The moment I got in, the warmth of the water assaulted the tired muscles of my legs. My calves screamed as I kneaded the sore spots. The trek through the forest didn’t seem strenuous at the time, but the uneven terrain required stamina I lacked. And even though he never made it obvious, River had to slow his pace because of me. I needed to get stronger, but first my body needed to recover.
Leaning back and stretching, my eyes drifted to the shelf on the side. Up until now I managed to avoid it. It was filled to the brim with an overwhelming number of little vials of essential oils and jars of bath salts.
Lavenderwas calming and relaxing… no, thanks, I was tired enough already; it seemed like it would just put me back to sleep.
Peppermintfor digestion and focus, that sounded impressive but not something I needed at the moment.
Tea treefor skin issues. Did I have any? I had a pimple on my back from not showering during those two days in the forest, but I didn’t think it warranted a whole oil bath. Besides, I’d already scratched it into a bloody mess, and the smell of the oil left a lot to wish for.
Lemon oilto uplift and refresh. Hell yes, let’s do some refreshing. I poured some into the water, and the smell instantly reminded me of—oh hell no, why did I even choose this one?
It was too late, though, and I would rather not waste the bath.
Before closing my eyes I switched on the bubbles. Wherever the purpose for them was, I only used it because they were pretty and calmed my loud brain.
A couple of shouts in the distance broke through the serenity of the moment before I shoved myself underwater, letting my dark waves float in every direction, pulled by the small current coming from the jets. When wet, they looked like the deepest shade of black, just like Isaac’s hair.
That man was as peculiar as he was a mystery. The way his brain worked should be studied. I woke up today to a message from him demanding I meet him for our training session in his office at the Academy.
There were so many issues with that scenario.
First of all, where did he even get my number? As far as I knew only River and closest family members had it…
Second of all, his weird departure last time followed by a demand to move our training to a different location was annoying. Why did men think they got to boss me around? Of course, I would go because it was in my benefit, but I needed to tear him a new one for that. The shadow professor seemed to respond well to getting told off.
And finally, wasn’t that Academy supposed to be some deeply elite and secretive establishment? How odd that he wanted to meet there… Perhaps he wanted me around to talk Miriam into changing her mind regarding enrolling?
For once, it would be great if somebody revealed their true intentions; all these mind games were tiresome, and navigating them wasn’t for my nerves. I thrived without ulterior motives… or maybe I was just missing something obvious.
I walked into my wardrobe looking for something cosy and thick, eventually choosing a deep red sweater set that looked dangerously close to pyjamas, but I didn’t care. Paired with a black faux leather jacket, it looked decent enough.
The hallway was surprisingly quiet, given I’d heard shouting not even thirty minutes ago. Had they finally turned to murder?
‘That sister of yours is the fucking devil,’ Alec groaned from where he sat in the dining room with hands claspedaround his face. ‘Or she was sent here by the fucking devil himself to torment me.’
The epiphany took him long enough. I wished it were the satisfaction of being right that I felt, rather than sadness for him. ‘Didn’t I tell you precisely that a few days ago?’
‘I didn’t take it literally. Say it like you mean it next time.' He sounded tired and slightly… amused? ‘I’m starting to suspect she’s hiding horns under those blonde waves.’
‘You better hope she doesn’t rock a forked tail.’
‘Ava Nightborn, did you just make a sex joke?’ Alec’s hand smacked against his cheek loudly. ‘This should be celebrated.’
‘Erm, I’m not a Nightborn. At least not formally–’
‘Silly and easily changeable detail,’ he countered, clasping hands over his belly.
I rolled my eyes. ‘And second of all, it was not a sex joke. It was a devil reference.’
‘For sure, you deviant.’ Alec winked, and I could gag.
They were all far too comfortable with their intimacy. I was beginning to think I needed to look for some sort of Sex Addicts Anonymous for them. I probably needed to connect to the land to see if anything like it even existed here. I wasn’t sure it existed anywhere.
'Oh, piss off.' I pinched my eyebrows, needing a second to myself. ‘Can you take me to this War Academy Isaac teaches at?’
Alec straightened, his face a mix of concern and hurt. ‘You’re going to Waena?’
‘Yeah, he wants to train me there today for some reason,’ my words came out as a whisper since it felt wrong to ask him.
