Magic Academy (A Fantasy New Adult Romance) (38 page)

“Well, hopefully if I burn you to
death, you won’t hold it against me this time,” she
teased, but she was distracted. “On second thought…
practice might be good.”

Mae’lin broke out into a hearty,
good-natured laugh. He never once held it against her, the mistakes
of their first bout, and he squeezed her hand and tugged her along,
picking up pace. “Better hurry then, because I wanna survive
this test so I can continue to study with you next year!”

The whole of the academy was abuzz with
activity, but Ala’nase was milling about a quiet nook, pacing
along the stone floor beneath an overhang. The rain was falling, an
odd occurrence for the academy, but she was shielded from it.

Her emotions were conflicted, but when
she saw the physique of the dark, foreign sorcerer approach her, the
sensation that won out was relief. As frustrating as that was for her
to confess.

When he stepped in beneath the overhang
with her, she saw not a sign of dampness in his robes, or upon his
flesh. It was as if nary a raindrop had dared touch his glorious
physique, and he quite casually helped himself, reaching out and
touching his palm to her cheek.

“Good girl,” he husked in
approval at her showing up. Just as he instructed.

Her breath quickened, her gaze falling
demurely. It was so unlike the brazen elf to avert her eyes of
anything or anyone, but part of her didn’t want to see him.
Didn’t want her to lust for his gorgeous body or handsome face.

Yet he pressed those hot lips to her
forehead, and it nearly made her delirious. The most painful part,
however, was knowing that he no longer used a spell. That it was all
how she felt, truly felt, without any force.

“I need a favour of you,”
he husked into her ear as he kissed his way across her face.
“Something you can do for me. For you too. And then we can
prepare together. I will show you things you didn’t dream of
knowing so soon,” he said, that delicious voice making such
promises.

Her heart was in her throat as she
nodded, her light hair framing her delicate features. “What is
it?” She barely realized that she had agreed before she asked,
but what more was there to do? The things he’d said, the sweet
words… He knew her. Down to her very core.

“There is someone who has stolen
a great deal from you,” he said so persuasively, his rich voice
making each word sound delightful and convincing. “She made
your former lover leave you, so that he might pursue one of his own
kind,” he explained to her in that tempered, fatherly voice.
“She caught the eyes of that elf Mae’lin so that when you
went for him, his heart was already claimed.”

His words rang true. So true that it
overwhelmed her shock at the realization that he spoke of Firia. Her
friend.

The lump in her throat thickened and
she couldn’t speak. She didn’t well up with tears, she
didn’t start trembling in fear. The time for that was past, and
despite the gnawing discomfort within her body, she nodded again.

Even though she’d not held that
against Firia, even though she cared for the human woman, he was too
right for her to disagree.

“I’ll get you your revenge,
sweet girl,” he husked, nuzzling his nose to her cheek before
rising back up and looking down to her. “And you’ll get
rid of two more competitors that stand in our way for this final
trial,” he added with a smile that was somewhere between tender
and wicked. “You want that, don’t you?”

“I… I guess.” Her
voice was so soft, still uncertain and conflicted. It was one thing
to agree, but all the pain she’d been caused, ever since she
got to the Academy… it was all Firia. All her best friend.

She could have moved on from Bran,
could have so easily found another with Mae’lin. But instead,
she was left alone while Firia taunted her. Holding hands in public,
those sweet little kisses… that should have been hers.

Neither of those two men were her
equal. A human and some gangly elf from the country? Yet she’d
been spurned by them both. And for what? A lowly human girl whom she
had done nothing but be nice to.

Varuj kissed the corner of her lips and
gave a pleasant smile. “You do,” he assured her. “You’re
a powerful witch at heart, and the truly powerful do not suffer such
injustices. Do not suffer the weak stepping upon their toes with
impunity.” His dark eyes lit up as he met her gaze, “No
woman of mine would suffer it and let them get away.”

“So what do I do? Firia has
caught the eye of some professors, and if they wouldn’t kick
her out over that… beast, then what can I do about her?”

His masculine touch brushed her pale
hair back and he smiled as he leaned in so near to her lips. “Just
relax and do as I say.” He kissed her mouth so faintly, then
slipped back towards her ear, whispering his dark words there.

Ala’nase’s eyes widened in
shock at what he said, but when his free hand dipped between her
thighs to grasp at her loins she couldn’t help but gasp.

She was in so far over her head. The
past twelve hours had turned her life on its axle and she was
spinning out of control.

“I can’t,” she
whispered, even as she subconsciously ground into his hand.

“You can and will,” he
murmured back to her, his hand rubbing at her harder, stirring up
such a heat in her loins. “I’ll give you what you need
and you’ll make it happen. Now tell me,” he licked along
her cheek with his moist tongue, “Who do you belong to?”

He was so possessive. So powerful.

She was a stranger to neither, and it
made such conflicted, confusing, terrible feelings to rise within
her. “You,” she muttered back, and her eyes fluttered
shut. Yes. Him. He’d protect and take care of her. He wouldn’t
leave her. He’d make it all right.

“Good girl,” he husked
approvingly, and his hand slipped inside her trousers, and she felt
the firm touch of his heated flesh upon her folds. Her sweet reward.

Firia awaited her friend at the dining
hall as they’d planned, the note reaching her that she’d
make it just before the end of class. Though when someone slid into
the seat across from her, it wasn’t her dear friend, but
another face altogether. One more familiar still.

“We need to talk,” he
husked in that deep, demonic voice of his, sounding so much like that
first time she’d spoken with him. Before he took on the
pleasing form before her.

She glanced around for a moment before
leaning in, her brows furrowing. “About what?” She’d
brushed her hair, letting the black strands fall over her shoulders.
It was growing out really quickly and was almost down to the bottom
of her shoulder blades. More and more she was leaving it down, the
dark strands contrasting her fair skin.

“Exams are here,” he said
like the death knell of a tolling bell. Plain and simple. It reminded
her that they hadn’t trained together for some time, and he’d
last left her to train her new telekinesis spell all on her own.

“How could I have forgotten,
Varuj?” She leaned back, annoyance tainting her expression. He
was risking outing her just for this? He could have come visited her
as usual.

“Remember what we spoke of last?”
he remarked to her, reminding her of just how long it’d been
since he’d last came to visit her in the dark of night when she
was all alone. Too long, part of her thought.

She pushed the thought aside. “I’ve
been practicing, Varuj.” She didn’t add on, '
You’d
have known if you visited
,' like she wanted to, though. Her blood
warmed just with the thought. She’d been trying so desperately
to forget him, to just… make him disappear from her life, but
she couldn’t ignore the attraction she felt for him.

“Not that,” he remarked
bitterly, his handsome face contorting in distaste. “My
tolerance for wasting your time with that fool is up, Firi,” he
said like a father scolding his child. “You waste too much of
your focus and attention on him.” He leaned forward, his eyes
lighting up red as he glared into her gaze. “You are mine,”
he said, that last word a snarl on his lips.

“Varuj,” she whispered,
leaning in. “Can we talk about this somewhere else? I don’t
want to fight with you here.” Why did he insist upon this? He
knew her. He knew what was in her heart, in her soul. He’d been
a part of her for so long, and she admitted that she missed that
absence of his presence. Of his calm reassurance.

Ever since he’d gotten back, he’d
been so possessive and borderline cruel to her, and it frightened
her. She longed for the days back in her home when she’d slept
in his arms, feeling so safe and protected…

Loved.

Her eyes met his and she didn’t
see it anymore. Instead there was something darker than she’d
ever been able to fathom.

“I claimed you as mine,” he
growled to her lowly in their booth. “Don’t you remember
that? I took you, your innocence, and made you mine. You accepted it.
Became my mate!” He raised his voice so high some people from a
neighbouring table looked over. “You must end this
ridiculousness now and remain faithful,” he demanded with a
deep intensity to his eyes. “That’s the only way we can
go on as before. A pair.”

She hissed back at him, anger tainting
her voice. “I summoned you. You were mine before I was yours,
and I released you. I trusted you. I’m not some… some…
possession, Varuj! I’m a person, and I have feelings! You told
me that you were better than that hellish place I stole you from, but
you don’t even act like you care at all for me! You just want
to… to… what? For me to do whatever you say?”

“I was never bound under your
control, you foolish girl,” he growled quietly. “I was
free the moment you brought me here. I just didn’t want to
frighten you!” He was breathing heavily, and looked enraged. He
looked… hurt, she realized. A strange hurt, unlike what she’d
seen from him before. “I tested you. To see if you could be
trusted. And you agreed to ‘free’ me. It was a test! To
see if I could trust you. And I thought it worked!” He clenched
his fist. “You said you were mine!”

Her eyes hurt as she desperately held
back her tears. He couldn’t be telling the truth. He was lying
to her. Manipulating her somehow.

She’s summoned him! He’d
been bou–

Just like that, she remembered the
fumbled words, the hesitation, the uncertainty. She’d been so
excited that it’d worked, so terrified of the beast she’d
pulled to her… She hadn’t remembered it all, the more
complicated incantations that were still beyond her…

Her face fell with the realization and
she pulled back, staring at him through those blurry orbs.

Varuj’s anger seemed to abate
somewhat as he watched her recoil, her eyes water. He reached across
the table to her. “We have a special bond,” he said in
his suave voice, as smooth as caramel. “We’ve worked
together. I got you into the academy. I saved your father.” He
licked along his full, ruddy lips. “I made love to you. Claimed
you as my mate. You would throw all that away for this… fool
of an elf?”

Her mouth trembled and she had to look
away as he stroked her fingers with his. “What we have isn’t
love.” She felt so distant from him, and she didn’t know
she could ever get back those lonely nights that he’d comforted
her. He needed so much from her, so much control over her life, and
it scared her.

Even through her lust, her attraction
and need, there was something that felt so hollow at the centre. She
didn’t even realize she was saying it, her brows knit and her
voice a whisper. “Every time, every single time it just feels
like we’re trying to cram back together. How it used to be.”

Varuj wrapped his fingers around hers
and held her hand tight. “It can be like that, and so much
more,” he promised her, “If you just give yourself to me,
like a true mate – a true partner – should.” His
almond-shaped eyes widened, and she could see the dim flicker of fire
within them as he gazed upon her. “Be true to me, Firi. And I
shall be true to you. Together we’ll rise to the top of this
academy, then the world. We’ve shown each other we can be
trusted before this… this fling of yours.”

“It isn’t a fling, Varuj.
When you left, after I thought you weren’t returning…
You know I feel something for him. Can you still… can you
still even feel me, or have you cut that off too? Severed that tie
with this new form of yours?”

“I feel it deeper than ever!”
he pleaded with her insistently, eyes wide, almost manic. “When
I was away I sacrificed much for you. For us! I made myself more
human. More like you!” he insisted, and she felt him clutch her
hand painfully tight. “I gained a soul of my own, so that I
could be a true partner for you when I returned. Does all I’ve
done – all I’ve sacrificed! – mean nothing to you
because of a few months apart?!”

“No, but it does mean that I had
time to develop feelings for someone else,” she pleaded. “I
don’t want to hurt him. He cares about me, Varuj, and I care
about him!” Her voice was raising and she desperately tried to
keep it in check. “I don’t know what to do. I want…”

She paused, licking her lips and
swallowing the lump that was lodged in her throat. “I love both
of you. In different ways.”

That got his ire, but she watched as he
fought some inner battle, his chest heaving as he stared across at
her. “You have to choose one of us, Firi,” he said in as
delicate a voice as he could muster. “You cannot string us both
along forever. And which of us do you think could make you more
powerful? More successful? More…” he licked his lips and
hesitated, “which of us could make you happier? More
satisfied,” and the final word was laced with such hidden
meaning.

Him. All of those things, all of those
promises, those were ones he could keep. Months ago, they would have
been the only ones that mattered.