by S. L. Morgan
I was the last one left in the locker room, and everything was eerily quiet. I heard one of the leaky showers, the dripping noise pounding in my head. I shouldn’t have been so freaked out, but it almost felt as if the sinister energy was right behind me, even though I couldn’t see its reflection in the mirror as I dried my hair.
I shut the dryer off, leaving my hair damp and undone. The hairs on my arms rose up with the sensation of fingers grazing over the top of my right forearm. I held out my arm, studying the haunting sensation that was happening and knowing things were going from bad to worse.
I saw the shadow of a tall figure blur quickly across the four mirrors in front of me, and I suddenly felt surrounded by extremely evil energy. I turned to leave, but my body felt like it was stuck in mud.
“You will join with the alpha. You both will do this because you want it and need it,” a soft whisper said, blowing cold air across my ear as the invisible creature spoke. “He knows it. You know it.”
I closed my eyes, and my wolf was the first to come into view. Her hackles were up, and she was guarding the magic I needed behind door number one.
I mentally called for the magic of my witch genes to regain control of my body. My vision left my mind’s eye, and I was back in the locker room, lights flickering as I looked around. Shit! What the hell was going to happen now? Was this thing going to possess me because I’d opened up my witch and fairy side, and now I was vulnerable to it? I should have thought about that—what a dumb move on my part. Open up the stuff that practically calls for possession, and the evil could have its way with me again. Wouldn’t be the first time, of course.
I suddenly felt a desire to manipulate Dominic into merging, and I had a longing to access the true magic I was born to use. Dominic was the answer, and he was my mate for a reason. I went to leave when I found Melanie standing in the doorway, her eyes vibrant and juiced up with a fairy potency I’d only read about leprechauns having.
“Get out of my way. I need to get to Dominic,” I ordered her.
“No.” She arched an eyebrow of authority at me. “You’re not going anywhere near him.”
My mind shuffled back to the thoughts of when this tricky little thing would kill for my mate, and I was ready to fight her here and now to get to Dominic.
“Melanie, don’t do this,” I tried to say nicely.
“You are nowhere near powerful enough to stop me from doing what I have to do, Jenna,” she said as her eyes roamed around the dressing area.
“I will—”
Melanie marched toward me. “You will not fight me,” she said as she seemed to glance right past my eyes and peer into my soul. “Or you will die. You’ll stay away from the alpha. He’s not yours to take.”
“What the hell?” I said, feeling the sensation of wanting Dominic in some weird, aching way fade out of my mind at that moment.
“Get out of her,” she growled.
That’s when the room started spinning on me, and I fell to the ground against the wall Melanie had backed me up to. I spotted a cloud of black smoke that was intertwined with a glimmering green color exit through the cracks, vents, and other unsealed areas of the locker room.
Melanie was crouched on the floor in front of me, her bright eyes normal again while she put her arms on my shoulders and looked at me.
“Are you okay?” she asked with relief in her voice.
“I have no idea what I am.” I slipped out of her grips. “What the hell just happened?”
“I was outside behind the locker rooms, coming in from our fairy courses, and I saw that cloud of smoke cover the place. I figured you were inside when I didn’t see you with the other shifters who were walking away from the building. That’s when I felt it.”
“Felt what?”
“The sinister energy coming for only you. It’s trying to possess you, Jenna. It almost had full possession until I walked in.”
“That’s why I wanted Dominic.” I rose to my feet, Melanie coming with me, “I somehow knew it, but I didn’t care.”
“I know. Thank God I got rid of it. I’ve never done anything like that before.” She laughed nervously before she became serious again. “This stuff is very real. Hopefully, I was able to ward it off until we’re all ready for it.”
“I can’t have myself vulnerable like this,” I said. Then I did something I swore I’d never do…I hugged a leprechaun. “Thank you.”
“Wow,” Melanie softly laughed.
“Thank God I managed to fix your leprechaun brain,” I said as I released her. “Shit could have easily gone from bad to worse just now.”
“I’m glad you did. If anything, you officially know I’m not going to let anything hurt you or the kids at this school.”
“That makes one fairy.” I sighed, “How’d it go in your classes today? The school’s sending out the message that it was breached by a dark coven, and that’s why the witches lost their magic overnight,” I said, quickly pulling on my school uniform.
“So far, they have no sympathy for the witches and aren’t surprised that IA would be attacked for immortal witch magic. They don’t seem affected…yet.”
“So, they are their usual bastard selves?”
“You and your language. I’m starting to think that you’re calling the darkness in by that alone.”
I rolled my eyes as I pulled my hair into a ponytail, “Oh, God. Just because someone uses profanity doesn’t mean they’re a horrible person. I’m so sick of hearing about my language.”
“The school expects us to be the elite students it’s grooming us to be. We’re to represent IA when we graduate as civilized, supreme, and classy supernaturals when we go into the human realm.”
“That’s if we get out of here alive, Melanie.” I eyed her. “Don’t lose sight of the fact that this school and what it once stood for is all bullshit now. Now, this place is either trying to take our supernatural magic, kill us, or possess us into being the worst versions of ourselves. That’s what IA stands for.”
“It helps me to focus on what it used to be, I guess.”
“Well, if you want this POS school to go back to what it was designed to do, then focus on getting it back there, not on what it once was. You’ve just personally interacted, commanded, and ejected the sinister energy driving this school into the ground. I’d imagine your focus would still be on beating this shit.”
“Sorry,” she sighed. “My mind is all over the place. I really have a hard time believing this school is bad.”
“Don’t even go there, Melanie, or you’re the next dumbass this evil will go after. You’ll be just as susceptible as the rest of the fairies.”
“Very true.”
“So, thank you for saving my butt, but please, stay focused. This came after me while I was alone and vulnerable. I may have to rein in my fairy and witch genes to prevent the ultimate desire of what the dark energy wants out of this school.”
“You and Dominic bringing your powers together.”
“Bingo!” I said, grabbing my book bag and walking past her.
“What do we do now?” she asked, following me out of the bathroom.
“I need to see Dom. I haven’t seen him in a week. Then, I seriously need to eat after the workout he put us all through today.”
“Good idea.”
I noticed Dominic waiting for me at his usual area by the large tree.
“Hey, go grab us a seat in the dining hall,” I told Melanie. “Dom and I will catch up in a bit.”
“Not a problem,” she said as she walked off.
“Thanks,” I smiled and waved her off before turning to where Dominic was marching toward me.
I was in his arms before I could say a word, and I absorbed every ounce of his strength, fragrance, and solid frame that I had missed after I’d accidentally forced him into his wolf form.
“I don’t want to let you go,” I said, confessing my love-struck weakness.
I felt Dom laugh underneath my head as it rested o
n his chest. “The feeling is mutual, but I don’t think we have time for all the boyfriend and girlfriend action right now.”
I felt him instantly stiffen after resting his lips on top of my head. He pulled away and tilted my chin up for our eyes to meet. He slowly pulled off his dark shades, and I could instantly sense his wolf staring at me through his eyes.
“What the hell happened in there?” he asked and then looked off in the direction where had Melanie left. “What did she try to pull on you? I sense that a darkness hit you and abruptly left. What did that leprechaun do?”
“Actually, she saved my butt back there,” I admitted. “Some dark energy was after me, and it slightly possessed me, but she forced it away.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me. The hits never stop coming,” Dominic said, frustrated. “And since when do we trust leprechauns? How the hell did she get into that locker room without me sensing her dark fairy genes close by?”
“I sort of changed her,” I said with a shrug. “She’s all good now, and the passion she had for killing me and taking you as her man is gone. I used my magic to transfer that willpower into determination to take out the darkness we’re up against.”
“What?” he looked at me in confusion as he knit his eyebrows together. “I knew she had some bizarre desires to help turn my attention away from you and onto her, but kill you?”
“It was a great motivator for me to use my irreversible fairy magic and pull her onto our team. Remind me to thank Ethan later for this too. I still can’t believe that this was his idea of Melanie helping me.”
Dom’s lethal expression turned into humor. “I should have known Ethan knew that something like that would force you to act on your locked-up genes out of instinct to save yourself. He used Melanie as your motivation for working your magic.”
“Genius,” I said dryly.
“Look at me,” Dom said, studying my eyes, “I’ve missed you more than you’ll ever know, but you forcing me into that wolf made it plain to me that we’re pretty screwed. We do need our power merged, but that absolutely cannot happen.”
“I figured as much after that thing came after me just now. All it wants is our power.”
“It needs our powers merged,” Dom confirmed. “It has no plans to possess either one of us. It will take the powers once they’re joined, and then destroy us since you’ll have the power to call your personal magic back to you. It makes no sense, I know. All we need to understand is that you and I were right about not merging our wolves and gaining that power. We’ve actually slowed its plans down since we haven’t joined supernatural energies yet.”
“So, it’s slowed down—whatever it is—and so are we?”
“Not necessarily,” Dom answered, running his hand through the strands of my damp ponytail. “You did great after you finally caught on to me bringing all the units together this morning. I felt a strong sense of magic cover them. Am I correct to assume that you managed that on your own?”
“I did the best I could,” I said as I took his hands in mine. “It was strange, though. This time, I actually saw the colors of my magic—like glittery ribbons—turn into dust and cover every shifter standing in formation when you called us in before we shifted.”
“Pretty incredible,” he grinned. “You’ve learned quite a bit in one week.”
“Sounds like you have too,” I answered.
“There’s a lot to plan.” His fingers slid over my lips, his bronze eyes following the electric trail of my desire to feel his lips on mine. “But first,” he tightened his full lips, “I have to have this moment with you. It may be the last time we have alone before things get bad.”
“It’s all happening now, isn’t it? The attack on us?” I asked.
“It’s coming faster than we can prepare for,” he said. “Our only hope is to get our own kind on our side before this evil creature turns them against us.”
“God, Dominic, what did you see out there?” I asked.
“Truths that I never wanted to admit and never want to tell you, but I will. I just need one moment of peace with you before all of that.”
That’s when his lips silenced me from asking questions, and the explosive way our kiss became more intense than ever put the magic I’d been playing with recently to shame. The sweet and warm taste of Dominic Rossi, and the power emitting from him and transferring into my very core was fueling this kiss and intensifying our reunion with strength and hope.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Since successfully shielding all of the shifters when Dom had them gathered on the field earlier, I felt a more positive vibe coming from the dining hall for the first time since arriving at this school.
“Are you going to eat that bacon, or am I going to finish off the rest of the pig you had the cooks slap onto your plate?” Scott asked, sitting across from me.
I smiled and shoved my unfinished plate toward the master shifter’s now confused expression. It was a relief to have the master shifters in on the impending threat that was coming for all of us. It was a pleasant break from all the kids who were still in freak-out mode since the witches had lost their magic, and it was also nice to share the burden for once.
The master shifters acted like it was any other day, but when I absorbed Dom’s energy as he sat next to me, I sensed they were just readying themselves for whatever came our way. There was no need for them to get all freaked about it since that would only serve as a distraction when it came time to fight.
“Jen,” Dom’s voice cut through my thoughts. “You’re not eating like you normally do.”
I looked up at his dark expression, “I’m full.”
Dom cocked his head to the side. “Okay,” he answered. “Hey, we’ve got this, you know?”
I smiled. “I know. What matters is that we’ve got you back. When—or should I say, how did you manage to shift back? You took off after that spirit-woman, and I thought you were—”
Dom placed his hand over mine. “I took care of the threat, and I was able to shift back the second you thought about it. You follow me?” He looked at me as if to tell me that this wasn’t the time or place to talk about this.
“Got it.” I picked at the hot pie that was sitting in front of me, having no desire to even touch it. “Shit,” I said, pushing the pie away and folding my arms over the table. “With all this crap I’ve done, it’s flipped the person I am into not liking pie.”
Finley’s laugh forced my eyes over to her. “So, she’s a true shifter after all?” she winked. “It’s going to be okay.”
Dom mirrored me as we both sat there with our arms folded on the table. “We all have a lot to discuss. Right now, we need to stick with what IA is telling the students.”
“Can you help the witches the way you helped the shifters this morning?” Ian asked.
“Protect them?” I asked, not realizing Lusa had just shown up with Eileen and Kat trailing her.
“Protect who?” Eileen questioned, wedging herself between Lusa and Finley across from Dominic. “Nice to see you back. I heard you gave all the shifters a run for their money today.”
“Eileen,” Lusa glared at her, “leave it alone. You said you were going to work with us after our talk.”
“After your talk?” I asked Lusa with a dangerous glare. “How could you trust her after everything Melanie told you about her?”
“Because half the fairies worship the ground she walks on,” Lusa snapped at me and returned my stare with her hostile vamp gaze. “We’re running out of options if you hadn’t noticed.”
“What is going on?” Dominic asked Lusa. “Get that look off your face, or were you planning on attacking Jenna?”
“You need to get caught up with what went down while you were gone as much as you need to catch us up with what you encountered out there,” I said to Dom.
Freaking Eileen wouldn’t wipe that wicked smile off her face, and I wanted to slap it off myself. She wasn’t here to help, and I had no idea how Lusa could even at
tempt to trust her.
Dom went from most likely reading my thoughts to turning toward Eileen and nodding toward her flirty smile. “Something you want to tell me?” he asked.
She flipped her shimmering hair over her shoulder and batted her bright pink eyeshadow-covered eyelids at him. “There’s nothing to say.” She giggled. “You and Jenna are true mates, right? You’re not the Dominic I remember from previous schools, and no one has a chance in hell with you anymore. I get it, Lusa caught me up. It’s over, and I’m here to help.”
Dom’s eye narrowed at Eileen. “Why would you bring that up?”
“Because you’re a player, Dominic Rossi. Everyone who knows you knows that.” She glanced at me and smirked, “Jenna likes to convince people that she’s special, and that’s why you’re with her.”
Dom stood up and glared down at Lusa, “You think bringing this fairy in to help is the right choice?”
“She’s stating an opinion. It doesn’t mean she’s dark,” Lusa said in Eileen’s defense.
Dom planted both hands on the table, “Things are about to get bad fast around here.” He looked at Eileen, then back to Lusa, “If we can’t control a fairy’s judgmental and inaccurate opinions about someone in their presence, what makes you think we’re going to trust this thing when Jenna can’t protect it?”
“That’s why she’s here, Dominic,” Lusa said in a low, angry voice.
“For Jenna’s help?” Dom asked. He looked at Eileen, “You’re here to allow my girl—my mate—to help you? Get that stupid grin off your face, then. I’ve told you more than once Jenna is the only one that I want. I’m not the foolish kid you remember since my sister befriended you.”
“I’m learning that, and yes, I’m here to let Jenna help me.”
“How am I supposed to help you?” I finally spoke up. “Shroud you with protection? Or change you into a sweet little sprite and manipulate your mind like I did the leprechaun’s? Are you up for that, because I will certainly never trust you after picking up on the fact that you’ll do anything to get to Dominic.”
