The Devoted: A Reverse Harem Omnibus (The Devoted Season Book 1)(16)

What do I want?

I want to pass the stupid trial.

But at this rate—with all of the remedial learning I’ve got to do—all I can really do is hope. Power without a means of control just equals disaster. It has always equaled disaster. I can’t believe I thought that maybe it could equal something else—like me being able to use it to my advantage.

“Hey,” Sebastian cuts through my spiraling thoughts, “you need to loosen up,”

“Loosen up?” I grit out. Easy for him to say. He started whatever that was with the Initiates and somehow got me in trouble while he walked away without even a slap on the wrist!

Loosen up. I shake my head. “You don’t know what I’ve got to lose,”

“It’s your day off,” he says as the waitress reappears at our table with the thick scent of hot blueberries wafting off her coffee-stained apron. She slides our plates towards us and disappears again.

“Not a full day,” I tell him, scooping up a fork, “You keep forgetting—I lost my evening.”

“Okay, so it’s not a full day. So?” he says around a mouthful of pancake, “At least you’ve got something right? A full six hours. There’s a lot you can do in six hours,”

My first bite is moist and delectable, blueberries exploding in my mouth as they mix with baked in syrup. I stifle a moan as I put my fork down and pin a glare on him, “Like sleep?”

He snorts a laugh, “My old man has a saying, ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead.’” He swallows his bite and sits back, “How about I take you to some antique shops? Help you blow off a little steam?”

I don’t like the way he waggles his eyebrows. Tapping my finger on the plate, I sit back as well. “No,” I tell him, clasping my hands in my lap, “If I’m doing anything else today, it’s going to be practicing,”

“Remedial?” he gasps, “On a free day?”

I nod slowly. I need to pass this trial, and if that means giving up my free day, then so be it. “Thank you for the breakfast,” I tell him, pushing my half-way empty plate forward, “But I think I’m going back from here,”

Sebastian surprises me with a challenging smirk, “We’ll see about that.”

###





I HOP THROUGH THE DOORWAY and shut my eyes, waiting for that whoosh. The door snaps closed and a sip of wind hisses past my ears.

Placing his hands on his hips, Sebastian stretches, arching his back slightly. He cracks his neck and lets everything go, “What are you in the mood for? Real magical artifacts, or counterfeit? Take your pick,”

I’m still enthralled by the city and its patrons. An explosive honking sound tears through the thick crowd of people and I let out a pathetic whimper. The crowd begins to split toward the sidewalks located on the left and right of the main road, and while they move something spits and coughs as a shadow slithers up the boulevard.

“What is that?” My voice breaks. I point a trembling finger at a steel-laced monstrosity growling up the road on four cumbersome wheels.

“Wow,” Sebastian laughs, “Are you sure you’re from Luca?”

The metal monster ventures up the boulevard and disappears as the crowd regains its footing back on the road. It’s sputtering coughs and honking horn still haunt me.

“Maybe we should rent one,”

“What was that?” I ask for the second time.

“A car, Lilac,” Sebastian slips his hands into his pockets, still laughing at me, “you’re telling me that Tulsdale doesn’t have at least one?”

Another noise peals through the streets this time. Bells. I count the echoing dings on my fingers, letting the fear that car brought up in me drain out as I focus on the chimes.

“It’s noon,” I let out, looking up at Sebastian, “We were in there for two hours?”

Making a visor out of his hand, Sebastian shrugs and glares through the crowd, “Like I said, you need to loosen up,”

“I need to go back and practice,” I don’t know when night watch officially starts. It’s better if I just go back and, well, wait. But despite my remedial lessons and my mess-ups on the field, I don’t want to go back. I may not be the perfect Firedrake student, but even I deserve a little break now and then, right?

Right?

Something about that doesn’t sit well in my gut. I’ve got five more days to prove that I belong.

If I pass the trial, I can come back here.

If.

“Rooster’s Weapons Emporium is right across the street,” Sebastian says, tilting his head in its direction, “Lots of counterfeit stuff. He’s even got ‘artifacts’ from the time before the Great Dark,” he raises his eyebrows, “Interested?”

Yes. But I can’t afford to waste time. “Sebastian, I’m sorry but, I need to go back.”

He turns his shuttered gaze on me, “You know, they haven’t even told us how many students they’re even accepting. What if they take in all of us? You’re taking this too seriously,” he blinks his eyes wider and brings his gaze over my shoulder before continuing, “Looks like the cavalry’s arrived anyway,” he drawls.

“What?” I swivel around and follow his gaze. My hands go rigid at my sides. A faculty member in purple robes, the silhouette distinctively feminine as she zigzags through the noontime crowd, cuts a line through the deluge of people right toward us.