Page 15 of Traveler (Soulbound #1)
Aly
The day goes by slowly . When I get to Air basics and sit next to Xander I decide I need to apologize for teasing him the other day .
“Hey, I just wanted to say I’m sorry for teasing You that day in class. It wasn’t right of me. It’s just, we are Kin bonded, and I thought you knew and were ignoring me because You were shy. It doesn’t make it right I took it to far. But I just wanted to say I’m sorry?”
He looks at me assessing for a moment before he nods. “I knew but, while society is a lot better with it, being ‘Jared Andrews Bi brother, has its setbacks. I didn’t know if you thought I was Jared and that’s why You seemed so excited. plus, still have a hard time explaining I like men.” He gives me a small smile.
“Well that my friend is Your first issue, never explain. You don't have to. Just say You have a boyfriend and call it a day. Besides if anyone took it any further than that or made You feel bad, I have a feeling Jared would just burn them alive.”
He laughs. “You’re not wrong. He’s protective that’s for sure. How do You know Jared?”
“He and Alex are two of my mates.” I say giving him a smile. “We were at the cafe the other morning and I saw you and your boyfriend. I kind of stared, trying to figure out which portion of the information I had just found out this morning made You defensive and Jared thought I was freaking out because You had a boyfriend.” I give him a nervous smile.
Xander smiles scooting his chair closer to me and leaning in conspiratorially. “My brother is super ticklish. You got to get him when he doesn’t suspect it. But if You need a good laugh that should do the trick.” We both laugh. Weird thing to just drop but hey I'll take everything I can get, who knows when Jared might piss me off…
We continued to talk and laugh while working through the exorcises on the board. When we got through them all we all looked to the front of the class where professor Valen stood. her sharp eyes scanning over us.
"Alright, class," she began, her voice smooth but carrying an undercurrent of authority, " I’ ve got an extra credit assignment for You this semester."
A few of us perked up. Extra credit could be a lifeline in classes. Others groaned— “Extra Credit is always just busy work that is meant for us to just take a ton of time doing” Xander leans over to whisper, rolling his eyes he straightens back up to listen to what the assignment is.
She waved her hand, and the chalk in mid-air floated over to the board, starting to write out the details of the assignment. "Yo u’ ll need to head to the library, pick out a book on air magic, and write a paper on it. It could be anything—spells, historical accounts, or even something more abstract. I do n’ t care what it is, as long as i t’ s relevant. But do n’ t come back with a basic summary. Show me Your understanding of the magic, Your analysis. Insight, not regurgitation."
I was kind of excited this would also give me the chance to look at books on mate bonds and the history of this place, I needed all the information I could get now. I still had mates I hadn’t met yet. And now that things were more defined with Xander I knew I actually had 3 more mates somewhere not 2.
Professor Vale n’ s eyes flicked across the room, making sure we were all paying attention. "Remember," she said, her voice dropping a little lower, "I only offer one chance for extra credit a semester I strongly urge all of You to complete the assignment even if You are doing well in class now things can always change. This assignment is due in two weeks, so I’d get started..."
I was definitely taking the extra credit. I wasn't really struggling in any of my classes in a way that would make me think I needed it, but I also wasn't wanting to take the risk as things got more difficult...
Professor Valen dismissed us, and I packed up all of my stuff before making my way to the library.
***
The library was sleek, modern. Soft, ambient lighting bathed the room, and the shelves were neat, orderly, and filled with shiny new books, each one practically glowing. Everything smelled fresh—like polished wood, soft leather, and the faint scent of freshly printed pages. The feeling I was being watched kept growing as I made my way around the library.
The library was bustling with students, so pinpointing exactly where the feeling was coming from was nearly impossible. People wandered between the shelves, some reading at the tables, others tapping away at their tablets. At the end of each row of books was a book on a wooden pedestal it told You what books were in each section.
I wandered between the aisles, trying to find a spot more isolated so I could try to figure it out. I ran my fingers along the spines of books, simultaneously trying not to make it apparent I knew someone was there. Everything from air magic to elemental theory to the history of magical realms. "Whispers of the Wind: Air Magic Through the Ages" stood out to me. I pulled the book off the shelf and started flipping through... History, magic, and—hopefully—enough I could do a paper on it.
I walked to the end of aisle and started flipping through the book to see if there was anything about mate bonds. There wasn’t much but L6 had a few books that might be worth looking through.
When I stared in that direction I felt the familiar pull. Shit. I switched directions and went looking for the cause. When I turned down an aisle there sitting on a couch literally surrounded by books was a man. His nose buried in a book. His brown hair falls into his glasses. I honestly don't even know if he’s noticed me yet. I walk closer taking in his rumpled uniform. How long has he been sitting there?
“Hey.” I say softly. Hey? Really Alyssa that’s all You could come up with?
The poor guy jumps two feet in the air dropping his book. His brown eyes are so wide I’m genuinely shocked they haven’t fallen out of his head. Darting his head around to double check I meant him “Uh- Hi?” He says obviously confused. He has a British accent. Wait there is no England here. So, it’s not British, whatever You get the point.
I say nothing waiting for him to notice. Not even a second later somehow his eyes get wider. “Oh, my gods.” He looks down at himself and then me. A blush creeping up his face. Okay this guy is adorable
“I’m Alyssa James.” I say walking to him and sticking out my hand.
He looks at it a moment before swallowing and taking my hand electricity lighting every nerve ending on fire. He sucks in a breath. “Elliott Caldwell.” His eyes are firmly planted on the ground, and I almost feel bad for ambushing him.
“How long have You been sitting here?” I ask. He obviously hasn’t left the spot in a while, but I figured I’d ask.
“Uh what time is it?” He said looking around for his tablet.
“4:30. “
“Uhm 6 hours? I didn’t have any classes today.” He responds the blush getting comically deeper.
“Come on.“ sticking out my hand I grab his and pull him to a standing position before starting to grab his books.
“Wha-“ he starts to stammer obviously a little panicked, oh Vivianne was going to have so much fun messing with him.
“You need to eat. So, you’re coming with me. We are going to grab dinner and only after You’ve eaten will You get Your books back.” He starts to protest something about how I ‘ can’t do that’ or something before I put my hands on my hips and shoot him a look that says, ‘ try me.’
He stops arguing and helps me grab the books after smirking at me trying to carry them all by myself. Okay so technically he has the books, but I won’t let him read them so Ha! Take that
“Come on darling, can’t have You holding my books hostage forever, can I?” Okay I know back home everyone would make a big deal about a cowboy calling You ‘darlin’ but to be clear being called darling by someone with a not-British accent was way... better.
We both check out the books we have to and make our way to the dining hall to place our orders for dinner. After we are done, he takes me to fire hall and up to the 6th floor. Once we get to his room, he opens the door and rushes in trying to clean off books from every surface known to mankind. Okay so Elliot likes to read, noted.
“I’m sorry about the mess, I wasn’t expecting company.” He rambles. I sit down on the side of his bed and pull out my tablet to message the guys to unfortunately have already started blowing up the group chat with random memes and jokes. This is why I hate group chats.
I decide I'll read the messages later and just shoot off a text letting them know I’m Elliot’s room and preemptively give Barrett his last name so he or Saul don't come banging down the door.
When I look back up Elliot has a sad look on his face, and I realize I totally just came in and immediately picked up my tablet. How rude
I throw the tablet down and give him my full attention. “I’m sorry about that, just needed to let my other mates know where I am so none of them send out a search team. Not that they would really need it I have a weird feeling at least one of them is tracking me or something.”
At this his eyes relax, and he clears his throat. “So, how many mates do You have?”
“You make number 5, but I know there are going to be 2 more.”
The food is delivered, and I watch as Elliott all but inhales his food obviously the idea that he needed to eat was a good one.
“So, what year are You?” It seems like he’s eaten enough to talk a bit.
“Uh 3rd, You?”
“1st, what kind of books do You read.” Looking at the pile of books next to me I notice he’s taken the dust jackets off of almost all of them. Actually, now that I’m looking at it. “Did You rebind these?” I ask
“Uh- yeah, I did. I don't really like people to know what I’m reading when I’m out in public. The first page says the title of the book, so I didn’t need it on the cover to know.” His blush is back with a vengeance “and I- I read mainly romance novels.”
Be still my beating heart. “Really? Do You have a favorite trope? If I’m honest I was always partial to reverse harems.” I smirk. How ironic.
“I love those too. But I also like a brother’s best friend. The angst is always great and never about them. You know?”
“Actually, I do, I think that was always the issue I had with a bully romance. Someone was always just a fundamentally bad person, and I couldn’t get behind it. But brother’s best friend was always more so about an age gap or because they didn’t want to hurt the brother.”
His eyes light up and he stands and walks to the corner of the room picking up two books and walking back over. “I’ve been meaning to start this book; I have two copies want to read with me?” And that’s what we do.