by K L Rymer
Myrddin chuckles. “I never exactly said that I would train you one and one, Mr Humphrey.”
Matthew’s eyes widen in terror and I growl. Well, I don’t like the idea of training with you either, moron.
“But... you... you can’t...” he stammers.
“That will be all today, Mr Humphrey. See you in my office tomorrow at six am. You too, Miss Williams. Toodles, have a good day, cheerio! Ooh, is that the telephone, have to go!”
The door slams in our faces, and Matthew and I stare at the headmaster’s golden plaque dumbfounded. He’s not lying about the phone thing; he does have an antique one from the early twentieth century on his desk, and I hear him answering it inside.
He... he wants us to train together? Whatever for?!
Myrddin’s living a dream. Matthew and I will never get along.
Matthew’s silent beside me, and he doesn’t meet my gaze. Instead, he burns a hole through the wood of the headmaster’s door, ticking his jaw.
Finally, he glances down, and the expression he gives me next is murderous. If looks could kill... well, I’d be a crisp.
His orbs burn white once again and I gasp. Then his nostrils flare as his breath comes out fast, and all I can do is gape in horror.
I knew he hated me... but damn. The look on his face hurts even more than when he tried to kill me.
At least in some fucked up way, he thought that what he was doing back then was justice. Right now only his sheer hatred would be the cause of my death.
My heart pounds and I swallow, taking a step back. Suddenly, his face softens when he catches my nervous movement, and now he spins away and rushes down the hall.
I stand there thunderstruck. Tomorrow morning couldn’t come fast enough.
Chapter 17.
Megan’s screams reverberate from inside the other room, and I stifle laughter.
“Jesus Christ!”
The two of us totally went out and got tatts. Our first ones too. Megan, like me, has an overbearing mother who would never in a million years agree to her getting a tattoo.
It’s a few weeks before Christmas break, and the redhead’s going to be in for a hiding when she gets back home to Liverpool.
Me, however, I won’t be going home for Christmas. Thanksgiving has already come and gone, so I already missed that holiday. My mom’s still begging for me to come home and forget Bangor, but I still told her no. I love her and all, but I need to do this. I need to get away and earn a life of my own.
So Meg invited me to come and stay with her in Liverpool for the Christmas break. I won’t stay the whole time; I will head back to the academy for New Year. I need to get some extra training in before January exam period.
The academy has twice the exams that Bangor does.
Liverpool would be an awesome break. I have been a long-time Beatles fan, so I will go and see the clubs where the Fab Four performed before they got famous stateside. My grandparents met at a Beatles’ concert after all. If it weren’t for those four British lads, then I probably never would have been born. (My mom never would have been born.)
The tattoo girl has just finished wrapping cling film around my tattoo to stop it from scabbing. I have a red dragon going up the inside of my arm. It starts from the wrist and stops beneath my armpit.
Megan, meanwhile, is getting a pair of lips on her ass. At least it’s somewhere you can’t see. Well, no one should be seeing that much of Megan anyway.
Like me, she’s a pretty modest girl (though she weren’t so modest the night of Halloween when she had her tongue down a half-titan’s throat).
Meg’s been asking about Jack ever since, slapping me across the shoulder for keeping him hidden away all this time. It is a woman’s duty to tell her close girlfriends about any hot guys she knows after all.
My tattoo girl has tatts all over her arms like a walking piece of art. She has bright blue hair too and piercings. I wonder if I should dye my hair or stick with the natural blonde. Mom would definitely throw a fit. Natural blonde is hard to come by these days.
Megan comes out of the room at last and now she looks as if she just had anal sex with Jack for the last twenty-four hours. Jack’s not much of a talker, but I get the sense he liked Megan too.
Her accent is cute. Why not.
“Ow... ow...” the redhead mutters as she comes up to my table. “Fuck... it hurts.”
I snort and glance down at my own red dragon. I’m the girl with the dragon tattoo now. Awesome.
“At least you didn’t chicken out like Sophie.”
“Yeah... I can’t wait to see the look on her face when she sees us with our tattoos. Let me see yours.”
I show her the tattoo and Megan bursts out laughing. “Wow, you really are embracing the Welsh life aren’t you, Bryn? You should get a sheep on your arse next time!”
I kick her in the shin, but she keeps on cackling. Yeah, the Welsh don’t love sheep jokes. A big no, no when you’re visiting the country. I see the tattoo girl looking over from the counter, but she just pretends as if she didn’t hear Megan.
Little does Megan know though, I got the red dragon tattoo to help harbor my new powers. It was actually Zahara’s idea who has plenty of tatts herself. She says it gives your magic a home. It’s the symbolism behind it after all. Symbols are pretty powerful in the supernatural realm.
If magic is left unchecked in the body, it can destroy you from the inside out and kill you. Not a way to go.
Megan did see me using my powers on Halloween, but she has obviously forgotten since Myrddin performed a memory spell on her.
“Well, you gonna show me yours?” I ask.
I just totally asked another girl if I could see her ass, but we are in this together. Meg wasn’t even fazed after all when a man did her tattoo. (He’s probably seen worse than her ass anyway).
Megan smirks and turns around, and now she pulls down her jeans. I see that red kiss mark and roll my eyes. “Seriously?”
“What?” she cries. “Now I can tell people where they can kiss my arse.”
“It looks like someone already did.”
She pulls a face. “Well, that’s the bloody point. Jesus Christ, Bryn, you’re not that bright at the best of times, are ya?”
I sigh and jump down from the table, skimming over the instructions that the girl gave me for my tattoo aftercare. We head out onto the high street. Megan has a favorite Fish and Chip Shop that she likes to go to on Saturdays, so we walk over. (She’s just lucky she’s so skinny.)
The instructions are as follows. Change the cling film three times a day, especially before bed. Don’t expose tattoo in direct sunlight (which is not too hard in North Wales where it has literally rained nonstop for two weeks). No baths, pools, and no swimming in the sea. (Well, I guess that leaves skinny dipping in freezing Welsh waters out then.)
There’s also a list of soap and cream recommendations, but I’ll look over it again later when I go shopping.
In all, it should take about four weeks for the healing process to finish. I don’t have any angel friends at the academy (just a demon friend), but Caleb is a pretty capable healer. But I would rather risk infection than let one of Matthew’s jerks touch me.
Our early classes with Myrddin have been awkward at best. Once again Matthew was an ass and Myrddin jolly (way too Jolly for six am).
I suppose it’s a good thing that I have the luxury of getting away from the academy. So far, studying at both schools has gone well. Sure it was hard at times, but I got there. But that’s just the first semester. And the January exams haven’t even begun yet.
We find a bench in a local park and Megan moans beside me about all the work we have to do during Christmas break, and I just want to shove that cone of chips up her ass. Compared to my load, hers is nothing.
A flock of seagulls gathers around us and I flip them a few chips, watching how they scramble for the bait. Soon it turns into a full-blown war, feathers floating everywhere, and I’m sorry I bothered now.
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The church tolls behind us, signaling three pm, and I stand and make a start for the hill. It is a Saturday, but I really need to get back and do some studying. I have a shitload of work. Plus, I have to be up early again tomorrow to start my six am training.
Myrddin doesn’t even give us Sundays off. The bastard.
“See you later, Meg. I’m going back to do some studying.”
“Later,” she calls back as I fling my backpack over my shoulder and head for the hill.
It’s not that far from here.
As I pass the little playground on my way out of the park, I see a pair of familiar faces. My eyes protrude.
Felicity and Damien? What are they doing away from the academy?
The supernatural students are allowed to come and go as they please. We are adults, but seeing them both out in broad daylight in the middle of Bangor... I just didn’t expect it.
Felicity plays on a swing while Damien leans against the pole. “Look how high I go!” she squeals.
I stomp my way over to them and drop my backpack onto the ground. I hold my hands to my hips, tapping my foot.
Damien is the first to notice me. He stands up straight and flashes me that wicked demon’s smirk, and I narrow my eyes.
He wears his long coat and steel-toe boots as his black, shoulder-length hair flies around his face in the windy weather.
Felicity wears a soft summer dress as her wispy, white-blonde hair flows behind her on the swing, and I stare at her aghast. She is going to freeze to death in that outfit. It’s December! There’s snow icing the mountains for goodness sake.
They’re both camouflaged, but they still stick out like a pair of sore thumbs.
“Hey there, Bryn Bryn,” Damien croons.
I grind my jaw. “Don’t hey there me. What are you both doing here?!”
Felicity jumps off the swing and bounds her way over to me, and now she throws her arms around my neck. “Bryn Bryn! Such a small world! I was just saying to Damien, “Imagine if we bumped into Bryn here!”
“Well, I do study here after all. Seriously, what were you two thinking? Get back to the academy, now!”
Damien fake yawns and a thick cloud of fog escapes his mouth. That is a little too much fog if I don’t say so myself, and I peer around, hoping no one saw the suspicious amount of heat coming from the demon.
He has a body temperature of well over a hundred Fahrenheit. He could always be smoking, but then I spot that “No Smoking” sign.
We are in a kid’s zone after all.
Two small boys give Damien a wide berth as they try to get to the swings on the other side of Felicity, and I can’t believe my luck.
Now he’s scaring all the children away.
“Relax, Bryn Bryn. It’s Saturday. Tinkerbell and I are just trying to unwind before the crapload of work we have to do. Besides, it was her idea...”
I glance over at Tinkerbell—I mean Felicity—and she gives me that mischievous grin.
“It sure was! I said to Damien, “Hey, let’s go out for the day”, and he asked where, and I said, “To Bryn’s school!”
I shake my head. “Well, get back to your own school. This one’s mine!”
Damien chuckles. “Think we’re going to come and steal your school now?”
My cheeks burn red, and the demon sniggers even louder.
Screw him.
“Now that we’re all here... I was thinking that we could all go naked swimming in the sea!” Felicity cries.
Damien arches a brow, amused. “Any excuse to get naked, hey.”
The pixie giggles, “Maybe.”
I watch them both disgusted now and roll up my sleeve. “I couldn’t even if I wanted to. Look.”
The two of them lean in close to gaze upon my new dragon tattoo, and a hand shoots up to Felicity’s mouth. Damien whistles. “Nice... So, you took Zahara’s advice on-board?”
“I guess I did. It hurts like a bitch, but you should have seen my friend Megan. She’s not going to be able to walk properly for weeks.”
A wicked flash runs between the demon’s eyes. “Where did she get her tattoo?”
I fold my arms. “Oh, wouldn’t you love to know...”
I’m well aware of his penchant for redheads ever since he kissed Rachel on Halloween. Felicity stares at us utterly confused, and her innocence is just on a whole other level.
I won’t bother telling him. It would only hurt Felicity.
I still don’t know what is going on with these two. On the surface, they appear as friends. In fact, you could say Damien even regards Felicity as his adorable kid sister (even though they are the same age—a hundred and ninety), but I still remember the way he glared at Jonathan on Halloween.
He looked as if he wanted to rip my former ex-roommate to pieces. Not that I blame him. If Matthew hadn’t attacked me, I know I would have done something. The pervert had his hands all over her.
Whatever is happening, he needs to put a stop to it before it gets way out of hand. I can’t stand the sound of Felicity crying. She sounds like a new puppy that doesn’t want to be left alone in its basket at night.
Funny... I would have thought Damien would be into Zahara. She’s just as dark and twisted as he is (if not more). But it appears that he likes the cute, innocent ones.
Well, he will not take Felicity’s innocence. I will make sure of it.
All three of us trek back to the academy, taking the familiar route to the hill. I ask Felicity to walk ahead of us.
She skips forward, and her pink dress flaps in the wind behind her. I turn on Damien the moment she’s out of earshot.
“What are you doing?”
He raises a brow. “Walking alongside you?”
“Not that. I mean what are you doing with Felicity? What’s this whole thing you both have going on?”
The demon stares at me deadpan, and I know he’s trying to act dumb. “Nothing.”
I sharpen my eyes. “Does Felicity think that though?”
He remains emotionless, but I see the hard clench of his jaw and the faint red glow of his green eyes.
“You watch yourself now, Damien. Because if you break her heart... I will come after you. Hard.”
His irises burn crimson now, yet I don’t look away.
I meant what I said; I will kick him so hard up the anus that he’ll need surgery to remove my shoe.
“What are you two talking about?”
I jump as the voice comes from behind, and I turn around, coming face to face with the bright blue eyes of Felicity.
We really need to get her a bell. I didn’t even see her vanishing up ahead.
Damien doesn’t flinch, remaining calm and collected as always, but I whirl around and scream at the pixie. “Jesus, Felicity. Warn me next time you sneak up like that!”
She giggles coyly then wraps her arms around my neck. “Oh, Bryn Bryn. You’re so silly!”
I grumble, keeping my gaze on the road ahead. Damien marches forward, and his shadow is darker and broodier than normal. His long coat flaps behind him, giving him that villainous flair.
Felicity watches him confused. “Damien... wait—”
Before she has time to finish, the demon flickers away, leaving nothing but a smoking black trail.
“Where... where did he go?” she cries soft and childlike.
I sigh. It’s too late. Damien already has a hold on her.
Chapter 18.
Winter break couldn’t come sooner.
I got the train to Liverpool with Megan. No, make that three trains. All around the carriage were snotty noses, and I’m surprised I made it out alive.
Worst train journey ever.
But it was worth it to get away from both schools for a few weeks. I had managed to get most of my work done before winter break, but I did have a lot of training to do. Hence why I am going back just before New Year.
Megan’s family was lovely. Her mom didn’t find out about the tattoo, but her little sister did and she ha
d threatened to snitch. So, I had to spend the holiday caught up between two angry, redheaded sisters who were constantly at odds with one another.
Christmas was chaos. Megan’s family is huge (aunties, uncles, cousins, the lot), and we could hardly fit at the table come Christmas dinner. And all everyone wanted to know about was my life back in Texas.
They were warm and welcoming, but loud (especially when drunk). However, now that I’ve been spending more time with dear old Meg, I have an easier time with their accents.
Her grandma was my favorite person in the end. That sweet old lady always had a special treat for me in her bag, and now we’ve become best friends on Facebook.
They were all sad when I had to head back to Bangor via three trains once again.
I packed very light, so it wasn’t too much of a struggle. But the crowds were abysmal. With that awkward time between Christmas and New Year, everyone is just scrambling to get home to their families.
Well, everyone except for me.
After a four-hour journey, I finally stagger down the gloomy halls of the academy and make my way to Mendacious quarters.
It’s so quiet. You could even hear a mouse scuffling behind the walls. After the noise and ruckus of Megan’s house, it’s a welcome change.
And the first thing I’m going to do—sleep. Then maybe I will catch up on a bit of anime.
I shiver when I enter the common room, reminding myself to light the fire when I come down again. It’s strange not seeing Thomas’s hunched form at the plush chairs, typing rapidly at his laptop. Or the silent, deliberating Jack gazing out of the window.
There is no Nora and Zahara, playing cards at the table, or the sweet (but psycho) Felicity pestering the brooding shadow of Damien.
At least I don’t have to put up with the love saga that is Damien and Felicity right now. I haven’t spoken to the demon since I threatened him pretty much, so he’s probably still seething.
I have no idea where he is spending his Christmas. In hell most likely.
Felicity went back to the forest to live with all the other imps and faeries, and Zahara went back to the Unseelie realm. Thomas is back in London, and Nora is up in Scotland.
