Chapter 18
I have magic, and it’s not any old magic, it’s like…Magic Mike XXX magic.
But I’d give every drop of it up to have Wes in my arms right now.
Hmmm, I wonder if there is some kind of ‘finding my lost love’ spell I could learn?
I know it’s important to get Max, Donovan and Cosmo outside the school grounds, but it feels like no one is rushing to find Wes, and that is my priority. “Come on then,” I say, clapping my hands.
Alexis instantly gets to his feet, even though he’s looking a little rough around the edges. Max has dropped off and is snoring gently, curled up on the floor like the giant puppy he is.
Ludo and Donovan are also both tired and stiff.
Me too, guys, but first things first. “As it’s dinner time, we should try and breach the wards now,” I tell them. “There’ll be fewer people about.”
Surprisingly, Cosmo agrees with me.
“Striker can meet us with a car. Then we’ll just make up some tale that I met up with everyone in Europe, getting a fucking diamond.”
Hmm, that’s not a bad plan.
Before we hustle through Defectivum, I watch Alexis cast a listening spell.
There are so many things I need to learn.
“All clear, let’s go,” he says.
At the entrance more listening spells only bring back bird song and faint building work sounds. “Go,” he says again.
Sprinting to the edge of the woods only takes a couple of minutes, and I’m fairly confident no one has seen us. “Now where?”
“The other side of the lake has the lowest section of wall,” Max says. “Even if you can break the ward, we still have to climb that fucking barrier.”
“That’ll take too long,” Alexis disagrees. “Let’s go to the facilities buildings, it’s close and there’s plenty of cover.”
—There will be ladders there, also—
“I’ll tell Striker to meet us as close to that point as possible,” Cosmo mutters, busily texting.
Max takes point.
Jogging through the trees, branches snagging on my beaten-up cycle shorts. I have to say, when I got dressed in them, I hadn’t been expecting to travel to another realm and meet a divine entity.
As I run, I can’t help but notice that my eyesight seems sharper, and so is my hearing. It’s almost as though I can pick out individual bees buzzing. A crow is cawing and the snap of…
I put my hand up and try to silently get everyone’s attention. It’s like a game of telephone; Ludo stops, then pulls on Alexis's sleeve. Alexis then pokes Donovan and Cosmo. Cosmo slaps Max.
Silently, all the men face me. I put my finger to my lips then try to mime that someone is nearby.
I hear another footstep in the near distance.
Cosmo shrugs and looks as though he’s about to move again.
—NO! STAY STILL!—
He freezes, then slowly turns his head to look at me. —What the fuck?—
—Did you hear me? In your head?—
—The fuck, dud? Get out of my brain—
Whoa. I’m able to broadcast my thoughts.
—Alexis? Lu? Donovan?—
All three are looking at me with amazement. —It seems as though we can do two way telepathy now—
—Nymph!—
—Pulu!—
—Tee-Tee!—
Maximus is raising an eyebrow looking puzzled.
—Don’t overreact, hellhound, but I can talk telepathically to you now. And I can also hear someone is in these woods with us, not far away—
—Fuck, she’s pretty—Donovan is a lucky bastard—
—Max, I can hear you—
—Oh, right. Um, I love to eat pussy. Like, for hours, it’s my favorite thing—just fyi—
I roll my eyes and ignore him to focus further on the nearby presence.
I think it’s only one person, to the right of the building where me and Alexis practiced Parkour. I relay all this to the guys.
—I’ll go check— Alexis says.
I put out a hand to stop him, but the next thing I know, he’s doing a spell that makes him raise slowly from the forest floor. We watch him, amazed.
He’s…flying?
Whoa. I didn’t know that was possible.
My toes tingle with anticipation, and I somehow know I will also have the ability to fly. Alexis drifts upwards, and into the tree canopy. I stay rooted to the spot, listening intently. Slight shuffling sounds are coming from the asphalt near the storage.
A minute later Alexis returns.
As he sinks down to the ground, he thinks me a message.
—Pretty sure it’s your other twin. Looks just like that one— He inclines his head towards Donovan.
My heart picks up its pace. —Is he alone?—
—Yep—
I look at the group in front of me. —It’s Wes, and he’s alone—
“WES?” Donovan’s voice cracks as he yells his brother’s name. “WES!”
He and Cosmo crash through the undergrowth. For a moment, I’m too stunned to react.
—Go find him. I’ll stay here, keep watch— Ludo tells me.
Wes, oh, Wes.
I take off running in the same direction as the others. Thank the Gods, thank the Gods.
Rounding a holly-bush, I come into an opening and there he is.
My Wes.
He looks just as he did when I last saw him a year ago. He’s even wearing the same jeans and a Banksy shirt.
Donovan is next to him, pulling his brother into a hug. I think my heart might burst from the joy of seeing him again.
My cheeks ache because of the size of my smile.
Wes meets my gaze and…
It’s not joy I see in his face. It’s disdain.
Am I hallucinating?
“Wes?”
My voice is unsteady. Why is he looking at me like that?
Alexis puts an arm around me. “What’s wrong with your brother, Donovan?”
Wes stands stiffly in Donovan’s embrace, face like stone.
I take a timid step towards him. “Wes? My love…are you OK?”
Nothing.
“It’s me, Theo.”
Even though Wes is frowning, I’m just so fucking glad to see him safe and whole.
—I love you, Wes—
My brain beams out the words towards him, but it’s like I hit a brick wall. The message won’t project into his mind.
I try to listen to Wes’s thoughts and…it’s just white noise. “Wes? What’s going on?”
I’ve never seen him look so cold, not ever. I stare at him getting increasingly unsettled. His eyes are dead.
“Bro? Are you hurt?” Donovan looks as stricken as I feel as he tries to run his hands over Wes's body.
Wes knocks him away. “Get off me.”
For a moment, I can’t breathe. My love. What can have happened to him?
“You’re safe now, Wes.” I take another step forward. “We’re all back together.” Tears flow down my face, I’m still so confused about his state.
Maximus comes and stands next to me. “Did you get fucked up down there, bro? It’s alright to freak out. We understand.”
Donovan frowns and waves Maximus away. “Give us a minute. Now, listen to me, brother,” he says quietly. “Whatever you’ve been through, it’s over now. We’re all together. Theo found us! Can you believe it? I know it’s been fucking shit, but we’re safe, you understand me?”
I take a few more steps forward, then put out a hand and gently touch Wes on the arm. He flinches, like my touch hurts him.
“Donovan,” he hisses between his teeth, “who’s this girl and why is she pawing me?”
This can’t be real. I move my hand back, it’s shaking.
Alexis pulls me back. “This is wrong,” he mutters under his breath. “Step away, Theo.”
Panic rises in my chest at his words
“Wes? My name is Alexis.” His voice sounds strained but gentle. “What’s the last thing you remember, Wes?”
“And what day is it?” Cosmo adds. “What year?”
Confusion crosses Wes's face. He looks at Cosmo, then at the trees, then back at his twin. “It's...it’s…” He trails off, his eyes narrowing at Donovan’s beard. “Is this a prank? Why do you have a beard? What’s going on?”
Donovan looks at me like the sky is falling.
My stomach muscles clench. “Do you truly not remember me?” I ask, my voice trembling.
Wes looks at me. Really looks at me.
There is zero recognition in his eyes. Just irritation.
“I’ve never seen you before in my life,” he says flatly. “Now, if you’re done being weird, I’m going back to the apartment.”
“Bro, no wait. Fuck…” Donovan looks desperate. “What are we going to do?”
“We keep going forward with the plan,” Alexis replies.
Shit, the plan. I was supposed to be taking the wards down. How can I worry about that when my Wes doesn’t even know me?
“The wards, pulu. Can you affect them?”
I pull my attention away from what’s going on, and start to concentrate on the wards instead. It’s complicated and sucks in all my focus, which is a relief.
After a while I can actually feel the spell that goes around the academy’s perimeter; amazingly, it’s interlaced with the molecules of air. Huh; taking the ward apart is like moving through a maze full of boobie traps.
It doesn’t take any spell work though, so I guess this is innate magic. “I can, but…it’s complicated. I’m not sure…”
Alexis pulls me close, holding me against his body. “Breathe with me. Let me help if I can.” His warmth calms my frantic mental motion. I can do this. “That’s it, beautiful,” he murmurs in my ear. “Just like dancing.”
He’s right! My hips begin to sway and I allow myself to fall deeply into the work. All the time aware of Alexis’s heat and firm hold on my body. “Good girl,” he says softly into the shell of my ear. “You’re doing so well.”
Time passes. I don’t know how long, until finally, sweaty and exhausted, the job is done.
“They’re down!” I gasp, eyes snapping open. “But I tripped a timer. We have five minutes before an alert goes out.”
“OK, no problem, my clever girl. One step at a time.” Alexis doesn’t release his hold on me, and I can feel the perspiration from our bodies mingle. “Next, is floating these guys over the wall. Can you bring some more?”
Coming slightly out of the magic trance, I look to see Donovan, Maximus, Cosmo and Wes watching us. Wes and I meet eyes for a second, then he looks away.
I swallow the lump in my throat and square my shoulders. “Let’s try.”
This time Alexis needs a free hand to cast. He still holds me, but I miss the solid embrace of being fully locked against his body. “Here we go, pulu.”
Within seconds, the four men are hovering a few inches above the ground.
They fall silent for a beat, then Wes curses. “What the fuck is this? Get the fuck off me.”
Fighting my instinct to comfort him, I keep concentrating on the energy, the Lumina, that I’m feeding the spell.
“You’re doing great.” Alexis’s praise keeps me focused, until Wes cusses again. Stupidly, I look up and meet his glare. So cold.
For a second I lose concentration.
All four guys drop several feet.
“Fuck, dud!” Cosmo snaps. “Get it together.”
“What the fuck, let me go, you fuckers,” Wes almost screams.
Gotta focus. The clock is ticking.
Gritting my teeth, I push more Lumina into the spell.
It takes a lot of effort, but finally Alexis and I have them over the wall and down onto the other side.
As soon as Alexis tells me they are on the ground, I collapse in sobs.
“I know, pulu,” Alexis murmurs into my hair. “But everything will be alright.”
How can he say that? There is so much that is far from alright.
“Why doesn’t Wes know me? He acts like he hates me.”
Alexis’s arms squeeze around me even tighter. “I’ve no answers about Wes, but we’ll find them. We’ll work together and find them.”
He kisses my hair and I melt into him, exhausted.
“Theo?”
“Yes?”
“I hate to say this, but can you put the wards back up?”
Shit. The alert! Reforming the barrier drains my energy faster than an electric scooter trying to climb a hill. I end up cradled in Alexis’s arms as I work. Eventually, I sag back into his body. “Done.”
Ludo steps out of the shadows looking worried. —Nymph, you must get to safety, then rest—
I am exhausted but it feels like there is still so much to do.
Alexis and Ludo exchange a glance. “Go back to your dorm, Theo. Tell Bilderblast you’ve had the flu. I’ll do the same at the staff apartments.”
“And the guys?” My voice cracks.
He shrugs. “They’ll figure it out. We’ve done our part. What I’m worried about is you. Ludo, can you see her back? Fuck, I hate to leave you but the last thing we need is me losing my job. It seems ridiculous but I need to make a lesson plan for tomorrow and all that bullshit.”
I fling my arms around Alexis’s neck. “Please be careful. I-I need you to be OK.” I stand on my toes and press a kiss to Alexis’s cheek.
It’s brief but the contact sizzles.
“I’ll see you soon,” he murmurs. “Go with Ludo now.”
Ludo takes a step closer to me as Alexis reluctantly lets me go.
“OK.” My hand lingers in his for a moment longer, then drops. “See you soon.”
—Come, Nymph. Before anyone sees us out here—
—OK, Lu—
We walk silently through the woods.
The path is wide enough for us to walk side by side, and Ludo’s hand brushes against mine.
Take hold of my hand, Ludo. Do it, you can do it.
Our fingers graze once more, and my heart beats a million miles an hour.
Yes, we’ve hugged, and he’s picked me up and carried me. But Lu has never made a move towards me that isn’t purely for my comfort or safety.
And I want him to kiss me so badly, but I know that Ludo has to make that move. He has to be in charge of anything sensual that happens between us.
My Janitor will never be made to do anything against his will, ever again.
Our hands brush once more, and this time Ludo allows his pinky to hook with mine. The tiny joining makes me deliriously happy.
—Come. It’s not safe out here—We need to get you back to the basement—
We start walking faster, but our fingers remain linked.