Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (32 page)

The frustration was palpable.

Going about her normal routine was
arduous, for she saw Mae’lin without delay. The tall, lanky elf
greeting her as they made their way to class.

“Good morning,” he said
cheerfully to her, not a shred of understanding or suspicion in him
for what she had done. How could he? The poor man reached out and let
his fingers brush against hers as they walked.

Her heart fluttered and her stomach
constricted. She touched him back, just a fleeting, exploratory
thing. Could she have the same passion with Mae’lin? Would it
always be this quiet, calm, sure thing?

She thought of what her first time
could have been like with him. Gentle. Cautious. Enjoyable and tepid.

How cruel was she to compare the two?
They were different and both spoke to different parts of her soul.
Mae’lin was her rock, her comfort, her confidence. Varuj…
he was her passion, her fire, her drive.

How could she be without either one of
them?

“You okay?” he asked at her
silence as they walked along, the reassuring yet concerned smile he
gave heart-warming. And heart-breaking. “You seem to be miles
away this morning,” he remarked. “Oh, I bet you’re
already worrying about the next exam, huh?”

“There’s always one right
around the corner,” she agreed. It made as good of an excuse as
any. “Hey, have you spoken to Ala lately? She was a bit off
when I saw her the other day.”

It occurred to her then how odd it was
not to run into her on the way out. She lived in a room so close to
hers, after all, and they walked out together most every day.

Mae’lin shrugged, however, his
warm fingers grazing hers as they approached the class building. “I
saw her yesterday, but she seemed fine to me.”

“Well, she always seems fine. I
mean… she’s brave. Strong. I think something’s
going on but she won’t tell me.” It felt so
insignificant, but worrying about her friend distracted her from her
crippling guilt. For the time being, anyway.

When lunch came, Firia wound her way to
the dining hall, and as she joined a smiling Mae’lin at the
table, she saw Ala’nase at last. The tall, shapely elf was on
the lookout for someone before she wound her way over to them.

Taking that time to study her, Firia
realized the other woman looked different, then realized why. Her
blonde hair was more studiously cared for, her clothes obviously
freshly cleaned and pressed. In fact, the usual robes she wore were
exchanged for an outfit Firia rarely saw her in. A pair of tight
pants with high boots, and a tunic worn beneath a cloak that hung
from her shoulders, the neck undone low so that it gave a peek of
décolletage.

Firia’s brows rose, then her face
fell.

Surely. Surely no.

She couldn’t be dressed like that
to impress him, could she?

Firia shook her head free of the
thought, but she couldn’t stop glancing at Ala’nase
whenever she got a chance, watching her astutely. It must be a
coincidence. Maybe she found someone else. Maybe whoever she was
talking to in that hidden clearing…

Mae’lin took hold of her hand
beneath the table, squeezing it. “You looking for someone,
Ala?” he asked their mutual friend, making idle chitchat as
they all sat to eat. Only Ala’nase hadn’t even bothered
to fetch a lunch for herself.

“You could say that,” she
muttered, her bright blue eyes still scanning the room.

“You… going somewhere?”
Firia probed.

“Only if I’m lucky,”
she responded, her gaze locked on the crowd.

Then it happened. Firia watched as
Varuj entered into the hall, and not only did
Ala’nase’s
eyes lock on him, but so many more, too. The seductive demon drew so
much attention as he strolled on through so casually.

“Wait,” said Mae’lin,
“you’re not obsessed with the new guy too, Ala, are you?”

Their friend didn’t seem to hear,
as she was watching Firia’s dusky demon walk with rapt
attention.

Damn it all to the void.

It was bad enough breaking Mae’lin’s
heart. To have to break Ala’s as well? To alienate the two
people she actually liked?

It was that simple. She just had to…
not see Varuj anymore.

“You still with us, Ala?”
came Mae’lin’s voice, snapping their friend out of her
stupor.

“Huh?” she looked back to
them, wide-eyed and confused.

“You’re hung up on that new
guy too, aren’t you?” he asked.

“Who? That dreamy hunk of a
luscious foreigner?” she retorted. “No, why would anyone
care about that stud?” Her sarcasm dryer than ever. “I’m
just gonna head on off to get some food,” the timing impeccable
as Firia noticed Varuj headed in that same direction.

Firia let out a soft sigh. “She
knows what she wants, doesn’t she?” Her friend had always
been so blunt before, but now that Firia knew she was hiding
something from her she wasn’t certain any longer.

It wasn’t fair, of course. Firia
had more than a few secrets from Ala. From Mae’lin. From
everyone.

Secrets that could destroy her.

Still, knowing that Ala was hiding
something made her uncomfortable.

Watching her walk up to Varuj in the
lunch line and feign bumping into him was more uncomfortable still.
Ala laughed, though she was too far away for Firia to hear, though
she could see with crystal clarity. The way she smiled, stroked her
hand along Varuj’s bicep as she apologized.

The ways – both subtle and not –
that her elvish friend set about seducing the demon she had summoned.
Her demon. The one whom not but a few hours ago she’d coupled
with. Twice.

She felt her body begin to burn with
possessive anger, and her hand squeezed Mae’lin’s under
the table. She’d barely touched her food but still she forced a
smile at him. “Hey, let’s get out of here, okay?”

Always accommodating, Mae’lin
smiled and set aside his as yet unfinished meal. “Sure,”
he said, squeezing her hand back as they pushed out of the booth and
made their way towards the door. Though in her effort to watch
Ala’nase, she saw the demon turn his gaze towards her just
before she left. And saw her holding hands with Mae’lin.

“I didn’t figure Ala would
like his type,” Firia admitted, though she didn’t know
why. She just felt so hateful towards both of them for that moment,
the jealousy and rage completely irrational. It would be better if
they
did
get together! Then she could be left alone to her
simple, busy life.

“Him?” Mae’lin
remarked, glancing back even though the doors were already shut
behind them by that point. “He looks to be exactly her type, if
you ask me,” he remarked. “I think she has a taste for
the different.”

“I guess.” Of course he was
right. That just made it worse.

“Hey Mae’lin, did you want
to just… go study somewhere today?”

“The whole day?” he asked,
brow raised curiously. “You mean skip classes?”

“It’s as good of time as
any, and I think we’d get a lot more done.” Truly she
just couldn’t stand to be around anyone else. She wanted to be
alone with him, which is the last thing in the world she figured
she’d want that day. Maybe it was her guilt or her jealousy,
but she just wanted to see…

To see if what they had was real? If
she could feel that passion with him? She wasn’t certain.

Ever agreeable, Mae’lin smiled
and nodded. “Sure. Your place or mine?” he asked, giving
her hand a squeeze as the midday sun lit up his fair skin and wheat
coloured hair. He was handsome in his own way, peculiar for an elf,
different. Nothing like Varuj, yet he had a charm all his own. Just
more subtle.

“Yours.” Hers was a wreck.
Even more than usual.

She was surprised by how easily he
agreed, though not really. Mae’lin had always been
happy-go-lucky. She was the reason they never skipped class or did
anything daring. Even then her stomach clenched with fear at what she
might miss, but she simply couldn’t take it anymore.

So why did she want to be alone with
the one person she should be trying to avoid?

Mae’lin’s place was
immaculate, as always, and he welcomed her in familiarly before
shutting the door and resting down his satchel. “I think we’re
doing pretty good with the syllabary now. It’s probably time to
move onto more advanced stuff,” he remarked, the two of them
alone and away from the outside world at last.

How could she exist without him?

She moved to his bed and sat down,
resting her bag to her side. She hadn’t realized how little she
knew about him, personally, as when she tried to speak about
something other than work. Other than the Academy.

He knew next to nothing about her as
well, but then, for the past year she’d thought of almost
nothing but magic.

“Sure. I think we can handle it.”

The two of them had grown up in the
same quiet farming area, had both attended classes together most of
their lives. But knew so little of each other.

How was that? The answered dawned on
her as they worked away: because there was so little to their lives
other than their aspirations to become mages. Their yearning to
master magic and get away from their humdrum lives consumed them
both.

When he wasn’t studying, he had
been tending to his family’s farm. She knew that. She
remembered him telling her, she remembered… she had dreamt of
him before. Of the two of them, back home, her coming to meet him at
his farm. Seeing him working, engaged in that physical labour, bereft
of shirt.

He wasn’t blessed with as
impressive a physique as Varuj, even in her dreams, but he was
striking then, nonetheless.

She remembered, too, how the dream
ended. How just as Mae’lin told her he was going to propose,
just as they began to kiss, his form had shifted. How he was no
longer Mae’lin.

Varuj had taken over her dream, begging
her not to forget about him.

It wasn’t fair.

Now he was doing the same thing in her
waking hours.

Shut off from the outside world, it was
only when supper approached, and their hunger disturbed their
studying, that they had to face reality again.

“I wish we could’ve started
studying together like this years ago,” remarked Mae’lin
with a smile. “I think we’d be far more prepared today if
we had.”

Who knew the path she’d be on if
that were true. She might never have gotten in to Gaul’di-mere,
if not for Varuj.

“I wish we had,” she
finally admitted. “Mae’lin… You know I really like
you, right?”

He looked to her, his elven eyes alight
with tenderness. That unmistakable twinkle of affection in his gaze.
“I know,” he said gently, bending to his knee and taking
both her hands in his. “And I really like you, Firia. I’ve…”
he hesitated, but continued, “I’ve liked you long before
I ever met you. I watched you from afar and somehow felt from a young
age you were so very special. The one for me, if I was ever so lucky
to be with you one day.”

She felt the tears begin to build up
and she forced her gaze away. “I never want to hurt you,
Mae’lin.”
But I will
went unsaid.

Gently he stroked his thumbs over the
back of her hands and leaned in, kissing her cheek tenderly. “Don’t
worry,” he said softly. “I’m tough. Remember the
last time you nearly burned me alive?” he said with gentle
humour.

“Yea, next time I try to kill you
publicly I’ll have to try harder,” she teased back, but
her heart wasn’t in it. “Just… There’s some
things that I’ve done. That I’m not proud of. But that’s
all in the past, and I’m going to try to be… better,
okay?”

The starry-eyed Mae’lin didn’t
quite know what to make of what she said, but he nodded tentatively.
“We did what we had to to get here. All that matters now is
getting through the Academy. Together. So we can start our lives
together. Free.”

Her lips pressed to his but it was
chaste, and her smile was tight when she pulled away. “I’ll
be better, Mae’lin. For you.”

“We’ll head out and get
some supper together, don’t worry about anything else for now
but getting through this,” he reassured, tugging her up to her
feet with his hold on her hands. Giving her a sweet kiss in return,
his whole face lit up.

She was a horrible person.

How could she do something to such a
sweet and honest elf? An elf that adored her and had faith in her?

“Lead the way,” she
breathed out.

It wasn’t until they had finished
their meal and Mae’lin excused himself to the washroom that
Firia saw Varuj again. The suave demon slid into the booth across
from her with a smile. “There you are,” he said in his
charming accent. “I was on the lookout for the most beautiful
girl in all the academy, and thought I might never track her down.”

“Cute,” she murmured,
sighing audibly and looking around the room cautiously before she
leaned into the table. Her voice was quiet as she stared at him, “I
don’t think we should be seen together.”

The dashing devil leaned forward onto
one elbow, cupping his chin in his palm as he murmured back to her.
“What’s wrong with the new student trying to make a new
friend, hmm?” He gave a wry smile and a waggle of his brows as
he let his eyes dip over her momentarily. “Nothing suspicious
about that.”

“It’s not about you and
this… new student thing. This is about you making my life so
complicated. I know you saw me with Mae’lin. If he sees you
here…”

Varuj’s dark eyes narrowed just
slightly, and she swore she saw a flicker of flame, as if his true
nature coming through. “So it is true. You and him…”
He didn’t say it, he just seemed to fume in silence as he
watched her.

“You and I aren’t meant to
be.” Firia was trying to stay strong, to be confident about her
decision, but she hated it. Every second that she spent looking at
him, telling him the truth, it killed her.