by Laney Powell
The morning after my big romantic confession to my friends, I got up, feeling the makings of a migraine the size of a pickup truck. I made it to the bathroom, and then barely managed to make it back to bed before my head exploded. I closed my eyes and held a wet washcloth over my face. Migraines were different for everyone, and this was one of the little things that would sometimes help me.
A little later, I heard something, but I couldn’t move. Whatever it was would have to eat me, or kill me, or whatever. At least the migraine would end.
“You’re not going to die,” a cool voice said softly.
I felt like I should recognize it, but to move, to even speak, was too much.
“Madame Perpetua sent you something,” the cool voice continued. “Can you open your mouth?”
If I wasn’t ready to just let the demon in my nightmares take me to stop the migraines, I would have said something smart-assed, but I couldn’t muster the energy to even move.
“I’ll help you,” the cool—male—voice said. A pause, and then a hand slid under my head, lifting it slightly. My headache screamed at the motion, but since I was moving now, I opened my mouth, and a trickle of mint-tasting water was poured into my mouth. I swallowed, trying not to move too much, and then once the person giving me whatever it was—hopefully a fast-acting poison—eased my head back onto the pillow.
“Hang on,” he said. “It will help quickly.”
“Please,” my mouth formed the words, even as no sound came out.
“You’re not going to die on me,” he said in a whisper.
I didn’t know if I was supposed to hear him. Just as I felt myself falling into a sleep, or dying, I could hear the door to the room open.
“What the hell are you doing in here?” another male voice, one I should recognize, ground out angrily.
That much noise should have made my head burst into flames, but I was sliding into a peaceful darkness, and I let myself go. They could fight it out over the corpse.
When I opened my eyes again, there was still a damp cloth over my eyes and forehead, which I appreciated. It gave me time to assess the noise I was hearing in my room. I must have made it through the migraine, because listening to the two people talk wasn’t making me wish for death or something similar.
“Well, it was good you were here,” the second male voice said grudgingly.
“Maybe you should pay better attention,” the first cool voice said.
“Piss off, Vladdy,” the second voice said. That voice belonged to Xavier Lasker, who had been smirking and flirting from a distance for weeks.
“I’m all good,” Mikhail replied.
Once again, Mikhail had shown up to help me. A warmth spread over me as I recalled the whisper I’d heard when he’d given me the minty tasting medicine. I wasn’t going to die on him? I felt relieved to be out of pain. Whatever he’d given me had helped, even as the thought of sitting up wasn’t one that made me happy, I could do it.
I opened my eyes to see both Mikhail and Xavier peering at me.
“Why are you here?” I asked. I figured this was the best way to get them talking.
“When you didn’t come to breakfast, Nicola came looking for you. You managed to tell her that you were going to die from your migraine and for her to leave you in peace,” Mikhail smiled.
I noticed that he and Bettina had that same sense of stillness, of every movement and motion being significant.
“We’ve been taking shifts sitting with you,” Xavier said. His voice was a cross between business and a purr. How the hell did he do that? I’d sign anything, listening to that voice. Which, as a demon, probably came in handy.
“Interesting that you two are here,” I said, letting my eyes half-close.
“Not really,” Mikhail said.
“You’re a popular girl,” Xavier added.
There was a knock on the door, and then Madame Perpetua came in. With the two guys, and her, my room was starting to feel like a bus station. “You may leave Miss Nox to me,” Madame Perpetua said, her scales rippling along the stone floor.
Both guys stood up, and with a glance at me, moved around Madame Perpetua and out the door. Xavier stopped for a moment at the door, looking back as though he wanted to say something, but with another glance at Madame Perpetua, he only nodded at me as he left and closed the door behind him.
“How are you feeling?” Madame Perpetua asked.
“Like I can live,” I said.
“I wasn’t aware you got such strong migraines,” she said, draping her bottom half into the chair Mikhail had vacated. “And I understand you’re having nightmares?”
I wanted to kill whomever it was who had told her at that point. “Yes,” I said. “I have no idea what it means.”
“Tell me about it,” she said.
So I did. The roaring, angry, and alternatively taunting voice. The feeling that this was someone who knew me, which made no sense. The way I felt after waking up—like I was being hunted. Add that to the fact that I hadn’t gotten a full night’s sleep since Elizabeth was killed—“Madame,” I said.
“Yes?” She had listened to me quietly, and now, the tip of one finger tapped against her arm. She sat in front of me with her arms crossed, that tapping finger the only sign that she was listening. It was really tough when you were talking to someone wearing sunglasses. But I realized that she had an intent manner, and her intensity was focused on me.
“Have you discovered why our classroom was attacked?”
The tapping finger stilled. “No,” she said finally. “I have not. Which is… problematic.”
“Why is that?”
She looked at me. “Because this school is a haven, Miss Nox. Not only does it allow for the Concilium and the rest of the supernatural world to feel safer with those commonly referred to as Underworlders in one place, it is also a safe place for Underworlders. To that end, there are a great many wards placed around Darklight to protect the school.”
“Did you know my mother?” I asked in a rush, wondering if I was pushing my luck.
She didn’t reply right away. When she did, I could tell she was choosing her words carefully. “I do not recall a Sonia who married a human,” she said. “I’ve considered your family history, and I think she must have had a different name. Which leads to the question of why she would change her name and hide herself?” The finger began to tap on her arm again.
“My dad has no idea,” I said.
“And she disappeared when you were young.”
“Until the day I came here,” I said. I hadn’t told anyone about seeing her, hearing her, in the water.
“What?”
“When I drove off the jetty into the ocean, it was because I heard her calling to me,” I said, looking at the wall. “When I went in, I saw her face. And she told me that Darklight would save me. I didn’t realize that was the name of this school. Then those two pulled me out, and I ended up here.”
“How old were you when your mother disappeared?” Madame Perpetua asked.
“Three,” I said.
“If you can give me her age, birthday, that sort of thing, maybe we can find out if there was anyone here who matches her details,” Madame Perpetua said, rising from the chair.
I tried not to stare. She was extremely graceful, but it was still weird to see a woman with the tail of a huge snake. “Come by my office in the next day or so, please. And now, get some sleep. You have a fair number of people who are concerned for you,” the hint of a smile crossed her face. “They’ve taken time to sit with you while you’ve been sleeping.”
“Thank you, and thank you for the medication. What was that?” I asked. I didn’t understand why my friends had been here. It had only been a one night thing, but I wasn’t going to complain. It was good to have friends.
“It’s a gorgon potion, for easing pain.”
“Oh. Does everyone have their own thing?” I asked, intrigued. “What do sirens use?”
“That, Miss Nox, is
an excellent question for your instructors. And perhaps a special project.” She smiled again, and slid out my door.
I was alone. My head felt better. Oh, shit. I hadn’t asked how long I’d been out. I got out of bed, and went to take a shower. After getting dressed, and drinking a ton of water, I pulled out my books. Even if it was only a day, I didn’t need to fall behind.
As I worked, I realized I also really wanted to talk to my dad. Cell phones and electricity in general didn’t work here, but maybe Madame Perpetua would let me call. I put that on my list tomorrow. I had to go and see her anyway.
I also wondered where Carrick was. Along with Devin. Ever since my conversation with my friends, I’d been thinking about the idea of having a relationship with more than one person. It was so… foreign, but they didn’t see it as anything crazy. Was it even possible? What had Bettina said? I just needed to ask the guys. I wondered if they would be willing. I had to admit, that wasn’t a conversation I was anxious to have. I put that aside to get my work finished, which I hadn’t even looked at last night.
I hoped I hadn’t made the wrong call in letting other people know about the nightmares, that I wasn’t being overly dramatic. No one seemed to think so—but I wasn’t sure.
That was it—that was the worst thing for me since coming to Darklight. My entire life, I’d been sure. About who I was, what my place in the world was, my future. I knew all of it. Now, I didn’t know a thing.
It made me itchy, to say the least.
And someone killed not only a classmate, but a fellow siren. None of this made me feel better, but it gave me a sense of normalcy to be doing homework. After I’d been at it for about two hours, there was a light knock on the door.
“Come in,” I called, pushing my books aside and getting up while I ran my hands through my hair.
The door opened to reveal Xavier. He peered around the door. “Madame’s gone?”
I nodded. “She’s been gone for a while.”
He came in and closed the door. “Do you mind?”
I smiled. “You always ask after you come in?”
The smile that I loved, the slow, sexy, enticing smile, spread across his face. “I didn’t think you’d kick me out, little songbird.” Xavier came toward me, and put his arms around me.
I pushed against his chest with both hands. “Nope. No way, friend. We’re going to talk first.”
“Okay, but why?” He dropped his hands and backed up, sitting on the end of my bed.
I sat close to the head, putting some distance between us until this was settled. “What’s with you and der—I mean, Sorcha?” I couldn’t call her deranged Barbie to anyone else. I really needed to keep that to myself.
He smiled. “Sorcha and I had a relationship last year, before we came to school. Our families are friends,” he said, looking away for a moment.
I was about to scoff when I remembered what Nicola had said—that the Underworlder families tended to stick together. Okay, maybe he wasn’t totally full of shit. Maybe.
“And she really wasn’t happy that I wanted to end things before we came to school. It’s been hard to ignore her. We’re friends, so I don’t really want to.”
“She doesn’t like me. At all,” I said. “So if we’re going to… whatever it is we’re going to do, that is something that you’ll need to manage. I do not fight over guys.”
“What if the guy is really worth the fight?” His eyebrow arched up and all my complaints went away.
All I wanted to do was melt back into his arms. How in the hell did he do that?
“But it’s not a fight,” I explained. “This is a choice. You have to make a choice. If we are in a relationship, then you’ve made that choice. If Sorcha is an ass, that’s hers. If I kick her ass, that’s mine.” I smiled brilliantly. “Just so you know.”
Xavier laughed. “You don’t hold back, do you, Raven?”
“Why should I?”
He smiled and scooted closer.
I held out a hand. “If she’s your friend, it’s on you to make things clear to her.”
He came closer. “What, exactly, am I making clear?”
I took a breath. The moment of truth had come a lot faster than I’d wanted. “That you and I are… potentially… involved.”
“What’s with the vampire?”
It took me a minute. “Oh, you mean Mikhail?”
He nodded.
“I might be involved with him as well,” I said, trying not to rush my words, or look ashamed, or anything shady. While being involved with more than one person wasn’t something I’d done before, I found that the more I thought about it, the more I wanted it.
“You’re not sure?” The eyebrow went up again.
I shook my head. “No. I’m not.”
“Is there anyone else?”
“Yes,” I said, making sure I kept my eyes steady with him. “There is.”
“Who?”
“I’d rather not say, until I have a chance to talk to him as well.”
Xavier nodded, and leaned back a little, looking over at the wall.
I kept silent. I’d been honest, and what happened next was on him. It felt good to be honest, and I found myself hoping he was, in fact, good with this.
He looked back at me. “I suppose there is more than enough of you to go around to those you want to be with. You plan to let us all know?”
I nodded. “I told you. I’m a huge believer in free choice.”
He came closer and put his arms around me again, pulling me into his lap. “Then I choose to be with you, in any way you’ll have me.”
I laughed out loud as I settled myself in his lap, wrapping my legs around him. Xavier’s words made me so happy, happier than I’d been about anything since the attack. I wrapped my arms around his neck and bent my head toward his.
Chapter Twelve
Our lips met and I could feel the ferocity in his kiss. It was matched by mine. I’d been watching—and wanting—this guy since the first moment I’d met him. The kiss in the hallway when I’d been lost had only heated my desire for him. And now he was here, and good with everything that I’d told him. A man who was comfortable with a woman was incredibly sexy. There was no denying it.
Xavier’s hands ran through my hair, pulling on it slightly. The movement made me moan, into our kiss. Then he reached down and slid his hands under the tee shirt I was wearing as a nightie, and pulled it up to my head. Our lips parted to allow him to take off the shirt, but he stopped when the shirt was only halfway off. My eyes were obscured, and he tightened the shirt, using it as a blindfold that he held with one hand as he ran the other down my body.
“You are gorgeous,” he murmured into my neck. He kissed down to my collar bone, nipping a bit along the bone. It made me shiver and I felt my nipples harden. His lips trailed down to capture a nipple, and as he sucked on it, I arched my back toward him. The combination of his mouth on me and not being able to see was making me wet, and I wanted him badly.
But Xavier would not be rushed, even as I moaned and thrust myself at him.
His right hand kept a hold on my shirt, and the left moved down to the leggings I was wearing to slide into them and cup the rounded curve of my ass. Not that I’d planned it, but I wasn’t wearing underwear.
“Baby, you feel amazing,” Xavier murmured as he kissed along the bottom of my neck.
“So do you,” I said, my voice catching in a gasp. Every touch of his lips, the tips of his fingers as he squeezed my ass, was making me crazy.
I wiggled against him, feeling the hardness between my legs. His breath inhaled in a hiss. It was good to know that this feeling on the edge of control wasn’t something only I was experiencing. His fingers slid forward and brushed against my pussy. Two of them dipped inside of me, and then found my clit, rubbing against it as he took my nipple into his mouth once more.
“Oh, god,” I moaned, unable to help myself. I loved foreplay, but I was on the verge of no control with Xavier. I let myself
lean on his arm that still wrapped around me, loving the feel of his muscles. With his arms around me, his mouth on my breast and his fingers inside me, I felt speared, protected, and adored.
I unwound my arms from his neck and reached up to move the hand that held the shirt covering my eyes. Slowly, gently, I made him let go, and when I was able to see again, it was his eyes boring into mine.
“I can’t wait,” I whispered. “I love the way you feel, but I need you,” my voice came out ragged.
His eyes darkened, and his grin widened. “You know exactly what to say to me, baby.”
I tossed my shirt to the floor and eased off his lap. “Then come here and take me,” I scooted toward the headboard, sliding my leggings down as I did. I wasn’t kidding—I didn’t want to wait.
I was naked, my legs open for him, and he watched me, his eyes dark and hooded. “Touch yourself,” he whispered, and I could hear the gravel in his voice. “For me.”
This was totally not something I’d done, but—I kept my eyes locked on him, and let my hands carefully slide down my neck. I let them glide down over my breasts, and then come under to cup both breasts at the same time. My thumbs and forefingers grasped both nipples, pinching and squeezing, which caused a rush of wetness between my legs.
Xavier was completely still, but I felt like he was like a bomb, waiting for just the right moment to go off. His eyes never left mine.
As I pinched my nipples, the sensation overwhelmed me and I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them, Xavier was still staring at me with the gaze of a predator toward prey, and his mouth had opened slightly. His eyes were dark, and I could tell that he was on the edge. It gave me a thrill I’d never felt before, to know that I was affecting someone like this. My lips curved up into a smile as I slid my hands down my body, and then let them move between my legs. Two of my fingers dipped into my pussy as the other hand rubbed against my clit, and again, my eyes closed with the sensation.
