Second Chance Soul: a paranormal reverse harem steamy slow burn academy adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 2)

by Ella J. Smyth

  I lied and told him I hadn’t slept well the night before. I didn’t feel ill, just drained. The tiredness dragged me down like metal chains. By the time I limped back to my room, it was late.

  Beth was still up, writing in her diary. I really wanted to go to bed, but she looked so sad, I shuffled over and sat down next to her. "Hey, can't sleep?"

  She looked up briefly before finishing the last few words. Then she closed the notebook and slipped it into a drawer in her desk. "Yeah, thinking of my dad."

  There hadn't been a funeral yet because the police were still looking for his murderer. Beth had had a rough month since her father’s death. I’d sat with her, listening to her reminisce and holding her when grief overwhelmed her. I didn't know what else to do.

  Luke and Kenzy had done their part, taken her out of the room whenever they could. I was always relieved when they left together. It made me feel guilty, but her despair at losing a parent was more than I could handle.

  But now it was just the two of us, and I wanted to be a good friend to her. "How are you coping?"

  Stupid question. Before I could berate myself any more, Beth said, "Okay, I guess. It's so weird. I keep forgetting he's gone. Over the last year, I only talked to him once a week, and even then, he was traveling a lot. Sometimes I didn't have any contact with him for a month. I keep wondering what we'll do during the summer break, and then I remember..."

  She covered her face with her hands as she sobbed once. Then she looked at me. Her eyes were dry, but the agony in them broke my heart. I reached out and took her hand. "Is there anything I can do?"

  Beth shook her head. "You listen when I need to talk. It helps a lot. Thank you." She squeezed, and I squeezed back.

  She scooted right next to me. "Let's talk about you and your adventures. I hear you're making progress with the boys."

  I felt a blush creep down my neck. "Yeah," I said dreamily. "I met Lance tonight, and I... we—"

  "Oh my God, you didn't. Did you guys have sex?"

  I nodded, too embarrassed to say anything else. Beth bounced up and down. "Well? Don't keep me waiting. How was it?"

  "Good."

  Beth's eyebrows pulled together. "Come on. You've got to give me more. Did it hurt? It was your first time, right?"

  I nodded. "It did a little, but then it didn't. Actually, it was pretty awesome." Damn that telltale heat in my cheeks.

  Beth's eyes were shining with glee. "I want details. Is he... big?"

  She couldn't be serious. I'd never had a close girlfriend, but apparently over-sharing was a thing. I leaned back on my elbows and rested my head against the wall. "He's big enough, I guess, but he's only the second boy I've ever seen naked."

  "Wow." Beth sighed. "Did he know what to do? Was it awkward? Did you enjoy it?"

  "Have you and Luke not done it yet?"

  "Nothing beyond second base. I've never even taken my clothes off in front of them. I asked them to go slowly, but I'm getting bored with slow."

  "Why don't you tell them? Communication is the key in poly relationships, I've been told."

  "Sure." Beth copied my position and leaned against the wall, her shoulders touching mine. "So what about you and your boys? How do Kiernan and Julian feel about including Lance?"

  "I talked to them. They're good."

  "And how are they about including Sharon?"

  That got my attention. How did Sharon pop up in the conversation? "What do you mean?"

  "Lance is boning Sharon, so is she going to be part of your group, or are you doing the open relationship thing?"

  I stared at her, completely aghast. "Sharon? Are you sure?"

  Beth looked chagrined. "Sorry. I thought you knew. I heard from Tiff they were making out the other night. Sharon had her hand in his pants, Tiff said."

  My stomach did a small flip, making me feel nauseous. "I don't believe it. Just because Tiff said it, doesn't make it true."

  I got up to change for bed. My thoughts were ricocheting, bouncing from, "Why did Lance not tell me? He knows how I feel about Sharon," to "Tiff made it up to be interesting. No way would Lance sleep with me and not tell me about stupid Sharon."

  Beth watched me get into my sleep-shirt. When I was under my cover, she said so quietly I could barely hear her, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. Please don't be angry with me."

  The fear of having upset me was clear in her voice. I turned off the light and said, "Not your fault. I'm not angry with you. Thanks for letting me know."

  I was nearly asleep when her voice drifted through the dark, "Friends?"

  I felt like shit for upsetting her after she had a rough evening by herself. "Friends," I replied, putting as much sincerity into the single word as I could. Then I fell asleep, dreaming about Sharon and Lance having sex in my bed. Dammit.

  My night was interrupted by Slug jumping on my face. I woke up, spitting out stray cat hairs. "Seriously, Slug. What are you doing? Can you just get the hell out of here and let me sleep?"

  The orange monster pummeled my face with his giant, fluffy paws. They felt soft, but there was some power under the fur. "Slug. That hurts!"

  I put my arms over my head to protect myself, hoping he'd get bored and give up, but instead, he yowled loudly. "Oh, for God's sake. Shut up before you wake up everybody in the building."

  Beth turned on her bedside lamp. "What is going on with him? He's been really antsy all day."

  She yawned so hard, I could barely understand her.

  "No idea. He's acting really weird." I looked over at Sharon's bed, wondering why she wasn't complaining, but she still hadn't returned. "I'll take him outside. Maybe he just needs some fresh air."

  "In the middle of the night? He's not a dog, you know."

  I shrugged. Slug certainly didn't act like a typical cat. He had a knack of getting out by himself, exploring the grounds of the academy, but he also came when I called him and often followed me around on my way to classes. I didn't even think about it anymore. Slug was just Slug.

  Slipping out of the bed, I threw on my jeans and put shoes on my naked feet. I had no intention of staying outside for any length of time. It was only the end of March and still freezing at night. Before I left, I pulled on my coat, a scarf, and a hat Kiernan had given me for Christmas. Then I allowed the annoying furball to slither through the opening door ahead of me.

  I felt like having a déjà vu. Slug ran to the right and stopped at the corner of the West wing. When I moved toward him, he took off again, rounding the building until we walked the now familiar path at the back of the dormitory wing. At the end, I could dimly make out the pile of bricks Slug had led me to twice already.

  Shaking my head and shivering in the winter air, I moved down the path to where Slug was waiting for me. This time he didn't dig at the pile of rubble. Instead, his whole body had stiffened, and his tail was whipping to and fro. Something was alarming him, even angering him. I ducked behind the bricks, suddenly remembering there were strange men roaming the campus.

  What a stupid idea to take Slug out. What if they catch me right here, with no witnesses? Nobody would even miss me until the morning.

  Something moved ahead of us, beyond the bricks. Two shadows separated from the wall farther away from us. Clouds shifted to reveal the moon, and I could clearly see Lance and Sharon.

  Lance stopped to nozzle his face into Sharon's long hair. Her hand disappeared below his belt, and he groaned. I couldn't see exactly what they were doing, but I recognized the sound. That's what he sounded like earlier when we’d had sex.

  My whole body stiffened, watching the two. Icy anger coursed through me. Beth had been right. Lance and Sharon were an item. And after fucking me tonight, he went straight back for more of the same with Sharon.

  I'm such a fool. He probably thinks I'm just another piece of ass, some inexperienced virgin he got to deflower and brag to his friends about. Fuck.

  26

  I waited until the two of them had moved on and disapp
eared in the distance before I stood up. Wiping hot tears from my cheeks, I turned around and walked away, ignoring Slug's complaints. If he wanted to freeze, he was welcome. I was too pissed to worry about his fat ass. It was his fault I was out here in the first place.

  Of course, that only lasted until I turned the corner, and his angry yowls turned into pitiful meows. Then I stopped and waited until he’d sprinted up behind me. I braced myself and caught him as he jumped into my arms, although I nearly collapsed under his bulk.

  “I’m putting you on a diet, slugger.”

  He licked my face and snuggled tightly against my chest. I couldn’t be angry with him. Dropping a kiss onto his bony head, I stumbled back to the dorm room. Once we were safely inside, and I’d slipped under my warm cover, he joined me. I fell asleep, stroking his velvety fur while he rumbled like a diesel engine against my neck.

  The next morning, l couldn’t wait to confront Lance. I wanted to know what game he was playing with me.

  "Hey, Lance. Wait up," I shouted when I saw him in the hallway on his way to the classroom. He turned around, a tired smile blooming on his face. "Hi, there. Caught up on your sleep?"

  I didn’t answer immediately, instead taking in his appearance. His shoulders were sloping forward as if he could barely keep himself upright, and his face was paler than usual. He looked like he hadn't slept all night.

  Wonder why. What a bastard. I frowned at him as I crossed my arms and tapped my foot. His expression wavered, his smile slipping off his face. I waited another moment for dramatic effect. "No, Lance. I did not sleep well. I woke up in the middle of the night and decided to go for a walk. And guess what I saw?"

  He looked at me with raised eyebrows. If I didn't know better, I would have sworn he had no idea what I was talking about. When he said nothing in his defense, I spat it out. "You, Lance. I saw you and my roommate Sharon making out behind the west wing. And then you walked off with her, probably happy to add another notch to your bedpost."

  I had talked myself into a righteous rage, but Lance's reaction took me by surprise. He shook his head, his eyes wide. Then he said slowly and calmly, as if addressing a spooked animal, "I didn't make out with Sharon. I was in bed by myself. What are you talking about?"

  Now it was my turn to stare at him. "I saw you with my own eyes. Do you think I'm stupid or something?"

  Again he shook his head, lifting his hands in a placating motion. "I swear. Whatever you saw, it wasn't me."

  He stepped closer, trying to lay his hand on my forehead. "Are you feeling okay? Maybe you're coming down with something? Or had a nightmare?"

  I glared at him while sweeping his hand aside. Was he trying to make fun of me? But his gaze met mine with a disarming honesty that hid nothing. He clearly believed what he was telling me. And I didn’t think he was that good of a liar. So what was going on? Had somebody wiped his memory? And why would they do that?

  At that moment, Sharon passed us by and entered the classroom. She glanced back, and I could have sworn she looked regretful. But she disappeared so quickly, I couldn't be sure. When I turned back to Lance, he was leaning against the wall of the hallway, looking utterly exhausted.

  I said, "We're not done discussing this, Lance."

  He nodded before pushing himself away from his support. Without saying another word, he walked into the classroom, swaying a little, before falling into his seat.

  During the class, I took notes automatically, barely registering what I was writing. Lance had seemed sincere in his surprise. But if he’d told the truth, then somebody must have messed up his memory. The same way Whitehall had done with Julian.

  Just then, as if I’d conjured him, Mr. Whitehall called my name. "Amber Whitman. Welcome back to planet Earth. Please come forward and demonstrate how to hyper-charge an electronic device."

  Oh, crap. I pretended to drop my pen, and as I slowly bent down to pick it up, my eyes scanned over my notes. It was amazing how I could have written them down without retaining anything.

  "Amber, if you please. You've kept us waiting long enough."

  I stood up and walked to the front of the class. Whitehall pointed at his laptop and the hard drive sitting next to it. "What I want you to do is increase the charge of the device until it is about to without setting it off. I want you to set a timer of roughly twenty seconds from the time you plug it into my laptop. Then take the machine outside the building. It should activate while we're all watching from the safety of the classroom."

  I stared at him. Like, what? I was the student with the highest potential for blowing stuff up. The fact the laptop sat on a brand new desk was evidence enough. I looked over at Lance, hoping for some encouragement, but he stared at me, worry written all over his face.

  I swallowed hard and asked, "Are you sure? Don't you remember what happened last time? What if I screw it up, and the hard drive activates in the classroom?"

  Low muttering rose from the students. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who was worried. Mr. Whitehall smirked. "I'm actually expecting you to screw this up. But how are we going to learn unless we fail and try again? Don't worry. I'm keeping a close eye on the device, and if I feel there's a problem, I'll be able to shut the exercise down without any problem."

  I nodded. Apparently I was going to do this. Picking up the device, I sent a tiny electromagnetic charge into the machine. It was an exploratory attempt to see how the drive responded to my magic. I felt the feedback from the magnetic disc, the spindle motor, and the tiny solders. Increasing the charge slowly, I fed more of my magic into the device.

  The pressure grew. I shielded the components by creating a force field around the ever-increasing power buildup. We’d learned last week how strong the electromagnetic field had to be, based on complicated formulas. I frantically tried to remember how much power I would have to feed into the field so it would be triggered by the laptop's power and deteriorate within twenty seconds or thereabout.

  I hadn't learned any of it by heart. There was no way I'd expected to use this outside a written term paper. Damn. I had no choice but to rely on Whitehall's skill and give it my best shot.

  The class had fallen completely silent while they watched me manipulate the device. A low hum emanated from the black shell in my hand, but it was quiet enough that it wouldn't have alerted anybody who wasn't very close to it. The more power I pushed into the device, the higher the hum pitched. When I judged the force field to be at the correct strength, I handed the drive to the teacher.

  He shook his head. "No. I want you to plug it in and then take the laptop outside the building. Do it now."

  With my heart beating in my throat, I approached the computer and plugged the hard drive into the USB port. The moment the cable connected with the electronic devices, a purple flash showed that the force field was activated and beginning to deteriorate.

  "Go, Amber," somebody shouted. I grabbed the two items and walked quickly out of the classroom toward the building’s exit. I don’t know what warned me. Maybe it was my sixth sense kicking in, but something told me to run. To run right now. And that's what I did.

  I tore through the exit door and carried the laptop with the attached hard drive away from the building. A spark flashed where the cable exited the device. Rather than put the machines down, I threw them as hard as I could and scrambled backwards.

  27

  I fell on my butt, paralyzed with fear. The notebook hit the ground first, and a bulge appeared on the sleek outside of the hard drive. I wanted to run, but my limbs were frozen. All I could do was watch the device grow bigger, ready to blow.

  “Amber! Move!” Kiernan’s voice nearly blew my eardrum out. The next thing I knew, he’d pulled me off the grass by my arm and bundled me back to the safety of the hallway. We were barely inside when the hard drive exploded. A yellow-white ball of flames erupted from the center of the blast, showering shrapnel all over the area where I’d sat only a second ago.

  “Jesus,” Kiernan whispered, holding me
tight. “That was close.”

  Julian had joined us, and Kiernan moved aside to allow him into a group hug. I absorbed the comfort of being cocooned by them. Except there was one person missing. Where is Lance?

  I didn’t get a chance to dwell on his absence because Julian moved, and I caught a glimpse of the devastation. From the time I’d plugged in the device to the moment of explosion, maybe six, seven seconds had passed. There was no way I’d underestimated the safety margin by that much. No way.

  I disengaged from the boys’ embrace and marched back into the classroom. Nobody said anything as I stopped in front of the teacher. I could barely breathe through the anger I felt. “I thought you were going to shut down the exercise if there was a problem?”

  Mr. Whitehall’s eyes narrowed. “How was I supposed to know you were that inept? Did I not say to leave yourself twenty seconds? This is beginner’s stuff, Amber. I had no idea you were that incompetent.”

  “Are you kidding me? You know damn well there was something wrong. I set the force field to twenty seconds, and you—”

  “Enough.” He interrupted me with an angry gesture. “You’re lucky I’m not kicking you out of my class right now. At least, you serve as a bad example to the rest of my students.”

  I was so angry, I fumed for the rest of the lesson. Lance leaned in his seat, his pallor even more pronounced than before. I felt a pang of worry for him, but at the same time, was too irate he hadn’t come to support me. My thoughts kept circling back to the fact the explosion sure as hell hadn’t felt “accidental”.

  And why were we doing these exercises in the first place? Whitehall could cloak it in pretty language all he wanted, but what he just had me do was build a remote control bomb with the victim creating their own trigger. It was definitely time to talk to Ms. Farkas again.

  When Whitehall dismissed us, I jumped up and packed my things with barely suppressed anger. Lance tried to say something, but I waved him off. I couldn’t deal with him and his bullshit right now. I was going to march into Farkas’s office, intent on letting her know what I thought about the Tech-Mag teacher.