“Yet, she is uncertain. A biological mother who lied to her and is still on the outs with her, a father whose family will never accept her, a friend who almost drained her and she lost control of her senses around him, and a fallen angel who she’s in love with, yet she has no idea of his past or his future. I wonder just how long it will take for her to lose control of her burgeoning powers.”
Luther looked murderous, and it caused my mother to stand up. The investigators moved forward and took him by the shoulders.
“Take him to the Queen,” my mother barked. She’d had enough. For her to send a student there, instead of keeping it in house, was a big deal. I felt fear for the first time in a long time. This was the only threat we’d had since I had been enrolled and it was bad. I’d heard other students turning evil, but to have a plan as sophisticated as this…it was scary. The Investigators teleported Palmer out of the school and left me in the room with my mother and Luther.
“This cannot get out,” she said, firmly. “Students need to feel safe here. This is a sanctuary. We’ll have a story about Palmer needing to head home for a family reason. I want you to monitor the students and dispel any negative rumours.”
“Will do,” I replied. Luther was still silent, in his own world as per normal. Why they let him stay here was beyond me.
“Dismissed. Go to your dorms and keep this quiet.”
We both left the office, and I walked behind Luther.
“You need to leave Elke alone,” I said, finally. “She deserves more than what you can give her.”
Luther spun around, a fury in his eyes I’d never seen. “Jealous, little boy?”
“Keep your mouth shut around her. She doesn’t need any reason to turn evil, but then again, she is dating evil, isn’t she?”
“Ah, so you saw me kiss her, then. At least with me, she can make her own choice to kiss. That must burn you inside.”
I shoved him back. He stumbled a little before he righted himself against the wall. When he looked at me, I saw the same flames from Hell reflected back at me.
He launched at me, pushing me to the ground. Punch after punch landed in my sides. I could feel the food in my stomach threatening to return on me. I blocked a punch and upper cut him. He groaned as he took the punch.
“Enough!” I heard someone yell. We were pulled apart, and for the first time, I tasted blood. My mother stood next to Tiger who had her arms crossed over her chest, looking at us with disgust. “You two need to work together on this. Luther keep to your tower and continue to monitor by night. Stig, you will monitor during classes and in the dorms. Now, go.”
Luther made a move to leave.
“Stay the fuck away from Elke.”
Luther turned back to me. “Why don’t you stay away from her? You’re the one who can’t control your power over her.”
I wanted to attack him, but I knew he was right. I’d driven her into the arms of the devil, or soon would be devil. This was on me.
“You need to keep your own business,” my mother said. “You know you’re promised to Tiger. Elementals can’t be the wives of Succubi. You know what you can do to her. She’s too dangerous to be with. Stop rebelling and accept your future as it’s been promised.”
“I can’t make my own decision?”
Tiger looked away, saddened. She hadn’t asked for this either, but she had been willing to be with me, to try and make our fate work.
“No, you can’t.”
My mother walked off and left me with Tiger. I wish I could fall in love with her. It would make everything so easy. She wasn’t bad, she was beautiful, and lovely, but I just didn’t feel a connection with her.
“Tiger—”
“It’s okay,” she stopped me. “I know this isn’t what we chose, but I made a promise to myself that I would accept our crazy families’ decision. We can’t escape it, it’s the desire of our Queen. You need to as well and I’ll be here when you decide to pull up your big boy pants.”
She spun on her heel and walked off, the clicking of her heels on the marble floor the only sound I could hear.
We wouldn’t have a future if Palmer had anything to do with it, but I knew in my heart, Elke was worth the fight.
Elke
I heard the knock on my door and wondered why he hadn’t just burst into my room like Luther normally did. Opening it, I saw one of the younger students holding out a note.
“Luther wanted me to give this to you.”
I took it and he ran off down the hall. Closing the door, I sat down on my bed and opened it.
Elke,
I know I said I’d come by but something’s come up and I need to go do some stuff. I’ll see you tomorrow though and we can talk about…you know ;-).
Luther.
I fought off the wave of disappointment. I desperately wanted to see him tonight, to kiss him, to keep kissing him. I liked how it felt with him. Putting the note down, I paced my room. I was way too amped up to do this. Luther needed to talk to me, he needed to tell me what that kiss meant. Was he my boyfriend or was this just a fling during school? I mean, he wasn’t even a student. Who knew how old he was or why he was really here?
So many questions, it was driving me crazy. I couldn’t just sit here and wait. I was a go getter and he better get used to it. I grabbed my jacket and headed up to his tower by using the staircase, going as quietly as possible. Most of the students were all in their dorms, studying or partying, depending on which group you belonged to. I passed Tiger’s room and I could hear her crying inside. Part of me wanted to knock on the door and ask her if she was okay, but another part of me knew she’d hate it and probably scream at me. We had such a complicated friendship, if you could call it that at all, but I knew if I was truly in danger she would help me. I ran down the hall in my socks, hiding my footsteps. My heart was racing. What if Luther wasn’t there? What if he was off, away from the academy? I’d have to explain why I was in his tower alone and why I ws going through his things because there was a damn good chance I was going to go through his stuff if he wasn’t there.
I was too far into my trip to return so I kept running to the staircase that led to the roof which would give me access to his tower.
Sooner or later I would have my answers.
Luther
I sat up when I heard her open the door below. How did I know she would come looking for me? It was exactly what I would have done. She climbed the metal stairs to my bedroom and stopped when she saw me.
“What happened?” she asked me, looking down at my bruises.
“A little scuffle with Stig, nothing important.”
“Why?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Were you fighting over me?” she asked me.
“A little.”
A smile spread over those luscious lips and it made me smile, somehow, fighting past the pain on my split lip.
“Well, what was the fight about.”
I really didn’t want to answer that. “Why did you come up here? It’s almost curfew.”
“You mean you don’t want a bunk buddy for the night?” she asked, moving to the other side of my bed and laying down. I looked down at her and pushed away any desire I had. I needed to be on guard, watch out for whatever plans Palmer put in place. I had to protect her.
“I have to be on guard, I can’t be distracted, Elke.”
“I can keep you company and we can talk.”
She wouldn’t be assuaged to go back to her dorm and I knew it. It was one reason why I couldn’t stop thinking about her. All I wanted was to be a friend, but I couldn’t imagine being just a friend now. She’d crept her way into my cold, black heart and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
“What do you want to talk about?”
She looked at me with a derisive expression, cocking her head to the side. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“You want to kiss me again, don’t you?” I replied, kneeling on the bed. “I can’t blame you, I am a pretty g
ood kisser.”
She smiled and sat up. “Does that kiss mean you want me as your girlfriend?”
I laughed at her sing-song voice. “We don’t need to be so juvenile about it.”
“Well, I don’t want you for a boyfriend if you’re going to be such a sourpuss.”
She made a move to get up and storm off in a fake tantrum. I grabbed her elbow and wheeled her back down onto the bed. She fell, laughing, and I grabbed her mouth in a kiss. Elke wrapped her arms around my neck and moaned into my mouth. I had to stay focused not to devour her here and now.
I’d been with women before, but not like this. She was incredible, sweet and amazingly sexy. How could one woman make me feel so utterly helpless to desire.
Chapter Eleven
Elke
Mr Alvarez stood at the front of the class talking about history, and I found myself wanting to fall asleep. The last couple of weeks, Luther and I had barely gotten any sleep. Our nightly make out sessions had kept us both up late at night. I couldn’t seem to feel any regret though. It was worth it.
The study had been getting harder, especially in this class, my assignments hadn’t been great since I had no clue about this world until earlier in the year. I knew Mr Alvarez had been cutting me slack but that would only last for so long.
I looked over at the window, noticing the empty desk behind Tiger. Where the hell was Stig? He didn’t skip classes like Luther normally did.
“Elke,” I heard Mr Alvarez say loudly. I turned my head to the front of the class where he was sitting on the edge of his desk, looking at me, sternly. “Are we interrupting you?”
“No, sorry.”
“Great, so can you tell me the reason for the 1810 Trials.”
I felt my cheeks heat as everyone looked at me. “No.”
“Maybe you need to pay attention then.”
I nodded and slunk down in my chair. Tiger was looking at me, shooting daggers. She was so angry lately, angry in a way I could never understand, but right now, she actually looked like she wanted to kill me.
My eyes started to tingle, another symptom of lack of sleep. I’d never had trouble with sleep before so having so much exhaustion and sore eyes had been killing my buzz. I was pushing study time so I could see Luther. It was going to be a hard exam at the end of the year, that was for sure.
“The trials of 1810 were a series of trials throughout our world that put Oracles on trial. It was a widespread fear that saw the almost eradication of the Oracle genus.”
“Too bad it didn’t eradicate them all,” Tiger said loud enough for everyone to hear. Her bitchy friends laughed. Mr Alvarez sighed and sent her packing. Tiger got up and left the room in a huff.
“As I was saying, it lasted for the better part of 1810. It was initially thought that the Oracles had been taken out completely, and most of the prominent families had been taken out, but there were several families who hid their powers and were able to survive.”
“What’s the point of an Oracle anyway?” one of the kids in the back asked. “I mean they aren’t powerful, all they do is dream the future.”
“Not true,” Mr Alvarez said. “They can capture images of future events, but they can also sense bad paths people can take, they can prevent wars, they can even go so far as to time travel. It’s more advanced but it has been known to happen.”
That was surprising. I didn’t know Oracles could time travel.
“My grandmother told me that the Queen uses Oracles,” one of the other students said. Her name was Amata and she always spoke about her grandmother like she was a saint.
“That’s true, most royals have kept an Oracle in their court to help them in war or to make strategic decisions.”
“What caused the war?” I asked. Everyone looked to me, knowing that I was part Oracle. I suddenly felt weak, wanting to know something that I should have known already.
“Depends on what side you ask,” he replied. “Some say it was the royal court having a falling out with one and they wanted to end the genus, and some say it was a jealousy thing. All it takes is one powerful entity wanting an inquisition and it can bring about wars that can last for years. Even humans do this.”
I scribbled down on my notebook to look it up in the library later. It was part of who I was. I needed to know everything about me and what I had to expect when my powers came into being.
“That’s it for today,” Mr Alvarez said. “Make sure you have your assignments started, they’re due next month.”
Everyone got up to leave, including Mr Alvarez. He knew better than to stick around for students to harass him. Luther came to my desk.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing, I’m just…where’s Stig? He doesn’t miss class.”
“He’s left the academy for a couple of months.”
“What?” I asked, surprised.
“He wanted to do it under the radar. Said he needed to figure things out.”
“Isn’t that weird to do now?”
Luther shrugged. “It’s Stig. He has always been weird.”
I fought a smile. His hatred of Stig made me laugh. They both acted like children, and I knew it was because of me. I wasn’t going to lie. It made me feel good that two guys liked me, but the fact that Stig was getting hurt enough to leave the academy really sucked. Luther walked me out of the classroom and we came to an abrupt stop when I saw Tiger standing their with her bitch friends.
“You made Stig leave, you bitch,” Tiger spat. “You think you’re protected by your evil angel, but he can’t watch you 24/7.”
“Back off, Tiger.”
Luther pushed in front of me and faced off with her. Tiger scoffed and moved off but I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time we came face to face.
“Stig did this on his own, it’s not your fault,” Luther said, turning to face me.
“How did you know I felt guilty?”
“Because you always take too much on to yourself. Stig made his decisions, and he has to live with them. Don’t let it get to you.”
I kissed him quickly before I said anything dumb.
“I gotta go,” he said against my lips. “Will you come by tonight?”
“I need to get some sleep, Luther. As much as I want to, I know what will happen if I come over.”
He smirked that devilish smirk that made me regret what I’d just said. “All right, cupcake. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He kissed me again before he headed down the corridor toward the headmaster’s office. He had a lot of secret meetings with her, and I knew it had to do with him being a guardian of some kind, keeping watch over the school at night.
∞∞∞
I stood at the clearing where Palmer had taken me to that day where he showed his true colours. I remembered the feeling of helplessness when he had me here. I’d told Luther I refused to feel that way again and had ramped up my lessons on how to maintain my power energies and control what I wanted to use. At least Palmer had taught me certain things that were useful.
“Elke?”
I turned around, shooting a blast of wind from my palm toward Dallas. He dodged it just in time.
“You’ve been practicing, that’s good to see.”
“Sorry.”
“I shouldn’t have snuck up on you. I apologise. What were you thinking about?”
“I was attacked here a few weeks ago.”
“By Palmer, yes, I’ve been advised. It’s actually why I came by. I’ve been meaning to come back and talk to you about things.”
“Like what I am.”
“Yes.”
He sat down on the overturned log and I joined him. It felt weird. This was my father. I had the same genes as him, and yet he was a complete stranger to me. Would this ever feel normal?
“I came here for a few reasons, but I think the main one is to see how you’re coming along with your powers.”
“Some days are better than others. Palmer taught me to harness the weather around me and
to store it inside of him.”
“That’s actually good advice. Most of us have to use what we have around us, but if we know the area we are in, we can call pretty much anything to us.”
“Rain is easy, and air is easy but I am struggling with Earth and Fire.”
“What about Spirit?”
I turned to him, suddenly confused. “Spirit?”
“Yes, not all elementals can possess this element. It’s an additional one that allows us to use the spirit world to assist us. You can speak with spirits, utilise them when needed.”
“How would I even know if I had that?”
“You’ll know, believe me, it’s a shock to the system.”
“Can you do it?”
He nodded. “We can also develop shields to block the spirits from trying to use us for their own desires.”
“What?”
“Don’t mind that, we’ll wory about that when it happens.”
“Okay, so how do I harness the other elements?”
“Usually when you need them the most, they will present to you. Fire is hard. You need to have a source to pull from. Usually it’s controlled by rage.”
Well that’s not handy.
“Joan told me you have a few boyfriends already.”
I chuckled. “Not quite.”
“As a father, I should be horrified but I don’t think I’ve earned the right to talk to you about that yet. Just…please be careful. You’re only learning your powers, you don’t need your hormones and emotions at full range.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Out of curiosity, who are the boys?”
“Stig was one, that was before All Hallows’ Eve, now I can’t trust myself with him.”
Dallas blew out a breath of frustration. I could tell he wanted to tell me something but was thinking better of it.
“Out with it, I can see you’re bursting at the seams to lecture me.”
All Hallows' Eve (Ravensbane Academy Book 1) Page 8
