by Alex Lidell
Bracing his arm against my left hand, I close my eyes and flick the switch, its tip landing just beneath the crease of River’s elbow.
“It doesn’t count unless it leaves a welt or draws blood,” says River. “From a self-preservation perspective, I would prefer we achieved that point sooner rather than later.”
The next minute is the longest of my life, the soft sound of River hissing at the sting driving into me as much as the raised welts that appear all too vividly along his skin. The male makes no effort to pretend he feels nothing, eyes closing, sweat breaking out on his temples as small flinches run through his body with each impact. And after a few strokes, I stop pretending either.
My stinging eyes spill tears onto my cheeks, washing out the hidden poison that was eating my soul. River didn’t abandon me in that cell. Didn’t relegate my existence to a secondary tier, to be addressed at his convenience. His maddening, frustrating ways are rooted in protectiveness, not apathy. Because that is who River is. A protector. And I don’t know where that leaves the two of us.
The twelfth stroke has nowhere to land but on already hurt skin, and the sight of blood welling up at the welted intersection shoves me off the edge I’ve been riding. Sobs rake my chest, my breath hitching inside lungs that can’t draw enough air. This is all wrong. Every horrid moment of it.
Not caring for the propriety of it, I bury my face in River’s shoulder and, after a moment of stiffness, feel him smooth his hand over my hair. His woodsy scent fills my nose, mixing with a hint of lavender soap. “It’s all right,” he murmurs as if it were true. “We’re done.”
Behind me, I hear the sound of the door being pulled open.
River stiffens again. “Coal—”
“No. You broke it, you fix it.” The door clicks shut, Coal’s soft footsteps dissolving into the distance.
After a minute, River’s hand settles on my shoulder, nudging me away gently.
I shake my head, my grip tightening even as I brace myself to be pushed away, for the bubble of intimacy to pop with a resounding snap of formality. It will happen, I know. It must, for without the magic’s bond, that is what truly lies between us. River is a king, and I am a rogue.
River’s hands on my shoulder tighten, the firm push a heartbeat away. I swallow only to realize that River has pulled me toward him instead when he sits on the edge of his desk, settling me on his lap and wrapping his arms tightly around me in one smooth motion that feels like a locked door giving way. His heart pounds under my ear, and with a soft sound in his chest that I feel rather than hear, he rests his cheek on top of my head. “Leralynn,” he whispers, his breath ruffling my hair.
16
River
River pressed Leralynn’s small warm body against his chest, breathing in her lilac scent with a desperation that made his chest ache. The green silk of her top had ridden up her torso, and his hand itched to cup the soft curve of her waist, to rise higher to her luscious breast. It was madness, doing this to himself. In the part of his mind that still functioned, he knew that holding her was wrong. That he never should have let Coal leave, not when the pull Lera had on his soul overwhelmed all sense. Yet that voice of reason was as distant as the long-dimmed horizon, and all River’s protective instincts demanded that he wrap himself around the girl, comfort her even as he took comfort from her in return.
How many in Lera’s place would have savored the chance at vengeance? Would have been elated at the opportunity to even the score that the disparity in power always tallied between a commander and his charge? Especially after what River had done to her, leaving Lera abandoned and shackled when it was his duty more than anyone’s to ensure her protection.
Was it her fast forgiveness that set the final noose around his heart, or her courage? When things turned hard, Lera stood up for others before herself, and that called to River as much as it terrified the living daylights out of him.
As he stroked Lera’s silky hair and back, River had to concede that she was so like his beloved Diana that the images melded together. Or perhaps he was moving on. Falling in love, stars take him. With a student.
“I’m sorry,” River whispered.
“You are a bastard.” Lera raised her face to him, her brown eyes and pale cheeks glistening with tears. “For making me hurt you. I hated it.”
“Me as well.” River brushed his knuckles along her wet cheekbones, savoring the way she leaned into his touch. “But holding you makes it hurt less.”
What the hell was he saying? River closed his eyes, trying to breathe in some common sense. Instead, he inhaled a lungful of tantalizing lilac. A heartbeat later, River felt the soft brush of lips against his and snapped his eyes open with the speed of a diving hawk.
The girl had moved so she was kneeling on his lap, her beautiful eyes only inches from his own.
“Leralynn.” River cupped the back of her head, fully intending to pull her away. Gently but firmly. Then she bit her lip, and all his noble intentions sizzled away in a blaze of smoke. His cock tightened, his mouth demanding that it be him nipping Leralynn’s lush mouth. Taking it so completely that she’d have breath for nothing but the moment. With him. Together.
This time when she leaned toward him, River covered her mouth with his, scraping his teeth along her bottom lip until he could plunge inside.
Leralynn gasped, driving him deeper. His tongue danced with hers until sparks showed against his closed eyelids. Without seeking her permission, River’s hand slid to that maddening spot on Lera’s waist, massaged it, slid firmly over each bump of her rib cage until it met the bottom swell of her breast.
Wrong.
But he couldn’t stop. With Lera’s gentle undulations against his lap driving the flames higher, River felt himself falling—a fall that started a month ago and took a dizzying turn the night of Ostera, heady jasmine blending with lilac as they spun under the full moon. Spiraling down to a place he might never be able to come back from.
And might never want to.
17
Lera
“I don’t like it,” Arisha says, swirling a spoon in a mug of the hot chocolate the Academy served with the midday meal.
“The part where Coal didn’t die?”
“That too,” Arisha says thoughtfully, stopping to watch the corner of the dining hall where a large wolf, a small boy, and a heaping platter of meat disappear behind one of the heavy window drapes. Shade. Shade is back. A moment later, Shade’s wagging tail makes the curtain move obscenely. Arisha winces, then returns to the matter at hand before I can fully process my shifter’s return. “But mostly all the other parts. Leaving Han aside for a moment, the little earthquake you caused without meaning to shook the whole school. And this strengthening connection with Coal? What happens if next time, he drags you into his nightmares instead of you pulling him out? Not only are the wards cracking, but the way the magic is spilling out is as controlled as an avalanche. Something is going to give, and sooner than we’d like.”
I take a sip from my own mug, the rich chocolaty liquid coating my mouth in bliss. “The next time the universe asks me for how magic should leak, I’ll be sure to lodge your complaint. Meanwhile, I want to bring Coal into the team.”
The chocolate in Arisha’s mouth flies out, raining onto the white tablecloth. “No no no no. That’s… He… We don’t like each other. The other day, he questioned how I manage to put on boots without falling on my face.”
“You do fall when dressing half the time.”
“That’s not the point.” She glowers at me. “We won’t be able to speak freely if Coal is there.”
“We can.” I tap my finger against the tabletop. “I know we can’t challenge Coal’s amulet by telling him who he is, but with his arm broken, Coal will be staying put for a while anyway. And we should stay away from discussing my identity too, since Coal’s veil will keep insisting that the fae and human versions of me are utterly different beings. But talking about the breaking wards, about Han, the scl
ices and Yocklols and the Night Guard? None of that is a problem.” My words catch in my throat, another thought sweeping through me.
“What happens if we never beat the veils?” I ask Arisha softly. “If the wards shatter and the males’ magic returns and they still think they’re human? Or if the quint magic connecting us sweeps through and wages war against the amulets’ veils? If just words make the males scream in pain, what happens when magic wages war on magic?”
Arisha winces. “I don’t know. But we’ll figure it out, Lera. Somehow. We have to.”
“I want Coal with us.” I sound petulant, but it’s the truth. “I need him with me.”
Sighing, Arisha raises her palm. “Fine, fine. You can keep him. But I’m wagering it’s your backside he’s going to bite first. And if he pees in the corners, you are cleaning it up... In fact, you should probably go practice the latter now.”
Following Arisha’s gaze to the corner of the room, I see a puddle spilling from beneath the drapes, while Shade and Rabbit make a run for the door.
“Where are we going?” Coal asks, snorting as I press us into the shadows on the edge of the courtyard to avoid a pair of Academy guards.
“The library.”
“In the middle of the night?”
“Do you want to know what I’m up to or not?” I ask. We’ve spent the last day recovering, but it’s time to rally again, especially in light of Han’s presence. My fingers tap against my thigh, too many thoughts racing through my mind, tripping over each other. I despise lying to River, especially after last night, when he sent me on my way with a final chaste kiss and a desperation in his eyes that haunted my dreams—and left me wet until morning. But his colossal protectiveness leaves me no choice. As for Coal, the male’s presence will be a new edge to walk. Fortunately, after Arisha agreed to it this afternoon, Gavriel gave his blessings as well. Now, we just need to explain the whole mess. “How is your arm?”
“Shade is an overprotective grandmother who I will smother with a pillow just as soon as I can move my elbow,” Coal mutters, following me as I guide us through the now-familiar library door.
The small bell chimes its musical warning as we step into the grand central rotunda, where Arisha’s and Gavriel’s brown heads are already bent over a spread of drawings and theories while Shade’s wolf inspects all the corners of furniture. My heart lifts at seeing him again, at having two of my males close once more.
A large board holds drawings of the main creatures we’ve run into thus far: mutated semi-visible sclices, Yocklol trees, the Night Guard. Arisha is pinning Han’s picture to the board as we come in, the sheet dropping from nervous fingers at the sight of Coal.
Walking forward with a quick brow-rising glance at the enormous wolf scratching his shoulder on a table leg, Coal picks the drawing up off the floor and hands it to my friend. “You didn’t know I was coming here?” He frowns. “Actually, I’m not really sure where I am.”
“You’re in the library,” Arisha says helpfully.
Coal lifts a brow. “That explains the books.”
“You are at a meeting of the Protector’s Guild.” Finally recovering herself, Arisha takes the sheet from him. “And yes, I knew you were coming. But knowing and seeing are two different things.” Pushing up her glasses, she looks over at me with a small frown. “How are we going to do this?”
I lean down to rub Shade’s gray fur, the wolf licking my face in greeting. “With introductions.” Standing, I square my shoulders and turn to a dazed-looking Coal, who still can’t seem to look away from Shade, perhaps recognizing him as the wolf who attacked him a month ago in Sage’s office. “Welcome to the Protector’s Guild, where we try to keep the mortal world safe from the dark forces eager to take advantage of the crumpling wards keeping magic at bay. You will work out the details as we go along, I’m sure. Meanwhile, I’ve been out of action for a few days. Where does that leave us, Gavriel?”
The librarian smiles at me, his brown eyes betraying only a hint of worry. “Basic patrol pattern tonight. Get your bearings back as you check on the remaining Yocklols and see if you can mark any signs of the Night Guard making themselves comfortable. I’ve your fighting leathers here.”
Coal’s eyes widen almost comically as I start pulling out weapons and my leather jerkin, the familiar feel of my tools already waking my senses. I’m ready to go back into the woods, to reach into the cords of magic that are waking, slowly but surely. Shade’s healing mended my flesh the day the Night Guard attacked, and the connection with Coal’s strange power has made itself clear as well. With Tye’s fire magic escaping its shackles for a moment during the fight with Han, the pattern is too plain to ignore.
The wards are crumbling. But as my adversaries get stronger, so do I.
“Please tell me you are jesting, Osprey,” says Coal, his voice echoing over the whisper of papers shuffling and tightening of leather stays. He twists to Gavriel when I fail to answer. “In that case, tell me you have more gear in there.”
I feel a corner of my mouth lift as I sheath my sword down the length of my spine. “The Great Falls area is the zero point for the wards’ weakness. Once your arm heals, there will be plenty to do. For tonight, it will be Ruffle and me.” Shade yips softly and presses against my side, eyeing Coal warily.
Coal runs his good hand over his face, his head shaking. “Don’t ever let River learn of this, Osprey,” he mutters before turning to Gavriel. “Should I be taking notes?”
<
Continue the GREAT FALLS ACADEMY adventure with episode 6, Hide and Seek.
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Also by Alex Lidell
New Adult Fantasy Romance
POWER OF FIVE (Reverse Harem Fantasy)
POWER OF FIVE
MISTAKE OF MAGIC
TRIAL OF THREE
LERA OF LUNOS
GREAT FALLS ACADEMY (Power of Five world)
RULES OF STONE
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
SCENT OF A WOLF
CLOCK STRIKES MIDNIGHT
DUNGEONS AND DREAMERS
HIDE AND SEEK
ENEMY TYES
Young Adult Fantasy Novels
TIDES
FIRST COMMAND (Prequel Novella)
AIR AND ASH
WAR AND WIND
SEA AND SAND
SCOUT
TRACING SHADOWS
UNRAVELING DARKNESS
TILDOR
THE CADET OF TILDOR
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About the Author
Alex Lidell is an Amazon KU All Star Top 50 Author Awards winner (July, 2018). Her debut novel, THE CADET OF TILDOR (Penguin, 2013) was an Amazon Breakout Novel Awards finalist. Her Reverse Harem romances, POWER OF FIVE and MISTAKE OF MAGIC, both received Amazon KU Top 100 awards for individual titles.
Alex is an avid horseback rider, a (bad) hockey player, and an ice-cream addict. Born in Russia, Alex learned English in elementary school, where a thoughtful librarian placed a copy of Tamora Pierce’s ALANNA in Alex’s hands. In addition to becoming the first English book Alex read for fun, ALANNA started Alex’s life long love for fantasy books. Alex lives in Washington, DC.
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