Supernatural Academy: Year One (Supernatural Academy #1)(101)

“You’re under my skin, Maddison,” he said softly, his breath and scent teasing my senses. “I’ve been sleeping in a bed that smells like you. Sitting in a medical wing that smells like you. Dealing with four best friends who love you and consider you family.”

“I stayed in your room while you were gone,” I said softly. “It was the closest I could get to you, and it killed me every single fucking day to know you were at the mercy of those assholes.” I sucked in a deep breath, refusing to be lost in those green eyes until I got all the words out. “I dreamed of you, watching you be tortured. Of that woman touching you. I can’t do that again.”

His lips were a butterfly kiss across mine. “You won’t,” he promised, his face hard as the scary, powerful Asher came out to play. “I chose to try and destroy them from the inside, and it worked, but only because you all showed up at the right time. I won’t be so lenient next time. If they come at us again, any of the remaining Arterians, I will show them exactly why Atlantean royalty was feared.”

“You think they’ll try again? To take you or … me?”

He broad shoulders lifted in a shrug. “Atlantis is rising. That was the first part of their plan. But I don’t think it’s everything they want, and only time will tell what the rest of their plan is.”

Not a comforting thought, but knowing that we were all together, I wasn’t too worried. We’d deal with whatever came at us.





40





I’d missed quite a lot of school and classes with everything that had happened, so my days after this were filled with study and catching up. My reunion with Ilia and Larissa involved tears and ice cream and another wine-fueled naked dip in the pool. Asher kept the guys away, and I was grateful.

With the end of my first school year at the Academy approaching, I found myself sitting down for breakfast with everyone. We were in the commons, surrounded by students. Some of them were studying—it was the start of our last exam week—but most were watching us closely. That appeared to be a new activity in the school, watching our table to see what crazy might happen. Word had gotten around about our trip out to the Greek Islands, and while most people didn’t know the true story—the rumors were pretty insane—it still created a ton of interest around us.

Asher and I hadn’t come out as a couple or anything yet, but we did touch an awful lot, and everyone was trying to figure out what was going on with that.

“Are you ready?” Rone asked Larissa, sitting close to her. “What exam do you have first?”

Larissa, who was in her second year, had been telling me a few days ago how much harder it was than first year. Normally that would have freaked me out, but mostly it made me excited. I couldn’t wait to see how we would advance, the new things I still had to learn.

“I’ve got Herbalism with Maddi,” she said, shooting me a small grin. “And then I have Demonology.”

Rone leaned down and murmured something low. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but it sounded a lot like You got this, love.

Love? Well, that was interesting.

Larissa certainly thought so; her cheeks went pinker, her eyes soft and dreamy.

Rone had so many hidden layers, and at first sight the two of them made no sense, but when you dug deeper, there was a symbiosis there. A gentle truth. A yin and yang.

Asher wrapped his arm around me, pulling me into his side, and my tummy did the butterfly thing, my pulse raced, and my power started losing its shit. Because apparently it loved Asher and kept trying to smash through my chest to get to him.

He leaned over and pressed his lips to the top of my head, and I sighed.

“So, my parents sent me a letter,” Calen said, leaning forward. His thing with Ilia had apparently died a natural death, but I could have sworn that I’d seen them naked together in the pool the other night. And they were sitting very close at the moment. “They heard there’s an entire task force heading out to the location where Atlantis is rising. They predict the rise will be complete by the end of the year. Literally.”

That would be my birthday. Weird coincidence … or just another fucked-up connection between me and that lost land?

“We should be on that task force,” Jesse added, leaning back in his chair. He’d finished his food, the plates still lined up in their perfect order. “There is no one more qualified to deal with whatever Atlantis throws at us.”

“Louis has already said he’d be there,” I told them. The sorcerer had stopped by to check on me and the amulet. “He’s hoping to fit some training of my power in at the same time, since he’ll be there for a while”

Not that it really mattered. A step-through could take him from one side of the world to the other without issue, but I still got what he was saying. He would focus on Atlantis and me, in that order.

“Are you all worried about what changes this might bring?” Ilia asked. She didn’t look as put-together as usual—her last job had taken a real toll on her; the supe was still missing and it bothered her.

“No,” the guys said.

“Yes,” I replied at the same time.

Five sets of eyes met mine. “I’m really worried, but I know we’ll handle it. Whatever it is.”

“No more dreams?” Axl asked, lifting his head from the textbook in front of him.