‘My blood?’ Layla blinked as her heart rate sped up. ‘He wants my blood?! Why mine?! Is it because of me that he was reacting this way to the moon? Does it have something to do with the fact that he’s supposed to be my protector?’“I wasn’t supposed to say that. What’s wrong with me?” Alaric groaned, cringing at his slip-up as he ran his hand through his hair. “Forget what I just said. It was—”“You can take my blood.” She whispered. His entire body turned rigid, just like the air around them. It was like the world around them had frozen in time.“Don’t be silly, Layla.” He scolded; his voice was gruff but strained, like he was restricting himself from doing what he wanted.‘He really wants my blood, but he’s stopping himself.’ She thought, noticing his fingers digging into the side of the desk, denting and cracking the poor wood.“I don’t mind, Alaric. You can— I want you to take my blood.” She said, taking slow steps towards him as she rolled up her sleeves. Alaric didn’t move from
Layla jumped from her seat and was by Zayne’s side almost immediately, holding him from tripping on his feet.“Are you alright? Is anything wrong? Is there anything you need? Anything I can do?” She asked, confused on what to do.Her mind went to the only thing she could think of that was causing his sudden pain, the full moon. “Please take me to a chair.” He whispered, leaning on her a bit. Her legs trembled under the additional weight, but she swallowed back her complaint as she slowly led him.She set him on the nearest chair, and he relaxed against it.“Are you alright?” She asked again, watching him rub his temple. “Are you sick? Do you need medications or something? I could rush to the sick bay.”“I’m fine. It’s just the feeling—the effect of the full moon.” He grumbled and ran his fingers through it. She was right. It was the moon. It was affecting not just Alaric but him too.“I can’t believe I’m reacting this way to the moon. It’s so embarrassing.” Zayne huffed, opening his
`Moon Child.`Layla stiffened at the familiar, gentle, baritone voice that seemed to be whispered in her ear. She spun around, careful not to knock the blue vase she was dusting off its stand.Sleep disappeared for her silver eyes, and they darted across the room. It was empty, saved for the numerous vases and urns of different colours and shapes arranged about. As she had expected.It wasn’t the first, second, or third time she had had the experience that day. She had lost count of how many times she had heard the voice, but she always looked over her shoulder.Like she was waiting for someone.‘I just imagined it.’ She thought, biting her bottom lip and turning back to her dusting. ‘I’m so stressed and sleep deprived that I’m now imagining his voice during the day.’It was a mantra she kept telling her each time the voice came. An imagination. She was imagining the voice of one of the men she saw in her dreams as a way her overworked body was using to ease itself.She missed them. T
The man, Alaric, whose voice Layla had heard for two years in her dream, was standing right in front of her, holding her. Was she dreaming? Her heart, pounding like a drum, told her she wasn’t.He was there and wasn’t a normal man. He was a Supernatural. She had been dreaming about a Supernatural all along.“Layla.” Jonas coughed into his fist; his eyes narrowed at her, and hers widened. She stumbled away from the Alaric to the side of the door, creating enough space between them and bowing her head.‘Please let him not punish anyone because of that,’ she thought, fiddling with her fingers.“I’m Jonas Richardson, the owner of this home. Welcome to my humble abode, my Lord and Lady.” Jonas grinned, bowing so deeply that his back almost broke. Even the blind could see the childlike excitement glowing off of him.‘My Lord and Lady?’ Layla cringed at the obvious display of bootlicking but kept her lips shut.“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Alaric D’Arcy and this is Terra Geode.”“The pl
“Is it that you can’t or don’t want to?” Alaric asked, unfazed by Layla’s answer.“Well, um… Mr. Richardson’s won’t let me go because I still owe him a lot of money.” She explained.“What if I paid your debt, then? You would come with us, right?”“You can’t! That would be too generous of you.” She gaped. Why would he pay for her?“I don’t mind, and I’m sure the Headmaster won’t either.” He shrugged. “So if I do, will you? Or is there anything else holding you back?”“Well… I…” Layla bit her bottom lips as the words formed in her mouth. But she couldn’t say them. She averted her gaze from Alaric’s piercing ones and stared at the ground. The words were begging to come out, but could she say them? They were strangers, Supernaturals, and Terra seemed to dislike her. Would they care about what human maids were going through?“Terra, can you excuse us for a moment?” Alaric said.“But sir!”“Please, give me a few minutes with her.” His voice sounded like he was asking her for permission, but
‘He kissed my hand,’ Layla said, holding the back of her hand to her face, imagining Alaric’s soft lips on her skin.‘He kissed my hand!’ She squeezed her lips together, trying to hold back a squeal as she blushed.‘It means nothing! It means nothing.’ She pressed her hands against her cheeks and scolded herself. ‘He’s just nice. Really nice. He’s just taken pity on a poor human girl.’She took a deep breath and calmed herself down. Deluding herself into thinking he was the slightest bit interested in her was stupid. He was going to be her teacher; surely there were rules about crushing on a teacher even in a magical world.Layla sighed, taking off her hoodie and letting her silver hair free. Terra had insisted she kept her hair for the reason that she wasn’t ready to cause commotion among the students who would see her. Layla couldn’t understand why her hair was such a big deal.She took her box and opened it. There was nothing much in it, just a few worn-out clothes and other person
Layla knew she should listen to Headmaster Brenton’s speech, but she just couldn’t concentrate, no matter how hard she tried. Her body still throbbed, and though it wasn’t as painful as before, it was still distracting. But it wasn’t as distracting as her main thought. What had happened to her? ‘Zayne didn’t touch me, but I’m sure he caused it. What did he do? Cast a spell on me? I don’t think so. The only thing he said was, I do not accept you as my mate—’ Pain shot through her body as the memory flashed through her mind. She grabbed her chest, almost gasping aloud. ‘That’s it. That’s what caused the pain. His rejection! He rejected me! Why? Is it because I’m human?’ She blinked away the tears that had begun to form. His rejection hurt. She didn’t know what a mate was or why he didn’t want her to be his, but it hurt. Just thinking about it made it seem she was choking, like the air had become impossible to breathe and she was dying of suffocation. Layla’s gaze flickered
Not even a spark glowed from the crystals. They stood as dull as the moment before Layla touched the largest one and even seemed duller. Murmurs and whispers rose up from the auditorium, and multiple lips sneered at her. She dropped her hand and bowed her head, tears pricking in her eyes. She stepped away from the crystals, wanting to bolt to the door to run from it all. To where? She had nowhere to go. She knew no one. “Silent!” Headmaster Brenton’s voice boomed through the auditorium, and a hush fell. “You’re Layla Dele, the human girl?” he said as he walked to her and scrutinized her. “Yes, sir.” She nodded. What was he going to say? Mock her? Pity her? Was he going to kick her out? “I sense great power inside you,” he mused, and she stiffened. He did? Was that what Alaric had talked about? “But I also feel a block.” He pressed his thumb on her forehead and mumbled some strange words. Layla gasped, sucking in air, as if she were pulled out of water, and a co