Runes of Black Magic: A Reverse Harem Urban Fantasy (A Demon's Fall series Book 3)

by G. Bailey

  "The professor is here," I giggle, trying to whisper to her as she nearly falls off the side of the desk, while half asleep.

  "Oh, what page?" She yawns, looking like she is going to drop back off to sleep already. I sigh, remembering how she actually has a boyfriend to keep her up all night. I, on the other hand, can't find a good one. The last time I had a boyfriend was over a year ago, and I found out he had a bad habit of sleeping around at parties. The unfortunate way I found this out was when I walked into his bedroom at his party, to find him in bed with two other girls. Let’s just say he has put me off men for life, or at least, for a while.

  "Thirty-two," I roll my eyes at her grin.

  "I might nap instead, I had a long night," she winks.

  "Don't rub it in," I groan.

  "Well, you’re coming to Drake’s party this weekend, and no, you don't have a choice. I bought you a dress, and I found you a date," she grins. I don’t know which one was worse about that sentence. The fact she has bought me a dress, which I know will be way too slutty for my style, or the unlucky guy she has found for me. I decide to go with the second problem first.

  "A date? You know I don't date," I hiss, while she continues to grin.

  "Hey, you can't judge every man because of one. This guy is nice, a friend of Drake’s." She makes that annoying face she knows I haven’t ever been able to say no to since we were eight. I will never forget when I first met Alex. My mum had taken me to get an ice cream from the local ice cream van. Alex had just gotten hers in front of me, and I decided to get the same because her ice cream looked good. When the truck left, Alex tripped and dropped hers. My mum and I rushed over as she cried her eyes out over her ice cream. I offered to share mine and then, when I saw her at school the next day, we were inseparable.

  "Fine, but if this doesn't go well I'm blaming you," I laugh.

  "Winter Masters, is there something wrong?" my professor asks, causing the whole class to look at me. I can hear Alex's quiet snort as I answer.

  "No, sir. We were just discussing the work," I say with red cheeks. The professor raises his bushy eyebrows at me. I know he doesn’t believe me. Damn, I wouldn’t believe me, either. I’m a terrible liar.

  "Well, discuss it more quietly next time, I'm sure the whole class doesn't want to know about your dating life,” he replies. I hold in the urge to hide under the table at his blunt reply. A guy about my age puts his hand up at the front, drawing the whole room’s attention to him. The boy has messy brown hair that’s covered up with a backwards cap. He is quite muscular under his top and shorts from what I can see. I’ve heard a few comments about how attractive he is, which he definitely is, but I can’t remember his name.

  "I would like to know, sir," he says loudly before winking at me over his shoulder. I know I’m redder than a tomato now, and one glance at Alex shows how funny she thinks this is. I’m leaving her to sleep through the class next time.

  "That's enough, Harris. All of you get back to work. I am running tests on this next week.” He picks up a large pile of papers, most likely the tests he made us do last week, and hasn’t bothered to mark yet. I watch as he goes to his desk and pulls out his phone. I’m sure he is playing some game by the way he is typing, but he definitely isn’t marking the tests.

  “Also, while I remember, you need to find work experience in the next week or you'll be helping me sort out the university lost-and-found . . . for four weeks." I swear the old professor even smirked, but I didn’t see him do it. I bet they would be getting him more coffees than they would be doing anything else.

  "Have you heard back from the local vets yet?" Alex asks, opening her book as everyone else starts reading quietly.

  "Yes, they called yesterday, and I'm all sorted." I grin, remembering jumping up and down in happiness after the call. I had applied months ago, and no one from our course was accepted, but I held out hope as I hadn't been rejected. My back-up was to work at a local farm, with half our class. Studying to become a vet is hard work, and there isn't much work experience available. This is an English class, and we have to pass it to stay at the university. That’s why Alex, who is a music student, is taking this class with me.

  "That's great," she smiles widely, making a few guys next to us turn to look at her. Alex is that very pretty girl you always wanted to be. She is tall with boobs and hips that are perfect no matter what she eats. I look at a McDonald’s meal, and my ass gets bigger. I’ve been told I'm pretty, but I like my food too much. So, I have curves, unlike my skinny-ass best friend. My best qualities are my shiny brown hair and blue eyes, which I have to admit, suit my golden complexion. We don't say any more and get on with our work. At the end of class, I hand in my permission forms for the work experience, before finding Alex with her boyfriend, Drake, outside class.

  "Hey, do you still need a lift?" I ask when I get close to them.

  "Nope, thanks, honey. I'm going to Drake’s, but I will see you tomorrow to get ready for the party." She winks, leaning against Drake. Drake is a good-looking guy, but is kind of strange-looking, and I can’t put my finger on why. Honestly, he looks like a typical, scary-ass man all the time. I don’t think he has a non-serious expression. He has dark, nearly black eyes and black hair that’s cut in a buzz cut, but he makes it work. It’s the eyes that give him the strangeness, they are too dark, darker than I have ever seen anyone’s. I always thought that he must spend a lot of time in a gym or something because he is all muscles, wearing expensive clothes. Alex has told me he is well off, but I knew that anyway from the car he drives and the designer clothes he wears. It's not just the looks and money, it's more how much older he acts, when he must be around twenty, like us. Alex doesn't answer many questions about him, but they have dated a while, so I'm guessing she really likes him.

  "My friend is looking forward to your date," Drake says coldly in a slight Russian accent. Alex says he not actually from there, but his parents were, apparently.

  "Me, too," I lie and frown at Alex's chuckle.

  "I love you, Win, never change," she says to me, as she gives me a hug before we wave goodbye. Drake doesn't say anything else, but that's normal.

  I click my old red Rover open before sliding in. My mum bought it for me as a going away present, and I love the old car, though maybe not the unusual stain on the driver seat I can’t seem to get rid of; I think it’s red pen. Well, I’m hoping it is anyway. We never had a lot of money when I was growing up as it was just me and mum. As I drive home, I try to think about ways to get out of this date, but eventually come to the conclusion that it couldn't go that badly. Right?

  Winter

  “You’re joking, right? I can't wear this." I gesture to the tight red dress I'm wearing. My hair is up in a messy bun with a few wavy strands around my face. My makeup is perfectly done, thanks to Alex, but I have to admit I don’t look anything like myself.

  "You look hot, Win," she says, pretending to cool herself down by waving her hand at her face. I look back to the mirror and glance down at the dress. It stops around mid-thigh and has a slit down the middle at the front, stopping just before my underwear, and making it impossible to wear a bra. Not that I'm worried, I’m not big chested enough to really have an issue.

  "He is going to think I'm easy if I’m wearing this," I say, sighing and turning around with my arms around my waist.

  "No, he is going to think he is a lucky fucker," she laughs before straightening her own dress. Alex is wearing her little black dress, which is a little too little but looks nice.

  "Alright. But again, I'm blaming you if anything goes wrong." I laugh to myself, knowing this could only go wrong. I shut the door to my bedroom before leaving our apartment. Alex and I have a two-bedroom apartment near the university, which we rent together. It's cheap enough, and the area isn't too bad, but we still make sure we lock up.

  "So, what's my date’s name?" I ask as we wait outside for Drake to turn up. We are lucky the weather has been so good recently. Welsh weather is know
n for its constant rain, and our town is right in the middle of the mountains. Calroh is a small town but has a great university, and that’s why we chose it, also the cheap apartments to rent helped. It’s right in the middle of two large mountains and surrounded by a large forest. There’s only one road out of town, but the town is well-stocked enough to look after itself with many large superstores.

  "Wyatt. I haven't met him, but Drake speaks highly of him." She winks at me.

  I think of his name for a second, trying to imagine the guy. "So, is it getting serious between you and Drake?" I ask gently, knowing Alex doesn't like to speak about relationships. Not her own at least.

  "I don't know. He is so secretive that I–" she stops talking as Drake’s car pulls in front us. I glance at her, and I am wondering what the end of that sentence was, but she shakes her head, smiling before opening her door. I do the same sliding into the back.

  "Hey, Drake," I say as I get in, and Alex pulls back from kissing Drake hello.

  "I thought Wyatt was coming with us?" Alex asks, noticing the empty seat by me. I smile widely, hoping he is ill or isn't coming.

  "He is meeting us there," Drake says bluntly before driving off.

  There goes my dream of taking off this dress and changing into my PJ’s, with a bottle of wine.

  I don't say anything, growing a little more nervous the nearer we get to Drake’s apartment.

  As we pull into the expensive apartment building, we can see the party has started. The music is loud, and there are cars everywhere. I mentally tell myself that going to a party at twenty years old is normal, and I should smile before getting out of the car. I walk next to Alex as Drake puts his arm around her shoulders. Just as we walk in, and the loud music fills my ears, I see a blond man leaning against the wall next to the door of Drake’s apartment. I can't help but stare a little at his muscular frame and his strong-looking face that I have to admit is a little scary. He seems to notice me staring and looks right at me. I first notice his eyes are that nearly black in colour or maybe just a dark-brown like Drake’s. I look around quickly noticing that nearly every girl nearby is watching the breath-taking guy like I am. My eyes draw back to his, noticing how powerful he looks. He can’t be more than twenty-five but looks like he owns the very street he is standing on. The guy’s eyes never leave mine as I look him over, and I shiver from the anger I feel in his eyes. How can someone look so serious and cold at our age? I continue walking with Alex until we stop in front of the guy, and I want to get to know him or hear him speak. My mind and body feel drawn to him, and I don’t like it.

  "Drake, this must be my date," the man says in a dark, underwear-dropping voice, nodding at Drake before looking back at me. I feel myself blush as his gaze takes in all of me slowly. I do the same, noticing for the first time that he is wearing a black jumper with black jeans, which look like they were custom-made for him; they possibly were.

  "Wyatt. It’s nice to meet you, Winter," he offers his hand. I take his cold hand, and he shocks me by bringing it up to his mouth and placing a kiss on the back. His lips feel cold on my hand, but I feel a strange shock when his lips meet my skin. It takes everything in me not to pull my hand away and run in the other direction like my body is screaming for me to do. For some reason, I don’t feel safe with him.

  "Nice to meet you, too," I mutter a slight lie, pulling back my hand.

  Wyatt just flashes me a knowing look before saying to Drake, "There was a problem tonight, they are getting braver," his deep voice gets stronger about whatever they are discussing. It’s almost like his voice draws you in and demands that you listen.

  "Just a few newbies chasing a pup, it's being dealt with," Drake smiles with a cold look in my direction.

  "Good. Now, can I get you a drink?" Wyatt asks looking back at me. It's strange to see how Wyatt spoke to Drake then. It was like a boss ordering around an employee, and worse, I had no idea what they were speaking about. What's a pup? Maybe it's a kind of business talk, I doubt they mean a puppy.

  "Sure," I say taking his open arm and letting him guide me through the house. I can feel how cold he is even through his jacket. I look back to see Alex, who has disappeared with Drake. Knowing Alex, they might have already left, thinking Wyatt seems nice. I don’t feel that he is at all; he seems too haunted to be described as nice. Seeing how he spoke to Drake just then, makes me more distrusting of him.

  "Are you cold?" I ask noticing that's it's a hot summer day in May. I’m even warm, in a little dress, and he is cold in a jumper.

  "Just cold-blooded," he winks at me. I can't help but blush a little, but who wouldn't when a very hot guy flirts with you. I know I need to act normal for a bit, before making an excuse and leaving. We weave through the hallways of the building and up two floors in the elevator, which is filled with couples making out. I watch as they stop and stare at Wyatt like he is a god and ignore me completely. It’s all very odd.

  "So, tell me, what do you study?" he asks as we enter the kitchen. It’s a modern kitchen with many cabinets that don’t look used, and there’s even a bar on the one side next to an impressive window. There are a few people around, but it's quiet enough in here to not have to talk too loudly. Wherever the loud music is coming from, it’s not nearby.

  "I'm studying to become a vet. What about you?" I look over the view of the nearby forest and mountains as he hands me an opened beer. I don't like beer, but I'm not telling him that, so I pretend to drink it.

  "The family business," he says still looking at me. He moves closer, so I have to lift my head up to look at him.

  Being so short can be really an annoying at times, I think to myself. This guy has at least a foot on me, and I feel small around him. Now that he is closer, I can see that his eyes are definitely black with little silver sparks in them. I’ve never seen eyes like his, and they are really stunning. I clear my throat before asking, "Have you known Drake long?"

  "Yes, it feels like I've known Drake forever sometimes," he grins at me like I'm missing a joke.

  "I feel like that with Alex sometimes," I say, looking away because his eyes are so stunning that they draw you in. The other door in the room opens as a drunken man stumbles in, he quickly leaves again when he sees Wyatt but leaves the door open. I can see the living room, well it’s more a dance room. The dancing bodies are pushed so closely together that you can’t see their faces. The music is beating hard and fast compared to the slow-moving young people swaying around. I turn back to see Wyatt watching me closely.

  "Dance with me? You seem like you need to relax,” he asks. I lift my head to stare into his eyes, and I feel the need to dance with him, to do anything he wants. I stare at his eyes as he smirks, moving closer to me. I could have sworn his eyes had silver sparks, nothing like the empty, black pits I’m staring into now.

  I shake my head, stepping back. "No thanks, I don't dance," I say to Wyatt’s cold gaze. This time, his face converts into confusion, and he steps closer to me than before. We are almost touching with how close he is.

  "Dance with me, Winter," he says looking into my eyes again, his eyes glowing far brighter than they should. I yelp when he grabs my arm roughly. I take a step away. His grip is strong, but I realise he isn’t trying to hurt me. I don’t dare look away from him as the black, glowing eyes stare into me, like he is looking into my soul.

  "No, let go, Wyatt," I say firmly, challenging his grip by struggling away. I don’t know what changes, but he lets me go with an utterly confused and shocked look marking his handsome face.

  "How is that possible?" he mutters to himself, running his hands through his hair, and stepping away from me. I take the chance he gives me to run out the door, not caring who is looking. I have a feeling challenging a scary man like that is not a good idea. I don’t think running from him is a good idea either, but, hey, it’s all I have right now. I couldn’t have seen glowing eyes, right? I mean that doesn’t even make sense to me, it must have been a trick of the light or something. I even
tually make my way outside. I can’t believe my luck when I spot the guy from class, Harris, opening his car door for a young girl to get in. I’m glad I remembered his name now.

  "Wait, Harris!" I shout from the door, and he turns to me, looking a little shocked, but more worried than anything else.

  "Are you alright?" he asks none too gently as he grabs my shoulders, pulling me closer, and looking me up and down.

  "Yes, but I could use a lift home," I say gently as I pull away from him a little, enough that he drops his warm hands.

  "Sure, I was just taking my sister home. My parents are going to kill her for sneaking out tonight. So, I'm sure she needs some extra time to come up with a decent excuse," he laughs, opening the back door for me.

  As I get in, I look behind me to see Wyatt watching me from the door. I swear I'll never forget the look he has on his face as watches me get into the car. He is looking at me like he is a starving man, and I am his meal. I gasp before slamming the door shut and closing my eyes for a second, resting my head against the cold leather.

  "So, what's your name?" the girl in the front asks the minute I get in. I smile as I hear her draw out the sentence. I open my eyes to see a pair of light-blue ones sparkling at me.

  "I’m Winter, and you are?" I put on my seat belt as Harris gets in.