“If you would be amenable to such a proposal, then I would like to initiate this portion of your human mating rituals,” he replied.
“I am very amenable,” I grinned.
A wide smile split his face, and for a moment, I was overwhelmed by how heartbreakingly gorgeous he was. “I am grateful for the chance to court you and prove that I am worthy of being accepted into your Vinculum,” he said softly, placing a hand on the back of my neck. His thumb stroked over the mark Gabriel had left as we made our way across campus.
If you’d asked me at that moment why I was dragging my feet with Zypher, I wouldn’t have been able to answer. It wasn’t like I’d been a saint in the human realm. I’d had a few relationships and my share of lovers before I was snatched away to the Academy. Zypher was possibly the worthiest male I’d ever met, and there was an undeniable draw to be near him that only grew the longer we knew each other. It was the idea of fate that seemed to keep tripping me up. Some part of me needed to know that I chose him for myself and not because some unknown force had decided we were meant to be.
“What troubles you, Dilectus? I can see your mind working.” Zypher’s voice broke through my thoughts.
“It’s nothing, really,” I replied with a soft smile. “You’re just not what I would have expected had I known supernaturals even existed.”
Zypher stopped walking, turning me to face him so that he could look me in the eyes. “We are not all monsters. I cannot speak for the male that left his mark on you already, but for most males in this realm, our females hold the power when it comes to accepting or rejecting a bond. That is especially true among my kind. Our women are our fiercest warriors; we males only wish to offer our Dilectus what she needs to choose her own path in life. Whether that means fighting by her side or allowing her a safe space to be soft, it is always and forever her choice and our honor to provide.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about.” I couldn’t help but chuckle at the confused look on his face. “Sure, there are some great guys in the human realm, but you have to weed through a bunch of entitled douchebags to get to them—if you find the good guy at all.”
“Is this why you choose not to tell me who marked you?” he asked.
“No,” I sighed, patting him on the chest and turning to start across campus again. “I’m choosing to handle that asshole my way first. I promise if I can’t deal with this on my own, you will be the first to know.”
We continued the rest of the walk to my first class in silence, saying our goodbyes before I slipped into Spellcasting 101. So far, it had been my easiest class at the academy. It became apparent within the first few days that you didn’t need internal magic stores to cast spells, and with Miles making minor adjustments to my hands, I’d caught on fairly quickly.
Intro to supernaturals followed spellcasting. What should have been an interesting class, now that I’d accepted my new reality, nearly bored me to tears. Professor Sabelus was awake long enough to direct the class to read the chapter on harpies, answer the chapter questions, and put them in the bin on his desk by the end of class. The vampire professor then collapsed into his chair, lay his head on his desk, and promptly started snoring. I’d already read the textbook in its entirety before the start of term, and it took me next to no time to answer the questions at the end of the chapter. I couldn’t help wishing for a professor who engaged us and answered questions wecouldn’t find buried in the text. Zypher was waiting for me after class with a fresh coffee.
“You are a saint,” I groaned as I sipped from my cup.
“Far from it, Dilectus,” he chuckled. “Though it pleases me to see you happy.”
I couldn’t help the smile that split my face at his words. Before I could stop myself, I’d stretched onto my tiptoes and pulled him down with my free hand to kiss his cheek.
“I’m headed to the library to start studying up on Serpopards for our human studies assignment. I’ll see you at dinner?” I asked as I released him.
“You will,” he smiled.
Chuckling to myself, I told Zypher goodbye and headed to the library. I spent the rest of my time before combat class reading through as many books as I was able, only stopping long enough to grab some lunch. Vallynn hadn’t emailed about the group project yet, and I was determined to learn as much as I could before he did. The way he’d acted like I was beneath him made me want to prove him wrong in whatever way I could. My head was swimming with information and random facts when I arrived at the training grounds for combat class.
I changed into the new fighting leathers I found in my locker as quickly as I could, ensuring my new necklace was secured beneath my top, before making my way to the training pitch. My eyes roamed over my classmates, and I spotted Kiri waving at me with a grin. Smiling back, I picked up my pace until I stopped to stand beside her.
“Hey, girl!” she grinned. “I was thinking we could be training partners again.”
“That would be great, actually,” I replied.
“You won’t be picking your own partners,” Professor Rumlock barked, causing us both to jump. “It is important that you not get comfortable with a single partner, lest you find yourself unable to defend against a different sort of supernatural.”
Neither of us replied as we waited for our remaining classmates to arrive on the field. As soon as the last student appeared, Rumlock led us through a series of warm-up exercises, followed by laps around the pitch, before assigning us to our partners. To my dismay, I found myself paired with Gabriel. The vampire scowled at me as if I’doffended him as I made my way to our mat.
“You can stop scowling at me,” I hissed as soon as my feet hit the edge of our training mat. “I’m the one who should be pissed. You fucking mated me.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing. He moved too fast for my eyes to follow, closing the distance between us until his hand was wrapped around my throat and his nose was nearly touching mine.
“Like I would mate someone as pathetic as you. You don’t even have enough power to defend yourself.” He scoffed. “You had to stoop to finding a mage to cast a spell for you so that you could pull me into your fucked-up fantasies.”
“In your dreams, asshole,” I snorted as I tried to push him away.
“So, you know exactly what I’m talking about then, dud.” He smirked, shoving me back and releasing my throat.
I felt power swell in the hollow pit of my stomach, winding through my body toward my fingertips. “Fuck you, you elitist prick,” I snapped as a flame the size of a baseball formed in my palm.
Moving on instinct, I thrust my hand toward him, sending the flames spiraling through the space between us. Gabriel’s mouth gaped open in shock, his body frozen in place as if he couldn’t believe I actually had any power. The flaming sphere hit his shoulder, disintegrating with a hiss against his training leathers and leaving a charred circle behind.
