Encircle (Colosseum University: Thorwald Crest Book 3)

by Flynn Eire

  “Chad’s at the school. He started teaching there this year after he graduated college. I saw him the last time I tried to convince the office to tell me where Foster had gone. I have a guess at who the others might be, but it will be more fun to make Chad confess while peeling his skin off.”

  “I’ll have—wait, you can do that?”

  “Yes, yes I can,” I assured him, a smile forming when I thought of how much I wanted to do that to the guys that had raped Foster.

  “Interesting. That brings up a good point as well. Okay, get back to the infirmary, and we’ll talk at breakfast. I want to see what all your team can do.”

  “Wait, about going for Chad and—”

  “I’ll have the other team that’s not personally involved snatch him. But I won’t deny you the chance to interrogate or at least be there for it. As long as we’re on the same page that Foster doesn’t need any more upset and certainly shouldn’t be hurt by anything you do ever again.”

  “I love him. I can’t say I won’t ever inadvertently hurt him, but I never want to.” His eyes said he clearly didn’t believe me. “I was young, a total idiot, especially coming from my demented family. It’s not as if I was smacking him around and saying I didn’t mean to hurt him. It was our first time having sex. Neither of us knew what to do. I was an asshole for not checking on him better, but you’re a vampire, you know how easy it is to lose your head when hunger strikes.”

  “Demons don’t drink blood or have hungers.”

  “Yes, yes we do,” I told him firmly before turning on my heel and heading back to the infirmary. I crashed for a while before waking up restlessly again. I found a change of clothes and directions on where to shower. I was glad for it. The blood might have been wiped away, but I still felt gross.

  Zeroing in on Foster the moment I entered the cafeteria made my heart race… Until I saw him with that little guy and Gwen, being comforted by them. Yeah, because I had screwed up again. As if he could feel my presence too, he glanced up and locked eyes with me. I watched as his filled with tears before he focused on his food.

  Defeated, I went and sat down by my team at the end of the table.

  “Ahh, Pierce, we were just debating how to string you up and filet you for making our new, awesome gig such a disaster,” Bronx, our team/crest leader greeted. I wasn’t sure if we’d officially made the switch to the Thorwald crest or not, but he would always be my team leader at least. “If you blow this deal with your infatuation of the banshee, I will sell you off to the worst crest possible.”

  “So everything’s not signed yet.”

  “No. We lost a lot of face given your issues. Diego’s asked for a demonstration after breakfast, and if you don’t shine, my foot will be up your ass. I put this team together specifically for the plans I made with Diego in high school. You fuck this up for us, and I’ll never forgive you.”

  “I think it’s fine. I talked with him earlier, and he seems like a good guy who wants to move forward.”

  The other five of my team weren’t as convinced, giving me the same pissed and disbelieving looks throughout breakfast. I wasn’t hungry, but I stuffed myself anyways since we would use energy for a demonstration.

  Then I received another surprise that almost made me fall over.

  “Thank you for leaving this morning,” Foster said quietly from behind me. I slowly turned, trying not to startle him, wanting to groan when I saw his cheeks were red and he was squirming in my presence.

  He had no idea how sexy he was.

  “I’m sorry I made you cry again. I don’t know why I lose sight of everything but you when I’m near you, but I don’t mean to.”

  “He needs a panic button that blares a noise when you do something he doesn’t like,” Bronx muttered. “It’s how you train misbehaving dogs.”

  “I’d like that,” Foster chuckled. “I wouldn’t be opposed to having lunch once in a while then and catching up—you know, in public only though.”

  “Of course I’ll get you one, but why are you being so nice to me? I ruined your life,” I whispered, my heart breaking at saying such a thing and knowing it to be true.

  Foster thought about that a moment before he lifted the half eaten bagel off his tray and set it on my plate.

  “Because enough people who could tell if you were lying or not listened to your confession yesterday, and they said you spoke the truth. You were my best friend once, Pierce. Plus, I know you, and you won’t just agree to act like we don’t know each other or something. And I love my crest. If your team really is the best, then we need you, so our personal issues shouldn’t get in the way of that.” He shot a look at Bronx that made me think Foster had overheard us talking. “And Diego knows I feel that way.

  “I can’t simply forgive you and act like we’re all good, but maybe there’s a way to get back some of what we lost if you can watch yourself. No more doing things without checking with me. And—”

  “Can I kiss you?” I blurted, wanting it more than words and trying out the whole concept of asking him about everything first in the hopes I would be rewarded… With a kiss. Even if it was cliché. Instead, two different members of my team cracked me upside the head.

  “No, I’m not okay with touching,” Foster explained, smiling at my team’s antics. “But, um, thanks for wanting to kiss me.” Then he raced off, his go to way to handle embarrassing situations.

  “He is cute. I can see why you’d be into him,” Bronx muttered as I stared at the half-eaten bagel Foster had given me. He used to do that all the time when we were in high school because he knew how self-conscious I was when people stared at my overloaded cafeteria tray. He’d always take way more than he’d ever eat and end up asking me to “help him” finish so food wasn’t wasted.

  So was that a sign that he remembered good times too? What did the bagel mean? He still was in old habits or—

  “Oy, don’t go turning back into lovesick Pierce like when you transferred in,” Bronx chastised, smacking me upside the head. “We don’t have time for that, and it does no good.”

  “Yeah, just admit the cutie is way out of your league and move on,” another of my team, Jean offered with a shrug. “Because he is sooo far out of your realm of possibilities you should be grateful he even allowed you to be his friend.”

  “You know, he did kiss me back when I finally told him how I felt,” I snapped, shivering when I remembered how good that had felt. “I unfortunately took that as a green light for everything I wanted and fucked up. But he did kiss me back.” The disbelieving looks I received pissed me off, and I retaliated.

  “Oy! Don’t go heating up our chairs,” Bronx exclaimed, jumping to his feet first of everyone. “Save the hot seat for interrogations and your energy for the demonstration we’ve got.”

  “Speaking of which, let’s get to it unless you guys need gear. Classes will start soon, and I want everyone in on the show to learn about you guys as well,” Diego called over.

  “Hey, can we watch too, or is it something you want kept within your crest?” an attractive elf asked. He had a bored attitude about him, but I could see the heat of interest.

  I could always see the heat or fire, even when it was within.

  “Would it call it even for the help Kelby gave me before?” Diego asked, but I knew he probably would have said yes if the guy pushed. There was no reason not to. People could look up different demon powers so it didn’t matter.

  “Yes, please say yes, Doyle. I want to see,” a small man next to the elf begged. Oh, they were definitely lovers from the heat between them.

  “Also, it would be a boost in your crest’s points if you open it up to everyone given it’s educational,” Headmaster Browning declared, appearing out of nowhere. From the way the students didn’t flinch but my team did, I had a feeling he was pretty good at just showing up at the right time.

  Damn warlocks.

  “Right, because we don’t have any demons attending here,” Diego muttered and shot Bronx a
look that said a lot.

  “A show of our powers is just what is in the textbooks. How strong we are is the impressive part. I don’t think that’s ever something to hide, and honestly, we won’t show everything.”

  Diego must have been satisfied with the answer because ten minutes later we were outside standing in the main parking lot with a massive audience. I honestly wondered if the whole college and faculty had shown up.

  “Whenever you’re ready, gentlemen. We don’t want to delay classes,” Browning advised, basically letting us know we weren’t going to wait for people.

  Bronx turned to me and gave me an evil smile. “You’re on my shit list, so you can get the honor and nerves of going first.”

  “I don’t get nervous about this stuff,” I drawled as I stretched out, adjusting my neck. “Okay, volunteer time.”

  And like always, no one stepped up. Several moved away even.

  But then Foster stepped out of the group and raised his hand, giving me a pitying look. “I know this part, so it’s not scary.”

  “Y-you trust me with th-this? You won’t be alone with me but you’ll—”

  “Um, yeah. You’re a fire demon, but you’re stable. We used to do this when we dormed together. I can only think you’ve gotten better since then.” He shrugged and glanced down at his feet.

  At least everything wasn’t lost with him. “Thanks, Foster. I’ll go slow since it’s been a while.” He nodded but didn’t look up. I opened myself up to the air and heat around me, several people giving off lots I could use given the temperature was at that weird time of the season. It was too cold for T-shirts, but not really sweater time… So those that were wearing them were a bit warm.

  I pulled that heat and directed it around Foster, wrapping him in it as if swaddling a baby. He gasped and then hugged himself, giving off a slight groan. “So warm. I forgot how good this feels.”

  “Explain what he’s doing, Mr. Taher,” Browning directed.

  “He’s wrapping me in heat,” Foster sighed and then giggled. “It’s like snuggling in warm blankies or a hot bath.”

  “Actually, if you started with this, it’s a good time for me to join in,” Jean suggested.

  Foster shot me a worried look, and I simply smiled at him. “It’s okay, I promise. He’s a water demon. I wouldn’t have anything electronic on you though.” Foster nodded and pulled his phone out of his pocket, took off his watch, and handed them to Diego before stepping further away from the group.

  Then he scrunched his eyes closed and braced for impact.

  “Shit, he really is cute,” Jean muttered before glancing around the group. “Good, people brought drinks.” Then he waved his hand and brought all the water forward from any water bottle around and swirled it around Foster, getting him wet but not simply throwing it at him.

  “This is cool. Could I like float away in this?” Foster asked, his eyes shining with excitement when he looked to Jean.

  It wasn’t a look I liked, given I wanted to raise my stock with Foster, not have him enthralled with someone else. I slowly sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep calm, even as I decided to take the focus back.

  “No, it wouldn’t work,” Jean explained. “People are made up mostly of water, so if I go past working the water around your body and tried to include you with what I’m doing—well, it could be very bad, like I pull all the water out of your body at once.”

  “Yeah, please don’t do that,” Foster squeaked but then sighed. “Oh, it’s like bath water now.”

  “So demon powers can easily be combined?” the elf asked.

  “Not easily,” I answered, wanting Foster to remember I wasn’t a total moron on everything. “We’ve trained together for years. If I didn’t know Jean’s flow, how to read him as he did me, I could interfere or my heat could evaporate the water.”

  “We can feel each other’s energies too, even if they can’t be combined, we can work with them,” Arlo, our air demon added. Then he held out his hand and pulled the water away from Foster, divided it into small amounts and let it splash on several people’s faces.

  “But we most certainly intersect as elemental demons,” Jean continued, focusing on the spilled water and pulling it back. Sure, not every drop was lifted off the clothes, but no one needed a towel. Then Arlo gave a slight wind to dry people, and I added heat to it.

  I gestured to our earth demon when we were done. “And not every job can use all of us.”

  “Right, because water and dirt give mud, but those flaming tree bombs we did that one time were the bomb,” Lucca chuckled. “Though throwing dirt at someone and having you whip it into a tornado are very different.” He glanced at Arlo and then pulled dirt from the edge of the parking lot, and they did a small demonstration of that.

  Unfortunately for my ego, Foster seemed fascinated with it all. He’d seen my tricks before… But not all of them, and I’d trained hard to be eons past where he’d known me.

  “We can do more than parlor tricks though,” I declared when the mini tornado was done. I turned and focused on the school, pulling heat from several sources, and then opened my hand to let it engulf the school. Several people gasped when they saw the visible buildings look as if they were going up in flames.

  “Burn down the school, and your study here will be over, Mr. Maddos,” Browning reminded me, a rough edge to his tone.

  “Do you see any damage being done, Headmaster?” Bronx chuckled and then especially pointed to a couple of flags that flew from an entry way. “Those seem intact.”

  “Shit, Pierce, someone’s still in the school and opened a window,” Arlo warned me.

  “It’s fine as long as no one tries to go in the school,” I muttered, keeping focus. “The illusion is the school on fire, but in truth, it’s a protective barrier that would burn anyone trying to go in. It’s not exactly easy to hold on a campus, but I can pull strength from other demons.” I closed my hand halfway and brought it closer to my body, pulling the heat from the school. Then I turned to everyone, a ball of flame holding above my hand. “I can change my fire to give heat, or burn, or to protect.” Then I focused on Diego. “Or melt the skin off someone.”

  “Too bad we can’t have a demonstration of that.” His lips slowly formed into a vicious smile, and I knew we were on the same page of what we wanted to do to the men who’d hurt Foster.

  Speaking of which, he was the only one left wet since he’d been standing apart from the others. I sent the flame to him, making sure it was on heat not burn, and dried him off.

  “It’s like being in a dryer,” he giggled, dancing around a bit. “No, more like your big, warm hands are touching me everywhere since you run so hot.”

  I lost focus for a second and singed his T-shirt before pulling back the heat and sucking it into my body. Foster’s eyes met mine, wondering what happened, and whatever look was on my face gave him the hint, and he realized what he’d just said. His chest started heaving, for what reason I didn’t know, but neither of us said anything, simply staring at each other.

  “As you can see, control and focus are crucial,” Bronx explained, covering for us since we were still mute. He moved over by Foster and checked the shirt. “You okay? Did he get your skin?”

  “No, I’m fine. Pierce wouldn’t ever hurt me.” That made it several times worse, and Foster looked as if he wanted to melt into the blacktop.

  “There’s six of you and four elements, so do you have two of some, or what other kind of demons are you?” That big guy who had guarded Foster in the infirmary asked, realizing the situation was awkward.

  “Really? There’s four? Or have you been watching too many witchy movies where hot chicks call upon four towers or something?” Bronx chuckled as he focused on the water Jean was still holding onto. I watched it change into solid, knowing this trick. “There isn’t only earth, air, water, and fire, but also electric, sound, light, and mineral.”

  “How is mineral different than earth?” Diego asked, moving towar
ds the hardened water. “To be honest, I thought you were the earth demon, Bronx.”

  “I can’t make water have the properties of a diamond,” Jean chuckled. “If you hit that water, it’s like diamond.”

  “So you can turn things into gold like an alchemist?” the half giant asked, disbelief in his tone.

  “Turn it? No. Give anything the properties of gold while using my gifts, yes.” Bronx focused on the water, and suddenly it looked like a massive gold nugget. “It’s not a permanent change though, as an alchemist does. This isn’t science, but power. I can find minerals faster than sonar or metal detectors however. They practically call out to me.”

  “Yeah, don’t go to the mall with him if it has a jewelry store,” Arlo snickered.

  “All right, and on that note, let’s wrap this up since classes should have started already. We can have another of these, or if you wouldn’t mind demonstrations during your training, I think it would educate our students.” He shot Bronx a meaningful glance, and in that moment I really liked Browning. He was doing this as much for us as he was educating his students.

  The rich and high class paranormals tended to look down on demons… Which was why there weren’t any at a prestigious college like this one. But it was clear that Browning was trying to close the rift and stereotypes with his students.

  I could get used to being around good people like him.

  When did he get so massive? Pierce was always taller than most, a growth spurt in sophomore year making him suffer to the point he’d had to miss classes and I’d ended up spending hours rubbing down sore muscles and trying to help him. But when I’d last seen him, he was only starting to fill in.

  I had been too shocked when I first saw him to consider his new appearance. I mean, I thought I’d never lay eyes on him again, but when he showed up to my room, in the middle of the night, not wearing anything but boxer briefs—which showed me he’d grown all over—I couldn’t ignore his body. And it scared me because he’d done so much wrong when he was smaller.