“Dora, hi…I thought you would be joining us..” Noami started, when I fully faced her, my hand still clasped with Diana’s. “Don’t worry about the strictness of their faces, they are quite cool, especially the boys. I have seen how you catch their attention, and I think they will be pleased to see you, and know you…your mask..” I watched her stutter, like she hadn’t seen the mask that covered my face, like she was just seeing it now. “It’s something I have to wear.” I answered stiffly, probably because I didn’t want a conversation about the mask, or most probable because I hated that she had classified that crowd as cool. Yes sure I didn't know the queen’s children upfront, but from the tales of Laura, and I know she couldn’t lie to me, I was sure that they weren’t any good either. Just a bunch of entitled assholes and egocentric jerks. The triplets and Claire were entirely on a next level. Those were bastards, wicked bastards. Why was Naomi with them? Why did she find them a good
“This girl is just so full of herself..” Claire stated. She must have noticed that I was appealing to Adam. Took a second. “What else would I be full of, Claire, shit? Apologies my dear, but not everyone is like you. I, specifically, refuse to be full of that.” I said, without waiting a beat. Naomi cackled first, then the rest joined, including Adam. I rested back on the pillar, feeling a bit content, after that. Diana jabbed me lightly, but I knew she was happy that I was getting along, or rather pretending to get along. Claire was red in the face. She stood up sharply, attempting to walk toward me, and maybe, I don’t know, throw out a slap or something, but Adam held her back. “It was just a joke, Claire. You don’t need to get worked up about it.” I watched her deflate and sink back to her position on the pavement. Her anger wasn’t totally out, but it was diffused now. The power of Adam. Sickening. To think I had been under the influence. By this time, Duke has taken advan
“Dora, wait!” Noami. She was the one speaking, and I wondered why. Shouldn’t she be with her friends? I mused, turning around to glance at her, my hands still fitted in with a Diana whose lips haven’t yet gotten rid of the smile. She had been so proud of my comeback to Duke. Yes, it had been an empty threat, but she believed it was a sign of growth on my part. Diana thought I should keep up the act, perhaps become a bully to the bullies, since my identity to them was unknown. I stayed silent, till Noami got to me. She was breathing deeply, and exhaling the same, like she had run a marathon, despite the fact that it hadn’t been up to three minutes since we had left the shade. I waited for her to speak, pretending to be aloof to her ploys that we be friends. Partly because it would suit my new persona, and partly because I wasn’t sure if her loyalty had really laid with me when I was still the bullied Maya. What if all her friendly gestures had all been part of a big plan? To des
This must be a new one. I thought, as I looked at the sign that was placed on the restaurant’s top. “Do they cook as nice as they look?” Diana asked, and I held back a chuckle. Naomi couldn't though. “Of course,” She managed to say whilst chuckling. She held the free hand of Diana—typical Noami—to the surprise of the little one, and led us into the restaurant. It was bustling already, the bustle easing when they took note of us. There were a few from the mage community, but most were of the werewolf’s clan and they couldn’t understand what a masked girl was doing in their eatery. The party was over for god sake. They must be thinking. “Don’t mind their stares. It’s not everyday that a masked beauty pays them a visit.” Naomi said, and I nodded, willing myself not to smile sheepishly at the title. Masked beauty? I might get used to that. We found a table that was close to the door. Diana had picked that one. I was not sure if it was because of its closeness to the door. “Let me
When had he gotten here? I wondered, not bothering to turn aside to look at the human that had come to stand beside me. Why was he here? Obviously he had heard the content of my mock speech to Raul, but who said he could join the discussion? Well, what do I know, this place was his territory. “What are you doing here?” Nice question, Raul. I thought, making taps on the table with my finger, as if a question hadn’t been directed to me earlier. “I don't remember passing a remark to you, wizard..” Okay, that was a low, Adam. What the hell was he doing? Was he that petty to pick a fight with Raul just because I had mentioned that Raul was more handsome than he and his brothers. How right could the word bastard be at this point? I watch a server advance towards us, with our order I presume, her eyebrows furrowed, probably wondering why Adam was at our table. My eyes found Claire and Rachel too. They seemed to be conniving wordlessly on how to throw me to hell. This wasn’t good. It
Diana broke the silence first, with her laughter. Raul followed next. “Raul!” His twin shouted, but dude couldn’t be bothered enough to stop. “Little Adams? God, Dora, you are so funny.” He said, not stopping to catch a breath. I liked his addition, so I pretended not to see that he was close to Diana now. I hope the dude wasn’t planning on following through on his mother’s plan though, else this camaraderie would be lost soon. “How dare you? Who do you think you are? Since last night, you have been…” Noah was saying, when Adam stretched his hand in front of his face, probably telling him to match a brake, because the red faced dude stopped speaking. However, I decided to finish it, in my own way, with my own ingredients. “Since last night I have been what? Dodging your sexual advances? I don’t get it. You trio haven't taken rejections before?” “Okay, that’s it, young woman. I think it's time you left this place.” That was Timothy. Nice of him to join the party. “And who are yo
“What the…” Diana’s unfinished sentence, the sequential clucking of her tongue by the roof of her mouth, had me looking in the same line of her eyesight; Raul had just stepped out of the eatery with the hall, but he was not alone. He was with Adam and Noami. What the hell! I completed the sentence in my head. What does this mean? I sighed wearily. I wasn’t in the mood to grapple with Adam again. Wasn’t he tired? Hadn’t his ego been bruised enough? I rested my hands on my thighs, waiting for them to reach my stand, devoid of any expectations. It was better that way. “Why is the shameless scumbag with you?”’ I asked Raul, immediately they stepped into my confines. Raul shrugged his shoulders in reply, before dropping the tray of assorted dishes on the pavement. I and Diana picked up the buns first and started munching. I didn’t bother to ask Adam why he was here, rather I turned to Naomi, and she shrugged her shoulders too, just before she picked a bun, and took a sitting position
I shook my head. Adam was about to talk more, seeing that he had grasped the attention of a Diana, who had perhaps never seen a waterfall before, except in books, when I shook my head vehemently. That suggestion wasn’t going to fly. “I can't, Adam. I am not interested in seeing your waterfall.” I voiced my thoughts—when he started talking about a secret cave in a garden.Adam was taken aback at my resistance. He had obviously thought that the new girl would be excited at the idea. Well, I was sure that all the girls, who he had taken there, had been; I had been, when he had talked about the secrecy of the cave. I felt like laughing at myself, at my goofiness and naivety then. “But Dora, why?” Diana asked, pouting her lips. “I really want to see the secret cave with the waterfall. I ..” “You can go then, Diana. But I can not. You know the way home.” I stated mordantly, before looking ahead, and walking away from them. However, I hadn't moved five steps further when Diana grabbed
This week has been uneventful. I surmised as I watched the professor summarize her teaching for the day. Even my magic classes that had been slotted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays had been uneventful. Seeing as I had a better control of my magic, I just did as they asked me, without any extra flourish. There was not a note of extra in me, of having fun whilst doing magic—not with the threat of Adam and his brothers hanging over me. Since the week started, till now, I had been waiting for the drop of the other shoe, but so far nothing has happened. It was like last weekend didn't happen, like my scar hadn't shown itself. And for my neck, all efforts to cover the mark had been futile. So, I had taken to wearing scarfs around my neck, and since it was a cold season, no one had raised an eyebrow at the piece of accessory which had never been equated to me. I had also gotten more friends, than I would have liked, or rather acquitances—people who liked me because I wasn't an ordinar
As I walked out of the Queen’s palace which was now filled with suffocating air, my heart pounded like a drum. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Adam might have found out who I really was. I couldn’t shake off the fact that he might put two together—the mark and my accurate information on Maya—and conclude that I was she whom he sought. Maya. The thought of this possibility sent shivers down my spine, and my mind raced with fear and uncertainty.For months, I've hidden my identity well, keeping the truth open to my adopted family alone, keeping it tucked away from prying eyes and whispers in the community and the pack. But now, a careless slip, a moment of indiscretion on my own end, and everything had come crashing down—it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Could this be the reason why my significant other hadn’t wanted me to speak to their parents?‘Was it the reason?’There was no response; just the thrumming of energy I felt. She was choosing to keep quiet? Quite unde
Had I dug myself deep into a hole by bringing up the subject about Maya? I wondered, sinking into the tension that had surrounded us after Adam's last statement. Rachel's mouth has never gotten around getting closed, and Raul's grip had tightened on my hand. The triplets all had smirks on their lips, masking, almost completely, the uncomfortableness that the topic on Maya had brought up. I shook my head. Even if I hadn't talked about Maya, the triplets wouldn't have allowed Raul to leave here with me, without making some lame agreement. "Dora, is this right? Did you agree to it?" Raul asked, incredulity ringing in his voice. I hissed from irritation, before I could stop it, causing Noah's smirk to get more prominent. "Why would you think I will agree to such stupid suggestion made by egocentric fools to soothe their egos because a girl turned them down?" "I'm sorry, I just…" "You thought I will be way over my head because three fine ass boys were coming for me." I freed my hand
At my question, I noticed first that the boys became confused. They were still sporting looks that claimed that I was lying, that I was wasting time, but at the same time, I could see the doubt of their own selves, of their own story accounts, like they weren't sure of their earlier stance. I saw it in Adam's jerk, and his subtle staggering back, as if I had dealt him a blow. I saw it in Noah’s lip biting intermittent motions. I saw it in Daniel’s subtle shifting of feet, and twitching hands. Then, I saw Adam dart a glance at his brother, Noah, then at himself—an inward look into his mind—as if trying to recall something that seemed out of his grasp. His brothers were in the same turmoil, and if I wasn't hearing their heart rate, if I wasn't as confused as they are, I might have called them liars. But my ears were attuned to their heart rate, my eyes were attuned to the several emotions that ran through their face in split seconds. The triplets were confused.They were confused abo
I would have said no to Raul's request if we were alone in the hallway, considering the topic I had just bashed Duke for, considering the fact he had been aware of the matter, but for the Lycan boys. Rachel had no place in my thoughts. If I were to deny Raul his request, then the purpose of kissing him in the first place would be defeated. I couldn’t allow that. Not that I regretted the kiss though. "Yeah, sure. I would love that." I managed to say without gritting my teeth, even going ahead to clasp his hand in my mine, when what I wanted exactly, was to slap him for endorsing his family's misconduct. He must have known my thoughts on him, because he instantly made an apology with his eyes. I diverted my gaze, I wasn't going to forgive him that easily, not even with those cute eyes of his. I made no comment as I and Raul walked past Rachel and Adam, not until Daniel called me, right after I walked past him and Noah. "You must think me a joke, if you believed I was going to let y
"So where did I stop with my story?" I asked, ignoring the subtle tap on my elbow—Raul was handing me a lame warning, to stop with it. That would be expected, considering the hatred I was seeing in Duke's face now. I had taken a huge guess when I had mentioned the fact about the throne—it had come up when he had spoken of me after the throne-as if Raul had the potential of being the next one on the throne, even though there was no strand of white hair on his head. It told me that either the Queen had so much faith in her second son, or she had placed the faith on the bethrothed. That brought my attention to Diana, and her former classes with the Queen. Could Diana be the bethrothed one? If she was, then I hoped that Raul had really denounced it. I couldn’t bare the thought of Diana being plunged into this mess of a family. As much she was strong willed, she would be broken. I loved my sister too much for that. I would have taken this incident as a pointer to start speaking to her,
Three seconds into my kiss with Raul, I forgot that I was supposed to disengage from the kiss when the boys went through the bend and came to hallway we were in, I forgot that they were coming, I forgot that I had made a plan like that, I forgot that this was a kiss meant to deliver a piece of information, not for pleasure. When Raul grabbed my ass however, and squeezed, when I moaned into the kiss biting his lips, enjoying the moan that escaped from his, there was an intentional cough that brought reality into my vision again, that brought my attention to the burning mark on my neck. Oh my god. This was good. I concluded, when I remembered myself. Raul was a good kisser. Despite knowing that there were more than three people watching us, I was adept enough to still play the game. I smiled at a Raul who was shocked by my gutsy kiss and smile, but who remembered quickly how to smile flirty. Satisfied with our interaction, I disengaged from the hug. Slowly. With infinite flourish, I
This time around, the shock on the Queen’s face lasted for more than two seconds. It lasted until she croaked out a sound of amazement from her lips, which was similar to one in my head, which was similar to the ones I heard from our watchers, which had increased by the minute. “You…” She stuttered, unbelief in her eyes. She was still holding the offending hair, an offending hair that I vowed to cut when I got home. As I was still cussing the offending hair, the Queen pulled another one, and this time around, it was a little lower than a chunk. What the hell!Without much ado, I pushed her away from myself, held my hair by myself, and swerved to one of the windows of the castle—the windows could do the job of a mirror. My mouth dropped open in shock when I noticed that almost one quarter of my hair was white hair-not together-some were scattered, mixed with my black long hair. It looked like a trend, like a swag, only that it was not. I wanted it gone. It had appeared first when I
The surprise on the Queen's face, however, didn't last two seconds. As quickly as she had seemed fazed by the fact that I could add and subtract flames without needing to make a gesture with my hand, as quickly as the surprise had left. The only indication that she had been shaken had been the slight shaking of her hand as she returned the cup to the table, a shaking that led the cup to spill some of its content. Its content was a blood red liquid. Wine then. I thought, taking my eyes off the cup to her face when she stood up from her seat, dusted her hands on each other, and started walking toward me. "So, it seems that you can control the fire with your mind, at such a young age. That's huge potential, I will have to admit. Let's see how far you can go…" She said, staring at me, from my hair which was tied to a ponytail, to my tennis shoes. My significant other recoiled further into my mind, as if the gaze was scorching her. What exactly was with the both of them? I wondered,