Page 43 of Stormbringer (Tracthesian Academy #1)

T he next couple of days passed in a haze. Everyone seemed to know that she had gone to visit the Ulrichce mansion with Marc. They got a load of stares, but none asked anything directly from Wave. Even Elena ignored her completely.

Focusing on her classes was a good distraction, and it doubled as an excuse to avoid Marc. Wave knew she couldn’t put off seeing him or the others forever, but she needed a few days to get her nerves under control.

The nightmares kept plaguing her, but at least she didn’t scream the whole apartment awake with them again. What would happen if she slipped now? If someone found out? Mother had no way of learning about it. No one would come to her rescue.

Angrily, Wave shook herself. That was the risk she had been willing to take. She needed to learn the skills Tracthesian could teach. And she had friends here, to a degree. Besides, she still wanted to see if she could find anything about her father’s murder.

Under the veneer of civility and neutrality, there were plenty of politics and power plays going on at the campus. Things she couldn’t find out if she hid on some island.

She was eating a tasty lunch of tomato soup and garlic bread when Salis surprised her. He dropped a folder on the table and grinned.

“Dr. Johanson approved it.”

“Approved what?”

“My plan! Keep up, sugar lips, it’s important that I only have smart students,” he replied and pushed the folder over to her.

“Student…” Wave trailed off and then grinned. “You mean, you’re really going to teach me all the cool earth shit?”

Salis snorted. “Yeah, I’m all about teaching shit.”

“When can we start?

“How about now?” Salis replied and pulled out a paper from the folder. “So, as per Dr. Johanson’s instructions, I’m going to assume you know nothing of earth elements. This is your very basic structure.” He pointed, and Wave leaned over to read, her soup forgotten.

Salis was a good teacher, and he didn’t mind explaining the very basics to Wave. Sure, she knew some of it, but the way Salis described it all made much more sense to her than anything before. She was leaning on Salis’s shoulder when Marc interrupted them.

“What’s going on here?”

Wave beamed at him and patted Salis’s chest. “Spice cake is teaching me earth elements.”

Marc’s eyes lingered on her hand resting on Salis, and his eyes seemed to darken. “Is that so?”

“Yeah,” Salis replied. “Cake pop is a really dedicated student.”

“That she is,” Marc muttered, still looking a bit tense.

Wave frowned and sat up straighter. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Marc shrugged and continued. “I just love finding my girlfriend pawing another male after avoiding me for days.”

Salis flinched away from Wave quickly. “Sorry, man.”

“Hey, don’t move on my account,” Marc grumbled.

Cold shivers ran down Wave’s back at his tone of voice. She wanted to get up and defend Salis, to make sure Marc knew he was way out of line and had no say in who her friends were. But Marc didn’t look like he was angry at Salis. He looked like he wanted to shake her.

The words dried in her throat, but Wave slowly pushed to her feet. “I’m going to be late for class,” she choked out and hastily gathered her things.

“Wayla,” Marc sighed. “Please stop avoiding me.”

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“You are running away right now.”

“That’s my cue. Call me if you need anything, Way,” Salis said and got up too. He threw a frown at Marc, gave Wave a short hug, and walked away.

“I should have pulled his wings the first time I had the inclination,” Marc muttered under his breath.

“Stop that,” Wave snapped. Before she could say anything more, Marc reached out and grabbed her arm. One tug and she was plastered against his chest.

“I don’t like to be toyed with, sparkle. I have feelings for you and—”

“No! Absolutely no, we are not going there right now!” Wave gasped. She couldn’t deal with his feelings on top of her own. Marc looked hurt, and Wave buried her face against his chest. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I just can’t. Not now, okay?”

“Promise me you’ll stop avoiding me, and I’ll drop this.”

Wave nodded. “I promise. I—it’s just…” she trailed off and then bit the bullet and gave him half a truth. “Talking about my father was too hard. I was worried you’d bring him up.”

“Oh, baby.” Marc’s arms wound around her, and he hugged her hard. “I won’t. I promise.”

Wave nodded again.

“So, are we good? You’re done avoiding me?”

“Yes.”

“And the angel is just a friend?”

“I refuse to dignify that with an answer.” Wave huffed and barely restrained her urge to punch him. She didn’t need to hurt her hand like that. “Now, I really need to get to class. I’ll text you after.”

Marc let her go, and Wave kept throwing glances at him until she slipped back inside. She didn’t want to make him jealous, but she didn’t know how to reassure him. Not when she couldn’t give him what he wanted.

As if you even know what he wants . Great. And now she was talking to herself. Wave marched into her next class, determined to forget every male that had ever existed.

Studying. That’s what she was here for.

“H ello, morsel.” Risha’s voice made Wave groan before she even looked up from the pile of books she was sorting back to the shelves from her cart. It was close to the end of her shift, and she had hoped, she must have hoped , that Risha would miss her this time.

No such luck.

“What do you want?” she asked, barely keeping her tone civil. The man just didn’t know how to take a hint. All beauty, no brains. Plenty of beauty, though.

Damn, was she ogling him? And what was with the casual clothing he was sporting? He looked almost sheepish when he handed her a steaming mug. She immediately smelled the mix of coffee and chocolate.

How did he know?

Irishen gulped and then pulled up a dazzling smile. “I—” He didn’t get further than that when Wave felt insidious energy spring forward from one of the books on the lower shelf. It was impossible to see, but she sensed it lashing out and took a step back.

“Get back,” she shouted. To her utter astonishment, Irishen listened to her, somewhat. He grabbed her arm and yanked her behind him, scanning the area. The cup of coffee landed on the floor, but by some miracle, the lid held, and only a tiny splatter escaped.

“What is it?”

Wave blinked, confused. He couldn’t feel the threat? She double-checked herself, and the energy was there, lying in wait. She tried to pull her arm free, but Risha’s hold didn’t budge, and he kept shuffling her backward.

“A book,” Wave finally ground out and refused to take another step. “I need to contain it before it messes up the whole aisle.”

“No,” Risha growled. “Where’s Mrs. Riverson? You don’t—”

Wave cut him off as she finally yanked free and slipped past him.

“Wayla!”

“I can handle it,” she huffed. The book had other intentions, though. The moment Wave moved forward, it lashed at her again. Pesky little bastard. Wave reacted on instinct and clapped her hands, just like Jarred had done that first time.

Instead of a neat containment, not that she really knew the spell Jarred had used, a wall of ice rose between her and the book. Wave almost spun around to glare at Risha, but turning her back to the book would be stupid, so she was forced to address him over her shoulder.

“What the ever-loving fuck are you doing?”

“Protecting your ungrateful hide,” Irishen snapped in reply.

“I can handle it.”

“You are a storm spirit. That book’s so much above your pay grade it’s not even funny.” Irishen wrapped his arm around her shoulders and tugged her back a step again.

Storm spirit, right. Wave blinked slowly, coming back to her senses. She could contain the book, but not with her ruse intact. Except she was tired of holding back and faking all the time. She hissed.

“Let the wall down.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“Is there a problem?” Mrs. Riverson interrupted their childish bickering.

Before Risha could rip into her, like he clearly intended, Wave slapped her palm over his mouth and shook her head.

“No, Mrs. Riverson. Just a book acting out. Prince Sleethill was kind enough to help me out.”

The look on Mrs. Riverson’s face said that she didn’t believe a word out of Wave’s mouth, but she didn’t challenge her.

“Well, that was kind of him. Thank you, Prince Sleethill,” she said.

Irishen’s lips moved against Wave’s palm, but she kept her hand firmly in place. The cool trickle that came with his harsh exhales made her nipples tighten and her siren side perk up.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Wave clamped down on all of the power and felt her insides groan in protest.

Mrs. Riverson’s attention was divided between them and the book trembling behind the ice. When Wave refused to drop her hand and let Irishen speak, she gave a slight smile.

“Right. I’d better get to containing that book. Prince Sleethill, if you would be so kind as to lower the barrier?”

Risha’s arm wrapped around Wave’s waist, and he forced her back several steps. It was impossible to hold her hand in place, and when she dropped it away, Risha grabbed it with his other hand, effectively hugging her to his chest.

Damn hot, cold, man. Wave shivered when his breath moved over her neck.

“Mrs. Riverson, I’d like to apologize,” Risha said once he got Wave’s hand away from his mouth. Both women froze.

“Wh—”

Risha rolled right over Wave’s gasp. “My behavior has been in no way acceptable, and I do apologize for losing my temper before and blasting you with ice. It was wrong of me. Please, will you forgive me?”

The stunned look on Mrs. Riverson’s face was a sight to behold. Wave was pretty sure her own face was contorted into a similar expression.

“I… um.” Mrs. Riverson hesitated, looked at Wave and the way Irishen was holding her back from the frozen book, and blinked rapidly. “Sure, Prince Sleethill. I’ll forgive you,” she choked out.

“That is very kind of you. I really appreciate it, Mrs. Riverson, and I’ll make sure it will never happen again.”

“Ah. Alright, good.” The unflappable Mrs. Riverson couldn’t pull herself together. Wave was thankful that she didn’t have to utter a word because she had nothing to say. Her brain was a gooey mush, and something trembled low in her stomach.

Not the time, Wave. Get it together. She pinched her arm and bit her lip.

Risha moved them back another step. “The book is all yours, Mrs. Riverson,” he said and let the wall down. “If you don’t need Ms. Spinwell anymore tonight, I’ll make sure she gets home safely.”

“I don’t need you to walk me home,” Wave immediately snapped, finally finding her voice.

“You do,” he argued back. “Elena’s in a mood since I blew off one of her dates.”

“Splendid. You screw up and I end up paying the price.”

They were arguing so loudly, Wave completely missed Hellion entering the aisle until Mrs. Riverson’s eyes widened comically. Wave glanced over her shoulder and saw Hellion fuming at the end of the aisle, his eyes locked on Irishen’s arms wrapped around her.

Wave could only imagine how they looked, and based on the look on Hellion’s face, he was making all the wrong conclusions. To her surprise, Risha released her the moment he noticed Hellion. He even took a step back and shook his head.

That made them look even more guilty in Wave’s opinion, but when Hellion held out his hand, she didn’t hesitate to walk up to him.

“Stupid bo—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Wayla. Let’s go. Jarred and Marc are waiting in the basement.”

“But—”

Hellion turned on his heel and started walking.

“Don’t worry, dear,” Mrs. Riverson called out. “I can handle this book and shelve the rest. I’ll see you Friday.”

“If you’re sure,” Wave hesitated. Her eyes landed on Irishen’s closed-off face, and she felt a light pang of guilt, so she tried to meet his eyes. “Thank you for helping, Irishen,” she said softly. His gaze snapped up to meet hers for a second, and then he looked away, shrugging.

“Not a big deal. You should go, Hellion doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”

“Right. See you around,” she called over her shoulder before hurrying after Hellion. When she caught up with him, she tried to explain, but Hellion just brushed her off again. Back at the house, he dropped her off at the basement to train with Jarred and Marc and left without another word.