut up.”
Unsurprisingly, Lennox couldn’t keep quiet for long. “I’m actually surprised this didn’t happen sooner.”
Ahmina had so many questions, but she couldn’t ask them because her throat was raw and the heaving didn’t stop.