Page 32 of Up in a Blaze (Polished P & P #4)

Flicking my hair over my eyes, I glanced down to my knees. “I’m so sorry, again. If you like, you can tell the dean. I… I um, only discovered I held a power tonight.” Wide-eyed, I shook my head. “But that means nothing. I shouldn’t have reacted that way.”

“Micah—” When Tanika didn’t finish, and it seemed like she’d cut off whatever she was going to say, I glanced over to see she stood with her hand behind her back and lips thinned with her dancing eyes off to the side. I looked there and found Lesley and Mike.

“Sorry,” I blurted out to them. “I didn’t mean to hurt another student—” Tanika made a noise in the back of her throat, but I ignored it.

“I’ll explain it to the dean when he arrives, and…

and I have a little bit of money.” I didn’t.

Well, I would have a little if I’d picked up my pay from Ivan before I left.

Lesley smiled as Mike walked off. “It’s fine, Micah. I’m sure the dean won’t mind. Will you, sir?”

The boy laughed. “Accidents happen.” He patted my hand. “Don’t worry. I shouldn’t have startled you.” In a blink, he stood in front of me and held out a hand my way.

Wait….

Slowly, I took his hand and was standing next to him in the next moment.

Holy hell on earth. He was strong to pull me up like that.

Wait….

“Micah, wasn’t it?” the guy asked with a soft smile on his face as he brushed himself off. At least he wasn’t holding a grudge or wanted to seek revenge. Some of the tension eased from my shoulders.

“Yes?” I said hesitantly, aware it sounded like a question more than anything, but my mind was busy trying to work out if what I suspected was true.

But it couldn’t be.

He was young and…. Okay, I had nothing else, but he had to be a student and not the dean, right?

Once he was done brushing off his clothes, his smile brightened even more, and that was when I saw his fangs.

Lesley cleared his throat. “Sir, I’m going back to the doors.’

He nodded and waved him off. “Yes, yes, everything is fine.” Once Lesley dipped his chin our way and disappeared, the guy faced me again and held out his hand once more. I took it, and he shook. “Micah, it’s nice to meet you. I’m the dean at this college, but you may call me Sebastian.”

Tanika snorted. “No one calls him Sebastian. It’s always Dean because he’s as old as dirt.”

The dean shot Tanika a scowl that had me backing up a step. Sebastian noticed and started laughing. “Relax. I won’t hurt anyone for the fun of it. They really have to peeve me off first.”

I shifted my gaze to the broken desk and back again.

Sebastian, which I felt was fine to use in my mind only, chuckled and gestured toward his office. “Let’s head in there and get to know one another.” He started forward. “I see you’ve already made one friend. I wished it had of been anyone else. Tanika is….”

“Special, amazing, brilliant?” Tanika grinned. With her hands on my shoulders, she guided me back to my chair since I was utterly stunned by the new events.

Sebastian scoffed as he sat behind the desk. He really was the dean. Though, he was only a little taller than I was, so he looked tiny in his seat.

Not that I would tell him that.

“I was going for annoying, Tanika.” He leaned back in the chair.

“Pfft, please. I’m awesome, and you know it.” Tanika also sat, and I sensed both their eyes on me. I glanced out the corner of my eye and did find Tanika looking at me. “I only give the dean hell because he’s good friends with my father and has been around since I was a baby.”

I nodded and swallowed the lump in my throat. The dean cleared his throat. “Micah, can you tell me the events leading up to you realizing you hold a power?”

Straightening, I flicked my eyes from Sebastian to Tanika and back again before dropping them to my lap. As I explained, I switched from gazing at the books around me to picking at a loose thread in the bottom of my T-shirt.

“Micah?”

“Yes, sir?”

“Either Sebastian or Dean is fine.” When I nodded, he went on, “From this night on, your life will change. Here you will learn to manage and control your power. If you wish, we can also enroll you into other courses that might interest you and help toward your future profession.”

Excitement bubbled up inside me, and I shot my gaze to the dean’s.

He smiled. “I thought that may interest you since you can’t stop looking at all the books.

” He stood and moved over to the bookcase on the left.

As he took some from the shelves, he went on.

“You’ll have the day off tomorrow, and we’ll work out the areas you want to learn alongside the things you need to learn.

” He moved back and dropped the books on his desk.

“In your free time, you can also go over these?” He tapped the books.

“?alongside the texts you’ll get for classes.

They’ll help you understand your new world more.

” He glanced at Tanika. “Tanny, can you get Micah a welcome pack, please? They’re in the office beside us. ”

Tanika popped up from her seat. “Sure thing.”

My heart fell to my feet when she left the room. My nerves had been all right with Tanika here, but now that she was gone, I bounced my leg up and down while biting my thumbnail and looking everywhere but at the ancient vampire in front of me.

Tanika had said he was as old as dirt. It meant he would be powerful, right?

“Micah, what’s your last name?”

“Grey, sir—I mean Sebas-Dean.” Darn it all. I was useless at speaking when nervous.

A soft chuckle sounded around in the room. “Micah, do you understand you’ll be safe here? There won’t be anyone to take your money, and everything you own will be yours. No one will take another thing from you.”

How did he know that about me? I didn’t say anything about Lax or the trailer I lived in.

Could he read minds?

“Tanny spoke to me telepathically. She just wanted to look out for you.”

Okay, so he could speak to people in their minds.

Yep, just an average day for me. My knee bounced harder.

“I know.” I nodded. Licking my dry lips, I forced a question from myself. “Will I, ah, be…. Will…. Is it strange that I’m older and starting here?”

“You’re not the first, and I doubt you’ll be the last to come into a power later in life.

What we do in your situation is see how much you can learn about your power in the first few months, and if we think you can move up a year, you will.

Some can master their power quickly, some can’t, and if that happens, please don’t think badly of it. It means their power is a strong one.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

The dean wiggled his mouse to bring his computer to life. “Now, let’s see where we can put you.”