by JA Wren
Rayna arched into his touch. Wanting more. More contact. More heat. Everything.
She hiked her leg over his, trying to get him even closer. Until there was nothing separating them. He groaned into her mouth, the gentle hum bringing more of her nerves to life. Then he kissed a path along her jaw and down her neck. A gentle nip of his teeth had her hips bucking into his, grinding his cock where she wanted him most.
She reached between them, desperate to get his jeans off.
Naked.
She needed him naked and pressing into her. Stat.
“Ahem,” someone said from the doorway and Rayna almost wept.
His eyes gone liquid copper, Asher shifted his oversized body to lie beside her.
Rayna wanted to bury her face in the crook of his neck, but she looked up at the nurse with flaming hot cheeks. “Yes? Is there a problem?”
“Miss Knox, you need to rest,” the male nurse from earlier said. “If you cannot obey the rules, visitation will be revoked.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, assuring the nurse they’d be on their best behavior.
Too bad. She didn’t feel like being good.
When the nurse left, Asher pulled her tighter against him, then kissed her forehead.
“I better get some rest,” she reluctantly told him. “I’d rather do nothing but stay in your arms all afternoon than have them forbid you from visiting.”
“Me, too,” he whispered, then snuggled closer so she could breathe in his sunbaked linen scent.
Within moments, his breathing evened out and his heart gently beat beneath her ear. God, he must be beyond exhausted. Maybe it was a good thing the nurse had interrupted them.
Maybe.
She lay in his arms, her breathing slowly settling back to normal and lulled by his presence. But sleep wouldn’t come. Visions of her kinda-sorta memory twirled in her head. The dark fortress. The cloaked figure and his freaky as fuck words.
She should tell Asher about the Grim Reaper guy who was supposed to be her father. He might even have more details for her, confirm who the guy was and how he fitted into her past.
If he knew of Grim’s existence.
Yet something kept the words from leaving her lips.
She wasn’t ready to face the truth. And Asher needed his sleep.
But soon, she promised herself. Once she was out of the infirmary and didn’t have mini-water horses traveling her system. When nurses weren’t popping in and interrupting all the damn time. When they were finally, blessedly alone. And Professor Balthazar wasn’t right next door.
She vowed she’d tell him. As soon as she’d been released.
When the time was right.
Eleven
“Surprise!”
Rayna staggered back from her room as a chorus of voices came at her after being released from the prison—uh, infirmary—once the Hippokampi deemed her healthy enough. “Um, hi?”
Delilah jumped at her, wrapping her slender arms around Rayna’s neck and squeezing her a little too tight. “Welcome back.”
“You know I was only gone for a day, right?”
“Yeah, but no one would let me in to see you.” Delilah pulled back and pouted. “I missed my second favorite person at the academy.”
“Second?” Rayna asked, looking over Delilah’s shoulder where Ethan and Autumn stood awkwardly together, both staring in opposite directions.
Delilah waved her hand through the air. “Boys don’t count. They fall into a different category.”
Asher laughed softly behind them, but said nothing while Rayna lifted her brows at Delilah.
Before she could utter a word, Kally stepped into view. “The Nature Mage has a point there.”
Delilah made a weird squeaky sound and hopped back, almost crashing into Asher. He steadied his grip on the star box and Rayna was thankful it hadn’t fallen and released the star. She might not be able to resist its thrall if that happened.
Delilah eased back another few steps and Rayna didn’t know if her reaction was because a professor had agreed with her, or because Kally seemed to frighten the fuck out of Delilah whenever they were vaguely in the same vicinity.
“What?” Rayna asked Kally, hesitant because she rarely interacted with her former bestie. At least not outside formal classes or tutoring sessions where they strictly adhered to their academy roles. “Boys don’t qualify as people?”
Kally shrugged, her pitch black hair brushing against her matching leather jacket. “You know they’re all a bag of dicks.”
Rayna’s lips twitched as she recalled a time when everything was easier between her and her former BFF. It felt like a damn lifetime had passed since she and Kally had really talked like friends. Sure, they saw each other almost every day, but it was different when your bestie was also your professor.
Asher drew closer behind Rayna and placed a warm hand on her waist, carefully holding onto the wooden chest in his other arm. “I should probably be offended by that, but you’re not wrong, so I’ll take one for the team.”
Rayna glanced over her shoulder to kiss his chin, stretching up to reach him. “That’s my phoenix.”
Kally laughed, the distinctive sound so familiar, Rayna would always be able to tell it apart from everyone else. A pang pierced her chest because as much as she was still angry, she missed her former bestie.
“Very generous of you, hotness,” Kally said.
“Hey, who are you calling hotness?” a male voice asked from behind them. “It better be me, or we’re gonna have to have a talk, babe.”
Rayna peeked around Asher, sure she’d heard—
“Nick? What are you doing here?”
Kally’s boyfriend smiled his typical easy grin, then reached out to give Rayna a hug. He extracted her from Asher’s arms and kissed her cheek before whispering in her ear. “Be honest. You’ve still been thinking about me naked, haven’t you?”
Asher grunted out a laugh from behind them. “Sorry, man. You’re not really my type.”
“What?” Nick said as he stood to his full height, just a little shorter than her intimidatingly-tall soulmate. “I’m everyone’s type.”
Nick was thinner than Asher, more streamlined, with a swimmer’s build and curly brown hair. His hazel eyes glimmered with mischief she’d always thought was cute. He was hot, obviously, but in a totally different way. Where Asher was smoldering sex appeal, Nick was pure cinnamon roll cutie.
Always quick with a joke or some playful quip.
Which was why she didn’t take his teasing seriously. That was Nick. Ever the joker.
Kally linked her arm through Nick’s and dragged him inside the room. “Okay, Mr. Flirt-a-lot, I think you better get your sexy butt in here before you hurt yourself.”
As the two headed inside, Delilah tugged at Rayna’s sleeve. “OMG, I can’t believe you’re friends with Professor Kalypso.” With another little squeak, Delilah wandered off to join Ethan and Autumn in their own little trio by Rayna’s desk.
Kally and Nick lurked at the window on the other side of the room, but her former BFF kept stealing glances at Rayna. She gave a small smile, but it was clear things between them were far from normal.
Would they ever be normal again?
Rayna sighed and turned to Asher, tapping the star box with her fingers. “Come on, we need to find a safe place for this thing. And I’m pretty sure I smell cake hiding out in there somewhere.”
He let out a weird snort-laugh that was utterly adorable on the guy. “You can smell cake?”
“Of course. It’s one of my secret abilities.” She winked at him, enjoying the happy moment where she didn’t have to dwell on wars and powers for a little while. “You just didn’t know—”
Rayna stopped mid-sentence as she felt a pricking along her neck. Like someone was watching them. A quick look down the hallway showed an unfamiliar girl heading towards them.
Her ginger hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail with curls slipping free and stickin
g in every direction. She kept her gaze locked on the floor, her combat boots thumping along as she walked. She was the picture of a punk rock girl with thick kohl lining her eyes, studded cuffs on her wrists, and huge silver hoop earrings.
When she was only a couple feet away, she finally looked up and gave a tiny finger wave. “Hey, Asher.”
“Hi, Nissa. You settling in okay?”
Rayna frowned up at him, wondering how he knew this girl when she had no clue who Punk-Rock-Girl was. Sure, she’d been stuck in the infirmary for twenty-four hours, but he’d only left her side to get coffee. Once. Not nearly enough time to meet some girl and get friendly enough to ask if she was settling in.
The girl—Nissa—shrugged. “I guess.”
God, her voice sounded sad. Like one of those emo songs that put you in a funk for fucking days no matter how good a mood you’d been in before you started listening.
Asher scratched the back of his neck with his free hand. “Hey, sorry I’ve been missing today. Rayna—”
“Hale told me,” Nissa interrupted. “You don’t need to explain anything. Look, we can talk or whatever when you’re free.”
She disappeared into the room beside Rayna’s, the door snicking shut behind her with a gentle click.
“Who was that?” Rayna whispered, not wanting the girl to hear her from the other side her door. “And how do you know her?”
His face softened, and he reached up to brush his thumb across her cheek. Such a simple touch but it was so delicious. “It’s nothing like that.”
“I’m not jealous,” she assured him before he could say another word. “Seriously. Our souls are bound and we’ve been together longer than I can remember. Literally. I’m not worried about you talking to another girl. What I am curious about is who she is. And how she’s living next door, but I’ve never met her.”
He gave her that sexy lopsided smile that showed off a hint of dimple. “Sorry. I should’ve known. You never were the jealous type.” Asher kissed her, far too quick, but they did have an audience, so that was for the better. Probably. Maybe. “And she’s the new phoenix shifter Hale wanted me to help.”
Ah. That explained it. They’d met the day before when Rayna had spoken with Hale and Nyx. Then finished off the days’ activities with a seizure thanks to the star and finally landed in the infirmary.
Yeah. Fun times.
She pushed the thoughts aside. One night of fun with her friends. That’s all she’d allow herself, and then she’d get back to work. Focus on her training and gain control of her powers.
She had one week before Nyx would fling her back into the heavens.
But tonight was for her. And it would make Delilah happy.
“Should we invite her to join us?” she asked. Nissa’s sad, emo voice rang in her ears, making her feel guilty for having fun while the girl sat in her room. Alone. “She seems kind of…lonely.”
Asher stared into her room as something thumped and Delilah yelled out an apology. “Sure you don’t have enough going on right now?”
She waved a hand at him and started down the hall. “Please, what’s one more person to make this night all kinds of awkward?”
Rayna knocked on the door and waited, hoping the phoenix shifter didn’t burn her to a crisp accidentally or anything. She might be impervious to Asher’s flames, but she doubted that extended to all phoenix fire.
The girl cracked the door open and peeked through the gap, dark brown eyes hesitant. “Yes?”
“Hey. I’m Rayna. Asher’s girlfriend—uh, technically soulmate, but that’s a really long and complicated story and now I’m rambling and thinking I should’ve just gone with friend, but that’s not even close to true since our souls have been bound together for centuries and I’m gonna stop now, okay?”
Nissa’s eyes widened enough Rayna caught flecks of gold. If she hadn’t been shy before, that whole runaway intro probably scared her off.
Rayna cleared her throat. “Anyway. I just got out of the infirmary, which you already knew, and my friends are throwing me a welcome home party. Ridiculous, I know, but they’re sweet, and I swear there’s cake in there somewhere, though I can’t make any promises.”
She glanced back down the hall when she swore she heard Asher laughing. True enough, he was smothering back a chuckle so hard the box in his hands was shaking. Probably because she was acting like a weirdo.
“So, what do you say? Up for a little company?” Rayna tilted her head, trying for friendly instead of nut job. “I swear I’m not as weird as I’m coming across right now.”
Nissa’s lip twitched and she knew she had the girl. Another minute passed before she finally nodded and opened the door wider. In the few seconds it took her to slip out and close the thing behind her, Rayna spotted black marks everywhere.
Scorched walls, curtains, sheets, and even the floor bore signs of her fire.
Poor girl was in the same boat as Rayna. Probably why they’d been put next door to each other, so they didn’t go disturbing anybody else with their out of control abilities.
So they didn’t accidentally hurt another student.
Rayna led the way back to her room and kissed Asher’s cheek. She patted the wooden box. “Will you find somewhere safe for this thing?”
He nodded, smoothing her hair back to kiss her neck, sending wicked shivers all along her nerves. “Will do.”
Was it all in her head, or had his voice dipped? Lower. Sexier. God, why did there have to be a room full of people waiting for her? All she really wanted was Asher. A night alone to drown herself in him and forget everything else around her.
But that would have to wait. At least for a couple of hours while she mingled with people she truly did care about.
The moment she stepped through the doorway, the entire room changed and came to life.
Twelve
Red and silver streamers that looked like real streams of light hung from the wooden rafters and black metallic bubbles resembling balloons decorated the edges of the room. An array of snacks covered every inch of her desk, while a big cake sat precariously on the lone chair.
Curtains of beautiful white flowers—kind of like lilies—draped the walls, suspended by invisible string as though floating in the air by themselves. They seemed to twinkle like fairy lights, casting a warm glow through the room.
“What—?” Rayna took a step back, outside the room, and everything vanished like it had never existed. A step inside again, and it all returned in a mere blink. “How is that possible?”
Delilah laughed and handed her a cup. “Just your regular old glamour enchantment. Nothing a first year Mage can’t perform.”
“And the decorations?”
Delilah shrugged. “Okay, that’s a little trickier, especially the flowers, and required some instructions from my older sister.”
Rayna leaned in and gave her friend another hug. “Thank you. All this fuss really wasn’t necessary, but I won’t say no to a slice of that cake.”
Delilah laughed and flicked Rayna’s hair hanging down her shoulder. “I hope you like red velvet.”
She turned and headed for the snack table, music kicking off from somewhere unseen. Probably magic. Rayna truly appreciated how awesome her friend was, but honestly she would’ve loved nothing more than to climb into bed. Alone with Asher for the night. No other people to interrupt them.
The man in question was currently walking with Nissa—the wooden box still clutched in his arms. He’d probably place it in her wardrobe or something. Maybe under her bed where it would keep whispering her name. Tempting her to open it again.
Not until she was truly ready this time.
She clutched her pendant, Tink humming comfortingly inside the crystal, as she smiled at Asher chatting with Nissa. Actually, that was a stretch. He wasn’t exactly the chatty type and the new phoenix looked ready to bolt for the door and head back to her room any second.
But they did look like they were in the midst of an intense conv
o, so she left them to it and retreated into the bathroom while Delilah wasn’t paying attention. Girl was likely to haul her ass back out and force her to mingle, but Rayna needed a few minutes on her own.
She hadn’t forgotten Nyx’s threat, and seeing everyone laughing and having fun caused an ache in her chest. So much for putting it aside for the night.
But she only had one week before her mother decided Rayna was too much of a risk and zapped her back into the stars. She’d need to get to work training with Asher ASAP, learn to completely control her powers. The last thing she wanted was to get sentenced to the night sky again, stuck inside a star.
Correction, the last thing she wanted was to get used as a weapon.
Either way, it was learn to control her shit or there’d be consequences.
Yeah, just what she needed to get into the party mood.
She left the bathroom door open a couple inches and hopped up onto the counter, relishing the cool air for once. Her head lolled back on the mirror as she sucked in a few deep breaths. It had been a long week. Meeting her mother for the first time, then discovering her father may or may not be the Grim Reaper.
Was that where her power over the darkness came from?
Or had she inherited the other power from him? The sparks she didn’t yet understand.
She stared down at her hands and wrists, searching for the red glow. But it was gone. Only faint blue veins lying beneath her skin.
Might as well keep going while she had a moment. It wasn’t like she had indefinite time. She splayed her hands on the edge of the counter and willed the darkness closer, trying to master abilities still foreign to her. The shadows quivered—
“You know, it’s not polite for the guest of honor to hide out in the bathroom.”
Rayna’s gaze snapped up to find Kally sticking her head through the gap she’d left by the door. “Hey, how did you know I wasn’t peeing or something?”
Kally shrugged and stepped inside, shutting the door all the way behind her. “So what if you were?”
