The Mage Tales Prequels, Books 0-II: (An Urban Fantasy Thriller Collection)

by Ilana Waters

  “Yeah, nothing to worry about. We’ll get plenty of sleep in time to win Tournament tomorrow, Captain.” Rami grinned at me and raised his red cup.

  “You know what? I don’t care.” I threw my hands out. The bruise forming around my eye was starting to throb. “Do whatever you want. Just don’t be so loud that you wake up Yen.” The last thing I need is an angry housemaster on my back. I found the stereo and turned down the volume.

  “No worries, Josh,” one House of Water girl giggled. “We slipped him a sleeping potion a few hours ago.”

  “Yeah, I bet he’ll be out until Tournament time,” the boy with his arm around her said. He took a long drink from his cup, let it drop to the floor, and planted a big kiss on the girl. She squealed. I stormed off, just in time to see them fall down together on the couch.

  I made my way to the kitchen to look for an ice pack for my eye. Or at least some arnica or comfrey to make a healing potion. “Ugh!” I flung open cabinet after cabinet with my mind. “Why can’t I get away from people?”

  “Because it’s earth and they live here,” I heard a familiar voice say.

  Chapter 21

  “Ah!” I whirled around, the edges of my duster almost snagging on a baseboard. “Colleen!” I let out a sigh of relief, and managed a tiny smile. “So, the place is already inhabited, eh? I knew I didn’t like this planet.”

  “You don’t really want to get away from people, do you?” She batted her lashes, leaning her long body back on the opposite counter. “I mean, not everyone.” Her thick, enormous braid was flowing over one shoulder, as usual, with red ribbons intertwined throughout. Her lips seemed wider and redder this evening, too. And something else about her makeup was different, but I couldn’t tell exactly what. More definition around the eyes, perhaps? More blush? Her cheeks seemed pinker. Eh, I’m a bloke. What do I know about women’s makeup?

  “How did you know I was here?” I asked.

  “I heard about that fight you broke up between Toboso and Watts. I know mages don’t heal as quickly as . . . well, I figured this is the first place you’d go.” She pulled out an ice pack from behind her back and put it over my eye. I winced at the cold, but let the pack—and Colleen’s powers—do their work. “Easy, now,” she said. “Healing magic requires patience.” Her eyes twinkled at me. “As someone once told me, ‘You can’t rush these things.’ ”

  “Bloody genius, he was,” I grumbled.

  “Well, when you’re all patched up, we could always head over to the common room. I hear there’s quite the shindig going on.”

  “No, thank you.” I tried not to make a face as I felt the blood vessels in my cheekbone fuse. “Though you’re welcome to join them, if you like. Pen and Miles and everyone are always saying how much you love a good party.”

  “Oh, I do, my dear.” She pulled the ice pack away and blew the last remnants of magic off my face. Her breath felt warm, her lips close to mine. “But sometimes, it’s nice just to be a party of two.”

  Now, my whole body was starting to feel warm.

  “Ah, you’re not supposed to be away from your house either, prefect.” I took the ice from her hand—now soggy and melted in its plastic pack—and threw it in the sink. “It’s after lights-out for you, too.”

  Colleen tsked. “Didn’t you read the prefect handbook?” She pulled on my lapels until we were face-to-face again. “We’re allowed out in the event of an emergency. Everyone is.”

  “Right.” I smirked. “Like there’s an emergency now.”

  “Well, some parts of me are definitely on fire,” she whispered.

  Oh, my dear, dear lord. I swallowed hard. Colleen put her hands on my cheeks and kissed me. Gently, I pushed her away.

  “Er, shouldn’t you be getting some rest, Captain? Don’t you have a team to lead to victory tomorrow?” Boy, playing prefect has really gotten to me. Maybe I am turning into Oliver. “It won’t do to consort with the enemy so soon before a battle. I’d think Victor and those other tossers would have a fit if they knew you were with the half-breed mage. And tonight, of all nights.”

  “Please. Victor and his lot can go shove a sock in it. Though they are right about one thing.” She put both her hands on either side of the cabinets above, trapping me. “I do think your place is beneath me.”

  Is she serious? Please, God, let her be serious.

  “Really? But . . . but where would we . . . whose room . . .”

  “Mine, silly. I’ve got a single, not a double. We’d have the place all to ourselves.”

  “Yes, but I don’t. Have a single, I mean. Oliver’s my roommate. He’s bound to notice I’m missing.”

  “He’s probably asleep. Besides, you’re the House of Air prefect now. The only person who could rat you out is you. And it’s Tournament Eve, for gods’ sakes. Everyone knows that’s mad dog time, even Specs. No one’s going to throw the book at you for having a little sleepover.” At the word “sleepover,” I started to go all tingly.

  “Well, if you say so.” A huge smile spread across Colleen’s face. I let her lead me by the hand, as if in a dream. We went out the kitchen, past the booming common room, and down the stairs. “But if Tournament comes, and air’s captain can’t compete because he’s busy writing ‘I will not sneak out of my house’ ten thousand times on a blackboard, we’ll know who to blame.”

  “I’ll take that risk.” She grinned over her shoulder.

  “Wait.” I stopped. “This isn’t some ploy to cheat at Tournament, is it? You’re not going to get me drunk, or bespell me, or do something that’ll make air lose tomorrow? Right?”

  Colleen’s jaw dropped, and she let go of my hand. “Is that a joke? How could you think I’d do something like that? Look, Joshua, I want to win, but not that badly. For better or worse, Tournament’s going to be over tomorrow. But I hope whatever’s between us will still be going on.” She put one hand on her hip. “If you can stop making idiotic accusations, that is. Besides, I resent the implication I’d need to cheat in order to win. Or are you forgetting who practically put your arse in a sling the first day we met?”

  “How could I forget?” I rubbed my backside. “It’s still sore.”

  Colleen smiled knowingly, and took my hand again. “Not as sore as it’s going to be,” she said, and we continued down the stairs.

  Sweet Jesus. Normally, I wouldn’t like the way that sounded, but now I couldn’t get to Colleen’s room fast enough. We snuck around to the side of House of Fire. The night air was heady and warm. Everywhere you looked was green: the treetops next to the house, the bushes along the walls, the soft carpet of grass under our feet. Colleen glanced up at one of the windows—presumably hers. Thick tendrils of ivy covered the brick all the way to the casement. Colleen held her hands before them, until the ivy spread and grew into a ladder for us to climb.

  This is so much cooler than flying, I thought as we made our way up. At first, I was worried it wouldn’t hold our weight. But the bands of ivy were sturdy as the strongest ropes. Colleen lifted the window sash, and we crawled inside.

  If I had conflicted thoughts about going up against Colleen in Tournament, they were all but forgotten now. She was right. Who cared who won or lost? We would still have each other. And tonight. We would still have tonight, whatever that turned out to be.

  “You’re right.” I put both feet on the floor and stood up from the windowsill. “You’d never need to cheat. You can magic circles around anyone else. You’re a hell of a girl, Colleen McKay.”

  “And you’re the kind of boy who can handle a strong girl like me.” Colleen wrapped her arms around my back, moving her hands in circles. I put mine around her waist. “That’s why I love you,” she whispered in my ear.

  I froze. “You . . . what? You do?”

  “Yes.” Her hands stopped circling. “Do you?”

  “Do I what?”

  “Joshua!”

  “Oh, yes, I do!” Squeezing my eyes shut, I buried my f
ace in the soft part of her neck. “Sorry. I’m definitely saying, ‘I do.’ I mean, not like that, but—”

  “Oh, bloody hell.” Colleen raised her hands to my chest to push me away.

  “I do love you, Colleen,” I repeated adamantly. The smile crept back onto her face. Instead of pushing me away with her hands, she moved them around my neck in a way that made my knees wobble.

  As I stood there, holding Colleen, I noticed her room for the first time. The furniture was similar to mine and Oliver’s, but that was where the similarity ended. The entire space was decorated with framed fencing awards and pictures of her with arms draped around other students, smiling for the camera. There was one of an older, bearded man with red hair. He stood next to a younger, bearded man who looked just like him. Colleen’s father and brother, I assumed.

  And great swaths of red silk were draped all over—around the bed canopy, along the moldings, the window, the dresser. They were intertwined with twinkling lights strung up everywhere, with red candles below. The bedclothes were turned down, a mountain of pillows before them.

  “You’ve been busy,” I said.

  Colleen looked around and smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve been planning this for a while.” She gave me a long kiss, her hand on my cheek, then went to light another candle.

  Dazed, I slowly removed my duster and draped it over her desk chair. “You really went all out.” I loosened my collar. “This must’ve taken forever.”

  “How do you know my room doesn’t always look like this?” she asked slyly. Then she winked at me, and the candle beside her lit up. “Besides, it’s nothing compared to everything I’m prepared to do tonight. For you.” She moved toward me again and continued unbuttoning my shirt. “For us.” Her voice went husky in that way that made all the hairs on my body stand on end.

  We kissed again, her lips so soft and tongue so wet, I wanted to devour her. I was fairly certain I already had her lipstick all over the bottom of my face. But I didn’t care. She finished unbuttoning my shirt and pulled it out of my trousers. I did the same to her, and we stumbled over to the bed. I couldn’t wait to run my hands and lips over her smooth, taut chest.

  I am alone with Colleen in her room in her room in her room—

  “Have you ever—” I started.

  “No,” she said breathlessly. “You?”

  “Ah, no.”

  “Brilliant.” She kicked off her shoes, and I did the same. “It’ll be like the blind leading the blind.”

  Leading. Following. I don’t care where the hell I go, as long as it’s with Colleen.

  “Eh, people have been doing it for thousands of years,” I joked. “How hard could it be?”

  “I don’t know,” Colleen said in that husky voice. She pulled my belt buckle tight to undo the clasp, then let it go again and unzipped my trousers. She slipped her hand between my legs and started stroking me. “How hard is it, Joshua?”

  I moaned. Oh. My. God. That feels sooo good. How much better could it possibly get? I was giddy just considering it.

  I was a little apprehensive about being naked in front of Colleen. But after a moment’s hesitation, I pulled my trousers off all at once. It was done partly because of bravery, partly necessity: another minute more and I probably would have burst out of them. I hadn’t felt anything similar coming from Colleen’s end, but that was all right. So she was a slow starter. He. Whatever. We had all night.

  “Niiice.” Colleen smiled widely and licked her lips when she saw me. “Very nice.”

  My heart leaped. Yes! She still wants me. It was a glorious moment to be alive. I grabbed Colleen and kissed her hungrily. Then I stopped.

  “Wait, wait—are you sure we should be doing this?” I asked her. “I mean, tomorrow is Tournament. Even if we don’t care who wins, our teams are counting on us. Ideally, we’d both be getting lots of rest and—” I stopped when I saw the look on Colleen’s face. “Right. Sorry. Don’t know what I was thinking.” We resumed kissing.

  The ribbon at the base of Colleen’s braid had come off, and her hair was slowly untangling itself into crinkled waves. Wisps fell over her forehead, moist with perspiration. I watched our collarbones rise and fall together as we panted. My muscles seemed to have a mind of their own. My hands and arms and everything were moving of their own accord, my body responding to Colleen’s. Back and forth, like electric current zooming between us, calling and answering. And below that, like a distant hum, that delicious, delicious throbbing.

  “Is this why you wanted to take off my mask that first day?” she breathed in my ear. We knelt in the middle of the bed, her hands clutching my bum. “Is this what you wanted to see?”

  Holy shit, this is really happening. Am I ready for this? Is anyone ever really ready for this?

  “Yes, yes, oh my God. Yes.” I pulled her belt off and flung it on the floor. Then I fumbled and jerked with her trouser button and zipper, finally wrenching her fly open. I wasn’t trying to be rough. I just couldn’t seem to get her clothing off fast enough. Even the few seconds it took me to pull down her trousers seemed too long for our bodies to be apart. I wanted nothing between her and me. Not a mask, not thin blades of metal. Not even air.

  I was surprised to see she wasn’t wearing boxers or briefs, though I probably shouldn’t have been. She was wearing real panties: the kind I’d only seen in lingerie catalogs and . . . similar publications until now. It really turned me on. Though to be honest, watching paint dry probably would’ve turned me on at that point.

  “Wait,” she gasped, grabbing my wrists when I tried to tug the panties down as well. “I’m not ready.”

  “What? Oh, come on. Fair’s fair,” I teased her. “I show you mine, you show me yours.”

  “I’m serious.”

  “Really?” My brow furrowed. “You were raring to go before. Look, don’t be embarrassed. Whatever size . . . it’s fine. I love you, remember? I think you’re gorgeous. This is going to be fantastic. Just relax. I mean, we can turn out the lights if you want. But you set out all these nice candles—” I gently twisted my hands out of her grip and stroked her backside.

  “Josh, I mean it. Just give me a sec—”

  But it was too late. Colleen fell backward, and me on top of her. One of my hands was clutching her underwear, pulling it halfway down her thigh. My jaw dropped as I leaped off her and to one side. I sat, dumbfounded, on the edge of the bed, and tried not to stare. But it was impossible.

  “Colleen,” I coughed. “You’re . . . you’re a girl.”

  Colleen yanked her panties all the way off, balled them up, and threw them in a corner. “Nothing gets by you, does it?” she snapped. She hugged her knees to her chest, with a pillow in front.

  “I mean, really a girl. I mean, I know you said were a girl, but I always thought you were still . . . you know.” I pointed at her. “Steady on—do you have any protection? Oh, that’s right. You can’t have—ah, never mind.” So pregnancy wasn’t an issue. And I wasn’t worried about contagious illness. Witches and mages can’t get STDs, or other human diseases, unless we get very run-down. And even then, the ones that are fatal in humans are almost never fatal in us.

  So that’s why she was so upset when I mentioned kids. The way I talked about it, I assumed she had the body of a man. To her, it was just a reminder that I still didn’t know the truth about her. That, one day, there would be a moment like this one. A moment she’d have to tell me everything, and see how I reacted.

  “Protection? Josh, are you kidding me right now?” She grabbed another small pillow and lobbed it at my head. When it missed, she telekinetically threw the rest, which didn’t miss. “I knew it.” Her voice caught in her throat. “You hate me. I knew you would.”

  What? Hate her? Of all the things I was presently feeling for Colleen, hatred was definitely not on the list.

  “Um, can I just have a few minutes to process here?” Not knowing what else to do, I took one of the pillows Colleen
threw and held it in front of my waist. I sat down next to her.

  I don’t understand. What happened to all the confidence she had before? It had vanished, like smoke.

  “Just leave me alone. Get out of here.” Colleen hugged her knees closer to her chest, her chin resting on the edge of the pillow, and refused to look at me.

  “But I don’t get it.” I ran my fingers through my hair, realizing it was slick with sweat. ‘You were the one who was all gung ho to do this just a few minutes ago.”

  “Oh, like you weren’t?”

  “Well, yes, I was. I mean, I am. But you practically dragged me over here. Surely you must have known this was going to happen. That you’d have to tell me the truth—the whole truth—sooner or later.”

  “I suppose. I just . . . I don’t know what I thought.” Colleen closed her eyes and bent her head down. It was so strange. I didn’t recall ever seeing her look so . . . defeated before, even though she had no reason to. “I only knew I wanted this more than anything. I still do. And that I want it with you.”

  I took a deep breath and put my hands on Colleen’s shoulders. It caused the pillow in front of my waist to fall away, but I ignored it. “And it’s what I want. With you. No matter what. Okay, so things aren’t exactly as I expected. No problem. I can be flexible. I don’t know if you knew that about me. But boys, girls . . . I can be flexible,” I repeated.

  “Well, I can’t.” Colleen looked up at me. Her big, violet eyes were brimming with tears, breaking my heart. “This is me, Joshua. Forever. I’m never going to change.”

  My eyes searched hers. “Do you . . . want to change?”

  “No!” Colleen jerked back. I pulled my hands away from her shoulders, holding them up in surrender. “I know who I am. I was born this way. I don’t see the need to have any operations. I mean, some people do, but not me.” She tucked a blond curl back behind her ear. “Why is it always about the body parts? Why can’t I just be myself?”