A Familiar Magic, page 22
After another tension fueled minute, I heard his footsteps recede at a steady trot. Lincoln wasted no time. His hips pinned mine against the table and I threw my hands up between us, pushing back. His chest was hard beneath my palms, muscles flexing in a way that sent off alarm bells in my head.
“What the hell, asshole.” I stiffened and pushed harder, but it was like trying to move a boulder. Uphill. This wasn’t a fight. As I struggled against him, his true intentions became more prominent. I gagged.
“We both know there isn’t a witch on this campus that will choose you. But you won’t be alone for long,” he crooned, and pressed harder with his hips. The air left me between clenched teeth and my stomach turned. “With your bloodline and my scores, the Council will approve you as my mate in a heartbeat.”
Now I was really going to throw up. “Both parties have to be interested, you sick bastard. And I find you sorely lacking.”
He wrapped a meaty fist around my wrist and squeezed, crushing the delicate bones together. I held back my yelp but could do nothing as he forced our hands down his body.
“Maybe after a little taste, you’ll see how far from lacking I truly am.”
Vomit hit the back of my mouth as our hands kept moving. He had a solid grip on my sore arm and each struggle started and ended with sharp pains as my scabs pulled at the stitches.
“No.” I ignored my throbbing shoulder and fought harder, our hands now at his belt.
He gave a quick jerk of his hips and I saw red. Claws punctured his shirt and skin and he released me with a curse. His throat was wide open. Exposed. I could almost taste the blood in my mouth as my inner cat curled to pounce. My swing stopped midair; claws pointed at the pulsing artery right below his jaw. Lincoln swallowed, too scared to move.
“I think a simple ‘no’ should have sufficed, don’t you?” Auden stood at the cafeteria doors and casually strolled closer. Bast’s head peeked around the corner behind him but darted away when the prince gave him a nod. I thanked every lucky star that Bast hadn’t listened to me.
Auden was breathing hard, the rise and fall of his chest the only sign of his temper as he shoved Lincoln away from me. Auden whispered something in Lincoln’s ear that made him blanche, all the color draining out of him before he took off without a look back. Auden turned to me next, taking in my claws still suspended in the air.
My face heated. “I know how it must look.” My hand suddenly dropped, and I fell forward, catching myself on a chair.
“Like you were about to murder the boy molesting you and cheer in victory?” He snapped, temper still barely in check. Did he blame me?
“You forgot the part where I dance a jig on his cooling corpse,” I snapped back.
Auden sighed, the anger leaving his features. “Are you okay?” I nodded, my cheeks still burning with humiliation. His fingers were gentle on my chin, but a muscle feathered in his jaw as he tilted his head. “None of that was your fault. You know that, right?”
I said nothing. It wasn’t my fault Lincoln was a sick fuck, but it was my fault for poking at his anger and then failing to defend against it. I’d gotten cocky, thinking I could pick a fight and there wouldn’t be consequences. Lincoln wasn’t Braxton; human boys were nothing compared to the strength of a pissed off shifter. A lesson I wouldn’t be forgetting any time soon.
“Kaya—” The pity in his voice was more than I could take and embarrassment made my blush linger a little longer.
“I have to get to class,” I whispered, and Auden let me go.
“I’m here if you need to talk, Kaya. Always.”
Lunch was hardly better than breakfast, and it too got off to a rocky start. Neither one of us wanted to go back to the cafeteria, so Bast skipped Fox’s class and we went to a café on the edge of town. It was my first time being so close to the settlement in years. It was very different from the Ruling Island and that only made me like it more. Rather than landscaping and grand homes, the people of the community used the swamp around them to decide the shapes of their homes. Houses were built with water resistant wood, sealed tight against the constant moisture. No trees were knocked down to create yards, instead the homes were built into and around them until they became one cohesive unit. Sometimes you couldn’t see the home until you were right on top of it. It was a different kind of beauty. One I preferred. But ugly could be found even in the midst of such artistry and this café owner was the blight on an otherwise picturesque part of town. I threw a fit, threatening the ornery shifter to within an inch of his life, but he refused to let Bast inside.
“Just let it go,” Bast pleaded. “It’s not a big deal.”
I tore myself from his grip and took another threatening step toward the owner. “No. I want him to say it again. I want him to give me a reason to give my father why this restaurant insulted his daughter and her friend!”
The owner looked sick at the mention of my father, but Bast was too tender hearted to let me act on his fear. The owner offered our food to go and Bast accepted before I could spit more curses.
“Would your father actually do anything?” He asked after we left, making himself comfortable on the spongy ground where we decided to settle.
I snorted. “Hell no. But the owner didn’t know that.”
His deep laugh helped calm me more and the prejudiced shifter was soon forgotten. The sunny day was stifling, but peaceful under the canopy of mossy trees. Bast and I joked and teased, quickly healing the wounds left behind from the past few days and growing closer in our friendship. He told me about his father in whispers and halted sentences. About how his mom fell in love with a passing Creole shapeshifter, a Rougarou, that to this day he’d never met. He shared his dreams of meeting him one day and leaving this lonely island behind him.
“When you go, take me with you.” I was only partially teasing.
“As if your father would let you go again.”
Silence overwhelmed us. I’d already filled Bast in on that last encounter went and apologized for blowing him off when he came to my door. He was more than understanding, claiming his mother wasn’t a big fan of my father either.
“She still resents him and the rest of the Council for not protecting us. He practically encouraged our ostracism.”
“Trust me, I’m not surprised,” I pushed my food around in its box. “I am sorry, though. Maybe you can petition the king?”
Bast choked on his drink. “The king?” He sputtered. “The royal family is worse.”
I frowned. “Asiel is a dick, there’s no denying that. And he has the king’s ear. But Auden would help; I’m sure of it.”
Auden was nothing like his older brother and the king listened to him when he was passionate about something. Just look at me and my situation. I’d be rotting in a prison cell or halfway through a mating arrangement right now if it weren’t for him.
I shooed away Bast’s objections. “Oh, come on! You have no problem calling him hot every other day.”
Bast grinned, unapologetic. “I don’t have to like him to appreciate how fine he is.”
“It really is hard not to notice,” I admitted.
We walked back to campus at a brisk pace. The hot prince in question was waiting for me for our next training session. Butterflies danced in my stomach, and I couldn’t stop them. Bast’s talk of his hair, his chiseled jaw, the one time he saw him shirtless…how could I not be distracted?
“You probably wouldn’t have to try too hard.”
“What?” I’d zoned out, missing what Bast was trying to convince me of.
“To seduce him,” he declared, growing smug at my blush. “You spend all that time alone together. Sweating. Grabbing. Twisting around each other’s bod—”
My hands covered his mouth. “I get the picture.”
Bast licked my palm and danced away from my answering swing. He wiggled his eyebrows and shimmied his hips, dancing in a circle around me while I tried not to laugh.
“I doubt it would work,” I tried to trip him, but he hopped over my leg. “It’s hard to seduce someone who’s already seen you without your shirt on. If that didn’t do it, I don’t know what would.”
“What?” Bast shouted and slammed into me. He gripped my shoulders and shook. “He saw your bubbies?”
“My what?” I detangled myself with a laugh.
“Your Bongos. Bumpers. Blorps.” He frowned. “Your boobs, woman. When were you going to share with me that he saw you topless?”
My laughter dried up as Bast’s glee grew. I reluctantly told him about what happened after the Shade attack, how Auden took care of my injuries to keep me out of the infirmary. The memory relaunched the heart-stopping nerves I’d buried, and I groaned, the residual embarrassment returning. How was I supposed to face him in training now?
“Did he kiss you?” Bast asked.
“No!” I rolled my eyes. “Don’t you think I’d have said that first?”
“Do you want him to?”
I glared and he laughed. Cheeky bastard.
“I bet he’s better than any boy you’ve lip locked with when you were on the outside.”
My eyes widened at the dark gaze dancing over Bast’s shoulder. The corner of Auden’s mouth quirked up as he tried and failed not to grin. He held a finger to his lips and crossed his arms, settling in to hear Bast’s interrogation of my kissing history. My face was on fire, and I shook my head.
“Oh, well it’s okay if you haven’t,” he continued. “I’m a little shocked, but we all have to start somewhere.”
“That’s not what I…What I mean…I…” How did I explain to Bast that I’d never had the chance to kiss anyone yet? Braxton’s sloppy assault the night Auden found me didn’t count.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” Bast was still clueless to the presence behind him. And Auden’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter. “Maybe your sexy prince can be your first.”
Fuck. Me.
“First what?” Auden stepped beside Bast who shot up with a squeak.
“Nothing,” he muttered, turning to me with wide eyes.
I glared at them both before turning around and running inside the girl’s dorm. Auden’s chuckles followed me all the way to the attic where we set up the training mats in silence, mostly because I ignored him. I felt him watching me as we moved around one another, like an awkward dance where I tried not to look at my partner.
“So, have you?” Auden broke the ice and walked closer to help me as I struggled to roll the punching bag into place.
“Have I what?” I was out of breath, and not only from the strain of the bag.
“Have you been kissed before?”
I took a deep breath and stopped, facing him. “Yes.”
His eyes narrowed and inside I smiled with glee. Wasn’t expecting that, was he?
“Who?” He challenged, scanning my face for any hint that I was lying, but I wasn’t.
“Asher,” I smirked. “You should remember. You dared us to do it.”
“That didn’t count,” he tsked, stepping closer, his confident smirk back in place. “It wasn’t a real kiss.”
I bumped into the bag behind me, not realizing the cat and mouse game Auden was leading. But now, with the bag at my shoulders and Auden only inches away in front of me, I was all too aware. I tried to pretend I was unruffled by our current position.
“Please. What constitutes a real kiss?”
Auden slowly, deliberately, closed the small distance between us, grinning playfully. He leaned down, as if he was about to share a secret. I hardly dared to breathe.
“I can show you if you like.”
I cleared my throat; eyes darting toward the door and warily took a step backward. My last one. There was no more room. Auden’s grin turned lopsided as he moved in.
“Where are you going?”
I swallowed. “Nowhere.”
“Hmm.” His hand gripped my hip with slender fingers as he took that last step, his focus dropping down to my lips. A growl sounded deep in his throat as he tilted his head, and his nose skimmed my cheek. His other hand rested by my head, effectively caging me in. My body shook. Liquid heat pooled in my stomach. Lower. My inner cat purred, loving where this was going. But I…oh damn. Auden’s breath was a warm caress on my ear.
“I’d love to be your first.”
I ducked under his arm so fast he face-planted into the bag. I was away from him and on the other side of the room when his laughter reached me.
“I guess that’s a no.”
What was I thinking? I’d almost kissed Auden. Auden. My best friend’s older brother. A prince. The guy responsible for bringing me back here. The only one standing between me and repopulation. The one who wouldn’t hesitate to revoke his protection and throw me in prison if he learned the truth. I killed his baby brother.
“Hey, relax,” He called from the other side of the mats. “I’m not mad.”
I shook my head, not knowing where to go from here. He must have sensed my panic because he raised his hands and called me over with a challenging smirk.
“I promise not to do it again,” he swore, then crooked his finger, smug smile gone and replaced with his serious face. “Come on. Let’s train.”
chapter twenty-one
Raindrops made little ripples on the surface of the otherwise still water and tall grass rolled with each gust of wind that shook the treehouse. I scooched further from the window and the impending monsoon. It was that time of year; thunderstorms hit the bayou every afternoon, causing the water to swell and flood, then recede just as fast as it came. Sitting in a waterlogged, wooden box in the trees wasn’t the smartest idea when there was lightning around, but I’d been hiding here since breakfast and still couldn’t bring myself to leave. Asher was everywhere I looked.
Stacks of books lined all four walls of our childhood hideaway. The broken desk in the corner, the one that took us ages to get up here, was littered with Asher’s methodical notes and my raunchy drawings. An old pair of shoes and his spare set of glasses. Cards frozen in an unfinished game, held captive under a layer of dust and mold. Our initials were carved into the massive tree trunk that pierced the center of the room and I ran my fingers over the grooves, remembering. It hurt to be here. Hurt so much I nearly had a panic attack when I first climbed inside. But now it was easier.
I thought I needed to avoid anything and everything that reminded me of him. Out of sight out of mind. It served me well these past four years, but I realized now how wrong I was. Was it painful to remember his smile? To look upon his notes and bookmarked pages all waiting for the day he would never return to them? Hell yes. It felt like being gutted by a serrated knife. But Asher didn’t deserve to be forgotten. He deserved every tear his memory caused, and every smile. I hadn’t planned on coming out here. In fact, I swore to avoid our clubhouse even under the threat of death, but who was I kidding. I was always going to end up here eventually. I blamed a certain dark-haired witch for my impromptu trip today.
I hadn’t seen Auden in two days. He was out on some scouting mission he didn’t bother to tell me about. Not that I was missing him. And it didn’t piss me off that he hadn’t at least given me a heads up that he’d be gone for a while. Not at all. That fact that the last time I saw him, he was offering to give me my first kiss–which I said no to, but still, a girl could change her mind–
Wait. No.
I shook my head to try and keep that visual at bay. Dammit. Damn him and that devilish grin. And those warm eyes that seemed to look right through you. And his hands. Who knew that long fingers could be so attractive? Especially when they gripped your hips and–
Fuck!
I groaned and my head thunked on the wall behind me. Neither could be heard over the dying storm outside, so I let out a little scream instead. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? I got over my crush on Auden years ago. So then why did he affect me this way? It’s not like there could ever be anything between us. Relationships between our peoples happened all the time, but a child between the two always resulted in another shifter. That meant a relationship between me and Auden was a no-no. I wasn’t saying I wanted Auden’s babies, but I also didn’t go around making it a habit to dream about boys I couldn’t have a future with. Not that I dreamed of Auden.
Shit.
A relationship with Auden was not happening. He needed to make little Wardwell babies to carry on his line and besides…there was the whole I killed his brother thing to get over.
“I’m questioning your intelligence if you think it’s smart to be in a treehouse during a thunderstorm.”
Speaking of Wardwell witches. The one insulting me from below was the only brother I actually wished a gruesome and painful ending for. Asiel. How did he find me?
“What do you want?” I called down, peering through the hole in the floor. The evil prince scowled and folded his arms, the unspoken threat zinging in the air between us. I slid down the rope and landed in front of him, choosing to confront him down here rather than risk tarnishing the memories held above. “What are you doing here, Asiel?” I tried to appear nonchalant, but it was hard to hide the nerves in my tone. He rose a delicate brow and my palms began to sweat, even as I glared. “What are you doing here, Your Highness?”
“Much better,” he purred. “Can’t a guy come check up on his little brother’s plaything while he’s away?”
I saw red. “Plaything?”
The rope I still held, flimsy as it seemed, I knew would be strong enough to wring Asiel’s delicate neck.
He flicked a finger at me. “You do play together every day, do you not?”
My hand twisted around the rope until fibers dug into my skin. “We’re training,” I managed to get out through gritted teeth.
I released my weapon and turned away. I was dangerously close to treason. Again. But this time, there would be no second chances. If I attacked Asiel, I was done for. I needed to remove myself from the situation before I did something I would regret. See, I could be mature. My foot caught in a mud pocket and my arms flailed. The scabs around my stitches tore and my ankle twisted. I moved to step with my other foot and looked back to see it stuck as well. Except…there was no mud around it. One tug. Two.
