by K L Rymer
Even the professors will attend which is not so fun for some, but I couldn’t care less. Tonight I am getting wasted.
I just wish I could bring Megan and Sophie to the party with me. I’ve seen them far less this semester since I had to amp up my training with the headmaster. And then the whole thing with Matthew started, so I just had little time to see them.
As for what I will be wearing to the party later—my jeans and Converse. No fancy dresses or heels this time.
Felicity and Nora make way more of an effort. Fel wears a long, pink dress and a tiara, and Nora wears a pair of sexy heels.
Even Zahara dresses up a little bit in her black tutu, and I have no idea what’s running through her mind. She complements the look with boots and fishnet stockings, and I shake my head.
Strange girl indeed...
Thomas wears a smart sweater vest, and Jack has his extra-large letterman jacket. I wonder how the latter even finds clothes that fit him with his stature.
And last but not least is the Prince of Darkness (or his son more precisely). Ever since he started dating Fel, he has made more of an effort on his appearance. Now he will actually brush his hair.
When he came down in his smart tuxedo, my eyes nearly popped from their sockets. I had no idea he was quite tan. Has he been wearing white makeup the whole time I’ve known him? Or has he just been getting more sun since he started dating Little Miss Sunshine?
The smudged guyliner and the black nail polish have gone. Now he’s just a clean, polished gentleman.
He must be doing it for Felicity though he looks seriously uncomfortable. It only seems fair in the end—I caught her wearing black eyeshadow like some tacky trash panda the other day, but it just didn’t suit her.
She’s too pretty and pink. It’s the color of her magic after all.
The little pixie squeals and wraps her arms around his waist when he steps down the stairs. Her head only reaches his lower chest which is just the right place to hear his heart; he’s only just developed one lately since he started dating her.
“You wore the tuxedo!”
Damien rolls his eyes, but I do catch that little smile. “Yeah. Whatever makes you happy, Tinkerbell.”
She beams and reaches up on her toes. The demon melts beneath her kiss, and now he wraps his hands around her delicate neck. Soon their harmless kiss takes a frisky turn, and now all their dressing up seems pretty useless. The clothes are surely going to come off again if none of us stops them.
We’re used to their antics by now, but still. A time and a place. I catch movement then, and watch as Zahara grabs an apple from a fruit bowl and aims for their heads.
She launches, but instead of hitting Damien and Felicity, it lands right in Angelina’s face.
The vampire has just come down the stairs.
None of us move, all too afraid to make a sound. After all, Angelina is one crazy bitch. Piss her off, and you’ll pay. As I nearly did.
The rest of Mendacious have made a point of staying away from her, and vice versa. But we’re still bound to run in to each other.
The vampire turns stone-cold silent as she breathes heavily through her nose.
My heart runs.
Damien pushes Felicity behind him, and his eyes shine bright red. Nora’s hair wiggles as she lets her hair loose tonight. Thomas’s eyes glow, and Jack flexes his muscles.
Zahara doesn’t react. Instead, a smirk grows over her evil, black lips.
Finally, Angelina fixes her eyes on the Unseelie. They’re a blazing blue. “You freak... you did that on purpose...”
The Unseelie scoffs. “Actually... I was aiming for those two idiots over there. You just happened to be walking by. Despite what you may think, Angelina, the world doesn’t revolve around you.”
The vampire clenches her jaw and strolls right up to her. She stands almost a head taller, glaring down at the fae like she’s a piece of shit, but Zahara is the least perturbed.
She just maintains that black smile.
Zahara’s the bravest of us all. But she’s the only one who has taken on the vampire and won. I used to be bold too until she almost stuck her fangs into my throat.
Damien and Jack could take her on too, but I can tell they hold reservations about hitting a girl. Not that I would stop them. Angie is no ordinary woman.
I look at what the vampire girl wears. Tight yoga pants and a sports bra, showing off that flawless midriff, and I have to give it to the guys. Their eyes don’t wander once.
They don’t see the beautiful façade like all the other guys at the academy. They just see the monster.
“You’re not coming to the party then?” I blurt out next.
Angelina turns her head, gazing at me from the corner of her eye. “No. I have more important things to do than spend time with you lowly creatures.”
Zahara snorts. “Ah, yes... because you’re vampire royalty, right? Good for you. No one fucking cares!”
I raise a brow. Vampire royalty?
Angelina swivels her head back around to scowl at Zahara. The two girls glower at each other for a few moments longer, and finally, Angie breaks contact. Her blazing blues find Damien and Felicity. The pixie shakes and hides behind her handsome demon.
Then she looks at Nora, Thomas, and Jack and rolls her eyes. “How did I get stuck with a bunch of losers?” She storms out of the room, slinging her duffel bag over her shoulder.
Before she leaves, Zahara shouts, “I think you mean how did we get stuck with a fucking crazy, homicidal bitch. Oh, that’s right... you tried to kill our friend!”
Angelina doesn’t respond. Zahara growls and runs to the door, yelling down the winding stairs. “You better watch yourself, Ambrose. I swear... if you so much as lay a hand on any of us... you’re going down!”
The door slams shut down below, and I release a sigh, falling back into a chair. Now that was intense.
Still... Angelina won’t ruin our night. We have some celebrating to do after all.
Let her wallow in the gym, picturing my face on a punching bag.
...
We party beneath a grand gazebo in the castle grounds, and I wish I had dressed up a little more now.
I guess this party was going to be a bit formal. Everyone looks so fancy. Nowhere as nice as the V-day ball, but still snazzy enough to be on a postcard.
Yay, I’m an ugly duckling again...
Not that it matters now that I have Mattie. He would have me in a potato sack. Besides, it will be coming off all the same later in the bedroom.
Tonight, I have decided to go all the way and lose my virginity. I’m probably the only V left at the academy. Even Thomas, Nora, and Felicity have lost theirs now. The latter has told me on more than enough occasions (and I’ve also heard her, too, in the rooms—Damien’s quite the devil indeed).
I’m happy for them, but it’s my time now.
A live band plays on stage, performing songs from the human world, and I raise a brow. Funny how supernaturals mimic us in every way possible. They have our tech and copy our fashion. So they can’t think we’re all that bad if they like our music so much too.
I’ve heard heavy metal coming from Damien’s earphones in the study hall, and a bit of bubble-gum pop from Felicity too, but I just figured it was because they were both half-human, so would naturally have tastes pertaining to my world.
But seems they like our music. A lot. I see Macson then singing along to the lyrics, and I roll my eyes.
What’s he got to celebrate, anyway? He failed two of his practical exams.
Serves him right. The bully.
My eyes move over to Felicity and Damien. Even though it’s an upbeat song they still slow dance. Again, I wonder if she’s listening to his heartbeat; she has her ear against his chest as she closes her eyes in relaxation.
They look so happy and in love. Macson did them both a favor that night. He brought them together.
The Unseelie drunkenly knocks into them next, sloshing his drin
k, and when Damien shoots him daggers, a shiver runs down my spine.
I’ve seen him angry before, but now... not even the fiery pits of hell could compare.
Macson visibly pales and mutters his apology. Then he vanishes into the crowd with Caleb and Darius, and I glance at my phone. I texted Mattie half an hour ago, but he still has yet to show.
Where could he be? His friends are already here.
A group of giggling girls pass me next, and they’re all Magnanimous. I can’t help but feel that their laughs are at my expense.
Would Mattie really stand me up? I know he has been distant lately but the exams are over now. He has nothing to be stressed over, and he nailed the practicals. And I’m sure he even outdid himself on the written exams, too.
He has still been responding to my texts. Though his replies are curt, it’s good to know he hasn’t completely tuned me out.
This is my first relationship after all. So I’m not sure whether this behavior is normal. My gut is telling me no. It’s telling me that Mattie and I should be like Damien and Felicity over there, dancing like there is no one else in the room. No care, no stress.
It doesn’t help that we all hooked up the same night. Even though it’s only been three months, Mattie and I should be as strong as those two.
Three months is still the honeymoon period. It shouldn’t be this bad.
Right?
Someone drops into the chair beside me, and I look up to meet Myrddin’s hazy eyes. He’s been drinking a little at the professors’ table, and the sounds coming from over there were worse than the students. I saw Mr. Tanaka all suited up and he was looking fine...
Myrddin wears a dazzling navy suit, one that seems to be alight with stars, and I blink at Orion’s belt that flashes just above his right hand pocket.
It’s the night sky.
“Why aren’t you up there dancing too, Bryn?” he asks. “You should be celebrating. Not sulking.”
I shrug. “I don’t like this song.”
Myrddin stops a moment. “Erm... let me guess...The Spice Girls?”
I roll my eyes. That’s probably the most recent band he has heard of. Anything after the millennium goes right over his head. “No.”
He scratches his beard. “Sorry. I’m not too familiar with the music of today. Though I did see Bowie twice in concert...”
Now that I’m impressed by. He likes Bowie, and that puts him way up in my books.
We sit at the round table for a while, watching the other students as they dance by the stage. I should be up there too, but instead I sit alone with my champagne, pining for my boyfriend.
If he still is my boyfriend that is.
I take a deep, shuddery breath and sip my champagne flute, and its taste mocks me. This is a celebratory drink. Yet I don’t feel like celebrating.
Tears sting my eyes and I squeeze my lids, hoping Myrddin doesn’t see.
“Bryn?”
Too late.
Slowly, I peer up at the headmaster, knowing full well my eyes will betray me the instant I look into his fatherly gaze. He has been more of a father to me than Larry has my whole life, and I would laugh at the irony if my heart wasn’t breaking.
Finally, I find those hazel eyes, and for the first time I realize the color is just like mine. Myrddin even has the brown speck just below his left iris, and I stare transfixed.
The exact one.
Before I have time to process what I’m seeing, an explosion shakes the school, and then a blast disrupts the cool night air.
Chapter 32.
Screams burst through the gazebo, but I stare at my champagne flute mesmerized. It has fallen onto its side, pouring its bubbly contents out onto the grass.
What... what just happened? And why... why can’t I breathe?
Another explosion and I flinch as a scorching heat seizes my skin.
I’ve caught fire!
When I peer down at my arm, I see that I’m flame free. However, the right side of the gazebo has been taken out. Blue fire engulfs the material, and all at once students and teachers run out of the tent.
Someone grabs me roughly by the arm and I’m dragged away, and soon we all gather outside. I peer up at Myrddin, but he only has eyes for the skies.
What’s he looking at?
A few students cry out and point their fingers, and I look up at that huge white cloud. Except this cloud has wings and shiny scales that catch the glint of the moon.
The creature roars, and the sound shakes the Earth. But all I do is stare. No... it can’t be.
A dragon?
“Everyone, teleport to the safe zone! The castle is under attack!” The order comes from Myrddin.
I have no idea where the safe zone is. I’m sure they told us during orientation, but I can’t tear my eyes away from the giant lizard as its large, gargoyle-like wings sweep a gale over the academy.
The fire has spread from the gazebo to the surrounding trees, and all at once that scorching heat seizes my lungs. I’ve never known anything like it.
A pair of rough hands grabs a hold of me next, but I don’t see who they belong to. “Bryn, time to go.”
It’s Damien.
“She... she’s in shock!”
Felicity.
Yet I still don’t move. My mind focused on nothing but that dragon. Someone is riding it.
Mattie...
I’m not sure how I know that it’s him. He’s at least a hundred feet in the air. But somehow, I sense his conflicted gray eyes, and I keep my gaze riveted on that beast.
It’s all over...
Matthew has succumbed to the darkness.
“Bryn! We need to go, now!”
It’s Nora this time. I didn’t even see her coming. Strong arms lift me next, and a giant carts me away.
Jack.
We’re moving at full speed, surrounded by friends. I’m vaguely aware of Zahara and Thomas to my right. Thomas’s footfalls are heavier as he pants like a wild animal. He must be in wolf form.
I spot that lone figure across the grounds, silhouetted against the blue flames. It summons a staff and raises it toward the White Dragon.
Toward Mattie...
No.
I can’t. Despite his betrayal, I can’t let him die.
I wriggle out of Jack’s iron grip, but he’s too strong. We’re almost to the edge of the forest. Not the safest place to go with a giant fire-breathing reptile flapping through the air, but then I hear a pop and peer around.
Students are teleporting.
I won’t run away.
I summon heat in my palms and burn my fellow Mendacious, and Jack drops me to the ground with a grunt.
He’s too late. I’m already on my feet, and I thank the heavens I had the foresight to wear Chuck Taylors tonight.
Now I can run faster than I’ve ever run before.
“Bryn!”
I don’t stop. I press on, leaving my friends behind.
The White Dragon throws her silvery head back and a ball of fire forms at the back of her throat. Her eyes fall on the headmaster—Matthew’s greatest threat.
After all, the wizard can take his powers away and seal them up inside a flask. And there would be no going back from this. Mattie would become mortal forever.
Well, it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Better he was powerless than dead.
“Stop!”
I skid to a halt before either dragon or wizard can take aim.
To my disbelief the dragon stops, keeping her blue fireball at the back of her throat like a spit wad.
Myrddin steps up close and hisses into my ear. “Bryn, get out of here. This is not your fight.”
“But I can’t let you two kill each other. Please, let me talk to him. I know I can get through to him!”
Before Myrddin can protest, the dragon roars and swoops to the ground. Her talon feet send tremors through the Earth, and I gape at her sheer size.
Now that’s one pretty big newt...
She is t
wice the size of an elephant with a long, slender neck and barbed tail. She has pointed horns similar to a triceratops, and silver scales that shine like armor.
My blood turns to ice when I meet those cold, blue eyes. They’re as sharp as glass, and twice as deadly.
The thin pupils seem to cut straight through my flesh, exposing me for the weakling I am, and I have no other choice but to drop to my knees and surrender.
She’s a true monster. The queen of beasts.
Those intelligent eyes continue to pierce me, and if I’m not mistaken she seems to blow a disapproving snort.
Myrddin says to the dragon next, “Long time no see, Gwyneira.”
I widen my eyes. She has a name?!
The dragon responds with a snarl, blowing thick tendrils of smoke from her nostrils.
I cough. It’s seeping into my lungs. Myrddin’s unruffled though, keeping his steady gaze on Gwyneira.
“Gwyneira... stop.”
My heart explodes when I hear the voice, and I look up into Mattie’s cool, gray eyes. He sits at the base of the dragon’s neck, and I gasp.
“M-Matt...” I can’t get the words out.
His face betrays no emotion. Instead, he slides down Gwyneira’s smooth scales then carefully steps toward me.
I take in his attire. He wears chainmail and a flowing white cape, and I struggle for breath again.
No... this can’t be real. This has to be a dream.
Myrddin places his staff in front of me, forbidding the man I love from stepping any closer.
The look Mattie gives him next makes my blood freeze. Not even when I first met him had he looked so intimidating. Dangerous.
Evil...
His eyes glow white, and now his lush mouth curves into a smirk. “Hello, Professor... Surprised to see me like this?”
“No,” Myrddin replies, his tone neutral. “In retrospect... I knew this day would come. I know how much your father has a hold on you after all, young Matthew. Tell me... how’s your mother? Your father treating her well I presume?”
Mattie’s face contorts the moment Myrddin mentions his mother, and now he turns into a full-blown monster. It’s as if someone clicked a switch inside of him, and I think I finally grasp the situation.
As Myrddin said, Matthew Humphrey the III has a powerful hold over his son after all... as well as his wife whose life currently hangs on a delicate balance.
