Soul and Disaster: Slayer Academy (Book 1)

by Cassidy Summers

  Rylan pushes me through the door and into the cold street where I find Trey and Jacinta sitting on the curb, looking pretty damn sorry for themselves. Rylan lets go of my arm and I see Daniel walking out behind us with an embarrassed but proud look covering his face. I attempt to sit next to Jacinta but stumble on my way down before catching myself on Jacinta’s shoulder and falling the rest of the way.

  “Are you drunk?” Rylan scolds as a small giggle flies out of my mouth, which I know I’m going to pay for later.

  “Umm…no,” I say slowly, breaking into a grin and getting a case of the giggles once again. I slap my hand over my mouth, desperately trying to hold my giggles in, but it only makes matters worse.

  I look up at Rylan in all his glory, looking as fierce and intimidating as the day I met him, but far out he looks good, like really good in his black leather jacket. I look him up and down, a moan escaping my lips, just the thought of him alone doing so much more to me than Daniel had just done. My eyes greedily travel back up his body and rest on his face which is currently studying me with curiosity. That curiosity is quickly replaced with a hard glare as he meets my eyes. Jacinta elbows me hard in the ribs, a warning to pull myself together.

  Far out. Rylan is furious. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” he growls, giving us his most terrifying look yet. “Do you have any idea how stupid this is?” he says, shaking his head at us like we’re misbehaved children. “Who’s got the keys?” he demands patiently as he waits for Trey to dig them out of his pocket.

  “At least you have the brains not to drink and drive,” he scolds Trey before facing us all again. “Let’s go,” he orders, turning in the direction of the car and storming off, not bothering to check if we’re following behind.

  “God, he’s sexy,” I whisper to Jacinta as we walk behind the rest of our group.

  “Yeah, but he’s scary as hell when he’s pissed off,” she remarks. “But from the look on your face, I’m going to say that everything you’ve just done with Daniel is completely forgotten.”

  “Who’s Daniel?” I ask, with a guilty laugh. “Look at his ass in those jeans. I want to bite it. Don’t you want to bite it?”

  “Would you shut up?” Jacinta laughs. “Do you have any idea how loud you are? I’m sure he can hear you,” she whispers.

  “Oops,” I grin, breaking into another fit of laughter when I think about what a funny word ‘Oops’ is.

  We continue walking and Trey falls back to talk with Jacinta. We turn a corner and I start lagging behind in my heels. “Rylan?” I whine, “Can we have McDonald's?”

  He looks over his shoulder. Clearly not impressed with me. “Hurry up,” he demands in his instructor's voice that at any other time would have me scrambling to keep in line, but right now, a midnight stroll sounds delightful.

  “My feet hurt,” I say, apparently extremely whiny in my drunken state as I stop in the middle of the street.

  Rylan lets out a groan, turns around and marches towards me with a scowl on his handsome face. He bends down without warning and throws me over his shoulder. I squeal as my body is tossed upside down, but he honestly doesn’t care. “So, is that a no for McDonald's?” I ask as I stare down at his delectable ass.

  He grunts out his reply. I take that as a no.

  I reach down, eager to grab his ass and feel its tightness under my fingers. “Bianca,” I hear Jacinta hiss. I look up and see her shaking her head vigorously. Clearly, she can see exactly what I was about to do. “Don’t do it,” she warns, giving me crazy eyes.

  But I really want to.

  She sees the indecision in my eyes and fixes me with a stare. Fine. I tuck my hand away and continue staring at it instead, taking in his scent as I dangle off his strong back and relishing in the feel of his arm over the back of my legs holding me down.

  He continues walking and I can see the canary yellow car in the distance. The gentle sway of his body as he walks suddenly has me feeling like I need to throw up. “Uh oh,” I grumble, closing my eyes and hoping he puts me down soon. Everything else I can deal with, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live down throwing up all over Rylan Neill’s back.

  Thankfully he places me down on my feet, holding my waist for a moment too long as he makes sure I’m steady on my heels. He orders us to all pile in the car and that’s exactly what we do. I sit in the backseat, watching the world go by as Rylan expertly drives us back to the academy.

  The silence is killing me as it leaves room for thoughts to fill my mind. Memories of the night swarm through my brain, tormenting me with the stupid things I allowed myself to do tonight. My head spins and my eyes weaken, and before I know it, everything fades to black.

  ----------

  I wake to a throbbing headache and realize that I had somehow made it to my bed, though I have absolutely no recollection of how I actually got here. I sit up and immediately rush to our bathroom to bring up the contents of my stomach over and over again until I’m confident it’s all gone.

  I strip off and hop into a scorching hot shower and scrub away any evidence of the night before. I stand naked in front of the mirror, too exhausted to do anything else. I look at myself and take in my swollen lips and blue bites on my neck, evidence of Daniel covering my body.

  Crap. What have I done?

  I make my way out of the bathroom and head back to my bed as more flashbacks of the night swarm through my head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” I murmur to myself, climbing back under the covers and reaching for some painkillers, realizing it’s nearly three in the afternoon.

  “What’s stupid?” Jacinta asks from our small couch, rugged up in her blanket, reading a book.

  “Everything. Last night was so screwed up, and why would you let me drink so much?” I accuse into my pillow.

  “There was no stopping you. You kept saying something about ‘just for tonight’, and besides, it was only screwed up for you. I, on the other hand, had a great night,” she beams. “Well, that is until your scary wanna-be boyfriend busted us.”

  “Oh, thanks for that reminder,” I say, suddenly remembering the furious glare I got from Rylan and a few of the far too inappropriate comments I may or may not have made. I mean, did I seriously try to grab his ass? “But, speaking of boyfriends. What’s going on with you two?” I ask, trying to get my mind off Rylan.

  “I don’t know,” she sighs, putting her book down and sulking back into the couch. “We didn’t really talk about it last night, we were a tad occupied with other things, really good other things,” she grins.

  “Yeah, I noticed that,” I say, finally feeling ready to actually sit up.

  “I noticed a few things too,” she says, throwing my comments back in my face, clearly meaning my moments with Daniel. “So, does this mean you guys are together?”

  “Oh, good god, no,” I say. “I mean, last night we were just having fun…a lot of fun, and he knows that,” I explain. “Well at least, I hope he knows that.”

  “Yeah, I hope so too, otherwise, that’s going to be a very awkward conversation,” she responds, pulling a face to help get her point across. “But you know what’s going to be even worse?”

  “What?” I say with dread, having no idea where her train of thought could possibly be going, but my gut tells me that it couldn’t be good.

  “You and Daniel facing Rylan in class on Monday after he saw you practically screwing on the dance floor,” she laughs.

  Well, shit.

  “Damn it. I didn’t even think about that. I swear, we’re all going to get in so much trouble. I wouldn’t be surprised if we get kicked out for that, he was so pissed off.” I hang my head in my hands, picturing Rylan’s disappointed face.

  “I know, it makes a great story, though,” she laughs, picking up her book and searching for her spot. “Though I must admit, I’m surprised he hasn’t come by to yell at us yet.”

  I realize Jacinta is right and that we should probably be thinking about what our explanations to our p
arents will be when another question pops into my head. “How the hell did I get in bed?”

  “Oh, that’s another funny story,” Jacinta laughs to herself. “Well, you passed out in the car after mumbling about sexy men and leather jackets then Daniel put up this big fight about helping you get back to your dorm, trying so hard to be your hero and all, it was rather embarrassing if you ask me. But Rylan wasn’t having any of it and carried you back here himself.”

  “WHAT? You’ve been sitting on this information this whole time and didn’t think to say anything?” I demand, wishing so badly that I could remember the feel of his arms around me. “Tell me, how amazing did I look in his arms?” I laugh and immediately regret it as the noise echoes far too loudly inside my head.

  “Please. You were practically drooling down his shirt. I’m pretty sure you snored a little as well,” she smirks. “But don’t get ahead of yourself, there was nothing romantic or heroic about it. It’s not like he swooped in, helped you with your heels, and tucked you in. He pretty much stormed in, dumped you on the bed, and left,” she adds. “Or well, he paused for a bit and then left,” she says, with a change in her tone that turns into a grin.

  “What do you mean he ‘paused’?” I ask, hanging on her every word.

  “Well, after he dumped you in your bed, he kind of stopped at the door and looked back at you, well, now it actually sounds a bit creepy, but he looked at you and kind of got a bit soft and squishy and then he stormed out. It was so freaking sexy, you should have seen it,” she says with a grin and a wiggle of her eyebrows.

  “Huh,” I grunt, completely lost for words and unable to form a sentence as I try to process everything she has just bombarded me with.

  “Yeah, it was very strange, but who knows, maybe he has some weird fetish about watching girls, passed out in bed.”

  “Oh shut up,” I say, throwing my pillow and hitting her square in the face. Thrilled with the possibility of what this could mean.

  “Stop thinking about it. You’re going to drive yourself nuts. It was probably nothing,” she says, knowing me well enough to know that I’ve got everything she has just told me on replay in my head.

  “You may be right, but then again, you might be wrong,” I say with a grin promising myself that I’ll do whatever it takes to find out.

  I spend the rest of the day chilling out in our room, watching old reruns as my nasty hangover slowly fades away to a distant memory.

  “Are you coming down for some dinner?” Jacinta asks, pulling on a pair of boots.

  I toss-up all the risks involved with leaving my dorm, like running into Rylan or Daniel and having to face reality. “Ahh…that would be a negative,” I say, cozying up in my bed. “I’ll just grab something from our stash.”

  “Fine by me,” she mumbles, getting up and leaving the room with a loud thud of the door.

  Finally alone, I allow myself to close my eyes and let thoughts of Rylan swarm through my confused mind. Why was he at the club last night? Did he know we were there and come after us? Or did we interrupt his night out?

  I get that he had the shits we were drinking, any sane teacher would, but he seemed a little more pissed than the average teacher. Why hasn’t he come to yell at us yet? I thought for sure we would be packing our bags to be sent to a ‘normal’ school by now. But mostly, why did he carry me to bed and what on earth was the pause at the door about?

  I spend the next hour debating every possible reason behind all my unanswered questions and finally when my emotions can’t take it any longer, I feel myself drifting off into welcomed darkness. I close my eyes and allow sleep to claim me.

  Chapter 19

  I wake up early on Sunday morning feeling refreshed and ready for the day. I reach over and grab my phone, lighting up the screen and checking the time. 6:10 am. Oh, geez. I guess that what happens when I sleep for the majority of the day before.

  With too much energy filling my body. I get dressed in my workout clothes and head out for a run. I jog out of the room and down the hallway, pushing open the heavy door to the dorm rooms. The fresh morning air hits me like a slap in the face. I pull my shirt tighter around my body as I regret the decision not to wear my jacket. I head down to the football ovals and pull my headphones out of my pocket and begin the task of untangling the cords. With the earbuds finally free, I plug the other end into my phone and search through my playlist for the perfect running song.

  A distant noise catches my attention and I instantly look around. I search for what could have made the sound when movement catches my eye. A dark familiar figure walks out of the staff housing about one hundred meters away. “Just my luck,” I mutter to myself a bit too loudly as Rylan’s eyes instantly zone in on mine. He gives me a curious look that quickly turns into a scowl and I know I’m seconds away from my internal doom. Rylan takes a step in my direction and the panic sets in hard and fast. His eyes intense and blazing, making it impossible to look away. I consider taking off, but I know without a doubt he’ll be able to catch me.

  I stand frozen as I attempt to prepare myself mentally for every kind of excuse I can think of which could explain my actions on Friday night, but I know there’s no excuse under the sun that could get me out of this.

  Rylan takes another step in my direction and my knees begin feeling weak when he suddenly stops. The scowl on his face disappears with a shake of his head and he breaks his eyes away from mine, turning back in the direction he was heading. Instant relief washes over me and I know I’ve just gotten away with murder, well at least for now.

  I get back to searching through my playlist as I hit the ground running, trying my hardest to get Rylan off my mind. I run for what seems like an hour, trying to burn off some of my extra energy. I look down at my phone, 7:38 am. I quickly stretch and head back up to my room to find Jacinta just getting out of bed.

  “Where have you been?” she questions mid-yawn.

  “I went for a run,” I say, proud of my morning achievements.

  “Wow, I’m impressed,” she laughs. “Usually you just wear those clothes as more of a fashion statement.”

  “Whatever,” I say as my stomach begins to growl and I remember my dinnerless night. “Do you want breakfast now, or should I go by myself?”

  “Give me five minutes,” Jacinta declares, knowing very well the breakfast menu is always more exciting on a Sunday.

  After a lot longer than five minutes, we make our way down to the cafeteria and pick out all our favorite things as I fill Jacinta in on my latest Rylan story of the morning. We sit down at our table and I down every last bite of my breakfast when a thought pops into my head.

  “Didn’t we sign up for the shopping trip today?” I ask, grabbing my hot chocolate to wash down my croissant.

  “Oh, yeah,” she says. “I completely forgot about that. Though I doubt we’ll be allowed to go, especially after the other night, but I’d really like to do some shopping.”

  “I think you should go. It doesn’t look like Rylan has actually told anyone yet, so there’s still a possibility that you're allowed,” I say, getting up from the table and putting our breakfast trays away.

  “Yeah maybe. Are you going to come?”

  “Nah, I was thinking I’d check in on Millie today and maybe have a chat with Daniel before classes tomorrow,” I say, dreading my own plan.

  “Good idea,” she says.

  We head back up to our dorm and get ready for our day. I walk with Jacinta up to the bus to meet with the teachers who’ll be taking the students into town and I’m shocked to find Trey waiting in line to get his name marked off.

  “Do you see what I see?” I say to Jacinta with a grin.

  “I sure do,” she replies, breaking away and joining the line. “Bye,” she calls as I turn and head back into the safe walls of the Academy to search the grounds for my conniving little sister.

  I head straight for the Junior Campus and spot her coming out of the cafeteria. “Millie,” I call, catching her attent
ion. She turns at the sound of her name and gives me a beautiful smile that catches me off guard, making me realize just how quickly she’s growing up.

  She walks over and wraps her thin arms around me. “What are you doing here?”

  “I thought I’d come and see how you’re doing or have you reached that stage where having your big sister around is embarrassing?” I ask, cringing at the thought.

  Millie loops her arm through mine and we head down towards the field. “No, of course not,” she beams before launching into her breakdown of how her year has been going. We chat for an hour, filling in each other with the ins and outs of our daily life. I tell her all about Daniel, though I skip a few details that I promise I’ll share with her when she’s a bit older. I drop her off at her dorm room and head back over to the senior campus in search of the guy himself.

  Finding Daniel proves to be a little harder than finding Millie was. After searching the cafeteria and checking his dorm room, I decide wandering the whole senior campus might be my best option. I find him out on the field, kicking a ball around with as little enthusiasm as possible.

  Daniel sees me coming and gives me a wave. “Hey,” he says with a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes, completely out of character.

  “Is this a bad time?” I ask awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt whatever it is that has him out here all by himself.

  He picks up his ball and walks over to meet me. “No, perfect actually. I was kind of hoping I might see you today, though I thought you’d be out shopping this morning?”

  “Nah, I had a bit on my mind,” I admit, sitting down in the grass and gesturing for him to join me.

  He sits down beside me, keeping the ball in his hands, staring at it as if it holds all of life’s answers. “I know what you mean,” he says, giving me yet another smile that doesn’t reach his eyes.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask.

  “I, ah…wanted to talk to you about, well, I guess everything,” he says quietly.