Chapter 6 #3
“Hi. I know we haven’t spoken that much, but I just wanted to see, well, I thought maybe I could walk to class with you?
We’ve got training class together,” Wini asks, stumbling over her words, and I know I need to be careful around her, just in case she is in this madness with her parents, but I nod.
I need a friend, and Parker is nowhere to be seen. Plus, he isn’t a girl.
“I’d love that.” I smile back. “How has it gone so far with your bonded?”
“Me? I have only one wolf to contend with. You have four dragons! Tell me how it is. They’re all known for being, well, not exactly cooperative with witches.” She grimaces. “In fact, they openly told people they’d rather die than bond to a witch, on more than one occasion.”
“They are trying to be accepting of this bond.” I glance over my shoulder as Kane and Vale follow us out, storming through the corridors where people just part for them.
Out of fear, out of respect, I don’t know, but they move on instinct.
“It’s tense, but I feel like we could be friends maybe, so it’ll be fine, perhaps. ”
“You’re still far braver than I am.” She shrugs a shoulder.
“Hey, I was wondering if we might have, like, a girly night at some point? I could get some popcorn and snacks, and we could watch a movie in my room. I have some old human movies from home, and they’re pretty cool.
They were gifted to me by my parents years ago when my mother realized they would keep me silent for hours and out of her way.
And say what you will about humans, but they’ve got some good stories. ”
“Yes, I’d really love that.” I link my arm through hers, and her returning smile is as bright as the sun. I really missed her. “Well, not tonight because there’s the family meal, but maybe tomorrow or the next day.”
“Yay.” She claps her hands. “I’m so glad that you’re going to be at the meal. I’m a bit worried about it, to be honest. I think it might be awkward when my dad meets my bonded. His bonded was a wolf, but he died in the war. He can be a little reserved because of the death of the bond.”
I change the subject before she talks about the war anymore. “I’m sorry he lost his bonded. Oh, have you seen my other friend Parker? I thought he might be in my class, but he’s not.”
“No. But he should be in training, right?” She shrugs. “They split us up depending on skill. You’re in top class, I’m in middle, but I guess that means Parker is in the bottom class.”
My stomach drops at that information. I need to get him moved up.
I never looked at the bottom of the leaderboard last year, or the years before, because I was at the top.
Now I need to make sure Parker isn’t at the bottom and about to die before I make my move.
Winifred tells me all about her bonding and how her wolf snores, and she continues on until we get to the training room.
Maz and Black are already there, talking quietly together.
My eyes search around the room until I find him.
Parker is with his two bonded, the twins that I saw yesterday, and I blow out a breath of relief that he isn’t hurt.
I rush over, and before I get to hug him first, he pulls me into a tight hug and kisses the top of my head.
“There you are, bestie. Four dragons? Whoa. Everyone is talking about you! You’ve got your hands full there. ”
“Says you,” I mutter, looking to his bonded. “Nice to meet you both. I’m Juniper Daygan.”
“A pleasure to formally meet you. We have heard of you, Miss Daygan. I’m not sure there is a shifter who hasn’t heard about the dark-haired witch who bonded to four dragons.
You’re legendary already,” one of them answers, but they are so alike it’s hard to tell them apart.
Both of them have stark white hair, cut short and puffy at the top.
They are slightly taller than Parker, maybe five foot nine.
The one who spoke keeps his vivid blue eyes trained on mine as he continues, “My name is Henry, and this is my identical twin, Damien. Damien has no vocal cords, so he won’t speak unless you know sign language.
” He moves his hands, telling Damien my name, I imagine.
I cannot do sign language, but I want to learn now.
“They are both nice and respectful.” Parker signs what he says out loud.
My eyes widen. “I didn’t know you knew sign language.”
He laughs and hugs me once again. “There’s a lot you don’t know, missy. Now, are you okay, or do we need to make a spell for dragon soup?”
“She’s fine.” Black carefully slides between us and pulls me against his chest. Both Henry and Damien step back, and Parker wisely follows the lead of his bonded as Black snarls. “Who the fuck are you, and why are you touching my bonded?”
“How are you touching her without death?” Henry whispers in horror, taking more steps back.
I sigh and turn to look at Black. “This is my childhood friend Parker. And you don’t have to be like that. He’s—”
“Ex-boyfriend? I don’t like that he holds you and kisses your head.” There’s a growl throughout his words, and it sends shivers down my spine. “I want him dead.”
Parker coughs on thin air. “No death needed, big guy. Juniper and I have never been like that. I don’t even like women. I like men, but I don’t talk about that around here because everyone seems a little uptight and weird with the whole ‘breeding for more baby witches’ shit. Not for me.”
There’s a tense silence, but eventually Black accepts his answer, and he loosens his grip on me, taking my hand instead. “You’re with us for training.”
“See you around, Parker,” I mutter, letting Black lead me away.
“Yeah, you too, bestie.” He watches me with concern, but he is smart enough not to try to stop Black. I wouldn’t want him to anyway.
“Who the fuck’s Parker?” Maz immediately questions.
“He was my bestie before I came here. I think they brought him here to, I don’t know, use him against me perhaps?
It’s a theory I have. I don’t like that he’s here either.
He’s not top of his class, and he shouldn’t have been brought to the academy.
” I make sure the spell’s tight around us so nobody can hear.
“It’s weird. Maybe I should just stay away from him. He could be—”
The tutor walks in, Tutor Den, and he claps his hands once.
“Welcome, everyone. I’m here to train you so you don’t die on day one of the war and embarrass all witch and shifter kind.
I will train you to be ruthless and controlled and to have a chance of ending this war.
For the first lesson, we will shift and go out into the forest. It is pouring down rain from the storm, so any flying types will be grounded today only, due to the lightning.
I’ve had students die in the air because of random lightning strikes, and it never looks good on me.
” He claps his hands as I wince, imagining that kind of death.
“Anybody who does not fly, I expect you to shift. Witches, you will be riding or running next to your bonded. Three hours, and then you return. If you whine or cry, I will send you back out for another three hours. Am I understood?”
Everyone quickly agrees, except for my dragons, who are silent and watching the crowd with an expression I can’t read.
Den goes to Winifred and Aster, telling them to shift first. Wini smiles widely, running a hand over his thick fur before climbing onto his back.
I watch as they run out into the forest, bonding so naturally because they have done this for a lot longer than they know.
Kane and Vale step back, Kane explaining as Maz stretches his arms above his head. “We’ve got somewhere to be. Black’s gonna stay with you for the training.”
“Wait, you shouldn’t walk out. You’ll be at the bottom of the leaderboard,” I warn them.
“Doesn’t matter. Not if you’re planning not to be here by the end of the year.” Maz winks at me before all three of them leave, and I wonder what they are up to. I don’t get a chance to ask Black because Den is here.
“Why are your dragons going?” His grunt nearly makes me jump.
“Yeah. They said they don’t all need to be here to train me, so Black stayed,” I mutter, crossing my arms.
“Great, the one that cannot touch you,” he answers sarcastically.
I reach up and touch Black’s cheek, and he frowns at me, slipping his glove off and linking our fingers together. “He can. It must be a thing between us from having a bond.”
“Oh, how interesting! Someone should research that.” He eyes me suspiciously. “Fine. The two of you over there, hand to hand combat. I will be watching.” He walks off, and I wonder how much he knows. We need to be more careful.
There aren’t many people left in here, and I listen to the pouring rain against the rooftop, the crack of lightning as we choose a mat in the middle. Most have shifted and gone out.
Black lets me go to pull off his cloak, and to my surprise, his shirt too.
I stare and I don’t even know what happens to my body, but I feel stuck, staring at his chest. He is stunning.
Tight pants cling around his waist. Everything about him is defined and beautiful.
His waist has a line of hair that drifts up the flat muscles, up to his huge pecs and thick arms and shoulders.
There is a tattoo right in the center of his chest, nearer his heart, tribal and strange.
The tattoo drifts over his shoulder. “That’s a bit unfair, don’t you think?
Using all that”—I wave at his chest—“to distract me.”
I love his returning laugh as he closes the space between us.
“Juniper Daygan, I can hardly distract you with what is yours and what you can touch any time you wish. By all means, look.” My mouth opens and shuts, and I’m thoroughly speechless.
This man. My man? Yes, he is. “I thought we could start with posture. It’s the easiest way to train your body to be ready. ”
“Some of the years you forgot, you taught me to fight. Not you specifically. Kane mostly. I don’t need to start with posture,” I softly explain. “I’d like you to teach me more self-defense. Just in case.”
He nods. “Then stop me.” That’s the only warning I get before Black moves, and he is fast. I barely see him slide across the mat, his hands reaching for my waist, and he flips me over his shoulder as I squeak. I fall with a thud onto the mat, and he pins me to it with his body.
“When did you learn to move like a ghost?” I whisper in shock, trying hard to distract myself from how good Black feels pressed against me.
He leans closer and the room fades until it’s only Black and me. “When everyone is scared of you for something you can’t control, the only way to have some peace is to be unseen. I learned how to hide as a child.”
“Black,” I whisper softly. “I’m so sorry she did this to you. It’s not fair.”
He leans up, offering me a hand. “Maybe when we meet her, she might listen to her daughter and undo the curse. Maybe Maz’s curse might be lifted too.” Why are Black and Maz cursed like this? Do Kane and Vale have curses too?
But what if she doesn’t undo the curse? She must have loved dragons once, at least one of them, to have me.
Why would she curse the last of their race?
What if my mother is a monster and everything I’m doing right now is just helping her win the war?
I push the thoughts away and take Black’s hand.
“Show me how to move like that, please.”
“You never have to beg me, Juniper. Everything I have and am is yours.” For the next few hours, Black relentlessly teaches me how to move, and I know I’m not nearly as good as he is, but I make some progress.
Either way, it distracts me from the family meal of deception tonight and the dread building in my stomach that they will see right through my lies.