One wrong step, p.21
One Wrong Step, page 21
Yet even as every damsel screamed their warnings of the big, bad stalkers of the night, my conversation with Cas rang true. I wasn’t a damsel. I would be the one causing distress.
“All right.” I smiled, which threw Nic off immediately. “Shall I prick my finger or are the fangs included?”
Blinking away his surprise, Nic’s eyes flared with excitement. “Say it,” He demanded before quickly reining himself in. “Say the words? Repeat them.” He clarified after my blank look.
“I, Zara, freely give you, slimy leach that you are, Nic, a drop of my essence for you to hold while you hump your pillow at night for all the answers I need.” I smiled, bitterly. “Anything else?”
Nic was almost hyperventilating, and I watched as he opened his mouth, not breathing a word. Seeing his fangs flickering in the torchlight, I released a sigh before raising my index finger. Giving it one sorrowful look, I reached forward, a softly pressed its tip to the pointed peak.
The pain was quick, the blood vanishing before it could well, as Nic clamped his lips around my digit. Sucking it softly, his eyes closed with a moan, and I watched, half in disgust, half in awe.
“Are you done?” I asked, pulling my hand away and flicking it as if covered in slime.
Chuckling softly, Nic looked almost drunk. Pupils blown, smile crooked, he slammed both hands through his hair, knocking the bun free. “Yer…” he sighed. “Yer I’m done.”
“Good-o.” I mocked, tucking my hands into the pockets of my skirt. I expected my finger to pulse with pain, but it was deliciously warm. Tingling. Ignoring the sensation, I fixed him with a stare. “Where will I find the answers about Cleo?”
“Ha, isn’t it obvious?” Looking at me through thick lashes, my heart thumped loudly in my chest, enough that my cheeks burned. But Nic went on, hopefully not noticing. “Her Ever Book.”
“Her…”
Of course! Briar said everyone had one chronicling their life as it unfolded. If anything had her murder written down in black and white, it would be that. “Genius.” I grinned, not caring that he continued to look at me with a husky glower. “Where is it? Where will I find Cleo’s book?”
“The place where all the failed stories go.”
“Wattpad?” I frowned, a pinch of annoyance coating my tongue. There were gems on there, with downright moving stories, not to mention the fan-fics…
“The Library of Defeat.” Nic laughed, looking at me funny. “Her book’s probably already there, half-written with a lukewarm plot, ready to be forgotten.”
“So, I was half right,” I muttered with a shrug. Turning from the vampire, I climbed back up the stairs, a purpose back in my step.
“But someone from the respectable Day Court won’t get in.”
Catching a growl of frustration behind clenched teeth, I rounded on Nic again with a snarl. “Really? Is there some bookworm that eats people guarding the place?”
“No, Madam Bella won’t be on shift, but it’s warded. Students are… discouraged from entering.” He smiled, leaning against the wall. Arms crossed, his t-shirt tightened deliciously, while his eyes trailed up my legs. “No one from the pure side of the Academy would dare sully themselves by breaking in. But you’ll need someone’s help.”
Hands on hips, I hitched a brow, “And you’re offering?”
Nic snorted, “Hardly. My interest in you has… diverted, Love.” I shivered at the word, unsure if that was good or bad. “But a witch could help deactivate traps, or a Necro, of course, as the undead don’t set off the wards.” Sliding his tongue over his teeth, Nic climbed the steps until his nose was level with mine.
I should have moved back. I wanted to move back. Yet I found myself held fast like his gaze were hands that caressed my naked flesh…
“Now, I have a feeling you’re not as pure as the others…” he chuckled, leaning closer. His fingers graced my hip. The scent of him enveloped me, and it was… calming, like cosy nights by a warm fire. I felt my body lean in of its own accord, pulling up the corners of his lips. “So, I think it’s about time you properly apologised for our first meeting-”
“Don’t even think about it.” I slammed a finger over his lips, his eyes popping wide in surprise once more. “Nice try, but I won’t apologise for that kick. Not when your teachers are praising me for it.”
Climbing up a step, my heart slowed as the distance between us grew.
“Whatever bargain you think we’ve made; it’s never going to happen. Whatever trick you’ve pulled; it’s not going to last. Whatever thrall you think you’ve pulled over my eyes, I will fight and bite and scream against it until you wish you’d never been so stupid to try.”
“You say that now,” Nic followed my every step, reclaiming his cool with a purr. “But you’ll slowly be drawn to my side, Love. You’ll seek me out.”
“I’m sure I will,” I smiled sweetly, speaking over my shoulder as I left. “And when I do, I’ll be sure to have Mr. Pointy ready.”
Nicholas
The girl had balls, but boy was she naïve and further proof stretched my smile a little wider.
Running from a vampire, ousting her ally, questioning the facility's rulings… The list went on. Whispers of her fire and fury had already reached the Night Court. Taking an Alpha to his knees was a villain’s wet dream, one I’d even conjured, though my motivations were for vastly different reasons. She was becoming quite the little legend.
Everyone was jousting at who’d be the first to take her down.
Watching Azariah leave, the tops of her creamy thighs flashing in her shorts, I sent a silent prayer of thanks to the Inks that brought her to me. “All mine for the taking.” I purred, sucking the last of her blood from the tip of my fang.
It was delectably sweet, a hint of adrenaline, but not as much as I’d been expecting, which was good. Fear wasn’t what I hungered for; it was submission, and Princess Azariah Heart would prove to be one delicious challenge.
But worth it.
Savouring the scent of her, I turned my gaze inward to the hollow pit of my ravenous gut. It swelled, gorging on the dribble of blood she’d provided. Absently drifting my hand, I plucked the air like a spider on its web. The life string hummed to life from my chest, and I allowed the vibration to roll out a wave, marvelling at the red string that now flickered between Azariah and myself. It was weak, barely a line of sand. But over time I’d stroke that string, playing it, tugging it over and over, to draw her in like a moth to my flame.
Opening my eyes, I grinned in the dim staircase, at least until a succulent, devastating voice soured my heady victory.
“My sweet Nicolaus. What has got you all riled up?”
Words. Only words, and yet the world span as though centred around him. His low chuckle pulled me, his eyes that ravished me from behind. I could sense it all, and my mood darkened.
“What are you doing here, Fyzel?” I drew on the last imaginary taste of Azariah to soothe me. To remind me of my goals.
“I heard that they’d punished you by cleaning the morgue.” He stepped closer, his tall frame casting a shadow over me despite my six-foot height. But he loved that. Standing over people, lording over them, looking down on them. “I thought you might like some company.”
“I only want the company of trembling thighs clamping around my head, and yours aren’t the ones I'm interested in.” Finally spinning, I bore my fangs at the incubus as pain lashed across his expression.
For a man of emotion, he couldn’t hide his.
Tilting his head, long, wavy hair like liquid wine fell over his shoulder, begging me to wrap it in my fist. Blue eyes like icy slates regarded me, penetrating my thoughts without so much of a lick of his powers. Full lips turned down, forehead furrowed, he sighed softly, prickling my nerves.
“Don’t be like that, Nicholas.” He folded his thick arms over his sleeveless hoodie, and I suddenly felt like a small, chastised child. “I can sense your elation, like pollen, from a rose even without searching for it. You’re up to something and you’re excited by it.”
“Get out of my head, Fez.” I snapped, sizing him up and allowing my anger to burn. I hoped it scolded him and made him reel from getting too close.
But the incubus didn’t flinch. He only blinked before sighing deeper. “Why would you think me in your head, when I am the furthest one from it?”
Fists balled, I slammed them into his chest, sending Fyzel staggering. But even the surprise on his face didn’t stop my chest from pounding. “Not far enough.” I growled, “Stay the Inks away from me. You don’t know what you’re talking about and you’re spoiling my mood, which is a feat for an Incubus like you”
That made him straighten. Expression flattening, I suddenly realised it was just us, alone in the bowels of the Academy. At full height, I had to crane my neck to look at him, but I didn’t step back. Wouldn’t. I’d tear his neck out before he could produce one twisted horn…
“I am far from spoiling you, Nicholas.” He whispered, deep and deadly. My breath caught in my throat as a solitary finger curled under my chin. “But I find I am reaching the end of my patience. Perhaps one day soon you’ll get what you want after all.”
Giving me one last look, Fez brushed past, retreating up steps the way Azariah had left, leaving me alone in the shadows. But sucking in a calming breath, I walked deeper into them. They corralled my mind, welcoming me back. It cooled my skin to its normal icy touch and echoed my steps as I walked away too.
The payback and honour of breaking Azariah Heart first would be mine, and only when she begged would I give her what she really wanted. But not yet, and not soon. Fez might not have patience, but I did, and that princess was about to find out what she truly deserved.
Chapter Thirteen
The academy library was a cathedral of embossed gold and shiny leather backs. Curving oiled staircases, the wood polished to a high sheen. Wide, long tables surrounded by comfortable chairs and little green lamps down its centre. Shelves ran in lengths, tucked around corners in nooks, each with those rolling ladders that begged my feet to try.
Yet I stayed diligent, scouring the entire library for hours after my run-in with tall-pale-and-pointy, but failed to find the Library of Defeat anywhere. I’d found more than a few make-out spots, though. It is nice to know even in cuckoo-land, lust and desire still had the same hangouts. Not that the couples I’d stormed in on were as delighted by the discovery as I was.
But when my feet threatened to drop off, the shelves melded into one giant labyrinth, and my stomach growled as if hiding its own monster, I had to admit defeat. Left with no option, I’d crawled to dinner, then my soft sheets and my head hit my pillow like a brick.
Which meant I didn't appreciate my pre-dawn wake-up call at all.
“Get up!” Jade snapped. I could feel her snooty presence glowing over me, but I just buried myself deeper into my sheets. “Get up, now, Azariah. I haven’t got all day.”
Groaning heavily, my foggy mind felt as dry as my mouth and I squeezed my eyes closed like she might just disappear.
“All right. Here we go again.”
Cold air snapped against my skin, and I screamed bloody murder, flinging myself upright as my duvet fluttered away and Tinker Bell smirked down at me. With a snap of her fingers, I gasped as the sheet went up in flames, raining me in ash.
“What. The. Fuck? That was brand new!” I snarled,
“Oops.” Jade shrugged, dusting her shoulder off. “Guess I got a little excited.”
“What do you want? It's Sunday. It’s a day of rest and your resting bitch face is not what I had in mind.”
Jade’s smile fell flat, as did the anger in her eyes. But with a quick flip of hair over her shoulder, the bitter curve returned. “Oh, don’t worry, I have no intention of hanging around with you for long. However, Mistress Lopez kindly reminded me you have to sign up for a club and insisted I help you do so.”
“Unless it’s a club to hit you over the head with, I’m not interested.” I deadpanned, flopping back down against my pillow. However, without a cosy duvet over my skin, it was fruitless.
“Even if it was, I would have nothing to fear from you and your spaghetti arms,” Jade answered with a breeze. “But no. It is mandatory everyone joins a student-led club, to mingle and socialise. Taking part in activities of interest and being part of a community will fuel the ties students need for future quests.” She spoke as if reading from a manual.
“Quests?” I sneered, rolling over to face the ceiling. Glancing at the window, it was barely light, the mountain tips a hazy orange and the sky above a dusky blue. “Lord above, what time is it?”
“Early enough.” Jade shrugged, gazing around my room with mild interest. “Just get dressed and we can go. The sooner you pick a club, the sooner we can go back to ignoring one another.”
“Sounds delightful.” And I think that was the first time we’d agreed on anything.
◆◆◆
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I glared at the spot between Jade’s wings, imagining how I might petrify her, splay her out on a cushioned felt, her body resting peacefully… before sticking razor-sharp pins through her wings, spreading them out like a captured butterfly and locking her behind a glass case.
As if sensing my disdain, my fairy turned, scowling menacingly, before flying down some steps. She wore a body suit today, red to match her wings, with a slight shimmer. “We’ll have to make this quick. My club starts at noon, so I have to look like I’m helping you for at least two hours before I can go. After that, you’re on your own.”
“Oh, and why can’t I join your club?” I asked sweetly, fluttering my lashes.
“Because it's Flying Club. There are prerequisites.” She smiled bitterly, almost enough that I wished I had wings.
“Well, don’t fall out of the sky on my account,” I muttered as we stepped out onto the castle grounds.
People were around, but I noticed they were all in small groups, clearly already clubbing—and not in the fun sense. A line of men trooped past towards the lake’s edge, pivoting to run through its sands. Another group practised a dance routine, legs flipping in the air. Another, Dryads from the petals in the air, milled around the flower beds tending to their… siblings? I blinked that thought away, tuning in to what Jade was saying.
“Quest Club was full before the term started. You can’t join the Knight’s Table, and the swim clubs will drown you before they let you join. No flying for you, either. Honestly, I'd be surprised if any Day Court club would accept you.” She puffed out a breath of concern and masterfully acted. “I suppose you could join a Night Court club… like the occult. They’re always looking for volunteers to practise on.”
“Think you’d need some kind of soul to curse and, according to everyone in this school, I don’t have one.”
Jade almost smiled, but realising, frowned quickly enough. “Well, let’s wander. Maybe inspiration will strike.”
“I’m more hopeful for an aeroplane’s toilet, which will save me from this forced act of labour.”
This time, Jade did snort, but it didn’t stop her from fluttering away at a speed I had no hope of keeping up with. Despite the leggings and crop top I wore, exercise was not in the cards today, even if Professor Sienna tried to claim otherwise. So, I took my time, and Jade huffed the entire way.
Weaving around the students, I slowly became more fascinated by each group. Classes always blew my mind, and the little pieces that were left over tried to keep up. But they were lessons, with strict rules: always listening, writing, quizzing and small demonstrations.
Now, people were exploring, expressing, and experimenting.
There must have been multiple flying clubs, because while Jade stayed with me, dozens of fairies flew overhead. No squadrons of fairies. They flew in tight formations, skipping around obstacles, performing acrobatics, and ducking through the tightest of spaces.
Looking back up the academy’s front, I gasped, seeing dozens of black dots covering it. People scrambled up the stones, turrets, and palisades. Spider club, Jade informed me. Princes practising for whatever tower, castle, mountain or cavern they might have to scale on a quest.
To one side of a rose garden, on a long flat strip, Duelling Club. The next hedge row over, Battle Club. In the lake, people rowed across the glassy surface, Skippers Club, alongside the Sailing Club, while beyond, on the open fields, Riding Club. Beneath the water, Jade informed me, was Aquatic Combat Club, as well as Scavenging Club and – as I saw a rowboat tip – Depths-to-Surface Tactical Fighting.
I gasped at every turn, but it quickly became clear that I didn't fit in any of these clubs and, looking at the castle's clock once more, I saw time had flown. Jade was itching to leave, her wings vibrating at her back at a pace I could hear.
“Jesus Christ, just go.” I huffed as she checked the time again. “I don’t think anyone’s going to notice if you leave twenty minutes before you’re meant to.”
Pursing her lips, Jade hesitated before flying nose to nose. “You grass on me, or get me in trouble because I didn’t help you find a club-”
“You’ll turn me into a pumpkin?” I waved her off. “Don’t worry. I promise not to be late for my deadline or you can bibbidi-bobbidi-boop me.”
Upper lip curling and nose wrinkling, Jade fluttered back. “You’re so fucking weird.” But just like that, she was gone, leaving me on the edge of Hick’s Village.
I could see more clubs taking place inside the taverns and bars, but there was nothing more awkward than walking into a room you weren’t welcome in. So, I skirted the lake’s edge to the south, watching from a distance. Without Jade, I didn’t know what any of the Clubs were called, but I had fun guessing.
“Poison Apple Tasting Club,” I murmured at a cluster of girls, all wearing pretty pastel dresses while lounging on a picnic blanket and nibbling the smallest amounts of food. “Riddle Club,” I skirted over another group, all with their noses in books. “Oh, and look Flea Club.”
