Darkwells Academy: Written in blood: An academy paranormal/urban fantasy romance

by Abby James

  From her fingertips I felt life flow into me. Emrol’s touch did this to me, Lya’s too, but the queen held her own sort of juice. I was sure if I looked down at my body I would see myself sprouting blooms and roots. I became life itself, the ebb and flow of the cycles from the dawning sun, the falling rain to the cold winter’s night. I felt a peaceful calm, a wild fury and all the tempestuous and gentle energies in between. It would’ve been joyous and consuming if not for the incessant burn on my left thigh.

  “You must tell me of your home,” she purred, her words drawing me away from the mark and back to her presence.

  I nestled down at her feet, wanting to purr myself.

  “Of your life, and all the things you have learned,” she said as she patted my hair. I felt like a wild dog tamed. Only to have the burn of the mark intensify once more, then turn into a rhythmic throb that beat in time to her pats.

  “But first I must have a word with my son.” Maybe it was the mark that kept me from falling fully under her spell, but I sat on the edge of my sanity enough to hear the edge in her voice. And that was the end. She let me go with the withdrawal of her touch. Like a dousing of iced water it was so sudden, leaving a hollow in its wake. The throb of the mark ceased to, switched off like a light.

  I scampered to my feet, casting an embarrassed look around. With one touch she’d left me feeling vulnerable and naked, if not for the mark banging out a reminder to keep my faculties intact.

  “Can I take her now, mother?”

  Green eyes stayed with me for uncomfortable seconds. Her energy had poured over me, into me, through me. Taking another’s ability is an intimate invasion, so intimate I knew what she was thinking. The warmth of her smile had not faltered, the generosity and welcome in her eyes had not diminished, but I knew.

  With a magnanimous nod of her mother’s head, Lya swept me from the court and pulled me behind her through the trees.

  I allowed her to drag me away, far away from the woman who knew my secret.

  17

  Cocooned in Lya’s ability, we raced along a cleared path through the forest. Thanks to the queen, I maintained my mind while Lya held my hand. Nothing could compare to the majesty of the queen’s power, which gave me the strength to overcome the pull of her daughter’s beguilement.

  I should be worried about what the queen had learned, but I was infected with Lya’s enthusiasm. She also gave me the sight to view this amazing world. It couldn’t hurt to stay and enjoy myself until the Darkwells feast. The queen would not dare keep me here, so perhaps I had nothing to worry about. Maybe she’d tell Emrol, but the fae were likely too caught up in their own importance to care?

  The forest to our left cleared revealing a rock pool bathed in dappled light. Reeds hugged the edges. Their stalked flowers of yellow and violet dipped their petals down into the inviting water and dragon flies danced across the surface. One look into the clear depths and my clothes felt restricting and hot.

  “You like what you see?”

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “Then we shall stop and take a swim.”

  “I have no bathers.”

  She giggled. “Silly. What are bathers?” As she asked that she pulled the gauze dress over her head to stand before me naked, not that I saw more than I had already seen.

  “They’re…” It seemed stupid to explain now that I understood what fae wore into the water. “Special clothes we wear when we swim.”

  A delicate frown marred her smooth brow. “Why would you wear clothes into the water?”

  “Because we have funny customs.”

  Her eyes wandered down my body. “Are they as funny as these?”

  “We find them appropriate.”

  “You are in the fae realm now, Samara. You may shed your funny customs and embrace our own.”

  Her smile broadened as more fae appeared from the forest. Were they here to watch?

  “Samara will swim with us,” Lya announced to all who’d gathered.

  Great, I had an audience.

  Flimsy material was stripped as the rest of the fae giggled and danced into the water, breasts and dicks swinging. All were smooth, as in the only place they had hair was on their heads. And oh, my, my, my those fae men. It should be a crime to look that perfect. What was the fae etiquette in gawking at a male, head-to-toe all of him?

  Soon everyone was in the water, eyes staring out at me.

  “Come on, Samara.”

  Who was going to bother looking at me? They were all so perfect and I was…not like them. Soon it became more embarrassing delaying than it would be stripping my clothes and joining in.

  I heaved a sigh and inwardly cringed as I pulled my sweatshirt over my head to reveal my tee-shirt. When that went, leaving my bra, Lya exclaimed, “so many items of clothing. You even have a small cover for your breasts. Why is all this necessary?”

  “It’s another of those funny customs.”

  I kept my eyes averted from their faces as I slipped my bra then unbuckled my jeans. This was too much, but I had to remind myself the fae did this all the time. I was being the odd one out by hiding my body behind my clothes.

  My underwear got a few snickers.

  “More little clothes,” Lya giggled. Geez, didn’t she see Emrol’s underwear. Maybe he didn’t wear any. Now that was a thought and something that would distract me every time I saw him.

  “Oh,” a few of the fae gasped once my knickers were down. The sudden exclaim and I looked at the curious faces.

  “You have hair covering your mound,” another fae girl said.

  I liked to wax my pubes into a landing strip, sort of like a guide to hidden depths, but by fae standards I was probably a total bush.

  “It’s—”

  “A funny custom,” Lya finished for me.

  “Something like that.”

  “What is it for?”

  I shrugged, “Nothing really. I think it’s a left over from when we were completely hairy.”

  I’d never had a conversation like this before.

  I slipped into the water before they found something else on my body to comment on. After being wrapped in my winter clothes, I sighed with pleasure at the cool water. “Is there nothing within your realm that is not perfect?”

  Lya wasn’t even looking at me as she smiled. Her eyes saw through me, then hooded as if she was about to fall asleep, then they closed. The smile stayed as she floated off to whatever dreamland she’d conjured in her head. The rest of the fae were in a similar place, looking spaced out on some acid trip.

  Lya opened her eyes when a fae girl moved close beside her. She absentmindedly petted her hair as she turned to me. “There is nothing, Samara, human child, that is not perfect here. Would you like to live here with me?”

  “I think that’s against the rules.”

  “I don’t follow rules.”

  “Except when you mother gives you them.” Hopefully.

  “You will stay with us for the day and then we will see if you change your mind.”

  She glanced to the fae girl beside her and winked. Around me other fae were petting each other, touching hair or shoulders, and maybe parts underneath the water; who knows.

  “As much as I think your place is amazing, I’ve got people to return to. I will miss them too much.”

  “But we will miss you.” Lya’s voice was coltish and seductive. She ran her tongue across the edge of her top lip, and I got a weird vibe something was going on here that I wasn’t going to like.

  A hand caressed along my shoulder. I jumped, but the fae woman leaned in close and whispered in my ear. “You are tense.”

  “Humans don’t normally swim naked together.”

  “She wears those funny clothes,” Lya said to the dark haired woman beside me. “Bathers?” she rolled the word around in her mouth.

  “How strange,” the woman said as her eyes flowed along my shoulder.

  Her touch felt nice, more so the fae mojo that came down her hands into me
. And I was tense. I could feel it now holding rigid in my shoulders.

  Lya leaned her head on the shoulder of the woman beside her and sighed a gentle moan. “This is our special place,” she murmured while the girl’s hand wandered down the front of her and under the water.

  Another fae came along the other side of me. A male this time. I was slipping into this magical dream state too, but I was not deep enough that his touch didn’t make me jump.

  “Sorry, but in the human world we don’t touch anyone unless we ask first, especially not strangers.”

  “We are not strangers here,” he said, moving in close beside me. “We are all one.”

  Purple eyes, that’s what his were. Purple and delicious and deep…

  “We all share,” another fae said as she pulled me from the mesmeric eyes of my male stranger and into her embrace.

  From one fae to another, this was all confusing and luring and luscious and arousing. I could stay here for eternity and drown in the shear pleasure of the touch, the cool caresses of the water and the soothing voice of the fae.

  Somehow I managed to find enough of my senses to say. “Nothing is personal?”

  “Nothing,” Lya breathed in my ear. When had she appeared. “Everything belongs to all the fae of the realm.”

  “And sharing means?”

  “You give everything, of course,” then she leaned down and kissed my shoulder.

  Somewhere in the back of my mind a small alarm bell clanged away, but it recessed further and further from importance with each feather kiss Lya speckled onto my shoulder.

  I drowned in the sounds of pleasure, became aroused by the many hands stroking my belly, across my breasts, down my back. If this was a fae welcome then I had to pop by on a regular bases.

  “I think you need rescuing.” The voice was familiar, knocking through my hazy mind. Hands gripped under my shoulders and I was dragged out of the water and plonked onto the rocks at the side of the pool.

  “Brother,” Lya said. “Come and join us.”

  “Not now, sister.”

  Out of the water and away from all those hands, the cold reality of what had been about to happen pummeled me into the rocks where I stood. I wasn’t cold, but I hunched and covered my body.

  “But you are taking our plaything.”

  “Sorry, my darling sister, but Samara needs a little more warning before she joins in.”

  The heat rushed up my throat and into my cheeks when Emrol glanced at me.

  “Samara amused us with stories of all the strange things humans do. Look at her now. Isn’t she weird?”

  Now all eyes were on me as I attempted to pretend I wasn’t here and to cover as much of myself as I could.

  “It is a peculiar habit they have,” Emrol said, ducking to pick up some of my clothes. I couldn’t see his face, but I heard the humor in his voice.

  “Look the other way,” I barked at him as he held out my knickers.

  “Don’t you think I’ve seen enough.”

  I looked into the pool to see the water was so clear all the fae were exposed. “Humor me.”

  Emrol closed his eyes, and I snatched my knickers from his hand. While I danced around on the spot trying to slip one leg through Emrol retrieved my bra.

  “You are ruining our fun,” Lya pouted to her brother.

  “There is plenty more fun to be had at the feast,” he said, keeping his eyes averted as I snatched the bra.

  Now I had my underwear on I marched off the rock to collect the rest of my clothes.

  “What do you suppose Luca would say about this?”

  I snapped to attention. “You wouldn’t dare. I was enchanted. Under a fae freaking spell.”

  “Luca is a very possessive man. I know that for a fact.”

  “You’re an asshole.”

  “I thought you told me he was only your teacher.”

  “Is this funny to you?”

  He rolled his head, then smiled down at me. “Relax. I’m teasing. Nothing will cross my lips.”

  He tipped the top of my nose with his finger. “The question is will you tell?”

  I shoved a wet leg into my jeans. “How about you take me back to the portal?”

  “How about I take you somewhere else instead? Give you a chance to calm down. Nothing happened here you need be ashamed of. You did nothing wrong.”

  Jeans on, I pulled on my shirt haphazardly then my sweatshirt and scooped my jacket off the ground.

  “I don’t want to be a part of your games.”

  “This is not a game.”

  “Will you take me back to the portal?”

  He turned and walked away.

  “Samara,” Lya called to me. I turned to see some of the fae had resumed their fun. Lya moved to the side of the pool. “I do so hope you will return. You’re special to me.”

  Special. Yeah sure, in a lap dog, throw the ball and watch it chase sort of way.

  I stormed off down the path after Emrol.

  “It was the water,” Emrol said when I caught up with him. “That and a small amount of beguilement, I’m sure.”

  “What do you mean the water?”

  “The pool is fed from a spring whose source stems from the heart of our realm. It is the source of fertility.”

  “And its purpose is to make everyone horny?”

  “Its purpose is to feed the realm with the energy of renewal. The water only enhances what is already there. What desires well in one’s heart.” He glanced sideways to me. “You, my dear Samara, are needing to be touched.”

  I didn’t need a fae to tell me that.

  I smacked Emrol on the arm.

  He jerked sideways. “What was that for?” he said in a mock shocked voice.

  “Bringing me here. I know what this celebration is for. Pleasure is your primary purpose isn’t it? And I understand what all this sharing is about.”

  “This is a very important time of the year for us. Fae are fertile once a year.”

  I stopped “You’re kidding me. And this is that one time of year. Bloody hell, Emrol. You’ve got some cheek bringing me here. I should’ve known there was a twist to your innocent invitation.”

  “I did not bring you here to participate. You’re welcome to, of course.”

  I snorted.

  “I’ve returned to add my seed to the pool. After today a new generation of fae will be born.”

  “I’ll never get over how casually you fae take all of this.”

  I’d lost track of where we were heading and was surprised to find Emrol had led us to the base of a tree. Steps had been carved into the side, spiraling up the trunk.

  “Are you afraid of heights?”

  “You were supposed to take me to the portal.”

  “You are excused from joining in at the feast, but not to turn up at all will be a slight to my mother.”

  “I cannot believe how much you tricked me.”

  Emrol leaped up to the third step. “But you are enchanted to be here, am I wrong?” He winked and danced up another three steps.

  Bloody fae. He was right. I hated that he’d tricked me but my curiosity had gotten the better of me.

  “Do you want my help?”

  “No,” I barked up at him. “Keep your fae beguilement to yourself and let me climb the damn tree by myself.”

  I couldn’t look over the edge as I climbed, instead I stayed close to the tree, using the trunk as my anchor. Emrol had disappeared in a blink and by the time I reached the top, climbing up through the floor of a wooden platform, high up in the canopy, he was sitting on a branch and leaning against the tree.

  I’d entered into a treetop wonder world, with a criss-cross of swing bridges and pathways, joining each platform together.

  “You live up here?”

  “This is where we sleep, yes.”

  He lazily climbed off the branch and strolled over to the thatched hut, lifting the thin veil aside.

  “This is my place when I am here.”

&n
bsp; There was only a bed. No surprise given the hut was not very big, but big enough for a very large bed piled with dozens of cushions and pillows. Forgetting it was his room I entered. The hut had been built around the tree, the bed built against the trunk.

  “You didn’t bring me here for anything in particular, I hope.”

  “I would not dare presume. But if you were interested.”

  I held up my hand, telling him to keep his distance. “I’ve had enough of your fae charms for one day. I’ve got a lot of explaining to do to Luca and you’re only making it worse.””

  Emrol reclined back on his bed. “The blood sucker. I fail to see the appeal.”

  “You’re not a woman.”

  “It’s a pity. It would be good. I know how to please a woman.”

  “I bet you do. Pen and Mila seem to think you do.”

  He fixed those disturbing eyes on me.

  “Why did you bring me here?”

  “I want you to get to know me. I want you to understand the fae realm. My mother likes you, by the way. She thinks you are very interesting for a human.” He fluffed up the pillows around him. “You can ask me anything and I will answer you,” Emrol said.

  “Why did you bring me in here? Wissend don’t take girls to their rooms unless they plan on using the bed.”

  “I don’t need a bed to make you feel good.” Emrol peeled himself off his bed and strolled toward me. He really was an amazing specimen. Rewind to my first arrival at Darkwells and I would be jumping out of my skin right now just to have him kiss me. We’d kissed once before, and he was a damn hot kisser. I had to give him that. Even now, watching him stride toward me, my girlie bits sung, but I would never go beyond enjoying looking at him.

  He curled a loose strand of my hair around his finger and bent down to lift it to his nose. “Vanilla. I like it.”

  “Is this the beginning of your seduction?” It was good.

  “This is me making conversation.”

  I laughed. “Of course it is. There is something you want to ask, isn’t there? That is why I am here.”

  His turquoise eyes were as inviting as the pool of water I had just been in. “My mother asked me to invite you. But it was convenient to have you here.”