“I really need to go.” I tried for a stern tone, and failed because I couldn’t stop smiling.
“What’s the rush?” He lips seized my earlobe.
“I’m supposed to be confined to my room, unless I’ve been directly summoned.” I knew it was a lame excuse. The truth was I didn’t want to press my luck. Any moment we’d find something to argue about and it would ruin the memory of this time together. I wanted to preserve this in my mind—untainted.
“I did directly summon you,” he said into my hair.
Plus, my heart was still fluttering. I had to get some distance, and with it a bit of perspective. I had a feeling I was developing, well, feelings for Jaxon. Like real and intense ones. Or was that just the euphoria from sex?
“Why don’t you come upstairs—”
Two knocks sounded on the door. “Jaxon? You in there?” It was Angel.
“Shit!” Jaxon scooped up his shirt, trying to separate the T-shirt from the collared one.
“Dude, I need to talk to you,” Angel said through the door.
Jaxon was acting like a teenager caught with a girl in his bedroom by his parents.
“What are you doing?” I asked. “Should I let him in?”
“No!” He raked a hand through his hair. “Fuck. Yes, we’d better deal with this now.”
Anxiety flooded my veins at his tone. “Deal with what?”
“Just let him in.” He sounded resigned. But to what?
I opened his office door. Angel’s eyes widened at seeing me there, then he glared past me at Jaxon.
“You son of a bitch!” Angel charged into the office. He walked right up to Jaxon and punched him in the face. Then continued to pummel him, calling him all kinds of horrible names.
I shrieked. What the hell was wrong with Angel? Or, rather, what the hell had Jaxon done to deserve this? He wasn’t fighting back, but taking each hit with a grimace.
Liam strode into the room. Immediately, he was pulling Angel off Jaxon. Once he’d managed to separate the two, he placed himself between them.
“What is going on?” Liam asked, bewildered. “What happened?”
Angel’s eyes glowed yellow, he growled. “That son of a bitch had sex with her. He thought he could prove that she’s all his. Sneaking around behind our backs—even after what we talked about.”
Whoa. What the fuck?
Clarity shone in Liam’s gaze. His lips tightened in a firm line. “Is this true, Jaxon?” His tone held both disappointment and hurt.
“I didn’t plan for this to happen. It just happened. I wasn’t trying to be sneaky.” Jaxon returned Angel’s glare.
Liam turned to me. “You should leave, Caprice.”
“I don’t think so.” I folded my arms. “What’s going on?”
“We’re fighting over you,” Jaxon said.
I took in each of their expressions. He wasn’t joking. “That’s ridiculous,” I said. “Why would you do that?”
“Because we’re a bunch of jealous idiots.” Liam sighed. “You may have to choose one of us.”
My inner dragon lashed out, filling me with annoyance. This was so unfair. They could’t tell me what to do. Or who to love. Or even who to lust after.
I studied the three of them. Already, I was developing feelings for Jaxon, maybe ones beyond simple lust. A fluttering tickled in my stomach.
Then there was Liam, sweet and hot. My chest welled with longing for him. He’d avoided my advances before, but wouldn’t tell me why. Maybe he’d changed his mind?
Angel was still a mystery. So reserved, yet he made my pulse race. He’d nearly beaten Aimes to death—for me.
I couldn’t choose between them. It was impossible. And I shouldn’t have to, right? Being with only one man went against every instinct my dragon-shifter had. At the same time, it seemed selfish to have all three of them. If that was even possible. Was it?
I lifted my chin. “No. I’m not going to be some prize for one of you. And I won’t choose between you, so…you all will just have to figure out how to make this work.” I backed into the hallway, leaving Jaxon, Angel, and Liam in stunned silence.
25
Caprice
I walked the outer campus pathway with May. We were both bundled up in thick layers, leaving boot prints in the couple inches of snow that had accumulated so far that night. In a matter of hours the Academy had transformed into a winter wonderland.
We strolled in companionable silence. The question on my mind was…could I go through with my plan to kill the Tromara’s leader? Did he want me because I was unique, being a dragon-shifter? How powerful was I compared to other supernaturals? Did anyone know?
He could be afraid of me. Wanting to keep me close so that I couldn’t pose a threat to him. Too many possibilities swam around in my brain. And a lot of hopeful thinking.
“Now that we know I’m a dragon-shifter,” I said, “do you think we can believe the theories in all the books?”
May’s breath escaped in a foggy cloud. “I don’t know. When the Council Queen—Isabella—gets back to you, we’ll know more. I hope. In the meantime, Dean Wright has agreed to let you switch over to shifter classes. We’ll move you into the shifter dorm, too.”
I wondered what was taking Isabella so long. She did have to talk to the European Supernatural Council, then they had to find other dragon-shifters—if there were any. It could be months before they had any news for us. And unless I managed to get out of the Culling Club, I had less than five months before the Tromara took me.
Not losing hope was going to be a real challenge. I knew what I needed to do, but I was alone with my plan to defeat the Tromara from the inside. The guys would shut me down in an instant. May…I didn’t want to get her involved. Yep, I was completely on my own.
May eyed me. “Liam told me what happened between you and the guys.”
I snorted. “Yeah, that’s a mess.”
“It will be okay though. I have complete faith that they’ll work it out with you.”
I wasn’t so sure. The last thing I wanted to do was drive a wedge between them. They’d been friends since childhood. Who was I to endanger their friendship? I felt guilty about telling them I wouldn’t choose. Maybe I should take it back.
Jaxon was great. I really liked him. But if I chose him, would that really save his friendship with Liam and Angel? Or would it make the whole situation worse?
The bigger question was, could I go against my nature and be only his?
None of this would matter if I was enslaved by the Tromara for life. Learning how I could defeat them needed to be my number one priority.
“You’re quiet tonight,” May said. “Anything on your mind that I can help with?”
I shook my head. “I don't’ think so.” I glanced at the tall witch. “You’re quieter than usual too.”
She grimaced. “I know. But it’s nothing you or anyone else can help me with.”
“So we’re both screwed?” I kept my tone light.
“Pretty much. Come on. I’ll show you the Freeman Dorm.”
A staff member in the Dean’s Hall gave me the key to my new room assignment. May and I trudged through the deepening snow toward Freeman Dorm, where the shifter students lived. My room was on the second floor again, this time at the back of the building.
The first thing I noticed was the single bed. “No roommate?” I asked.
May nodded. “Yeah, um.” She sighed. “Honestly, Caprice, no one knows what to do with you. We don’t know what a dragon-shifter can do, how powerful you might be, or much else about you.”
“So, you’re afraid of me?”
“I’m not. But the other students might be. Dean Wright met with the shifter teachers, and they have mixed feelings about you.” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “Don’t tell them I told you any of this. I just wanted to give you a heads up.”
She was saying that the shifters weren’t going to welcome me. Even among my own kind, I was an outcast. Deja fucking vu.<
br />
My first class was Shifter Physiology. I sprinted up to the third floor in Fotia Hall, muttering curses at myself for being late. This Hall had the same layout as Gi and Aeras on the other side of the big lawn. Made from blocks of stone, with thick wooden doors, it held three floors of various types of classrooms.
I stepped into an auditorium style room where the teacher had already begun today’s lecture. He was an attractive, massive black-skinned man with short hair, dressed in the instructor’s uniform of trousers and white dress shirt. Behind him, on the chalkboard, was a name: Montrell Freeman.
Freeman. As in Freeman Hall, and the shifter family that sat on the Supernatural Council.
I took a seat in the back row. Mr. Freeman halted his lecture, staring at me with intense hazel eyes.
“That’s a five point deduction for tardiness, Ms. Sorrentino.” His voice was low and silky smooth.
I gaped at him. He was taking points away from me?
Without thinking, I said, “I’m already at the bottom of the points board.”
“That’s another five points for talking back.” Montrell Freeman launched back into his lecture. Which I was too annoyed to pay attention to.
I gritted my teeth. Obviously, this guy wanted me gone sooner than later. The Tromara would either take me at the end of this year, if I was Culled, which was looking pretty damned likely right now, or when I graduated next year. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to settle my nerves.
My preference, of course, was to be taken after graduation. I needed to discover, and then master my dragon-shifting skills.
I looked hard at the teacher. He avoided my stare, focusing his attention on the front row as he spoke. I might also find time to figure out why the Freeman family wanted me out of their way.
The next five months were going to be very busy.
To be continued…
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Also by JJ Krzemien
Mythic Blood Series
Young Adult Urban Fantasy
1. Mythic Blood
2. Mythic Island
Academy Obscura Page 20
