by Kenna Bardot
I looked up to see Ronan’s eyes narrow. “I already shared.”
I huffed out an annoyed breath. “She is right here in bed with you. In case neither of you noticed.”
Alec continued, like I hadn’t spoken. “Hand her over, I want to snuggle.”
“Fine.” Ronan’s tight hold on me loosened as he handed me over. Alec Gaius' strong arms wrapped around me, whispering near my ear, “How you feeling, baby?”
“Golden, baby,” I replied as Ronan shifted to wrap around me from the front.
I closed my eyes. I could not feel more content.
✽✽✽
I woke up, desperately needing to pee. I’d been so relaxed in their arms, I’d broken the cardinal rule and not gone after sex. Alec’s hand was in my hair, and Ronan had an arm draped over my waist and a leg over both of mine. So possessive, even in sleep. I pushed him off, and he grunted but didn’t awaken, instead rolling off to his other side.
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from laughing as I got on my knees to crawl off the connected beds. I tiptoed to the bathroom to relieve myself and as I did, I felt how swollen I was and realized I needed some of the soothing gel Lottie offered me the day before. The woman was a psychic because, Zeevar, I was getting a lot of action. I wasn’t about to complain about my strange bout of luck though. As I stood up, I winced and felt my body complain - I supposed it wasn’t used to feeling such incredible pleasure.
I checked to see how the boys were doing and saw the way they laid on the bed. Alec Gaius hadn’t moved from the moment he’d wrapped his arms around me, but Ronan was facedown with his arms and legs draped over the bed, ridiculously tall as he was.
I picked a shirt up from the floor and slipped it on. I sniffed at the sleeve and Alec Gaius’ scent washed over me, that earthy and powerful smell that at once suited him, but still seemed so unexpected - crisp and fresh sandalwood.
After slipping my pants on, I glanced over the beds to make sure I hadn’t been too noisy and woken my men, but Alec remained unmoved and while Ronan had shifted, he was still dead to the world. I smiled at them, resisting the urge to kiss each of them, before I tiptoed towards the door and opened it carefully to keep quiet. I peeked out to see if anyone was around - not that it would be a surprise to see me creeping out of Alec’s and Ronan’s room at this point - but I just didn’t fancy being seen by either a docent or a student.
As I wandered down the hallway in the soft quiet, I felt a peace I hadn’t felt since I’d become un-Inked. I sighed, letting the sound echo down the empty corridor. Did I really belong? Some days I felt maybe I did, but most days I expected to wake up and find myself in the Waiting Land.
But it was the first time I’d walked down the halls alone so late at night, and I didn’t understand why the boys seemed so determined to scare me from ever walking around that time on my own. As I neared my room, I stopped before a window to stare down at the garden - it displayed beautifully at night. Some part of me yearned to go out. I missed walking among rustling leaves and crunching them underneath my feet, that sensation of rough bark, the feeling of plunging my hand in loose dirt as the earthy smell hit me. I sniffed the sleeve of the shirt I wore again. Perhaps that was why I loved his scent, Alec Gaius’ - raw and manly, nothing fake or manufactured. Earthy.
As I turned around, I saw a shadow of a man walking down the garden path, and I stopped to see more. When the clouds parted, the moonlight shone down to reveal Docent Porter - Gaylord, as he asked me to call him - looking so tired and lost. It tugged at my heartstrings, since I saw him as some sort of strong and invincible force in the school. He ran a hand through his hair as I watched - the long locks loose from their usual leather binding and blowing around him in a subtle breeze. He stopped and picked a flower off a bush. From my vantage point, I could not see what flower it was, but he stared at it for at least a minute before taking a sniff. He looked so lost. Lost and sad.
I turned away from the window guiltily. It seemed like such a private moment for me to intrude on. Besides, it was getting very late, and I needed to rest.
✽✽✽
Gale
I did not know what the scent of the flower I’d picked was, didn’t know what it was called but it was haunting and beautiful. It soothed me in a way I thought I could no longer be soothed. I’d been trained to guide the Inkeds to their rebirths, been top of my class by a mile, and I’d been trusted and respected enough to be offered a position to teach. I’d become an Air Docent at InkHaven Academy. That night, I’d done as I’d been trained to do, and it went as smoothly as it usually did. But somehow, I did not feel the same sort of calm contentment I’d expected I would always feel.
Because as of late, my world had been rocked, and I was still reeling, struggling to get my focus back. It started when Alec Gaius and I had failed to bring about the thief’s rebirth - when failing really wasn’t an option. What I hadn’t told him was that I’d had to fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo. But Kaia Wren Shaw had been a constant reminder that I could have lost everything I’d worked so hard to earn.
I looked down at the flower I had picked and smiled. It was tiny in my hands, and I still felt regret for picking it. For doing so meant I’d ended its life abruptly, before it had reached its full potential. Kaia, that little thief, had been just that when I’d first guided her through InkHaven.
I looked up towards one of the windows, but I remembered how we’d asked the impossible of her just a few days ago. She’d failed, yes, but she’d not been broken. I might have fought for her to get a second chance, but she’d taken it and had done us proud, done me proud. That moment Abigail had declared that she should stay, it was the first moment I actually believed what I’d been telling her the entire time - she could succeed.
I shrugged and kept the flower in my hand as I walked back into the Academy. I tried, desperately, not to crush the soft petals. Maybe, like the thief, it would somehow surprise me.
✽✽✽
Kaia
I made it the rest of the way to my room without any incident. After entering, I was familiar enough with the setup that I walked in the pitch black towards Lottie’s stores of tonics. I figured she wouldn’t mind if I took some of the soothing gel, seeing as she’d offered it to me just that morning.
Or I could be wrong and it was in the bathroom, in which case I was fucked.
“Dammit,” I cursed when my hand slipped and the bottles clinked together. The bedside lamp on Lottie’s side of the room shone on, and I rolled my eyes at Lottie. She was such a light sleeper when she wasn’t drunk.
“Who’s there?” came the sleepy voice, and I chuckled as I stood with my hands up.
“Guilty. Sorry for waking you, Lot.” I smiled sheepishly, but my mouth dropped open when I saw the mound of blanket in Lot’s bed move. Only then did I realize that she’d sat up and was completely uncovered. I turned my face away when I saw her bare breasts - I felt my cheeks go hot in embarrassment.
“Kaia, honey, is that you? Has the runaway roommate really returned?” I heard her rustling about and her feet touch the floor with a thud.
“Nice alliteration, Lottie.”
She chuckled, and I heard the swish of a robe. Figuring it was safe, I turned to look back to her and was relieved to see that she was wearing her long robe of silky cornflower blue with tiny white flowers. Zeevar, she really was one fashionable girl.
“Sorry, Lot. I didn’t mean to wake you.” I smiled at her sheepishly, and she held up a hand and turned the ceiling light on. I blinked my eyes at the brightness, and as I looked around the room, I saw the debris on the floor - clothes, shoes and underwear that had been thrown about. I could just imagine the harried and vigorous activity that had been done to result in that. As I did, I cursed myself for imagining someone else having sex - my own recent exploits should have been enough.
“Zeevar, Lot. Blind me why don’t you?”
“I’m sorry, honey.” Her voice tinkled at me, amused, and
I had the feeling she wasn’t sorry at all.
She bent to scoop up pants and a shirt from the floor and walked to her bed, whipping her blanket off with one fluid motion. I had a distinct impression of smooth, tanned skin before I realized that I was looking at a very naked man. I closed my eyes and turned my face in the opposite direction.
“Otto, sweetie, I’m afraid it’s time for you to go.” Lottie’s voice was warm and throaty, but stern at the same time.
“Wazzit morning already?” came a deep sleepy voice.
“Nope. But it’s time to go.” Cloth slapped at flesh, and I didn’t want to think about what Lottie was doing. “Otto, come on. I need my privacy.”
I heard him grumble, but he must have stood because I heard the unmistakable thud of feet touching floor. “You’re cruel, Charlotte Montgomery.”
“Sure I am.” She paused, and I almost heard her smile. “Yet you always come to my bed.”
“You’re irresistible.” I heard the unmistakable sound of a kiss and the low throaty chuckle of my roommate. The door opened, and I heard a male voice call out, “Bye, Lottie, you saucy witch. Nice seeing you, Kaia.”
Zeevar, I wasn’t invisible after all.
“You can open your eyes now, you big baby. Zeevar, but you are a child, aren’t you?” I did as Lottie directed and met her stare, blue and quite amused.
“I’m sorry for intruding, Lot. I didn’t know you had a visitor.” I smiled at her contritely, but she simply laughed at me.
“No worries. I’ve had sex in public often enough that I’m not bothered by people walking in on me. This was mild enough since we were done with the actual fucking.”
The straight talk, even after an orgy was still quite bold to me, but she wasn’t finished. “I’m surprised you can still blush, Kaia Wren, after what? Being fucked by two gorgeous, sexy men?”
“Lottie…” I whined, unable to help myself.
“There’s no one here, sweetie. Why do you think I chased Otto off?”
I buried my face in my hands, but just laughed at the situation. “How did you know about Ronan?”
“Are you serious, Kaia Wren? He’s been marking you so pointedly I was surprised he wasn’t dry humping you everytime you were near. Do you mean to tell me you had no clue then?” I couldn’t quite see it, but I could clearly hear that Lottie had her tongue in her cheek.
“It was… intense,” I admitted as I sat down on my bed and rubbed my hands over my thighs.
“I’m sure. I did warn you.” She tilted her head at me and eyed me for a few silent moments. “Are you happy, Kaia Wren?”
I sighed. I knew she’d be asking me that question. “I don’t know that I am. I’m not not happy.”
She nodded at me, taking my hands in hers, rubbing them between hers. “Figure out if you are. If you aren’t, you have to be strong enough to find what will make you happy.”
“I will. Thanks, Lot.” I gave her hands a gentle squeeze, and she let go with a quick pat.
“I’m sure the sex is fantastic though. I’ve heard stories.”
I cringed and fell facedown onto the bed. “I’m not sure I want to hear them.”
“No need to, honey.” Lottie slapped my ass playfully. “I’m sure you’re already living the story.”
I turned over, wincing as I did so. “Pretty much, sure.”
She raised an eyebrow at me. “So, did you want that gel I’d offered you this morning? Is that why you’re here?”
Caught. “Not that I don’t like spending time with you, Lottie, but if you don’t mind. It was why I woke you.”
“You bitch. I figured but…” she trailed off, scowling.
I tensed up. “But?”
“You have to tell me how it went with Alec Gaius and Ronan. Don’t spare any details.”
“Zeevar,” I laughed. Who ever said having girl friends was overrated?
Ten
Kaia
I knew I should be hurrying as I was due for a training session, but I slowed as I walked through the hallways, realizing how little time I’d spent alone since being thrown into the Academy. For an unpopular person, I was actually quite popular. Aside from that night I’d gone back to my original room in the middle of the night, I went to class, ate, trained, and slept with either Lottie or the guys.
It’d only grown worse since Ronan staked his official claim on Alec Gaius and I. He was possessive of Alec Gaius, yes, but nowhere near the extent with which he possessed me. I couldn’t help the smile that graced my face at the thought of his ridiculous antics. I’d learned that Ronan discarded people like used tissues once he’d had them and never had the same partner too frequently. He didn’t care if they chose another bed partner the moment he was done with them, because he was done. But if anyone outside his core group of friends so much as glanced at me, they didn’t make that mistake for long.
I knew it wouldn’t last. It couldn’t really. I’d told Lottie the truth - I was not not happy, but mostly because my head was a mess. It was getting harder and harder to try and keep my heart out of our arrangement. But I never would have thought either Alec Gaius or Ronan would desire me, so for them both to want me could be nothing but a temporary miraculous situation.
I stopped abruptly when I found myself a flight and several hallways away from Docent Porter’s classroom. I’d been wandering around too much. I was near Docent Frost’s Air Wielding classroom and saw a door that stood ajar. It was the room right next to Frost’s class - one where I had never been in since the door was always, religiously, closed. I’d always meant to ask the guys or Lottie what the room was, but it always slipped my mind. Unable to contain my curiosity, I stood in the doorway and cautiously glanced in.
Empty.
Walking in, I was surprised to find it a bare, windowless room. Surely, there were more practical uses for the space. I ran a hand down the cool, stone wall casting a glance about with a frown on my face. I took a few steps in and shuddered, something just felt strange about the room.
A loud thud sounded behind me, and I turned to find the door closed. Rushing to it, I fumbled with the doorknob. It rattled in my hand, refusing to turn.
“Hello!” I yelled, hoping someone might hear me through the heavy door. Banging fists on the door, I kept hollering, “I’ve been locked inside! Somebody?”
When I stopped after repeated attempts, my head swam. I swayed where I stood, barely catching my balance with a hand on the wall. My breath came in short wheezes, desperately trying to suck oxygen out of the air that suddenly felt tight and hot.
Suffocating.
I was suffocating.
“Help!” I screamed, voice hoarse, coughing as I collapsed to the floor next to the door. Gasping, I fought to hold my head up, hand extended to bang on the door again.
My vision blurred at the edges, fading to grey. I stared at that door as it dissipated into the void of nothing that caged me in.
Then after a few moments, there was nothing but black.
✽✽✽
Ronan
“Where’s Kaia?” I asked Alec Gaius. He exchanged a look with Gale, before glancing back at me wearily.
“I thought she was with you,” he said without concern. “She’s a big girl now, no need to worry about her.”
“Are we talking about the same woman? Kaia Shaw?” I growled. “She should be here by now.”
“Relax, Ronan. She’s late all the time,” Gale soothed, giving me a genuine smile that he meant. His hand touched my arm, an intimate gesture I didn’t welcome. As tempting as Gale might have been and as long as my attraction to him had been there, I belonged to Kaia and Alec Gaius.
“Sure. But lately, that’s because Alec Gaius and I pull her into an alcove and fuck her,” I argued, my voice raising a level. Gale blanched, pulling his hand away from mine. I didn’t have time to worry about his feelings. There was no way he could have not known that Kaia was mine. “I’m going to look for her.”
“I think you’re overreacting,�
� Alec Gaius soothed, giving me his little seductive smile he was so confident would distract me. I snarled at him, turning from the room to find my woman. I knew something was wrong. I could feel it. She knew how much I hated it when she wandered off on her own after I’d punished her for leaving my bed that first night she’d been with Alec and I.
Her room wasn’t too far, so I made my way there. She was so tired lately, working so hard and then barely able to keep up with the demands Alec Gaius and I put on her. I should have let her sleep more, but I just couldn’t keep my hands off either of them.
I knocked on the door with jarring pounds that sounded harsh even to me.
“Ronan, what-” Lottie stared at me once she wrenched the door open. I was just grateful she’d answered the door before I broke it down, which I had not been far from doing. I pushed my way into the room, feeling feral with the worry nagging at me.
“She’s not here?”
“Kaia? No. She left some time ago, said she had to train.” Lottie’s eyes widened as I stalked back out the door without another word.
“Kaia!” I yelled, ignoring the eyes of other students milling about as I moved back to the main part of the building. I passed classroom after classroom, peering in open doors as I went. The Air Wielding door was locked, but a quick peek revealed that she wasn’t there. Something drew me to the room beside it - the locked door to the Oxygen Deprivation room looked particularly ominous. My heart gave a hard thud before speeding up.
The logical part of me knew there was little to no chance she’d gotten herself in there, but I thanked Zeevar that Air Disciples were granted free access to the room as a swirl of red light from my right hand wrapped around the door handle. I heard the lock click and, pushing it open, my heart stopped at the sight of Kaia’s little body curled up on the floor. I hurried to her, hefting her up and throwing her over my shoulder without any hesitation. I ran out, far enough away from the oxygen void of the room, even going so far as practically jumping down a flight of stairs.