Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  “Fuck this, this bitch isn’t worth it,” his words were nasally as he held his nose, attempting to stop the flow of blood. The three bullies glared for a moment longer before turning and shuffling down the path. Turning back towards the injured animal, I reached out with shaking hands slowly to not frighten it. Both of its tails curled around my arm as it clung to my shirt. Poor thing is terrified. Wait… what the fuck? It had two tails and was eyeing me with suspicion.

  “It’s okay,” I cooed. I froze when the small fox started to shift. A tall, lithe boy stood naked circled in my arms, a yelp bubbled out of me before I ripped my arms back into my chest and stumbled away from the apparent shifter. Guy, not a fox. Got it.

  "Thank you for that, I'm not really a fighter," the boy said quietly as he pulled on a pair of jeans and a faded red shirt from a backpack I hadn't noticed leaning against the building. "I'm Benjamin, I go by Benji,” he introduced himself. Once he was clothed, he ran his left hand through his hair. There was a small Deathly Hallows tattoo on his forearm, the black ink dark against his pale skin. “Sorry about the sudden shift change, I’m still struggling with controlling it. Only seems to happen when I’m afraid," he trailed off, his hand held out with a soft smile on his face despite the puffy red mark on his left cheek. The mark held my attention as it slowly healed, the swelling went down as the red faded back into his pale skin tone. I had to clear my throat before responding because, again, what the fuck.

  "Uh, I’m Lucie," I responded and shook his hand, pulling my attention away from his newly healed cheek. Now that the exchange was over, the adrenaline drained out of my system leaving panic and anxiety in its wake. I was attempting to keep my breathing even to keep the memories from clawing to the forefront of my mind when I looked to my right. Logan and Landon were standing there with the group of guys from the quad. They all had varying expressions of awe, anger, concern, and worry. Realizing they’d witnessed the entire scene destroyed any control I had. Pulling my hand back from Benji, I scrambled for my bag. Desperate to get back to my dorm building without any further interactions, I was too focused on breathing through the chest pain to hear my name being called from behind me.

  "Babygirl, you think you can run from me?" his voice whispered in my ear…

  4

  August 27th

  Monday Morning

  Lucienne

  The front doors to the Power Building were propped open, letting a cool breeze seep out into the muggy morning air. I was fueled with an abundance of coffee. As if I’m ever not fueled with caffeine, along with a fruit cup and bowl of oatmeal that I ate at Coffeeology. The crowd of freshmen was fairly quiet since it was so early on a Monday morning. Technically, my first class wouldn’t start until nine, but they were holding the “Power Placement Lecture” before classes officially began.

  Chairs were lined up in front of a small podium within the gymnasium. I sat off to the side in one of the middle rows, figuring I should be able to hear from over here and only have to have someone on one side of me. I pulled out my phone to check if there were any missed texts from Char after I fell asleep. She knew me well enough that she basically had a sixth sense for when I was having an issue with my panic attacks.

  Charlie: “boo, just take some deep breaths. I know it has been a rough few years, but you’re at RSU for a fresh start, so make the most of it. I’ll let you know if I hear from anyone back home.”

  I didn’t have any other texts. After midnight I was usually attempting some kind of sleep. Mostly nightmare-filled, fitful sleep, but sleep nonetheless. I shot back a quick thanks and that I’d talk to her after classes before I put my phone into my pocket. They must have had the air conditioning at full blast because it was freezing, making me glad I’d worn dark wash skinny jeans, knee-high boots, and my warm zip-up sweatshirt. My thin white tank top sported a glittery gold pineapple on the front that sparkled between the black fabric of my hoodie. The only issue with this shirt is that the scoop neckline was loose enough that it showed off the jagged scar on my left collar bone and a hefty amount of cleavage. On the flip side though, it also showed off the first tattoo I got with Char the day before graduation, so that’s a plus.

  “Hey, Lucie, do you mind if I sit here with you?” a familiar soft-spoken voice sounded from over my left shoulder followed by a very high-pitched ‘Lucie!’ a little ways behind that. I turned to see Benji looking over his shoulder at Sadie running down the side of the chairs towards me, her blue hair flopping into her eyes obscuring her glasses. I stood up as she neared us, her breath coming out in heavy pants.

  “Hey, guys. Benji, I want you to meet my roommate, Sadie. Sadie, this is Benji. We met after the orientation speech on Saturday,” I introduced them to each other when Sadie finally reached the row I was seated in. Sadie eyed Benji and slowly crossed her arms.

  “Are you the reason she came barreling into the dorm and holed up in her room for the rest of the weekend? Because let me tell you, buddy, if you are, I will totally and utterly destroy you.” Sadie’s eyes narrowed as she leaned into Benji’s personal space, her bright yellow nail stabbing into his chest, placing emphasis on just how much destruction she was capable of. Unfortunately, some of the menace she was attempting to channel was lost since she had to look up at Benji who was around a foot taller than her short stature.

  “Uh, no, that wasn’t me. She helped me when some guys from my hometown cornered me, so no need to totally and utterly destroy anyone. Especially me,” Benji admitted. He held out his hand as a peace offering, and when Sadie realized he was telling the truth, her demeanor went from pissed off Chihuahua to her usual bubbly self in an instant. She returned his handshake and slid past me following Benji. They made some idle chit-chat as I sat back down. I had turned to join into the conversation when I heard another familiar voice.

  “There’s my lemon drop,” Landon’s husky voice was warm as he addressed me; Sadie’s head whipping up to look behind me. When her eyes dropped to mine, she had a ‘you’re so dishing details later’ face on. I turned, realizing I was staring right at Landon’s belt buckle. It looked like an upside down pentagram with...is that a goat head? His right hand was propped on the back of my chair, the way he was leaning made his shirt ride up a little bit, giving me a glimpse of that yummy V guys have. Look up, Lucie.

  I forced my eyes up before they could travel further south, a flush creeping up my skin, to see him smirking down at me. Logan’s face popped over his shoulders with a matching expression. They were both dressed in dark wash jeans and black shirts, one said “copy”, the other said “paste”. I chuckled at their clothing choices before motioning for Sadie and Benji to scoot down two seats.

  “We missed you, love, and who is this?” Logan’s eyes trailed over to Sadie. He reached across me to hold out his hand for her, but instead of shaking it, he brought her knuckles to his mouth for a light kiss. I felt a small surge of jealousy pass through me. What the hell was that? I squashed down that feeling as quickly as it came.

  “Nice try, but I don’t bat for your team. I’m Sadie, Lucie’s roommate.” She took back her hand with an exasperated sigh, her eyes flitting to me before she rolled them. Clearly, Sadie wasn’t going to fall for Logan’s antics, he shrugged unfazed.

  “Hey, Benji,” Logan moved on from his attempt to flatter Sadie to address the kitsune shifter on the other end of our group. Landon waved over at him before he introduced himself to Sadie. Dean Renaud stepped onto the stage at that moment, silencing the gymnasium.

  “Girl, you’ve been holding out. You and I are going to have a detailed discussion later over a ridiculous amount of ice cream about how you met them,” Sadie whispered into my right ear as she leaned over into my personal space.

  “You got it. I’ll buy the ice cream,” I chuckled sitting back to my full height. My heart clenched a little bit while my vision grew watery. The feeling of acceptance and normality warmed me. I can be normal, I can get passed everything he destroyed. I blinked a few times clearing a
way the blur of unshed tears, intent on paying attention to what the dean had to say.

  Dean Renaud was lecturing about how in order to make sure the students at the school reach their full potential, the faculty will be made aware of the powers they currently possess, as well as those they may develop over time. Something about how it’d be used to help guide and teach them throughout their college career. To get a better understanding of our powers, each of us will go through testing with a professor and an ‘advanced student’ once a week until the professor has had a thorough enough assessment to configure future coursework.

  He closed out the lecture by reminding us that we should have received a time, location, and instructors for our unique power placement testing, along with our schedules at orientation. If anyone didn’t, to find a professor or himself to fix the error. Well, that was a pretty standard speech, why did I have to get up so early for this? I grumbled as I stood up along with the rest of the freshman students.

  “What class do you have first?” Logan questioned as we filed out of the aisle towards the gym door. “We have Supe History with Hans.” I didn’t have my schedule fully memorized yet making me dig out the paper from my messenger bag, but before I could read which class I had first, Landon plucked it from my fingers.

  “Look, twin, Lucie has Supe History with us, and Intro to Supe Society,”—he handed the paper off to Logan and looked to me—“care for an escort to your first official class here at Redwood Supernatural University, lemon drop?” His tone was full of mock importance as he puffed his chest and held out his right arm. Sadie elbowed me, sending me stumbling into Landon. I was able to catch myself on his extended elbow before it collided with my left side, but not before the action jostled my ribs. Thank fuck for fast reflexes.

  “Sure, that would be great,” I responded to Landon through clenched teeth. Breathe through the pain, it’ll ease in a minute. I glared at Sadie who looked completely content with trying to play cupid. She smiled wide and waved while pulling a confused Benji off an adjacent walkway towards the Music and Arts building. Not one to be left out, Logan’s left arm found its way over my shoulders. The slight movement caused my left side to continue to throb in pain. I clenched my teeth even tighter and took slow, shallow breaths through my nose to limit the expansion of my rib cage.

  “You alright, Lucie?” Landon looked down at me with his full lips tilting into a frown. Brows furrowed over his red tinted black eyes while his golden skin tone warmed in the last of the summer sun. I must not have hidden my reaction as well as I’d hoped. Plastering on a smile wide enough for my dimples to appear on my pale cheeks, I hoped my breathing didn’t look uneven. Only a couple more weeks until it’s finally healed.

  “I’m good, just a bit nervous about starting classes.” And the fact I grew up my entire life thinking I was human. The memory I fell asleep with, my mother's story of how I came to be her’s, was pulled to the forefront of my mind at the thought.

  “You were placed right outside of the alley door to the restaurant I worked at. Your mother must have known someone would be out soon, you couldn’t have been out there for more than a minute or two before I took out the trash. You weren’t crying or whimpering, you just looked at me with your big blue eyes filled with wonder and I fell in love, I knew you were meant to be mine.” She wiped at her tears with the back of her hand before continuing.

  “I was clocked out at that point and about to walk home since I only lived two blocks away. When I finally got you home, there was a letter tucked into the blanket along with that necklace as well as a small, locked trinket box. The letter was from your birth mother, Lucie”—she took a steadying breath—“stating that you were both in danger, it wasn’t safe for either of you to continue living in the supernatural community. That’s why she wanted a human to take care of you. She wrote instructions to whoever found you to enroll you in one of the supernatural universities so you could learn how to use your powers. The letter also said she loved you very much, and she never wanted to give you up but she didn’t think you would ever be safe together.” She trailed off to let me process. Holy shit, my mom isn’t really my mom, and I’m a supernatural. I could feel the tears slide down my cheeks as my brain finally caught up to everything she had said.

  “I still have the letter, sweetheart, I saved it for you along with the trinket box. The letter said to not attempt to open the box until you’ve come into your power because it was secured using the magical signature of your mother and father’s lines.” Her face was full of sorrow and heartbreak. I knew what she was thinking.

  “Mom, I love you so much and just because you didn’t give birth to me doesn’t make you any less my mother,” I exclaimed. Tossing the letter onto the table, I practically tackled my mom off her chair in a hug not caring if I jostled my injuries. Her delicate arms wrapped around my shoulders tightly as a watery chuckle fell from her lips.

  “I love you so much too, Lucie, always. And I’ll always be here for you.” She held me for a bit longer before pulling back, tapping the envelope, “in regards to RSU…”

  “Lucie!” A loud shout pulled me back to the present, two calloused hands cupped my face forcing me to look up into Logan’s terrified expression. His blackened red irises held my attention. The red was closer to the surface, giving them the appearance of fiery coal as opposed to the usual subdued darker red. Burning depths saturated with fear searched my face in rapid movements.

  “I’m good, Logan. Sorry about that, I just got lost in thought. I didn’t mean to worry you.” He visibly relaxed when he heard my voice. Landon’s forehead dropped onto my left shoulder from beside me as he took deep breaths.

  “Lucie, love, you can’t scare us like that. You were catatonic!” Logan exclaimed as he squeezed my cheeks together forcing my lips to pucker. “Just for that, you’re stuck coming to lunch with us after class so we can keep an eye on you.”

  “I can’t after class, I have power testing,” I forced out between my fishy lips.

  “Well then, after Intro to Supe Society. We’ll go for a late lunch early dinner type of thing.” His eyes started to twinkle as he was clearly fighting a smile. “You look absolutely adorable like this, and watching you try to talk with your smooshed face is hilarious. Do it again.” I stuck my tongue out through my puckered lips. He and Landon burst out laughing, no longer able to contain their mirth. I rolled my eyes at the two of them but agreed to his lunch dinner thing.

  “Thanks, not so bad yourself”—I winked at him—“but we really should get to class. Don’t want to be late on our first day.” They continued to crack up, resuming our original walking position, my arm threaded through Landon’s while Logan’s arm slipped over my shoulder, as we strode into the History Building.

  5

  August 27th

  Monday Midday

  Hudson

  I sat in a chair that was pushed into the corner of the practice room waiting for Professor George who was running late. As per usual, I chuckled. I liked that I only had to help with one power test this year, especially since Cam and I would be assisting the lower level mental defense class. I pulled myself out of my inner musings and looked to the note sheet for the student we’d be observing today, Lucienne M. Envie, pretty name.

  Hearing footfalls out in the main gym followed quickly by some laughing had me moving over to the doorway, curious to see who was making all the noise. The twins were joking around with the blonde from the quad after orientation. I looked at my sheet again and realized that Lucienne was Lucie’s full name. No shit idiot. Lucie waved to the twins before walking across the rest of the gym, studying the numbers above the rooms.

  Before she could notice me, I studied her, able to get a better look at her than on Saturday. Her straight, blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail on the back of her head, and she was wearing a pair of skinny jeans that hugged her body perfectly, accentuating the flare of her hips. Fuck. She’s absolutely beautiful. As she got closer though, I was able to c
onfirm my suspicions that the girl who squared up on that asshole Justin on Saturday was the same girl who was able to manipulate the bookshelf on Thursday. The one who worked with Muriel in the library.

  “Well, well, well, look who it is.” Leaning against the door frame, I mimicked my stance from the first time we met. My dark blue shirt pulled tight at my chest and shoulders as I crossed my arms. She stopped walking, looking from the numbers above the doors to me. Appreciation sparked in her sapphire eyes, followed quickly by recognition before narrowing in suspicion.

  “Mr. Nguyen,” she murmured, “why are you at the practice room I’ll be using for my testing?” Her use of my last name startled me momentarily before I remembered that Muriel had addressed me as such at the library.

  “Well, Miss Lucienne Envie.” Smirking as she motioned for me to allow her through the doorway. Pivoting slightly, there was just enough room for her to squeeze by, her chest brushing against mine. I repressed a groan at the contact. Don’t torture yourself, man. “I am the student assistant helping Professor George with your testing.”

  “First, it’s Lucie, only Muriel can call me Lucienne. Second, if that’s the case then where is Professor George?” She dropped her messenger bag with a thud onto the small table against the wall of the practice room, clearly irritated. Stepping into the room, I observed her. Her lips had thinned out into a line, and her hands had migrated to her delicious hips. Seriously dude, not the damn time.

  “Sorry about that.” Professor George came bustling into the room with his glasses askew on his face and his button up halfway untucked under his sweater vest. “I had to run back to my office to check on something. You must be Lucienne, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Bryan George, but you can just call me Bryan if you want. I see you’ve already met my assistant, Hudson.” He gestured to me as he straightened his glasses and set the clipboard in his hand down onto the table. “So, we’re just going to jump right into it, what type of supernatural are you?” Professor George asked, pen poised over his notes sheet.