by L. C. Mawson
I looked away. Naveen was the biggest part of the problem. Andrea had helped me forget him – she had been his opposite in every way – but that hadn’t exactly turned out well.
And even now, my traitorous heart jumped at Elizabeth saying that he’d missed me, even if she’d probably just meant that he’d missed my friendship.
But just because Naveen would be there didn’t mean that I had to fall head over heels for him again.
And I could meet other people – including other Dragons – who might help me to forget Andrea.
“All right,” I said. “Going for a year couldn’t hurt.”
Elizabeth grinned. “You’ll love it there, I promise. Now, come on, if you don’t get dressed, you’ll be late to your own party.”
I QUICKLY PULLED ON the black lace dress that I’d bought for the party. It had been annoying as hell to find one that was long enough for me, even in the tall sections, as my curves tended to cause most dresses or skirts to ride up at the back.
I swear, my height was the major contributor to my entire wardrobe of t-shirts and jeans, that I usually paired with a plain ponytail.
To be honest, it was just what I found the most practical. I’d have been much more tempted by more feminine looks if I could find skirts and dresses that fit me, and if my hair wasn’t so annoyingly thick. Having it both long and down was usually asking for trouble.
But one night of femininity wouldn’t kill me, I supposed, so I left my hair down in gentle curls and spent what little time I had applying smoky eyeshadow and burgundy lipstick before putting on a pair of black stiletto shoe boots.
Elizabeth grinned as I finished the look. “Well, I don’t think you have to worry about anyone outshining you tonight.”
I smiled back, though it was muted as I found myself only half processing her words.
My attention stayed on my mirror as I examined my make-up once more, though it wasn’t the eyeshadow I was scrutinising.
No, it was the lack of familiar brown it was supposed to be accentuating.
Elizabeth made her way over and followed my gaze before grinning. “Looks like you’re a real Dragon now.”
“I guess so,” I said as I examined the amber tint my eyes had gained. “Though I think I preferred the deep brown.”
“To be fair, your dad and Auntie Alex still have dark brown eyes. It’s probably just your shape-shifting powers making the first tentative steps towards your Dragon form.”
“You think?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “I took Elemental Studies for a couple of years, remember? I’m pretty sure.”
I tried not to grimace at that. It was weird that Elizabeth knew more about my Dragon heritage than I did, but my discomfort wasn’t her fault. I knew that she’d probably only taken those classes to understand her elemental friends better, including me, but it was hard to ignore the twisting in my stomach.
Still, I forced myself to smile. “Well, come on, we shouldn’t leave people waiting.”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
I headed out of the room, with Elizabeth following close behind.
The moment we reached the bottom of the stairs, before I could see who else was there, I was immediately enveloped in a hug from my cousin.
“Skye!” Cassy said with a grin as she pulled away, her American accent almost as strong as her mother's. “So, how is it? Having magic, I mean?”
I shrugged, remembering that Auntie Alex had asked me not to rub my magic in her face. “It’s pretty good. I haven’t had much of a chance to use it, though.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re probably pretty exhausted from the initiation ritual. Mom said you would be and said not to push you into showing me any tricks or anything.”
“I’m not sure I know any tricks yet. But I promise you’ll be the first to know when I do.”
Cassy continued to grin as she led me through to the rest of the party, where all of my family and family friends were waiting.
No friends from uni, though.
I pushed that thought away, determined not to think about Andrea. Or anything even vaguely close to her.
I turned to Elizabeth. “Do you want a drink?”
“Yeah, sure.”
I nodded before heading to the kitchen in search of prosecco.
Only to stop dead in the doorway as I saw that the only other person in the kitchen was a lean young man who was taller than me, even with my heels on.
Naveen had the same dark skin, black hair and crimson eyes as his sister, and they both had muscles drilled into them by their mothers’ training. Running almost the entire magical community in the city meant that they were determined to make sure that their children could look after themselves.
And I was the last person who would complain about Naveen’s biceps, clearly visible under his nice t-shirt.
Creator, I was staring.
I’d been so bothered about not going to Ember Academy because I thought spending months around him would rekindle my old feelings for him.
And then it had taken all of ten seconds.
He smiled as soon as he saw me, running his hand through his dark hair to keep it from his eyes. It was getting long again.
“Skye! Happy birthday.”
“You too,” I said before realising what I’d said. “I mean... Obviously it’s not your birthday, I just...”
He continued to smile, shaking his head. “It’s okay, Skye. I’m the last person to judge someone for a slip of the tongue.”
See, he just had to go and bring tongues into it, making it much harder to rein in my thoughts.
He’s just a friend. Stop swooning.
“So,” he continued, thankfully oblivious to my awkwardness, “your dad mentioned that you were thinking of coming to Ember with me and Elizabeth.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I shrugged, trying to seem casual about it. “Maybe.”
“Well, I’d be glad if you came. Maybe then, Elizabeth and I would finally have enough people to run a proper Dungeons and Dragons game. It’s no fun with Humans when we’re here, and most of the magical beings at Ember don’t see the point of playing fantasy games when they have real magic.”
I smiled, having to agree. “Yeah, I have missed our games.”
“So, you should come, then. What’s the alternative? Staying here with the Humans? Or, well, I suppose you could also train in the Dragons’ city, and I would understand if you would prefer that to Ember. Even if I would miss you.”
Butterflies erupted in my stomach at him saying that he would miss me, and it took me a moment to find my words again. “Actually, I’m sick of being around Humans, and the Dragons’ city... Well, you know how most factions are about those of us with Human parents.”
He placed a sympathetic hand on my arm and my lower abdomen twitched in response as he looked me over, his crimson gaze never quite meeting mine but making it clear that he understood.
Of course, he did. He always had.
He was half-Human, his Demon parents had been exiled from their home, and he was Litcorde – the word most magical beings had for being autistic.
No one understood being an outsider like he did.
No one but Elizabeth, and maybe if she hadn’t always been so focused on the fact that she was bound to another by Fate, she would have been the twin I’d fallen for.
But no, Naveen had never had his focus on some ambiguous destiny before him. It had always been on me.
Until he’d left me behind.
Except he wasn’t leaving me behind this time. No, I was going with him.
Maybe trying to keep my distance wasn’t the best plan. Maybe I should just tell him how I felt, like I’d meant to all those years ago.
“The Dragons are fools if they don’t want you,” Naveen said, his voice low as I realised just how close he’d gotten. “Anyone would be lucky to have you.”
Were we still talking about the Dragons?
I considered leaning forward, closing the space between us and ki
ssing him...
“Skye! You still in here?”
I pulled away from Naveen as I turned to see Elizabeth enter.
She cringed as she saw the two of us together. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything–”
“You didn’t,” I said quickly before moving over to the bottles of wine. “It’s okay. Sorry. We just got talking and I got distracted.”
Naveen hurried over to three drinks on the bench where he’d been standing before. “Speaking of, I was getting these for our mums.”
He left the room as Elizabeth turned to me with an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to interrupt you two.”
“There was nothing to interrupt.”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Skye... Are we really going to go back to pretending that the two of you haven’t spent the past two decades pining after each other?”
I glared at her and she sighed.
“Seriously, Skye, this is ridiculous. Why haven’t you just told him how you feel?”
Because he kept leaving.
“I don’t like him like that.”
“Yeah, and the sky’s not blue.”
I downed the drink I’d poured for myself before pouring another. “I’m not talking about this any more. Now, come on, I really am missing my party at this point.”
Chapter Four
Saying goodbye to my dads had seemed to take forever, with both of them constantly double and triple-checking that I had everything I needed.
“I’m fine. Really,” I said as I finally hugged them both tight on my way out of the door. “But I’m going to be late if I don’t go now.”
“Okay,” Da said. “But text us when you get there.”
“I will, I promise.”
At that, I headed out of the door and down the street to the large apartment building where Naveen and Elizabeth lived. The whole place was highly protected, and most of the apartments were owned by the most powerful beings in the city. Or those who needed protection more than others.
I think my dads had considered moving there, but after so long sharing a space with other people, they’d opted for a house instead. Though it was just down the street, and Naveen and Elizabeth’s mothers had extended the wards protecting their building to our house as well.
I made my way up the lift to their large apartment, taking a moment before knocking on the door.
Naveen answered almost immediately, my fist still raised.
“Umm, Mother saw you coming,” he said, and I nodded. I knew that I should find it strange that his mother could see the future, but I’d just gotten used to it over the years.
I smiled as I lowered my hand. “I guess I should have figured that would happen.”
He smiled back and my heart skipped a beat at the sight.
Creator, I hoped that I wasn’t walking into a total mess here...
“Where’s Elizabeth?” I asked as Naveen showed me in, wanting a distraction from him.
Thankfully, his Human mother came over, brushing some of her silver, bob-length hair from her eyes. “She’s lost her make-up bag, but Persephone tells me that she’ll find it in a moment.” She then gave me a warm smile. “So, Skye, are you nervous about going to Ember?”
I shrugged. “A little, but... I’m mostly excited.”
Her smile widened. “Nerves are perfectly natural. Elizabeth spent the week before her first day at Ember just constantly throwing up.”
I tried to smile, but I suspected that it had a bittersweet edge. I remembered that week well. The first time the twins had left me behind, and the first time I had truly been on my own since starting school.
That first year without them had been rough.
Thankfully, Naveen’s mum then placed her hands on her hips. “Well, I think Caroline’s done with the portal, so you can head out as soon as Elizabeth is ready.”
At that, I heard the thundering of Elizabeth running through the hallway. “I’m here. I’m ready.”
Her mum raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure that if I’m not, I can replace anything I’ve left behind at the student store. Or I can portal back on the weekend.”
“All right, then. Well, the portal’s in the living room.”
I nodded before following her and the twins through to where Caroline – their non-Seer Demon mother – had just finished drawing the portal, resulting in her usually neat black jacket being covered in chalk.
“You kids ready to go?” she asked as we made our way into the room.
I just shrugged, struggling to find words as my nerves replaced every thought in my brain with hectic buzzing.
Naveen’s hand inched closer, as if he was going to place it reassuringly on my arm, but then it fell back to his side as his Human mum gave me a reassuring smile.
“You’ll be fine, Skye. Have you got your welcome pack?”
I nodded, pulling a cardboard packet from my handbag.
“Well, that should have all the information you need, and Naveen and Elizabeth should be able to show you around.”
Naveen then turned to me, giving me a smile of his own. “Yeah, don’t worry, we’re going to be here with you every step of the way.”
I finally managed to smile again at that. How bad could this be with Naveen at my side? It wasn’t as if he could disappear on me again now.
“Thanks, Naveen,” I said softly.
Naveen’s Human mum then made her way over to him and Elizabeth before drawing them both into a tight hug.
“Mum!” Elizabeth protested, though I knew that she didn’t mind.
Elizabeth and Naveen were sensitive to people touching them, but they’d told me that their mums had quickly figured out how not to aggravate them when doing so. And with a little bit of help, I’d managed to get there myself as well.
“Make sure to call,” their mum said as she pulled away. “And Diya’s coming over next weekend, and she’s bringing the baby, so you should portal back and say hi.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Don’t worry, we won’t forget.”
Her mum didn’t look convinced, but she then just smiled. “Well, I’ll see you then. I love you both. Have a nice time.”
“We will. And we love you too.”
Their Demon mothers then hugged them both in turn, both also going through the ritual of telling them that they loved them.
Naveen looked over to me and gave me an awkward smile as he caught my eye. I just gave him a reassuring one back. It was sweet how much their mothers cared for them.
Eventually, when we’d all said our goodbyes, their blonde Demon mum took a vial of Faerie dust and used it to open the portal to the school.
Chapter Five
The familiar feel of the portal popping signalled that I was finally through to the school a moment before my sight adjusted from the blinding light.
It wasn’t a bright day, the autumn sun still low in the sky and obscured by a blanket of grey clouds.
A classic British day.
What was less classically British were the buildings in front of me, a cacophony of white spires and stained glass that would probably look more at home in France. Or the Underworld. Queen Freya had provided most of the funds to build the school, so it had a uniquely Demonic look, though the white bricks went against their preference for black. Probably because the school had originally just been for Witches. Back when it was just an experiment.
But with the success of the experiment, everyone with magic could now attend.
Including me.
I refocused on the crowds in front of us as another student brushed past me, everyone arriving through portals just like ours in front of the school gates.
Most magical beings didn’t look meaningfully distinct from Humans, but I supposed that Ember Academy provided a safe space, so I saw far more wings and scales than I had anticipated.
Though, by far, the most common traits were crimson eyes, like Naveen and Elizabeth’s, or the purple eyes of Slayers.<
br />
It was a wonder that so many Demons and Slayers could co-exist in one space, but the school seemed to somehow make it work.
Elizabeth turned to me. “Do you still have your welcome pack handy?”
I nodded, holding up the packet of various leaflets and letters that had arrived at my door a few months ago.
“If you’ve got your room number, I’ll help you find it while Naveen finds ours.”
I nodded once more. We’d already figured out that we were in the same building, but Naveen and Elizabeth had always shared a room at Ember.
I would also have a roommate, but as I didn’t know anyone else here, they would be randomly assigned.
I bit my lip. I was excited to meet another magical being, but I was nervous at the thought of sharing a room after twenty-one years as an only child.
I hoped that my roommate was nice.
I showed Elizabeth the letter with the details of my room as we made our way over to the tall, thin and long building.
We entered to see a variety of large common rooms, some filled with pool tables and others filled with books.
There were also a few kitchens, though I knew that there were plenty of places on campus to get food.
“This is us,” Naveen said when we made it to the third floor. “I’ll see you both later.”
“See you,” I said as Elizabeth and I made our way further up, to my room on the fifth floor.
“So,” Elizabeth said as we made our way up the stairs, “when are you going to tell him?”
“Tell who what?”
“Tell Naveen that you’re in love with him.”
“I’m not!”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Skye, you denying it is getting boring. It’s clear as day how you feel about him, and that you’ve only been staying silent on the matter because he and I spend most of the year here. But now you’re with us too.”
I looked away, realising that she wasn’t going to let this go. Damn it, why did she have to be so stubborn? “That’s not the only reason, Liz. What if I tell him, and he doesn’t feel the same way? I don’t want things to be awkward between me and him. Or between you and me.”
