by Jarica James
"Which room? I can take you up there," I offered, though my stomach gave another growl. "On second thought, let me grab a banana or something from the cafeteria, then I'll take you up there. I'm starving, and it's right here. I'm Lennox, by the way." She laughed at my whining and piled up her bags next to the wall.
"Lead the way, I never say no to food. And I'm Dhara," her answering smile was brilliant, showcasing perfectly white teeth accented by two adorable dimples. Her blonde hair was twisted up into one of those messy buns that some girls make look fantastic, accented with a glittery headband. Her chunky sweater and leggings, complete with brown winter boots was simple, but she looked fantastic. Gah, why can't I be this cute? With the goth look I was rocking for the day, we looked like complete opposites.
The cafeteria was empty, but they had muffins for breakfast. Nothing lasted long at this school, especially thanks to the group of guys that were loading up on the leftovers the staff set on one of the long tables. Seeing two more chocolate muffins on the opposite side of them, I dashed forward and snatched them for myself, earning groans from the others. At least they didn't fall into their old ways and ridicule me for it. This new side of life was weird to me still.
"You like chocolate?" I asked triumphantly, holding up the second one.
"Is that a trick question?" she teased, grabbing it out of my hands. I grabbed two bananas and two bottles of milk, before letting her lead me to a nearby table. We both plopped down on some chairs and dug in, not speaking for a moment.
"So, where are you from?" I asked, starting the conversation. She began to answer, then stopped herself and thought for a moment. Weird, it wasn't a hard question.
"I'm originally from California, then moved to Vegas. My dad is in... the military, so we moved a lot," she explained, stumbling over the words for a moment, then brushing it off.
"Well, welcome to Obsidian Cove Prep!" I said brightly, trying to help ease her obvious nerves. She smiled with relief, before pulling out a piece of paper.
"It says I'm in room 34A?" she read aloud, sliding over the paper that had her schedule, room assignment, and locker number.
"Ah, that's my old room, I recently got switched to a different one," I said quickly, not bothering to mention the asshole roommate, since she likely would have a different experience with her. Looking over her schedule, I noticed we had an almost identical one, only one class was different. "We have the same classes too."
"Oh thank god! I really didn't want to go through that awkward, 'I don't know anyone, where the fuck do I sit' panic that always hits," she said excitedly. "Thanks for not being an asshole. The new girl usually gets picked on for a bit, and I'm the new girl a whole lot."
"Of course. I was picked on for three years here, but thankfully my bullies got suspended recently. Now it's like an entirely different school," I reassured her, not wanting her to think she would get the same shit here.
"There you are, Doll," Evander's smooth voice wafted over to me. I looked up and smiled as he kissed me on the top of my head, before he hurried over to the buffet line to snag some food.
"Oh, your boyfriend is cute!" she hissed, giving me an exaggerated eyebrow wiggle that had me almost snorting milk out of my nose.
"Thanks, he is a cutie. But we aren't official yet, just trying out dating first," I fumbled over the explanation, not sure how to explain what we all were.
"Morning," Calev's deep voice rolled over me, a blush coloring my cheeks at the sound alone. The others trailed in behind him, their smiles already in place. Each one took turns giving my shoulder a squeeze, or a kiss on the head, or something in the way of a greeting. This new phase of openly touching and flirting was nice, but now my panic was welling up inside of me, wondering what this girl would think. When they were all occupied, she leaned in closer to me, her eyes lighting up excitedly.
"Wait, you're dating them all?" she whispered, clapping her hands quietly. "You're one lucky girl! Did you leave any hotties for the rest of us?!"
They all looked over when I snorted out a laugh, but turned back to the food quickly. "Probably not," I said honestly, feeling a bit possessive of my guys. They hurried over to join us with their selections, dropping into seats around us and digging in. The only one hesitating was Aeson, who looked oddly uncomfortable. Dhara seemed to pick up on it too, because she started to fidget in her seat and steal glances at him.
"Who might this be?" Tristan asked, his usual friendly smile in place, easing some of the tension. My eyes picked up the slight tightness around his eyes. I wonder what his deal is?
"This is Dhara, she just moved here and is taking my old room," I explained, "I ran into her, literally, on my way down here."
"Nice to meet you," he said, his easy grin still in place, but a tenseness in his jaw. "This is Aeson, Evander, Calev, and Lachlan. I’m Tristan."
"Nice to meet you guys, too," she said brightly, throwing her trash away in a nearby trash can.
'What the fuck is going on, and why are you being weird?' I thought to Tristan, the others’ voices drifting into my mind as he opened the mental link up again.
'I recognize her. Her parents are part of a supernatural faction known as the Citrine Commanders. They're trained at Citrine Island Academy. It's further north from us, but their reach is expansive. They try to claim they're the good guys, but every time they try to 'help', disaster follows,' Aeson's usual smooth voice was edged in frustration.
'Why would she be here?' Evander questioned before turning to her. "How long have you been in town? Got to see any of the sights yet?" She looked relieved at the simple question. Great, now I'm going to side eye everything she says and does.
'The same reason we were sent here... Lennox,' Calev said like it was obvious. Fuck, probably because of all of our recent abilities testing.
'What kind of radar is in place to find people like me?' I asked quickly, but it had been something I'd meant to ask for a while.
'It's a magical sensor that detects low level bursts of magic. If it triggers in one place more than a handful of times, they send someone out to retrieve the person before the humans find out,' Tristan explained. ‘Untrained supes can be volatile.’
"I'm a military brat, so we moved around a lot. But I’m most recently from Vegas," she explained, bringing us back out of our heads.
"Must be quite the temperature change," Tristan joked. Despite the teasing tone, he wasn't kidding. It was snowing today, and I'm sure Vegas was still hot.
"Yes, but I hate the heat. Give me spring or fall, and I'm a happy girl," she said with a laugh, before giving me a tight smile. "Can you still show me to my room?"
"Of course. I'll be right back, guys," I said, standing up and following her back to her bags. I grabbed two of them, leaving the other two for her, before leading her upstairs. We were quiet for most of the walk, my mind trying to process everything I'd just learned. I’d just assumed that Obsidian Cove’s Academy was the only big school, and that all supes lived over on the island. Now that I thought further, that would be silly. No way every supernatural in the entire world ended up here.
"Sorry I'm so socially awkward, I don't know how to 'people' well," she mumbled as we came to a stop.
"Same, no worries," I said with a quick smile, pointing to the door we’d stopped in front of. She pulled out a key and started to put it in the door, when it flew open.
"What are you doing here?" Cierra asked, her familiar sneer in place. Poor Dhara will have fun with her.
"Bringing your new roommate up here," I shot back, holding back an eye roll. Glad to know she didn't get the 'we don't hate Lennox anymore' memo.
"Hey! I'm Dhara." She gave a small wave and stepped around me, plopping the bags on the floor. Cierra moved back and out of the way, letting Dhara through to set her stuff down. Unfortunately, Cierra had taken over the entire room. No wonder she was pissy, now she has to clean and move all her shit back.
"Good luck," I said quickly, waving and hurrying back downstairs. I w
anted to put as much distance as possible between me and Cierra.
"Where's the fire, little Psycho?" Calev teased as I ran completely past them. Whoops.
"Did she say anything?" Aeson questioned, the coldness still in his tone.
"No," I replied tentatively, hating how weird he sounded. "But I think you guys should explain this a bit more."
"Yeah, agreed. Go for a drive, or stay in our room?" Lachlan asked, stepping around and pulling me to his side. His hand wound absently in my hair, and my thoughts derailed at the feel of his strong arms around me, making me wonder what his muscles looked like under those baggy clothes of his.
"Let's get out of here," I said quickly, wrapping my arm around his back and turning us toward the front door.
"Don't we need wallets and keys and shit?" Calev snorted, laughing at my quick retreat.
"Some of us come prepared," I shot back, pulling my wallet out of my pocket and holding it up. Having a shit roommate taught me pretty early on not to leave that kind of stuff behind. "Old habits die hard."
"I got it," Evander laughed at the others’ sheepish expressions, taking off at a sprint that was clearly slowed down for the humans’ sake. I'd seen him run faster. However, he was back within two minutes, a stack of wallets and phones in his hand.
"Now can we go?" I whined impatiently, desperately needing a change. Cierra's not so warm welcome had me itching to get out before my old anxiety flared back up.
"Yes," Aeson said, grabbing my free hand and pulling me, and in turn Lachlan, away swiftly. We were all outside and hastily buckled into their SUV quickly, pushing the boundaries of how fast we should move with so many witnesses. Apparently the guys all needed a break as well.
"Alright, let's do the explanation in the car. I don't trust this place anymore, and I doubt they sent one girl all alone. Unless they're that fucking dumb. This is our territory," Aeson bit out, clearly still not over it.
"Turf wars?" I snorted, "That's not something I expected from the Supernaturals.”
"How could you not? As a whole, we are possessive, instinctual, and territorial as fuck. Shifters are some of the worst, if you hadn’t noticed," Lachlan said, nuzzling into my neck. Now that he pointed it out, Lachlan and Calev both surprised me with how quickly they settled in with me, both of them always touching me.
"They're not the only ones. Vampires aren't quite as instinctual, but mine claimed you right away," Evander said unapologetically. "You're mine now." His possessive words had heat flooding me, and for some reason, that turned me on even more. There's something super hot about a dominating man.
"Oh, just wait then," Tristan said, giving me a heated look and a sly smirk. Fuck, I have to watch my thoughts. Why can't I block them out?!
Lachlan chuckled and glanced over at Tristan. "What's she thinking about?"
"I'll keep that little thought to myself," he teased, leaning back with a smug smile and a slight bulge in his jeans.
"Fucker," Lachlan joked back, giving me a wink to show he wasn't really angry. "Okay, explanation. We're off task."
"Oh, yeah. So, the supernatural community has several academies that are always named after their location. So, we are Obsidian Cove Supernatural Academy, and our team of elites are called the Obsidian Warriors. They're our government per se. All major factions have a member or two on our collective council, but we each run our own areas. The council is in place for major issues, or to be an 'impartial' third party if war breaks out," Aeson explained.
Tristan picked up where Aeson left off. "Now, the United States alone has five. Obsidian, Citrine, Diamond, Lapis, and Emerald. Two on each coast, and one in the midwest. Our people can move freely, but we require that they register with their new faction, to keep an accurate census of our people. Each area also has a magical radar to pick up the stragglers that have been hidden away."
Calev joined in on the explaining, his darkening eyes putting me on edge. "Which means your parents either had a good or bad reason for tucking you away like they did. We really need to track down your adoptive parents, or search their online correspondence. Did they act weird about the mail or anything?"
"Not really. The staff always got it, but I wasn't allowed to go in my adoptive father's office. He was kind of secretive about it," I said, my eyebrows furrowing as I tried to remember if they ever had guests over or anything. My eyes started to widen when I triggered an old memory. "Now that you mention it...when I was around seven, before I moved to this school, a group of people came to our house. The servants announced them while my mother and I were downstairs. Father barreled down the stairs and ordered us to go up. Even though I begged her not to, Mother closed me in my room, with the threat of grounding me if I even dared to come out. I tried to listen, but I didn't catch the conversation. Eventually, they started yelling, and I caught snippets of them talking about 'her', which I assumed was me. They left when the police showed up, my parents claiming there was a possible home invasion and quieting the staff. After that, the driver took me to school instead of giving me the freedom to walk."
Evander's eyes narrowed as my story went on, "I bet that was the 'father' she mentioned in your letter. Possibly others? I'm not sure. We'll look into it more, as soon as you let us take you back to the island."
"Soon. I just don't want to be an outsider," I mumbled. Before I could say more, Calev picked up speed, and everyone around me tensed.
"We've got a tail," he mumbled, our heads whipping around to spot the white car that was following us through every turn and lane change.
"They're keeping distance. Trying to just watch and observe, I bet," Lachlan noted, holding me a bit tighter.
"Don't worry, they won't get to you," Evander growled out, reaching back and giving my knee a squeeze. Their touches kept me from freaking out too badly, but my heart pounded in my chest. Just how dangerous would this new life be?
"If they were simply here to find the source of the abilities, then why would they trail us?" I asked, pointing out the obvious. It didn't add up, so there had to be more to this story.
"I'm assuming she called them in. I'm sure she read all of our powers too, but you probably seemed oblivious, so she assumed you didn't know what you are, or even what we are. She probably thinks we are overstepping our bounds, or that they'll lose you to us, so they're upping security," Calev answered, his eyes flicking from the windshield to the mirror to watch them.
"Well, fuck them. No supernatural is ever forced to go with one or the other. It's their choice, not the government. The council would flip if they found out they forced people to their territory," Aeson fumed.
"Aeson, why do you hate them?" I asked softly, reaching out and taking his hand again. His eyes softened as they met mine, but a sadness was clear in their depths.
"There was a turf war between our two territories a while back. I was maybe ten at the time. Something about a spy, or something, set it off. My brother's team was attacked while defending the border, and he died protecting the others while reinforcements came. I don't trust them at all; nobody needed to die over a land dispute. Not to mention, if a spy got caught, it should have been a high council issue. Not handled by everyday soldiers," he explained, a glossy sheen to his eyes as he held back tears. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I crawled over to him, sitting in his lap and wrapping my arms around his neck.
"I'm so sorry," is all I could find to say. I didn’t want to make it worse, but I wanted to hold him until his sadness passed a little. He grasped me tightly, his arms wrapping around my waist as he held me close.
"Thanks, babe," he said softly, his voice wavering for a moment. The car remained silent, until it finally came to a stop. I had been so caught up in Aeson’s story, that I hadn’t even seen where they’d taken me.
"The zoo?" I questioned, a bit confused, but also not complaining. Who doesn't love the zoo?!
Tristan laughed at my thoughts, before he explained. "It'll be populated, so no chance of them approaching us. Let me call the dean really q
uick, before we get out." He pulled out his phone and waited for a moment before someone picked up. "Hey Dean Warrick, it's Tristan. We've got a problem. Someone from the Citrine Knights is here at the school. We left and were trailed, and we haven't fully secured the target yet. We've narrowed it down but no outward abilities have shown yet, she's a late bloomer." He was quiet for a few moments before hanging up with a ”Yes, sir.”
"So?" Calev questioned after Tristan got off the phone, unbuckling and turning in his seat now that he was parked.
"He said to lay low, keep observing, or even nudge her along. And that they'll send a detail to watch outside of the school for backup. He'll message us the car identification and names soon, so we will know who to watch for. He also didn’t sound convinced about us not knowing. I’m guessing the school board mentioned we were with her," he explained with a sigh.
"I'm sorry, guys. I didn't mean for this to happen. Should we just head back now?" I asked in a defeated tone. I wasn't going to put them at risk over this.
"No,” Calev said quickly, his eyes unfocused while he thought over everything. “I'd like to know how their radars picked you up this far out, and why Dhara's really here. I think we should let you talk to her. We'll always be nearby though," he added, his eyes studying me for my reaction.
"Not to mention, there's still some more magic in there you haven't unlocked. You're not a full siren, and I'd rather us know more, before subjecting you to the testing they'd want to do. Not that it'd be bad, just invasive," Aeson explained, his magic glowing as he talked. His eyes were faraway as his magic moved over me. The tingling over my skin picked up as it spread, a soft warmth enveloping me as he scanned my magic. "There's something more there than there was before, and I think it's close to the surface, and powerful. Far more powerful than your siren magic." He gave a soft shudder as he pulled his magic back to him.
