Advanced Dragon Studies (Ember Academy for Magical Beings Book 1)

by L. C. Mawson

  James and Lorelei didn’t seem to notice.

  James sent another blast of fire forth, but Lorelei blocked it with a wall of water, creating a plume of steam that surrounded James, keeping him distracted as Lorelei wrapped water around his legs and pulled them out from under him, knocking him down to the ground before pinning him with a sheet of water across his chest.

  “I would suggest not trying to get up,” Lorelei said. “And I would also suggest apologising to Skye for hurting her.” She gestured back to me, causing the crowd to turn their gaze on me, and I shifted my weight sheepishly while wishing that I knew some glamour spells so that I could disappear.

  James just glared at Lorelei. “Fine, I’m sorry, but what did you expect? Is someone supposed to have a positive reaction to finding out that their classmate is Enhanced?”

  A hush fell over the crowd, and any gaze that hadn’t been on me before was now stuck on me.

  “Enhanced?” was whispered through the crowd. “She’s Enhanced? Do the teachers know? Why would they let her in?”

  I pushed through the crowd, every last bit of my focus on not either dampening all of the magic in the vicinity or erupting into flames as I made my way back through the gardens, only stopping when I found a small corner, out of view of the rest of the path, and hoped that no one had followed me as I tried to take deep breaths, despite my ribs refusing to move more than a centimetre at a time, only allowing short, shallow breaths.

  Footsteps at the edge of the corner caused me to spin around, fire finally flaring slightly as I failed to keep it back.

  It dimmed again as I realised it was Lorelei, however.

  “Here to tell me I’m a monster?” I managed.

  Lorelei shook her head, making her way over. “No, of course not. Is that what James said?”

  I looked away. “Not in so many words, but... Well, he didn’t need to say it outright. You saw what he was like. What they were all like. Being Enhanced makes me a killer as far as they’re concerned.”

  “Well, unless I’m wrong about my history – which, as the top student in my class, I’m not – the Enhanced stopped fighting magical beings before you were born.”

  I nodded. “They did and my parents rebelled against their creators. They didn’t want to be weapons and they sure as hell didn’t raise me to be one. But that doesn’t matter to anyone else.”

  “It matters to me,” Lorelei said as she stepped closer, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’m not going to judge you for something you can’t change, Skye. And if the others want to hate you, then they’re assholes. And we can weather their hate together.”

  I just stared at her, unable to process her words.

  She really didn’t hate me? This didn’t change how she saw me?

  As soon as I managed to process her words, I grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close and kissing her with everything I had.

  She melted into it, and my heart melted too at the sign that she really meant what she’d said.

  She was practically putty in my hands, completely trusting that I wasn’t the monster the others saw.

  A needy growl vibrated in my throat as I lowered my hands, lifting up her slim frame so that she wrapped her legs around me, allowing me to carry her over to the waist-high wall, placing her down as I kept kissing her, needing her in every way I could have her.

  Once I’d let her go, I moved one hand up her thigh, beneath her skirt, and her breath hitched in her throat.

  I expected her to pull away, or tell me to stop, given that we were still technically in public, but she just took a moment to examine me, her hand brushing my cheek, her thumb just beneath my eye.

  “Take what you need, my beautiful Dragon. Don’t fight your instincts.”

  I nodded, realising what she meant.

  The part of me that was a Dragon – a fierce creature of fire – had come to the surface in my earlier surge of adrenaline.

  The fire just beneath my skin now had form, and it felt as if it would burst forth with just the smallest of pushes.

  And maybe it would. Maybe all I needed to do to shape-shift fully was to let go and let it transform me.

  But I didn’t want that. No, I wanted to be here, with Lorelei.

  But that didn’t stop the fire in my veins. The fire that needed some release.

  And if I wasn’t going to fight, then there was one other instinct I could indulge in.

  One Lorelei was obviously encouraging me towards.

  Gratitude caused my heart to swell as I realised that she understood exactly what I needed, and wasn’t judging me for it, just as she wasn’t judging me for being Enhanced.

  Maybe the fact that she was so willing to accept me was why she’d struggled to find a way to really get under my skin when she was trying to push me away.

  I kissed her hungrily as I pushed my hand further up her thigh, sneaking past her underwear so that she gasped, pushing herself into my touch.

  Yes, I definitely needed this. I needed her showing just how much she trusted me – just how much she was willing to give – to soothe the inner fire the others had riled.

  Lorelei lifted her hand and a moment later, it was my turn to gasp.

  “What is that?” I managed as I felt as if she was touching me as I was touching her, despite my jeans remaining in place and zipped up.

  She grinned. “You might be part-Dragon, but much like a Human, you’re still mostly made of water. Water that I can control.”

  Shit, she really hadn’t been messing around with James. If she could control the water in my body to create sensations this precise, could she stop someone’s heart?

  Her magical touch deepened before I could answer that and I couldn’t help but spread my legs slightly, widening my stance, as I felt as if she was filling me deep, despite her lack of touch.

  I renewed my own efforts, determined to return the favour and it wasn’t long before we were both reduced to incoherent messes, holding each other tight as our climaxes crashed over us.

  As coherence slowly returned to me, Lorelei gently stroked my hair while examining my features.

  “How do you feel? You look less Dragon-like.”

  I frowned. “Dragon-like? What do you mean?”

  “Your eyes had changed to those of a Dragon and your teeth were sharp. I was worried that you were going to shift fully into your Dragon form and I doubt that’s pleasant when you’re distressed.”

  “I... I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t apologise, Skye. It’s a perfectly natural reaction for a Dragon to have. And I meant what I said before, this doesn’t change how I feel about you. Enhanced or not, as long as you’re willing to put up with the danger and as long as you want me, I’m not going anywhere.”

  I smiled, though I knew that it lacked enthusiasm. “I’m not sure anyone else will be so forgiving of my nature,” I finally said, not wanting her to think that it was to do with her.

  She gave me a sympathetic look and my heart twinged as I realised that she didn’t disagree with my pessimism. “Maybe not, but we can weather their hatred together.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t so sure.

  WE PICKED UP THE FOOD we’d intended to get, but then we also got enough food to see us through the rest of the day before just heading back to our room, locking the door and intending to stay there for the rest of the day.

  So, I was fairly surprised when the door opened, and Elizabeth and Naveen stepped through.

  I raised an eyebrow as Elizabeth approached.

  “A girl came up to me and asked about you being Enhanced. And the locks and wards on the doors here aren’t that hard to get past.” Elizabeth’s gaze softened as she closed the door behind her. “Are you okay?”

  I sighed, sitting up and leaning forward over my coffee. “Not really.”

  “What happened?”

  “I accidentally used my Enhanced abilities yesterday to dampen James’ magic in class. Nyssa explained to him what I was and that I was
no threat to him, but the way he looked at me... It was clear that he didn’t believe her.”

  Naveen frowned. “That’s what you were so upset about when you came to the library?”

  I just nodded, not able to meet his gaze. I knew that he’d been busy and I couldn’t expect to monopolise his time, but it still stung. Especially with Elizabeth’s insistence that I try to give him another chance.

  Not that that was something I should be thinking about now that I was with Lorelei, but still...

  “Skye, I am so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t realise that you were upset until it was too late.”

  I just shrugged, not wanting to make a thing out of it. “It’s okay. It’s not as if I was alone.”

  At that, Lorelei moved her hand over to my shoulder, giving me a concerned look that melted my heart.

  Yeah, as much as it made my heart twinge, I didn’t really need Naveen.

  “So,” Elizabeth continued, “did James tell everyone?”

  Lorelei was the one to nod. “We saw him in the gardens and when Skye reacted badly to him... Well, I might have threatened him.”

  Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. “Your whole pushing people away thing hasn’t left you with many Earth-appropriate social-skills, has it?”

  Lorelei glared at her but didn’t dispute it.

  “And speaking of pushing people away for their safety, what happened to that?”

  Lorelei’s gaze softened and it was clear that Elizabeth’s questions had brought forth all of her doubts about letting me close.

  I put my hand on her thigh, hoping to reassure her as I answered Elizabeth. “I can take care of myself.” I then turned to Lorelei. “As can they. You don’t need to push any of us away.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “She’s right, Naveen and I are under so many protection spells and have built up so much poison-resistance, any assassin would have a nightmare trying to deal with us.”

  Naveen turned to her. “Assassins?”

  She shrugged. “Lorelei is Princess Lorelei.”

  I frowned. “How did you know that?”

  “Her mother used to be the ambassador to the Underworld back when our mothers advised Queen Freya.”

  Naveen nodded as he turned to Lorelei. “Yeah and Elizabeth is right. You think that no one would have wanted to kill the children of the former Queen of the Underworld? And Skye got put under a whole bunch of similar protections when our parents realised that she was getting close to us.”

  Lorelei turned to Elizabeth. “Why didn’t you mention that before?”

  Elizabeth shrugged. “It honestly didn’t occur to me that it would help.”

  Lorelei sighed. “You didn’t think telling me that you, your brother and Skye were resistant to most forms of assassination would help, even though you apparently knew that I was only pushing people away because I was scared for them, after most of my family has been assassinated?”

  “Okay, when you put it like that, it seems obvious... I just thought you were making the wrong choice anyway. Even if we weren’t resistant, you still shouldn’t be pushing people away. It never works out.”

  I turned to Lorelei. “Also, you could have asked if any of us might have been able to withstand assassins, rather than just pushing us away.”

  “How was I supposed to know?” Lorelei then paused. “Though, all right, I will admit that I could have maybe assumed that from the fact that their mother used to be Queen of the Underworld. Or at least asked.”

  Elizabeth smiled before turning back to me. “So, Lorelei threatened James and then...?”

  “He attacked her, she showed him up, wanting him to apologise to me and then...”

  I focused on my coffee as Lorelei’s gaze turned dark. “His pride wouldn’t let him apologise without justifying why he’d hurt her. He yelled about how he couldn’t have been expected to react any other way to discovering that Skye was Enhanced. Other students were there, and they heard.”

  Dark Energy crackled over Naveen’s skin, drawing my attention. “What a piece of shit.”

  I couldn’t help but smile slightly. Maybe Naveen and I would have never worked out romantically, but it was good to know that he was still in my corner. Still the friend I had always known, even if he was a bit flakier now, for whatever reason.

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I mean, it’s not, but... It’s fine. Ms Griffin already knows I’m Enhanced, she’s not going to kick me out and the other students... Well, I can handle them. I’m just going to do what I’d already planned, become the best Dragon Priestess around and prove that I deserve to be here as much as anyone.”

  Naveen smiled. “I have no doubt that you’ll be the best Priestess any Dragon has ever seen.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I bounced from side to side, chewing the inside of my cheek as I waited for Nyssa to arrive for our next lesson.

  James had always been on time since that first lesson, but I wished that he would be late, just this once. Not because I wanted him to get in trouble, but because I wanted Nyssa there to act as a buffer between us and she always arrived exactly on time.

  The last thing I wanted was to be trapped alone with James while he saw me as a monster.

  In all honesty, I’d considered going and getting a coffee to deliberately make myself late, but I wasn’t sure that Auntie Nyssa would appreciate that and I would rather not annoy her when I needed her to act as a buffer here.

  Still, with every moment I waited, I regretted my decision more and more.

  Just as I was wondering if it was too late for me to leave and come back, the door opened and I held my breath, hoping beyond hope that it would be Nyssa who walked through, despite the fact that she would always just appear at the other end of the room.

  James walked through and I instinctively tensed, ready for a negative reaction.

  But he just looked away, as if my reaction had hurt him.

  Except it was a perfectly natural reaction to the way he’d been treating me.

  “Skye,” he said as he closed the door behind him, “I am so sorry. I should never have said anything when there were people around. I didn’t think, but that’s no excuse, and if you want me to drop out of the class, I will.”

  I just stared at him, not believing what he was saying. He wouldn’t be accepted in the Dragons’ city without passing the Elite Guard trials, and Nyssa’s training was his best bet to do that.

  He was offering to give that all up for me.

  “You would really leave?”

  “Of course.”

  “You don’t have anywhere else to go.”

  “Neither do you, and I was the one who hurt you. If you’re not comfortable with me here... It’s not fair that I demand that you either put up with me or be the one to leave.”

  I managed a small smile. “It’s not ‘putting up’ with you. And like you said, you weren’t thinking about the people there.”

  “No, but it was still a crappy thing to say. I should have just apologised, instead of getting into a fight.”

  I sighed, looking away. “Yeah, you should have. But... I’m not going to kick you out and leave you with nowhere to go.”

  He nodded, and before either of us could say anything else, Auntie Nyssa appeared.

  She turned to me. “Skye, I heard about the rumours going around the school. Do we need to speak alone?” She shot James an accusatory glare and I realised that she already knew who was responsible for telling everyone the truth.

  And she wasn’t happy about it.

  I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I’d rather just get on with the lesson.”

  Auntie Nyssa nodded, though she did seem to be regarding James a little more coolly than usual, which I was struggling to be upset about.

  “All right,” Auntie Nyssa said. “Let’s keep things simple today. Returning to endurance training sounds like a good idea.”

  I nodded, and immediately tried to conjure flames, but they refused to come. I frowned, doing my best to force t
he fire, but it kept spluttering out, unable to keep their shape.

  I glanced over to James, and my stomach sank as I saw that he was having no trouble controlling his flames.

  Dammit, what was happening to me?

  Was something wrong with me?

  Or had my improvement in this class just been a fluke? Something that I would never again be able to replicate?

  I left the class as it ended, but James stayed behind.

  I paused for a moment at the door, wondering why he was staying behind, but I felt like crap, and didn’t much feel like lingering near the classroom and being reminded of the cause.

  What if I never got back to my magic being as strong as it was before? What if I never became a Priestess like I hoped?

  It’s not as if the rest of magical society would accept me now that everyone knew that I was Enhanced.

  And Lorelei... I’d promised her that I could protect myself. That I could protect her. What if I was wrong? What if I’d lied to her and it ended up causing her the heartbreak that she so feared?

  I forced myself to take a deep breath. Lorelei knew about elemental magic, maybe she could figure out what was wrong with my powers.

  I headed back to the halls, intending to head to my room and talk to Lorelei, but then I remembered that she still had classes.

  I changed my route, heading instead to Elizabeth and Naveen’s room.

  I still wasn’t sure about seeing Naveen, but I needed to speak to Elizabeth at least.

  She might not know much about elemental magic, but I needed to get these swirling thoughts said aloud, rather than swarming my head.

  But as I entered Elizabeth’s room, I found her tearing through the drawers by Naveen’s bed.

  “Looking for something?” I asked.

  She turned to me with a murderous glare before storming across the room and grabbing Naveen’s notebook. “Do you know what he’s been researching?”

  “No.”

  She turned to a page and held it out for me, showing the same scribbles I’d seen Naveen writing.