Dragon Conjurer 5, page 8
Damn, this girl was a Japanese badass.
The deep rumbling sound of Nick’s stomach broke the tense silence that had fallen in the room.
“Must be time for second breakfast,” Steffi laughed.
“Yeah, I’m getting pretty hungry,” the blond nymph admitted.
“I am quite famished myself,” Ronin admitted. “I have not eaten properly since we left MAJK.”
“Well, whose fault is that?” Phoenix teased his sister and gestured toward the door. “The other Japanese cadets are in the cafeteria, we should join them for a meal.”
“We should,” I agreed. “I’ve only eaten a peach because I had to go meet with one of our scientists first thing this morning, but I’d love a real breakfast and to meet your other teammates.”
“That sounds good,” Nala said with a smile. “I’m curious to meet them, too.”
“What are we waiting for?” Nick chuckled as he marched over to the door and held it open for all of us to file out into the hallway.
“I do not believe we will all fit on the elevator at once,” Ronin said as we walked down the hall.
“We can go in two groups,” Steffi suggested.
“I’m going down first,” Nick declared. “My blood sugar is at a perilously low level right now, and I need to eat.”
“You are eating,” Elisabeth pointed out as she smiled and pressed the elevator call button.
“This?” the nymph asked around a bite of beef jerky. “This is hardly satisfactory. This is barely a snack. A pittance, hardly fit for a house cat!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Nala chuckled as the metal doors slid silently open, and she held her arm out over the door to keep it from closing on us.
“Go ahead down,” I said to Steffi after Nala, Nick, Elisabeth, and Phoenix piled into the elevator.
“We’ll wait for the next one.” Ronin nodded in agreement.
“Okay.” Steffi smiled knowingly at me and stepped onto the elevator.
“Good plan.” Nick smirked at me. “Let go of the door, Pipsqueak, I need sustenance.”
“See you in a minute,” Nala said with a sly smile, and she pulled her arm away so the metal doors could slide closed again.
I heard the elevator cables turn as the rest of my team rode down to the lower level. I stood in silence beside the Japanese beauty, entirely unsure of what to say, while thoughts of pressing my mouth against her sweet lips spun through my mind.
“Dylan.” Ronin’s voice was quiet when she spoke.
“Yeah?” I turned to face the Samurai warrior and was struck again at how fiercely beautiful she was. Her dark eyebrows slanted perfectly above her almond eyes, and her cute nose was the exact right size and straightness to compliment her too-full upper lip.
“It is very good to see you.” Ronin’s dark eyes sparkled as she gazed up at me, and a pretty blush spread across her lightly-freckled cheeks.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I said as the elevator doors finally opened. “Ladies, first.”
“Arigato.” The Japanese girl stepped onto the elevator and leaned back against the wall in the first relaxed position I’d ever seen her take.
I stepped onto the elevator with her and hesitated while the door closed. The air between us in the enclosed space almost sizzled with tension, and I didn’t want it to end.
“Ronin,” I sighed. “I--”
“Yes?” the dark-haired beauty stepped toward me expectantly.
Looking into her eyes so close like this reminded me how long it had been since we’d stood face to face, and I wondered if I was about to overstep my bounds here. The truth was, I’d missed her a lot, and I was practically exploding with excitement at seeing her again, but Ronin had only just arrived. I knew she was a reserved girl, too, and I really wasn’t sure how she felt about me these days, so I didn’t want to make the wrong move at the wrong time.
“Sorry.” I shook my head as I pushed the thought of wrapping my arms around her slender waist out of my head, and I turned to reach for the button to bring us down to the cafeteria. “Never mind.”
“No,” Ronin said firmly, and she took hold of my wrist to keep me from pressing the button. “What were you going to say?”
“I was just going to…” I fumbled for words and tried to decide if action was a better option in this situation.
The tension between us could be cut with a knife, and I’d spent enough time with beautiful girls lately to know damn well I wasn’t imagining all of this. Ronin’s gaze was sharp and direct, and she hadn’t let go of my wrist. She was only about five inches from me, and she looked up into my eyes with a completely open expression.
So, I figured I’d either enjoy a moment with Ronin or I’d end up with a slap to the face, but there was only one way to find out.
I stared into Ronin’s eyes and noticed there were delightful flecks of copper in her black-brown irises. I hesitated a second longer before I gently laid a hand on her face, and as Ronin released my other wrist, I wrapped my free arm around her waist to pull her close to me. I moved painfully slow and gave her every chance to pull away or tell me to stop, but the Japanese girl just looked up at me from under thick black lashes without saying a word.
Ronin’s warm breath fanned across my face, and her pink tongue poked out to lick at her lips as I closed the distance between us.
Heat spread slowly through my veins as I finally pressed my mouth to hers, and Ronin’s lips were soft and supple as she opened her mouth to touch her tongue against mine. I was instantly warring against an erection, and I knew the Japanese girl had to be able to tell how turned on she’d made me.
But the stoic, Samurai warrior didn’t seem to mind at all.
“Mmm,” Ronin hummed into my mouth as she arched her lower back and rubbed her hips against my erection.
My hold on her instinctively tightened, and I wove my fingers in her long black hair as I delved my tongue deeper into her sweet mouth.
For a reserved girl, Ronin certainly knew how to kiss, and she kissed me passionately for several long seconds before she pulled away looking quite pleased with herself.
“It took you way too long to do that,” Ronin said as she leaned into me and reached over to press the button for the second floor. “But it was worth waiting for.”
“Too long?” I chuckled, and I stroked her hair back over her shoulder while I held her in my arms. “I just saw you for the first time in months, like, ten minutes ago?”
“Yes, and I wanted to jump into your arms the moment I looked at you,” Ronin admitted. “I have thought about you every day since you left Japan.”
I swallowed hard as I gazed into her stoic eyes, and there was a glitter of adoration in her dark irises that made my heart beat heavier in my chest.
“I’ve missed you so much,” I finally told her. “I didn’t know how long it would be before I got to see you again, and I wasn’t sure if--”
Ronin silenced me by placing a soft kiss on my lips again, and then she sent me a tiny smile.
“I hoped you wouldn’t forget me,” she whispered.
“Impossible,” I laughed. “Ronin, you are too fucking incredible to ever forget.”
“Yes, your body seems to think so, too,” the Japanese beauty giggled softly.
“Shit,” I sighed and tried to will my raging hard-on back down before the elevator reached our destination, and I had to walk into the cafeteria.
Ronin smiled triumphantly as she stepped out of my arms so I stood a fighting chance, and then she turned toward the elevator doors and ran her fingers through her long, jet-black hair to smooth it out.
It was at that moment I knew I was in trouble with this one.
That kiss said plenty, but her pleased little smirk right now said twice as much.
I did my best to cool the fire in my blood and calm my heartbeat as the elevator finished the descent to our destination on the second floor.
The door slid open, and I took a deep, steadying breath as Ronin sauntered out into the hall.
The sound of dozens of conversations from the cafeteria reached us, and I followed behind Ronin and took the opportunity to enjoy the curve of her ass and the sway of her hips. She walked with three feet between us as if nothing had just taken place in that elevator, and when I caught up to her, she sent me a completely casual nod.
Definitely trouble. The best kind.
“There you guys are,” Nick called as he exited the cafeteria line with an overflowing tray of food. Phoenix stood beside him holding his own tray. “The girls are still in line. We’re going to go sit with the other Japanese cadets.”
“Okay,” I managed to say in a normal tone.
“We will join you shortly,” Ronin said politely and headed off to the end of the short line.
We made our way through the line in only a few minutes. I loaded my tray with an amount of food that would have made Nick proud. It was barely ten in the morning by this point, and I still hadn’t had a proper meal yet. I chose a double bacon cheeseburger and topped it with lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayo, and I even threw on a few onion rings for good measure. Then I grabbed a banana, an apple, a bag of Garden Salsa Sun Chips, and a bottle of Vitamin water.
Ronin walked silently behind me and filled her tray with the amount of restraint I’d come to expect of the Samurai girl. She assembled a delicious-looking salad of mixed greens, shredded cheese, craisins, strips of grilled chicken, and a pile of croutons. Ronin picked up two packets of raspberry vinaigrette dressing and laid them beside her silverware. Then she hesitated a second before placing a single double chocolate chunk cookie on the corner of her plate beside her water bottle.
I cocked a teasing eyebrow at the cookie as we made our way across the crowded cafeteria.
“What?” Ronin asked with a smile. “I like sweets just as much as any girl.”
“I haven’t tried that one.” I nodded at the cookie. “Let me know if it’s any good.”
“Finally,” Nala teased as we set our trays down in the empty spaces at the two tables our teammates had pushed together. “I was starting to think you’d fallen into a black hole somewhere along the way.”
“Missed me already?” I asked with a grin.
“Always,” the dark beauty purred.
“Dylan, let me introduce our fellow MAJK cadets,” Phoenix gestured to the three straight-faced Japanese cadets who sat side by side across from me.
One female sat beside two males, and her hair was cut short into a sleek pixie style that accented her sharp features. She was of average height and build, and her pleasant face was locked into the same stern expression as her male counterparts.
The two males both had glossy black hair slicked back from their faces with enough hair gel plastered on to make me think it would take a category five hurricane to budge even a single strand. They had serious faces, and their mouths were pressed into stern frowns as they sat at the table with empty trays in front of them. Bits of crumbs and dressing were scattered across the white ceramic so I could tell they had already finished their meals. They did not look particularly pleased that Phoenix held them hostage at the table to make polite conversation with us Americans, though.
The male on the left was thicker around the chest and had a single small mole on his cheek just below his left eye. The male on the right was as slender and lean as Nick and looked like he was at least six feet tall.
“Kitsune has the ability to move at speeds in excess of Mach 5,” Phoenix said as he pointed at the tall and narrow Japanese guy.
“A speedster,” Nick chuckled and nudged my side. “How cool is that, dude?”
“Very cool.” I smiled. “Mach 5? That’s five times the speed of sound, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.” Kitsune’s face was blank as he answered in an almost robotic voice.
“And Doppelganger.” Phoenix looked at the thicker male. “Well, his name sort of speaks for itself.”
“Doppelganger?” I asked. “In a literal sense?”
“Yes.” The serious Japanese guy provided no further explanation.
“He can shift his body into the form of whatever enemy he faces,” Ronin explained.
“Oh, wow,” I gasped. “That’s really cool.”
“Sort of like El,” Steffi said and smiled brightly at the French girl. “She’s a shapeshifter, too!”
“No,” Doppelganger said sternly. “I do not control the form of my shift. I only control when I shift. It is not up to me what I shift into.”
“That sounds kind of like a pain in the ass,” Nick said around the last bite of his burger. “But it’s still super badass.”
“It is very impressive.” Ronin nodded. “His transformation is not limited by the size or density of his body.”
“What?” I asked as my face screwed up with confusion. “Like, he can shift into something really big?”
“Exactly.” Phoenix nodded. “He transformed into a manticore that was easily as large as Ky appeared to be during your Hydra fight.”
“What’s a manticore?” Nala asked, and she tapped a finger against her lips.
“It’s kind of like a griffin or a sphinx,” I explained. “It’s a Persian legend that’s supposed to have the body of a lion, wings of an eagle, and the tale of a scorpion. They’re pretty nasty if the legends are to be believed.”
“We were sent on a mission several weeks ago to dispatch a manticore that had gone feral and was terrorizing a local town,” Ronin said. “It must have been centuries old, because it was enormous.”
“I nearly lost my mind, when all of a sudden, there were two in front of me,” Phoenix chuckled and crossed his arms over his chest. “It was the first mission we’d had with Dop, so I didn’t really know what to expect.”
“Please, do not call me that,” Doppelganger said through clenched teeth. “You know I despise that bastardization of my name.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Phoenix rolled his eyes at the grim expression on the thick male’s face, and he gestured to the female cadet next. “Anyway, this is Wisp.”
“She can manipulate water and water vapor to create clouds, fog, and rain.” Ronin explained as the short-haired girl sat unblinking in her chair.
“That’s cool,” Nala said. “I can control rock and earth.”
“Two benders.” Nick smirked. “Neato. Were you part of the teams that took down the Kraken we heard about? I bet you made a big splash with water bending powers like that.”
“No,” Wisp replied with little emotion other than the distinct sound of her teeth grinding together in frustration. “My powers do not work that way.”
“Oh.” Nick’s entire face fell as the Japanese girl’s silent displeasure permeated the conversation like a bad smell.
“Wisp’s powers are more nuanced than that,” Ronin said in gentle defense of her cadet. “A little less direct.”
Wisp scowled briefly at the voluptuous Japanese girl, and I got the feeling she would prefer it if Ronin kept her explanations about the short-haired girl’s powers to a minimum.
“I can fly and talk to fairy-like creatures,” Steffi offered in an attempt to lessen the tension in the air. “And I can create magical fairy energy. I’m still working on using my energy attacks, but I’m getting stronger all the time.”
“I communicate with plants and can teleport through them,” Nick boasted. “And I’m the residence gun guy of our team, of course.”
The new Japanese cadets grimaced at that, and I remembered their cultural distaste for firearms.
“As my teammates mentioned earlier, I’m a shape shifter.” Elisabeth pulled her long red braid over her shoulder and twisted her fingers nervously around the end. “I can mostly shift into animals, but I was thinking about trying to transform into a monster that is close to a real animal’s form. Perhaps a Pegasus to start with.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Steffi smiled brightly at the French girl.
“And Dylan is our resident badass, obviously,” Nick bragged. “He’s the team leader because he’s awesome and because he’s the one with the dragons.”
“I wouldn’t be a very good leader without my awesome team.” I blushed a little under my team’s excessive praise.
“What do you two do again?” Steffi asked as she looked at Ronin and Phoenix. “My teammates told me about you guys after they came back from Japan, but I’d love to hear more about your powers. They sounded fascinating!”
“And I know nothing of your powers,” Elisabeth remarked. “Other than Nick’s declaration that you are both, what was it? ‘So fucking cool.’”
“I use astral energy to form armor and weapons,” Ronin explained as she suddenly held up a glowing white dagger in one hand. “I can extend them as far as I wish.”
“My powers are similar,” Phoenix said. “I use astral energy to create flames, and I have the ability to control how much heat they express. I use this to fly sometimes.”
“You fly?” Elisabeth asked with wide eyes.
“Yes, I use the energy I create to make wings of fire,” the Japanese dude said with a smug smile. “That is why I was named Phoenix.”
“Quite.” Kitsune glared at the tabletop. “So, if you are satisfied with the formalities, Doppelganger, Wisp, and I are going to train now.”
“Are you sure?” Phoenix asked. “I was going to ask Dylan to give us a tour around the campus.”
“We are not here to socialize,” Doppelganger grumbled as he stood from the table. “We are here to train.”
“There is no time for your silly fraternizing, Phoenix,” Wisp declared as she rose to her feet. “Just because you have Ronin under your thumb do not think we will follow your every command.”
“Whatever,” the chill astral dude rolled his eyes at his fellow Japanese cadets who were far too serious for my liking. “Don’t wear yourselves out. I told Headmaster Burkhard we would be ready to go on any missions for which he needed us.”
Doppelganger didn’t say a thing as he turned abruptly on his heels and stomped toward the door. Kitsune nodded once and followed behind the larger guy. Wisp started to turn away before she stopped and bent forward in a cursory bow toward us.
