“Stop that!”Jarred shouted.He dropped Wayla to the bed, and she bounced once before sitting up.Every line of her body screamed fatigue, but she didn’t complain, didn’t utter a word of protest about the way she had been blasted downstairs.She quietly got up to her feet and then reached for her wrist.Unclasping the jaguar bracelet, she held it out to him.
“This belongs to you.”
“No.”Jarred shook his head and backed away from her.“That was a gift.I’m not taking it back.”
Wayla laid the bracelet on his nightstand.“I can’t keep it, Jarred.I’m not the woman you thought I was when you gave it to me.”
“Why-why are you doing this, Wayla?I know you are not sleeping with Salis or Risha, no matter what those two idiots claim.I see how you look at us.It’s not fake, none of it.”
“Oh, pet.”Now there were tears in her eyes, but she held them back with furious blinking.“I wish things could be different, but it’s better this way.One more mark on the bedpost, people will forget soon.Hit it and quit it, right?That’s the Powerhouse way.”
“What the ever-loving-fuck are you talking about?”Jarred couldn’t keep up.It almost seemed like Wayla couldn’t either.
“I’m saying, that no one will bat an eye for the lot of you dumping my unimportant ass, if you all do it at once.”
“I’m not… they are not…”
“Yes, you are, and they definitely are.It’s over, Jarred, for all of us, and it’s better that way.”
“No, it’s not.”Now it was pure panic that was clawing up Jarred’s throat.Wayla stepped in and wrapped her arms around him.
“I’m so, so sorry, pet.I never should have agreed to any of this to begin with.I hate that this, anything I do, is hurting you.”
Jarred clung to Wayla in return, shaking his head from side to side.“No.No, no,no.I refuse to let this be it.This makes no sense!”
Wayla rose to her tiptoes and kissed his lips gently.It was the softest, saddest kiss ever, and it crumbled Jarred’s heart.He clutched her to him tighter.
“Let me go,” Wayla whispered against his lips softly.Jarred was unable to move when she pulled away and walked out the door.He stood frozen in place until the front door slammed shut, but even then, he couldn’t move to follow after her.Even his jaguar was silent when the tears started falling.
Chapter 42 – Wave
Wavemanagedtoslipinto her room unnoticed, and she didn’t come out until Sunday.By then, the rumor mill was in full force; Hellion had made sure of that.Ginny, Di, and Chrissy all demanded to know what the hell had happened.
There wasn’t much for Wave to say.No, they didn’t need to hate them on her account.No, Ginny didn’t need to ward the place even tighter.No, Chrissy should not go over and destroy all their clothes.They had done nothing wrong—it was just over.
It had started raining soon after that.Saying it out loud somehow drove the point home to her as well.Now the only one she still needed to face was Salis, and she had evaded him by ducking into the bushes on the way to class.
A week later, it was still raining.Wave once again looked out of the window in her fire class and cursed under her breath.Of course, it was.Her mood was in the gutter, and her self-control was dangerously low.Usually, when she was having a crappy day like this, Wave would take a long swim to be out of anyone’s way, but that wasn’t an option.
She hadn’t managed to evade Salis for long, but she hadn’t seen any of the Powerhouses since the breakup and she was ignoring her phone to the point of leaving it in her room.Wave wasn’t sure which would be worse; looking at the phone and seeing no one had called, or seeing that someone had.So, she didn’t look.
The rain kept hammering down.No thunder though.She wasn’t that far gone, yet.Wave gritted her teeth and tried to get her powers under control.That was the problem of having them and not being able to use them.They built up.She had slipped with Jarred.The last whisper she’s uttered that had allowed her to walk away without breaking had held a siren’s command.
She hadn’t properly let her siren side out since before coming to campus, and in the emotional shit storm, it had boiled over.Too bad it wasn’t willing to go back to its corner nicely now.Every breath was straining her.
Normally, she could push that side aside for weeks, if not months, when needed, but it was proving to be impossible now.Not only was she constantly bombarded with delicious-looking males, and then having to deal with all the relationship crap, but she was using her stormbringer side daily.
The imbalance it left behind was an issue that got compounded with shielding lessons and the constant vigilance it took to keep her stormbringer powers in check, too.And looking out for Elena’s little tricks didn’t help either.
Basically, she needed to let loose.The pressure building into her bones was starting to get painful, not to mention the constant headache.No wonder she sucked at shielding.
“Ms.Spinwell, are you listening?”Dr.Kelsey’s snapped question pulled her back into the room with twenty other students, all of whom were looking at her.Dr.Kelsey’s reddish skin seemed a shade redder than usual, making his demon characteristic stand out more.Mainly, the small black horns he had on the sides of his shaved head.
“I’m sorry, Dr.Kelsey,” Wave said.She knew she should lower her eyes in submission, but she just couldn’t make herself do that.Not today.Her stomach clenched and her throat squeezed.
“Unacceptable, Ms.Spinwell.You can assist me in the demonstration,” Dr.Kelsey said.Wave shook her head, but it was already too late.“Like I was saying,” he began, “Hell Realm has a general affinity to fire in its various forms.”A flame flickered to life in his palm.“Catch,” he said and threw the tiny flame at Wave.
She saw it coming, tried to twist out of the way, and failed.The flame hit her cheek and burned before extinguishing.Equal amounts of gasps and sniggers rose from the rest of the students.Wave resisted the urge to rub her cheek.
