by Jaymin Eve
Rone leaned down and murmured something low. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but it sounded a lot like You got this, love.
Love? Well, that was interesting.
Larissa certainly thought so; her cheeks went pinker, her eyes soft and dreamy.
Rone had so many hidden layers, and at first sight the two of them made no sense, but when you dug deeper, there was a symbiosis there. A gentle truth. A yin and yang.
Asher wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his side, and my tummy did the butterfly thing, my pulse raced, and my power started losing its shit. Because apparently it loved Asher and kept trying to smash through my chest to get to him.
He leaned over and pressed his lips to the top of my head, and I sighed.
“So, my parents sent me a letter,” Calen said, leaning forward. His thing with Ilia had apparently died a natural death, but I could have sworn that I’d seen them naked together in the pool the other night. And they were sitting very close at the moment. “They heard there’s an entire task force heading out to the location where Atlantis is rising. They predict the rise will be complete by the end of the year. Literally.”
That would be my birthday. Weird coincidence … or just another fucked-up connection between me and that lost land?
“We should be on that task force,” Jesse added, leaning back in his chair. He’d finished his food, the plates still lined up in their perfect order. “There is no one more qualified to deal with whatever Atlantis throws at us.”
“Louis has already said he’d be there,” I told them. The sorcerer had stopped by to check on me and the amulet. “He’s hoping to fit some training of my power in at the same time, since he’ll be there for a while”
Not that it really mattered. A step-through could take him from one side of the world to the other without issue, but I still got what he was saying. He would focus on Atlantis and me, in that order.
“Are you all worried about what changes this might bring?” Ilia asked. She didn’t look as put-together as usual—her last job had taken a real toll on her; the supe was still missing and it bothered her.
“No,” the guys said.
“Yes,” I replied at the same time.
Five sets of eyes met mine. “I’m really worried, but I know we’ll handle it. Whatever it is.”
“No more dreams?” Axl asked, lifting his head from the textbook in front of him.
I shook my head. “Nope. Sleeping like a log.”
Well, outside of all those nights I ended up in Asher’s bed with him loving my body until I couldn’t breathe or think. Come to think about it, maybe that was the reason I slept so well. Asher kept the nightmares at bay.
For the first time in my life, I wasn’t alone.
My exams were over fast, and even though I wasn’t as confident as I had been in previous exams, I still felt good about it. I’d worked hard. I’d learned so much. And I would continue to do so, for however long Supernatural Academy allowed me.
“Party time!” Calen shouted, hooking an arm around my waist and twirling me across the commons. “Get your sexiest clothes on and meet us back here at 10:00 P.M.”
Ilia and Larissa shooed him away, and then the three of us crowded into Ilia’s little apartment. It was in the magic users’ wing, but on a floor lower than the shared area with the couches. I hadn’t even realized this section existed until she brought me here the first time.
It was bigger than our dorms, with a small sitting area and her own private bathroom.
Larissa threw herself back on the bed. “Guys, I need help,” she said.
We both crowded closer; she flung a hand dramatically across her face. “I think I love him.”
Ilia and I exchanged a grin. “Rone?” we both said.
Larissa groaned again. “Fuck. Yes. I can’t stop thinking about him, imagining him naked. I … I either need to get laid immediately, or—”
“You need to get laid by Rone immediately,” Ilia confirmed. “That vamp is fine, and you’re going to explode if you don’t take advantage of all that.”
I held both hands up. “Back up for a moment. Did you say love? Like … real deep feelings?”
She pulled herself up, her smile fading. “I-I think so. My feelings are definitely deep. He makes me feel things I never expected. I’ve never had a relationship before, just sex. An itch that you scratch. This thing with Rone, it’s so much more than that. We’re friends, really great friends, and I thought that would be enough. But….”
“It’s not,” I confirmed, knowing exactly how she felt. That’s how it was with Asher and me.
Ilia ruffled her hair, sending the red curls tumbling everywhere. “Take the chance. Make him realize what he’s missing.”
Her face brightened and she spun, rifling through her wardrobe, which was about ten times more impressive than Larissa’s and mine combined. “I have the perfect dresses for both of you in here,” she said. “Aha!”
She pulled out a short, tight, red number and threw it at Larissa. “That one is way too short for me, so it should be perfect for you. And red is a great color on you, girl.”
Larissa normally didn’t go for the revealing clothes like Ilia, but this time she just held the dress up, stared for a few minutes, and then nodded. “Yep. I’m going to go for it.”
She disappeared into the bathroom, and I turned my attention to Ilia. “Okay, give me your best,” I said. Asher was going tonight. I wanted to create new, better memories than the ones we had from the last party we’d attended.
Ilia flicked through more clothes, her forehead wrinkled as she shook her head over and over. “It’s here,” she muttered. “I know it.”
Finally her expression brightened. “Yes!”
She pulled it out and I blinked at the deep pink. She spun and held it out to me. “These are your last days of pink hair,” she told me, her eyes wide and excited. “You said it was the year of pink hair. You’ve rocked it better than anyone I know. But I also think it’s time to move forward. To let pink go and…” She lifted one eyebrow. “Have you decided on your next color?”
I nodded, but I didn’t tell her yet. Half the fun was seeing the transformation in person. My birthday was fast approaching, and with it my ritual would kick into effect again.
Ilia huffed. “Fine, don’t tell me. My point is, let go of pink in a big way.”
She waved the dress at me, and I got up to take it from her.
It was not my normal style: a strapless number with a mermaid skirt that stopped just above my knees. It would hug my curves, and hopefully I had long enough legs to pull it off. “You’re thinner than me,” I said, stretching the bodice across my chest. “You’re going to have to lube me into this.”
Ilia snorted. “The visual of that…”
We both laughed just as Larissa stepped out of the bathroom, a red sheath draping across her body, falling to midthigh. “Yes!” I shouted, jumping up and down. “That’s it. You look so gorgeous.”
She covered her breasts, which were much more exposed than I’d ever seen on her before.
“You have great boobs,” Ilia exclaimed, and Larissa shot her a dark look.
“I’m changing,” she said, spinning around. We both dove forward to grab her, yanking her back before she could.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Ilia said. “You’re going to show Rone exactly what he’s missing. There’s a sex goddess hidden under all of the plaid, I know it.”
Larissa stuck her tongue out at her. “I don’t wear plaid, asshole.”
She didn’t try to escape to the bathroom again; instead she moved to the mirror and started to work her hair into a braid. “I’ll wear it,” she finally said when she finished dealing with her hair.
I slipped on the pink dress, which was the same shade as my hair, only a little darker. It actually went really nicely with my complexion, making my skin look even more sun-kissed than normal. I decided to pile my hair up in loose curls, leaving just a few tendrils falling
down to showcase the strapless neckline. The dress was cut low, just across the top of my boobs, and it was formfitting all the way down until the mermaid tail.
I kind of loved it. And once my makeup was done, hair up, and heels on, I was more than happy with Ilia’s choice.
“We’re so fucking hot,” she said, twirling in the mirror.
She was hot. White minidress, stilettos, legs that went on for a few hundred miles, red hair, lips, and eye makeup.
Perfection.
When we made it to the commons, there were students everywhere in various states of dress. And undress. Depending on how you looked at it. A real trend existed in this school of wearing shirts the size of bras and skirts the size of stamps.
“I’m glad to see the Clovers’ punishment stuck,” Ilia said, her eyes locked on their empty table. Last dance they’d been there, holding court with all of their followers. This week they were gone. They’d been exiled out of the main courtyard, forced to sit on the sidelines. All thanks to Kate and Chellie. Those two were awaiting trial in Germany right now, and could soon be sharing a cell with a bunch of other criminals.
I couldn’t even find it in myself to care. They’d almost cost me everything.
They’d almost cost me Asher.
Speaking of. There was a hush when Asher and the other guys entered the commons. All eyes turned to them, students hurrying forward, calling his name and saying hello. He acknowledged a few of them with a nod, but his eyes never wavered. They were locked on me as he stalked forward. The crowds parted for him even while trying to grab his attention.
Unable to wait, I moved toward him, a little unsteady on my heels, but determination kept me walking. Asher’s pace picked up, and we all but crashed together as his arms wrapped around my back. Asher leaned down so that our lips could meet, and gasps rang out around us.
Guess the secret was out now.
The kiss ended up somewhere between casual and ready to rip each other’s clothes off. My breathing was fast when he pulled back, his arms holding me close.
“Pink is a gorgeous color on you,” he said, resting his forehead against mine. “You look so beautiful.”
“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I told him, trying to keep the awe out of my voice.
He was wearing a dark gray shirt that hugged his biceps and chest muscles. It was just tight enough that I could make out the faint outline of his abs, which kind of made me want to drag him back to his room and strip that shirt right off him. He had on jeans, the sort of well-worn, faded denim that was both sexy and casual. His boots added height, his hair was roughly styled, and his dimples were already killing me.
“I’m really glad you didn’t die,” I said softly.
His smile grew until a low, husky laugh escaped. “I’m really glad too, and if you keep looking at me like that, we’re definitely not making it to the dance.”
I had to really think for a second if that was a bad idea or not. A classmate from my demonology class dashed past then, and seeing me did a huge backtrack.
“Maddi!” Trent shouted, somehow the only student here who wasn’t fixated on Asher. Instead, he was staring at me. Or my boobs, to be more accurate. “How did your last exam go.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I shot him a “seriously” look. “It went fine. It was easier than I expected. Yours?”
He groaned, finally looking at my face. “I thought it was so hard. They had like twenty different timelines we had to remember. I mean, how many demon wars has this world had? I couldn’t keep up.”
Trent wasn’t the sharpest tool, so this didn’t really surprise me. But apparently he had some powerful, rich parents, and his connections would keep him in school and moving through the grades.
“Save me a dance,” Trent said, his eyes back on my boobs.
“Yeah, that’s probably not going to happen,” I said seriously.
Trent pushed closer to me.
Asher moved, inserting himself between us. “Go away,” he growled. “She’s not interested.”
Trent blinked, his gaze tipping up to meet the icy eyes of the Atlantean standing there. Panic dropped across his features, and he started to back up. “Sorry,” he stuttered, the smooth smarminess disappearing. “I didn’t realize.”
Asher’s rigid features didn’t relax. “Now you do.”
Trent ran, and I smacked Asher on the arm. “I had it handled,” I told him.
Finally some of the pissed-off anger faded from his face, and he winked at me. “I know that, but it’s in my nature to protect what’s mine. I’m just one of those guys.”
He was; he protected the people he cared about with a ferocity that would scare most supes. I could never be mad about being one of those people. Plus…
“I feel the same way about you,” I admitted. “Whenever those chicks drape themselves over you, I kind of want to rip their faces off.”
It was my first experience with being possessive, and it certainly took controlling myself to a new level.
Asher’s gaze went all dark and sexy. “I fucking love that about you.”
There was this weird pause, because he’d used the love word, but then Ilia and Calen were calling us, and the moment passed. This party was in a different location to the forest one, out the back of the main classrooms, in a huge room I hadn’t seen before. It was almost set up like a ball, with polished marble floors and stadium seats right around the outside.
“This is the music and concert room,” Ilia said, leaning around Calen to speak to me. “They have huge performances in here, and it has the best acoustics.”
This was proven by the music pumping in the place, filling my blood with energy. Asher dragged me right out onto the dance floor. “We got interrupted last time,” he murmured near my ear, and I pressed myself as close as I could get.
“This time I’m dancing the night away,” I replied, wrapping my arms around his neck.
I’d clearly jinxed us though, because not two minutes later a loud siren blared through the room. It was so piercing it even cut through the loud music.
“What is that?” I asked Asher, swiveling my head to see what was happening.
“It’s the alarm on the perimeter of the Academy,” he said, going into protective mode. He kept one hand on me while he angled his body between me and the door.
The other guys found us almost immediately, surrounding me as well. “Where are Ilia and Larissa?” I asked, trying not to panic. My hands clutched at my necklace, relieved that my power was still strong and present inside of me.
“Right here,” Ilia said, dragging Larissa and depositing her into the middle of the Atlanteans, next to me. She then pulled twin daggers from thigh sheaths—because she was literally that badass—and stood next to Asher. I was distracted watching her twirl those babies in her hands, before remembering that the alarm had gone off for a reason.
Someone had breached the perimeter.
Princeps Jones dashed through the entrance. He had some of his staff with him, and they didn’t look shocked or angry by the obvious signs of a party happening. Larissa was right, he definitely already knew and just turned a blind eye. He searched around, and when he spotted us he surged forward. I was starting to get a bad feeling about this, a sense that this was something to do with either Atlantis or me.
Or both.
“Asher,” Jones said, not at all breathless. “Arterians are at the front of the school. They’re demanding that you and Maddison speak with them.”
“No!” Asher’s voice was snap of fury. “She will go nowhere near them.”
Ilia twirled her daggers again, eyes narrowed. “Let me speak with them,” she suggested, and I had to shake my head at how brave and scary she could be, if not a little reckless and stupid.
I dropped my hand on Asher’s arm and immediately got his attention.
“We should go,” I said softly. “They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t have something important to say.”
Asher growled
, a feral light entering his eyes. “Last time, they kidnapped you. This time, I will just kill them all before they get a chance.”
I chuckled, wrapping my arms around him. “Easy, tiger. Let’s just hear them out first, and if we don’t like it, we can discuss killing them.”
Asher’s chest rumbled under my hands, and I knew he wasn’t happy about it. I gave him another minute to think about it, not pushing when he was so close to the edge of his control.
“Okay, fine,” he snapped. “But you’ll go nowhere alone.”
I nodded, not wanting to talk to them alone. “They asked for you as well,” Princeps Jones reminded him.
Asher let out a derisive laugh, dark and without humor. “They know it’s the only way to get to Maddison.”
No one argued, but in my head I was almost certain that whatever schemes they had cooked up, Asher was just as important as I was. It had taken the two of us to bust the lock, both of our blood.
We left the dance in a large group, the alarm still blaring through the school. It would ensure that most students were safely back in their rooms while we dealt with the threat.
“They remain outside,” Princeps Jones said as we walked. “They tripped the alarm solely to gain my attention.”
We ended up at the front entrance, the one I’d crossed almost a year ago with Ilia. There were dozens of the leather-clad Arterians spread out, but only one stood on the bridge. The only one without a helmet. Connor.
His focus was on me, intense and unnerving.
Everyone else stayed near the large front entrance on Asher’s command, while the two of us moved forward. He stopped me before I could step onto the bridge, leaving a ten-foot gap between us and Connor. “What do you want?” Asher said, his icy words whipping out with force.
Connor didn’t look away from me. He was staring at me like I was something special, and I really wished he would stop.
“Why are you here, Connor?” I asked him.
“You need to come to Atlantis,” he told me. “If you don’t return, they’re all going to die.”
I shook my head. “What do you mean? Who will die?”
