One wrong step, p.12
One Wrong Step, page 12
Fuck the other students. Fuck anyone who didn’t know what to expect in this academy? If they didn’t know death was at every turn here, they deserved the rude awakening. Not everyone could be saved. Not everyone is worth saving.
Yet, remembering the dead girl’s ghostly face, her slack jaw, the misty eyes that watched me like I’d failed …
“Fuck!” my voice bellowed as I swung at one of the village shutters. The teal wood splintered under my knuckles, blood splattering against my skin. Broken, the shutter gave a pitiful creak. Fury built in my chest like a storm, and punching in animate objects wasn’t enough. Huffing heavily, I marched through the village, knowing the perfect remedy for my mood.
Popping out on the corner of the Legacy Club, I looked up to the stone balcony, spying my prey.
“Sabrina!” I bellowed, waiting as her golden head popped out between the climbing roses.
“Darling?” she cried in obvious excitement. Alcohol reddened her cheeks, her gaze darkening into something primal as she saw my heaving chest. “I’ll be right down.”
Nodding once, I paced in front of the elite lounge, sensing as a shadow slinked from its side alley. “What happened?” Ronan asked, his senses watching for threats, though his eyes were on me. That was his job, to protect me, his Prince and Sabrina, my future queen. He belonged to us both.
“Nothing.” I bit out. Falling against the club’s wall, I watched some drunks stumble by before speaking in a low tone. “After my conversation with her, that damn Heart girl found a floater in the Lake. Now Lopez is in a tizzy over it and sent the Guardians to patrol.”
Ronan’s expression didn’t change, a sure sign he was cataloguing this information. “Who died?”
Blinking the memory of the dead girl from my mind, I realised with a start; I knew her. “Cleo Almada,” I answered stiffly.
“She’s a Ragger, right? Daughter of an office clerk and a housekeeper, risen to the Role of princess.”
“Probably,” I answered stiffly. Any Ragger wasn’t worth my notice. Charming’s weren’t interested in helping turn rags into riches. Those upstarts could find their own fortune, not leech off ours.
“And Heart?” I could feel Ronan’s curious eyes on me, though if I looked, I knew I’d see nothing in his expression. “I thought you said she’d be easy. That as an outsider, she be begging to be accepted?”
“I know what I said.” I snarled, realising too late I’d squared off to him. Blowing out a breath, I centred myself, forcing my voice light and pulled the corners of my mouth into a smile. My Enthral was powerful enough to relax even Ronan’s steel posture. “She’s more… stubborn than expected.”
Despite her polluted parents, having a powerful bloodline like the Hearts beholden to me would have finally established great respect from my family. Of course, I could have done it the correct way: saved her like a damsel in distress. The Inks writing our story together, forging it in stone. But that would entrust too much to fate. Too many outcomes. Not enough control.
Besides, as my brother Shep had taught; why should they be indebted when they can be infatuated?
“She’s not a princess,” I explained, reluctantly. “Wherever they’ve been hiding her, she’s no bleeding heart.” Especially as I recalled how her nails raked down my chest, clawing for more and, under that dress, nothing but bare skin.
“And so, your plan now would be?”
My gaze narrowed at Ronan as I caught a challenge in his tone. But that couldn’t be. He was my knight. My loyalist. Doubt wasn’t applicable in our relationship.
Shaking it off, I turned my gaze to the village and the students who partied, too stupid to realise they’d never amount to a Great Story. They wasted their time here. But not me. I would shmooze and scrape and battle my way until I was the greatest Charming ever written about. And putting Azariah Heart in her place was as good of a starting point as any.
“She wants to learn in this academy. She wants to succeed…” I mused, paths forming in my mind, four moves ahead and branching options too. “Fine. We let her.”
I nodded to myself, enjoying how Ronan’s brows frowned over his icy eyes in confusion. This was why I was the tactician, and he the sword.
“Her demise now over something small and trivial would be nothing; a teardrop in a thunderstorm. We will wait until she does something unforgivable. Then, when we drop Azariah Heart to her knees, it will be public, soul-destroying and brutal. She’ll never show her face again.” Or provide the perfect origin stories for a vicious villain but was for the Ever Books to decide.
“Build them up and watch them fall?” Ronan grinned, his thirst for blood almost vampiric. But I knew my smile matched his in return.
Just as a blanket of anticipation settled over us, Sabrina skipped out of the bar, her short, puffy lilac dress floating around her. “Baby,” she purred. “I just love it when you get all bent out of shape for me.”
She pressed her breasts against my shirt, biting her lip as she looked up at me. But even as I wrapped an arm around her, the image of fiery hair flashed in my mind. Sexy curves under a chopped-up t-shirt. My cock swelled all over again.
"I need you. Right now," I growled, reaching to grab her hair, but I stopped myself. The last time I messed up Sabrina's curls, she punished me by withholding blow-jobs for an entire week. So, instead, I gently moved under her jaw, tilting her head back.
“Yes, baby. Your princess will make it all better.” She panted against me, hands rubbing my cock.
Drawing her away towards the nearest alley, I didn’t miss the pang of worry that sliced through Ronan’s eyes. But as a good knight should, he turned, giving us privacy. Ducking into the shadows, Sabrina assumed the position, hands braced against the wall, ass up and legs only slightly apart. Releasing my cock from the confines of my jeans, I fluffed away the layers of her dress, hissing at how many there were.
“Oh, baby,” she cooed, “I’m so wet for you. I’m aching.”
Grunting in acknowledgement, I finally found her sweet, pale thighs and the delicate white lace of her underwear. Running a thumb up her centre, Sabrina mewled like a cat, and pressing lightly on her clit, her knees shook. “Please,” she begged. “Please, you make me feel so good, my Prince.”
Tension in my neck ached, but I rolled it out. Fisting my cock, I gave it a tug as it failed to rise. “Yer,” I softly growled, “I’ll make you feel good.”
Biting back my frustration as my cock limply swelled, I closed my eyes. The pale skin before me turned into a luscious tan and the soft slope of Sabrina’s chest fell heavy with plump tits. Warm brown eyes looked back at me with desire, yet a challenging undertone stirred within them.
I’d always got off on submission, loved it when Sabrina choked on my cock as I whispered sweet encouragements and praise. But when Azariah refused to submit, snarling at me across the storage room, my cock had never ached so much. I don’t give a shit what you think of me.
“You will submit,” I growled at the girl with fire in her hair, bringing that storage room back to life. “You will please me.”
“Yes. Oh, yes, always my prince.” Reaching forward, I ripped down the neckline of the lilac dress, kneading the exposed breast. Finding pebbled peaks, I twisted them between a finger and thumb, until she squealed.
“Ouch! Careful, Killian. Not so hard,” Sabrina chastised over her shoulder. Sabrina. Not Azariah.
“Sorry,” I grunted, pulling back with a blink. This wasn’t a storage room. The girl before me wasn’t panting for more. Pushing her knees out further, and sliding that t-shirt up higher.
Shaking the image from my head, I quickly pulled Sabrina’s lace away with one hand, the other holding the tip of my now pulsing cock. Pressing it down the seam of her ass, and then lower, I groaned as I felt the slick juices coating her folds. Oh, the feeling was divine, and to enter such a heaven…
“Do not breach me, Killian.” Sabrina snapped, her hand gripping my own. “You know I must be pure for our nuptials. Between the thighs.” She ordered.
“I know, Sabrina.” Pushing lower still, I rested my cock between her lacey underwear and her clit, avoiding her warm, inviting core altogether.
Planting my feet, I began to thrust.
All too soon, I turned the friction of Sabrina’s lace into the gentle scrape of teeth. The round curve of her ass into a bobbing head. The frilly dress, and fiery hair clasped in my hand. Hollowed cheeks would have sucked me dry. Watery eyes would have begged me for more. Her throat would have choked as I shoved myself deeper.
“Oh-my-Inks.” Sabrina gasped, her knees trembling to keep herself upright. “Yes, baby. Make me yours.”
Panting heavily, I groaned, pounding my hips with faster vigour. Sabrina whimpered, begging like she was as impure as she wished to be. But drowning her out, I kept that bitch’s face in mind. I fucked Azariah’s cocky mouth until her eyes rolled in her head, drinking down my cum with greed. Slammed my cock to the back of her throat until she spluttered, thanking me like the hero I was.
Below me, Sabrina, who should have been my all, cried out with a shudder. Her release may have dribbled out her puffy pussy lips, but even as she looked up at me with a hopeful expression, I wasn't done.
“Yes! Take it. Take it!” My voice roared against the narrow stone walls. Sabrina wailed as I pumped my hot spunk onto the inside of his dress, before spluttering on the cobbled floor. Slowly, those lust-filled eyes disappeared along with the rest of the fantasy and reality set back in.
Pulling her up, Sabrina leaned against me with a hum. Her whole body purred with desire. “I love you, my charming.”
“I love you too, my princess.” My words were automatic as the last of my visions slipped away.
Yet as they died, I wondered how I might make them into reality. Because to tame a stubborn beast like Heart would be a feat, no gallant Prince had ever achieved. But I could be the first.
Chapter Eight
Crust gathered in the corners of my eyes as my head pounded. Rolling over on the lumpy mattress, I hissed as every muscle ached. Blinking at the ceiling, I recognised its wooden slats and knotted beams, finding only a small level of relief to know I was in my attic room.
Yet, closing my eyes, memories enveloped me, my body reminded me, and I choked on a sob knowing last night hadn’t all been a dream. Accepting I’d spend all day under my covers, bleaching it all from my mind, I jumped as warm hands fell on me.
“Zara?” a gentle voice whispered, and I craned my neck out of the duvet, squinting in pain.
“Briar?” I pushed myself up. “What are you doing here?”
She’d pulled a rickety rocking chair from the other side of the room, curling on it in a ball, wrapped in a fluffy blanket. “I brought you back to your room last night, and it didn’t seem right leaving you.” She smiled sadly. There were red rings around her eyes, and I knew she’d been crying. “How are you feeling?”
“Like shit.” I murmured. Sitting upright, I ran a hand through my tangled hair, only to catch the bedsheet as it slipped down my naked body. “Wha- who undressed me?” I frowned down at myself.
“Oh-uh, me.” Briar turned bright red. “You were wet and muddy and so I washed you while you slept. I-ah, I didn’t look.”
“Oh, thank you.” I swallowed, feeling rather ashamed of being looked after like a baby.
Yet it was Briar who blushed further, ducking her head. “I-I’m sorry. I just thought you might like to be comfortable after… after everything.”
“No, no, don’t apologise.” I shook my head. “It’s very kind of you.” I smiled back, but it fell just as quickly as silence slipped through the rafters.
“Are you sure you’re alright?” Briar whispered, “I mean, what do you remember?”
A shiver sliced through my body as though the waters of the lake washed over me again. “Everything,” I whispered, rubbing my brow. “And nothing. I remember leaving The Beheaded with you and laughing before we… before finding her. Then Mistress Lopez arrived, and I don’t…” I huffed a sigh, a strange emptiness clawing at my insides.
“I still can’t believe it.” Briar wheezed, “It’s all just so…”
“Inks-Above!”
A voice cried through the room, snapping up our heads. Jade waltzed in, dressed in her uniform and her wings softly pulsing. “You’re still in bed? I thought that with little-miss goodie-two-shoes here, you would have tucked yourself in early after dragging your drunk-ass out of the Beheaded.”
My ally looked me over, a gaze of steel under one perfectly arched brow. There was no sign of the sad, wounded girl who’d pined over Larc last night. She stood tall and I could sense a challenge in the air – mention what I’d seen, and she’d likely turn me into a pumpkin.
“We had a late night, actually.” I spoke through gritted teeth.
“So did we all.” Jade rolled her eyes. “It’s not an excuse any professor will accept. So, get up and get dressed. Classes start in five.”
“They’re still running? After last night?”
Something sharp flared in Jade’s eyes, and I suddenly felt pinned to the bed. “Of course. Why, what happened last night?”
Briar pulled in a breath to speak, her fisted hands shaking, but my hand shot out, gripping hers. “Nothing.” I spoke, “Nothing worth losing our heads over.” I reminded Briar subtly, knowing full well Mistress Lopez probably meant what she’d said.
“Right.” Briar agreed, lips pinched. “I’d best get dressed myself.” She squeezed my hand back before hurrying to exit, her fluffy blanket following her like a gown.
“I’ll be ready in a minute,” I told Jade, rolling out of bed with a hiss. My back was on fire, my arms like jelly, and I wasn’t sure if I could have even lifted them over my head.
“Good, because that’s all you’ve got, and don’t even think about eating breakfast. You wasted that option with your girl-time.” She directed at my back as I retreated towards the folding screen. Yet just as I reached its edge, she called me back. “Here.”
A dark brown bottle flipped through the air, and it was a miracle I caught it. Turning it over, there was no label or indication of what it was. Looking up at Jade with a frown, I almost threw it back. “If this is to give me scales or make my hair fall out, you’re not very subtle.”
“It’s not like you wouldn’t deserve it, harlot.”
Ah, there it was. “I didn’t hit on your boyfriend, Jade. I don’t do fleas.” Or cheaters, which evidently, there were a few of in this place.
“I'm well aware of what you and Larc talked about," she answered stiffly. Yet rather than saying more, she spun on her heel, snapping over her shoulder. "It's a lotion for aches and pains, should work instantly. It was outside your door with a note saying, 'Thought you might need this.'"
Air sailed from my lungs as I looked over the bottle again, the weight of it growing heavier by the second. Looking back up, I wanted to ask Jade who had sent it – who could have known - but she was already gone.
The room felt empty, and as the door clicked shut behind her, the only sound remaining was my quiet hum of uncertainty. I sighed, my thoughts lingering on the mysterious sender before lathering up. With a heavy heart, I climbed into my uniform, wondering what unforeseen drama I was sure to step into next.
◆◆◆
I couldn’t recall what happened in our first class, nor who the professor was, or even what they taught. Everyone around me chattered and worked, the lightness in the air suggesting nothing was wrong. Even Jade seemed in a pleasant mood. Though she still pointedly ignored me, she gossiped with two other fairies with a smile, jotting down the odd note or two if she felt like it.
Larc had yet to show his face, for which I was grateful, as I wanted to punch him and thank him simultaneously, and I didn’t know which was worse. I hadn’t seen Killian either, but for him, I just wanted to punch the sleaze.
Throughout the day I felt eyes on me, judging, watching, but I didn’t know if that was their general disgust, or if it was about last night. As normal, I paid them no heed, instead remained tight as a drum, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It wasn’t until the second class of the day, Herbology, that anything truly happened. The professor, a willowy dryad who insisted we called her Essence, was finishing a demonstration on how to serenade a pot of herbs harmonically when a tall, barrel-chested man walked in. Sweeping the room with his sharp eyes like a blade, he froze everyone in their seats. Auburn hair swept back from his face; a scar ran the length of his neck to the edge of his open, black shirt. Skin pale and presence dominating, the class fell silent, holding their breaths.
“Jade Foxleaf.” He spoke, not even apologising to Essence, as her song abruptly died. “Mistress Lopez wishes to speak to you.”
I sat a little straighter as Jade hopped off her stool, a half-smile on her lips. “Maybe they finally realised what a troll they’ve allowed into our school, and I’ll be returning to my year?” She said directly to my face, not bothering to keep her voice down. Everyone had a good chuckle as the brute guided her out.
Waiting until they’d left, Essence cleared her throat, trying to hide the curling brown leaves that were falling out of her hair. “Well… right – Now, let us continue onto identification. Pair up and work through the lists I handed out.”
Facing the desk, I instantly felt the presence of Jade’s empty chair as everyone else dug into their work. Before me was a basket of bundled plants. The scent of them was overpowering, enough I could no longer smell the acidic ‘aches and pains’ ointment Jade had provided. Hesitantly, I picked up the nearby stack of stringed labels.
Rummaging, I found the obvious ones first: lavender, thyme, rose and mint, but the others I didn’t recognise at all. “Winter Diamond. Sun Lotas, Vampiric Rose… Twilight Henbane.” I snorted, finding a hysterical bubble lifting in my chest. Shuffling through the labels again, I found my hands moved automatically as my mind wandered.
What did Lopez need to talk to Jade about? I didn’t think for a second was lucky enough they had figured out I didn’t belong here, and I was going home. And even if they had, could I? I’d seen so much and knew things now that would send me straight to the loopy-bin if I tried to explain it. No, it had to be about last night, the girl in the lake. But again, why talk to Jade? She wasn’t there. I didn’t even remember seeing her after she’d squawked at me in the tavern. Round and around the problem circled, searching for an answer I didn’t have.
