Fueling Fire: Elven Mage Academy, page 24
A loud wolf whistle catches my attention and I turn to spot all six of my bonded paused mid action staring at me with lust. A blush creeps across my cheeks at the knowledge of them so openly admiring my half-naked body.
A shove from the side has me tumbling into the cool water and I come up spluttering to look into the very amused face of my best friend.
Oh, that's it, she's so going down now.
“Cold … shower.” She shrugs.
Swimming to the edge of the pool, I ignore the stares I can feel burning into the back of my head as I pull myself from the water and race after Rose. She squeals and hides behind Julian. I laugh, that's not going to save her. Julian smiles at me before grabbing Rose and pinning her to his back.
“Hey, that’s not fair. You're not meant to be helping her, you're meant to be saving me,” she fake whines as she tries to escape.
“Twins always have each other's back,” I tell her as I round my brother to grab Rose from behind.
“Girls help me,” Rose calls out to the others.
“Uhuh, no way. You trapped yourself,” Jacinta answers.
I laugh. “Guess it’s just you.” I grab her wrists and pull her towards the pool.
She twists her hands left and right and manages to get free s, only to turn and run face first into Julian’s chest. I smile as he wraps his arms around her and hoists her over his shoulder before throwing her into the pool.
“You cheat,” she accuses when her head comes back above water.
“Naaar,” I playfully taunt, sticking my tongue out at her.
She smirks and I turn, expecting to find the girls behind me about to push me in. Instead, I come face to chest with Alec. I look up at his face and see a playful smirk. Uh-oh. I try to dodge past him, but he grabs me and pulls me back. My body comes alight with electricity at his touch. Swinging me up bridal style, he walks over to the edge of the pool and chucks me in beside Rose.
“Who's the cheater now?” I ask.
She shrugs, “I didn't ask him to. But I mean someone had to even the playing field.”
The slapping of feet on wet concrete is the only warning we get before Jacinta and Georgia jump in on either side of us, splashing water over the two of us.
“We figure we couldn’t miss out on all the fun.” Jacinta tells us and we all burst out laughing.
A huge shadow approaches and we all turn just in time to watch Julian, Jason, Dylan, Archer and Alec jump in after them creating a huge wave of water. I come up coughing and spluttering and glare daggers at my twin as I swim over to him. He smiles innocently and I return it before pouncing on him and pushing him under the water by his shoulders. He is almost completely under the water when a strong set of arms pluck me off my brother and throw me across the pool.
When I surface again, it's to a chorus of laughter. I look over all of them as I try to figure out who is the one responsible for throwing me. I know it wasn’t Archer, he seems to have a no touching policy. A gentle tug on my hand pulls my attention to a little red head beside me. She gestures for me to lean closer, so I do.
Cupping her hand over my ear, she whispers loudly. “It was Alec.”
I turn to glare at him, and he gives me a fake look of fear. Standing back up, I casually swim over to Alec. I bat my eyelashes before swinging my leg up behind his and pushing him backwards. He goes down quickly, having not expected how I would attack, and I grin like a Cheshire cat, super proud of myself.
The others erupt into laughter as he pops back to the surface with a look of shock. I join them, but squeal like a little girl and try to swim away as fast as I can when he approaches me. The look on his face tells me he's coming for payback. I try to outswim him, but he simply grabs a hold of my ankle and drags me backwards. I’m helpless to stop him.
Picking me up bridal style once again, he chucks me back into the water. I splash him when I come back up.
“Oh, she doesn’t learn,” Jason mocks a half smirk on his lips.
I cock my head at him in confusion until Alec prowls towards me.
Oh, shit. I scramble to get out of the pool so I can run around out of the water where I’m a little faster.
I don’t make it and end up in his arms again. This time determined to fight, I quickly link my arms around his neck and twist so that I can wrap my legs around his waist. I look at his face and smile in triumph. Until I realise what I have done, then I blush deep crimson. From this position, my face is inches from his, and I can feel him getting hard beneath me.
Shit, shit, shit. This was a bad idea.
I don’t move though; I am incapable of it. Not that I can’t but I don’t want to. My breathing hitches as his smoky scent surrounds me. He smells like an open fire and I can’t help but love the smell.
Everything in the background slowly ceases to exist as my focus narrows on Alec. My head tips forward as my lips seek to capture his.
Then I’m plunging straight down into the cool water of the pool and my senses come back to me.
Oh. My. Gods. I almost kissed Alec. In front of everyone. Stupid, stupid girl. Staying under the water a bit, I swim away from everyone in the pool, giving myself a chance to clear my head and get my sense back. I pop back up on the other end of the pool and vault myself up onto the edge in a practiced move.
Wrapping my towel around myself, I dry off before throwing my damp dress back on, needing the added layer.
“Anyone else want a drink? I’m parched.”
“Yes, please,” Lucy calls out, giving me a ‘we are so talking about that later’ look, and I cringe.
Shit!
“Me too,” Rose adds a smirk on her face.
“Yep.” Georgia and Jacinta say together.
The boys all nod and I turn on my heel to go inside and grab some drinks.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dylan
Alec is saying goodbye to his little sister when the sound of Lilliana’s blood-curdling scream has us all bolting from the pool. Dripping water everywhere, I launch myself out of the pool onto the ledge. Shattering glass follows her scream moments later. We pause, looking at one another before racing faster through the back doors and into the castle. Making our way towards the kitchen, where we knew she had gone to refill the drinks and listen for any sounds that are out of place as we run.
The kitchen is in disarray, glass and juice scattered across the floor. Lilliana is nowhere to be seen, which has my heart racing. She wouldn't have just left this mess. I quickly duck into the broom closet to double check she didn't hide there but come up empty. My heart falls and my fear grows.
We continue out of the kitchen to check the rest of the castle when the sound of car doors slamming catches my attention—the front doors are standing wide open. My heart plummets and I push myself faster reaching the doors in time to watch a black nondescript car skid past, throwing up stones as it races down the driveway.
My heart sinks further as I realise, we have failed as her bonded and she is being kidnapped right before our very eyes. We’d let our guard down while in the pool, allowing someone to sneak in and snatch her, while we weren’t looking.
Shit, Shit, Shit.
Holy shit!
That had come out of nowhere. One minute we are all having fun, swimming around and teasing each other, the next we are racing after a black car in the dead of night, in the hopes of stopping its escape. The vehicle continues to pick up speed as it races down the driveway. If we don’t do something quickly, it will get away with our girl.
Our girl? Where had that come from? I shake my head, putting that away in the back of my mind to be analysed further, at a later time. Right now, I need to focus, and figure out how we are going to stop that car and get Lilliana out, before it's too late, and she is gone for good.
A light near the gates catches my eyes and I watch as a portal opens up at the end of the drive. I know we are running out of time. If that car gets to that portal, there is no way of knowing where they have taken her. One thing for sure is that whoever hired them has a lot of money, because portals aren't cheap. There's a reason it's not so common outside of royals, meaning either it's another royal family or an upper-class elf family like Brianna’s. Neither of those will help us narrow down the search if she goes through that portal, though. Portals can go anywhere in the world like walking through a door.
“Jason, knock that thing off course. If she goes through that portal, we may never be able to find her again,” Alec orders having come to the same conclusion I had.
Jason nods, stopping his pursuit to do as instructed.
Alec turns to my twin. “Archer stay with Jason and reserve your strength. If she gets injured, we’re going to need you ready to heal her.” Archer nods, backing off and leaving Alec, River, Phillip, and myself to pursue her.
“I want some mud to slow down their escape,” he calls to Phillip, who nods and crouches to the ground.
Within seconds there is a wave of water that sweeps forward and covers the driveway between the portal and the car. The water quickly does Phillip’s bidding and sinks deep into the dirt, turning it into thick mud.
“Now Jason,” Alec calls as the car hits the mud at top speed and a portion of earth moves upwards throwing the car into the air.
My heart stops as I watch the car flip over and over.
“River, I need you to make sure that car doesn't hit the ground too hard. Our girl is in there,” Alec directs.
“On it,” River says, grounding himself and calling on his magic.
“Dylan, fuck ‘em up. I don’t want anyone walking out of that vehicle without shit in their pants.”
“Yes, sir.” I smile wickedly.
I’m going to enjoy this. Calling on my dark powers, I reach out into the world around me, searching the land for death. It doesn't take me long to find some and push my magic into the ground, wrapping them in it and calling them to me. I feel them as they break free of the land to answer my call. Using my mind's eye, I wrap my magic around every muscle and direct them to surround the car being held mid-air by River.
A very unmanly scream comes from the direction of the car, and my wicked smile grows. Mission accomplished, at least one of them just shit their pants. Pulling the strings of my dead puppets, I make them encircle the car. No one will be escaping once River places it back on the ground.
I smirk, proud of my abilities for the first time in forever. For once it was useful for something other than terrorising my twin brother. I chuckle as I remember my brother screeching the other morning because I had left a re-animated dead rat in his bed. He had been pissed all day but got me back by bringing back one of my dead pets that afternoon.
The car door pushes open and I'm torn from my thoughts as I focus back on our current task.
Lilliana stumbles out, one arm wrapped around her middle, the other held to her head. I can see red through her fingers and my heart shatters. We failed, she's been hurt, and it's probably our fault.
“Archer, Lilliana needs healing,” Alec calls out.
My twin is there in an instant, wrapping an arm around her waist and helping her to stumble out of my circle of goons. I let out a sigh of relief, glad that she is going to be okay.
“Guys next time, please remember that I can break before you go throwing cars around with me inside.” She jokes.
“Sorry,” Jason says sheepishly.
She smiles at him. A bright white light emanates from Archer and Lilliana’s joined hands, and I know she’ll be okay.
Turning my focus back to the car, I wait to see who will exit next. When no one moves to leave the car, I send one of my zombies forward. I’m rewarded with another girly scream as a big burly assassin is pulled from the car by his leg. A section of the front of his black pants seems darker than the rest, and I chuckle. Not so tough now, are you?
“Who are you and why did you take Lilliana?” Alec asks the man.
He doesn't answer, just stands there shaking like a leaf, smelling of piss. I send my zombie forward and the guy jumps back, terrified.
“No, please no. I’m sorry,” he pleads, tears racing down his face. “I don't know. I was just told to come here and take her. I never got a name.” He sobs loudly. “I'm sorry. I am just trying to feed my family,” he continues to weep, and I feel sorry for the guy.
“Get out of here. But if I see you again, I will let him kill you,” Alec says pointing to me.
The guy's eyes snap towards me and I give my best devil may care smile and the shudder that races down his spine pleases me. He gets up quickly and throws himself back into the back of the limo, slamming the door.
I frown, not happy we are just letting them go, but have my zombies move to clear a path anyway. The car’s tires spin for a second before getting traction and flying out of there through the portal, leaving the stench of burnt rubber behind. Threat gone, I send my puppets back to their resting places and advance on Lilliana and Archer.
“Report.” I snap at Archer.
“Two fractured ribs and a big cut on her head. She’ll be fine in a second.” He answers.
Jason flinches, no doubt feeling guilty at having been the possible cause. Lilliana’s hand reaches out, landing on his thigh in a comforting way. Feeling left out, I get closer, carefully lifting her and placing her in my lap. She slits her eyes open at me but doesn’t protest and my heart swells. Maybe I have a chance after all.
Jason takes her offered hand in his and she smiles faintly before letting her eyelids fall back down and stays like that.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lilliana
After the little kidnapping incident, we all agreed, returning to the academy was for the best. Not long after Archer finished healing me up, we made our way back to the castle to let everyone know what happened and then I was escorted back to my room. I roll my eyes at the memory of it. All six of my bonded had turned from the men that had pissed me off all term, to full-time bodyguards. I wasn’t sure which side of them I preferred more. Their overprotectiveness or their tendency to push all my buttons.
They haven't left my side since the incident and it is starting to become suffocating. Thank the gods for bathrooms or I would have to get changed in front of them. Alec has been sleeping in my room all week since we returned and when I wake up, they are all there to escort me around the academy; like someone is going to jump out of the walls and take me away. My kidnapping scared them, which is fair, but for me it's just another day in the life of being a princess. I remember back when I was ten when I was kidnapped for a day and left with a lovely couple because another king wasn't happy that my father had not accepted his proposal.
I had a great day. The couple had always wanted a child, and I had been spoiled all day long. No one was ever stupid enough to harm me or mistreat me, but I’d been taken a few times over the years as a ploy to get at my father. It's one of the reasons I insisted on training every morning. I had just been caught off guard in the kitchen, but I’d still gotten a few good punches in before they managed to stuff me into the boot of the car. Not that it had made much of a difference. I’d still been wrangled into the car and the door shut. If it hadn't been for my bonded, I might be in the middle of nowhere right now instead of back at the academy ready to continue my studies. Though after the week I’ve had I wonder if being kidnapped would have been less suffocating.
Stepping out of water studies my bonded encircle me instantly, and the look on Rose’s face makes me chuckle. Alec looks back over his shoulder at me, raising an eyebrow in question, and I shake my head.
“You know I was fine at the academy before? You know without this whole bodyguard routine.” I wave my arm around at them.
“Just being thorough.”
“More like, paranoid,” I whisper. “Don’t you guys have better things to do?” I make eye contact with each of them, but only Alec can hold my gaze.
Typical.
“Umm I, urgh …” River stumbles over his words.
My heart swells at how adorable it is, and I take pity on him. “Go and grade your assessments. I'm sure you have lots of them due.”
He looks at Alec and I grind my teeth. Seriously, why have they decided he’s the leader of this group? I could take Alec out while barely lifting a finger. I pop out my hip, placing my hand on it and give Alec my best annoyed look.
Alec nods sharply to River, flat out ignoring me and River scurries off in the direction of his office. I shake my head.
“Who put shit for brains in charge?” I ask, hiking my thumb in Alec’s direction.
They all chuckle but stop when they meet his eyes. Cowards.
I push past Alec, making sure to shoulder charge him on the way past. Which requires more effort than necessary, but I want him to know I’m pissed, and it’s satisfying. He stumbles back a step not expecting it and I grin proudly. Just because we had a moment over the weekend doesn't mean I’m going to let him boss me around. No matter how hot he is, or how hot the idea of him ordering me could be in a different setting. A shiver of desire races along my spine, but I ignore it. I quickly shove my dirty thoughts in a box in my mind and lock it up. If I keep this up, I'll have to make shelves for all the boxes.
“I don’t need to be babysat Alec,” I throw at him as I pass.
A swat on my ass has me snapping back around. Even without the huge shit-eating grin on his face, I would have known it was Alec. None of the others had the balls. Well, maybe Jason or Dylan, but even they had more class.
“Do it again Red and you'll find yourself wishing you hadn’t,” I growl at him.
His smile grows as though my threat is simply a challenge, and I roll my eyes. Storming off in the direction of our next class, I try really hard not to look back to see if they are following me.
As much as it annoys me to have them as my own personal shadows, I like having them around. It makes me feel safe and cared for. Something I haven't had the luxury of outside my brother.
“I see you still haven't lost the overly attached children,” Julian jokes, coming up and bumping my shoulder with his jokingly.
