Runaway Mortal (6 page)

“What trouble could I possibly get myself into?” I grumbled, heading into the bathroom without a backward glance. “I stopped eating soap when I was five.”

I stripped off my dirty clothes and stepped into the shower, feeling invigorated as the hot water poured over me. It was amazing how the ira bands stayed alight, despite the water running over them. They didn’t burn anything they touched either—Tyrone’s magic wasn’t too shabby.

It was hard to calm myself down after my interaction with Loire. I’d never met someone like him who got under my skin so easily. Somehow, I had to keep my anger in check because he clearly got a kick out of it. I had to push away that feeling in my stomach—like tiny birds were taking flight—when he got too close or gave me that smile.

I was the one who liked to get a rise out of people, yet I was letting a hot guy get the better of me twice in the same year. My ex, Talon, had already taken the lead in that competition.

My ears pricked at the sound of the bedroom door being opened. I got out of the shower and wrapped my towel around my soaking body before stepping into the room.

Loire was back, leaning casually against the door, waiting for me. When he caught sight of me, his eyes travelled the length of my body, making me blush. He seemed momentarily stunned.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had him so dumbfounded. I was a girl. I had boobs and had grown up nice. Boys liked to look and despite being my guard, he was still a boy.

A silence grew between us, at the same time my body grew warm from the intense look in his eyes as his gaze continued to roam over my body. He wasn’t moving and it looked like he was holding his breath, too, like he was seeing me differently somehow.

Was he seeing me the way I’d seen him in the bar?

Pleased that I had managed to catch him off guard, I cleared my throat. “I need to get changed.”

“Yeah, sure,” he muttered, his eyes turning dark. Was he angry at himself for checking me out? “By the way, there’s a crazy demoness waiting for you outside. She said something about wanting to procreate perfect, attractive offspring with me-”

“Misha’s here?” I cried, pushing Loire out of the room and nearly losing my towel in the process. “I need to see her! Get out so I can get changed!”

That was so typical of Misha. Her mouth had no filter whatsoever. Trust her to think that Loire was hot and immediately comment on it.

Once he was gone, I pulled on a pair of jeans and a blue sweater from my dresser before quickly running a brush through my long, dark hair. Studying myself in the mirror, I bit my lip. There were bags under my dark eyes that no makeup could hide. I looked like the monster that everyone thought I was. Sighing, I pulled my wet hair back in a high ponytail and found some lip gloss to use.

With a final glance around the room, I headed out the door and into the cold, anxious to see Misha again. I managed to take exactly two steps before the air was knocked out of me.

“Kat! Oh, my God!” she screamed into my ear as she squeezed me in the tightest hug imaginable. It was like a python was constricting my air supply. “Oh, my God!” She stepped back, flipping her dark curls over her shoulder as she took in my appearance. “Wow, being on the run does wonders for your figure.”

There was a ‘tsk’ from somewhere behind her, and I caught a flash of blonde hair before Anna wrapped herself around the both of us in a fierce hug. There was no feeling in the world quite like being with the people who completed you and who you knew would do anything to protect you.

The three of us stepped back and I basked in Anna’s angelic beauty as she gave me the familiar smile that warmed every inch of me. Her flowing, blonde hair was tucked behind her ears—she was definitely one of the most beautiful girls at the school.

“You do look awfully thin, Kat,” she said in her usual soft tone, her sky blue eyes studying me in concern.

From beside me, Loire cleared his throat. “As heart-warming as this reunion is, can we get a move on before I gag?”

I wrenched my eyes away from my friends to glare at him. “Do you have a single nurturing bone in your body?”

Loire ignored my question and began walking down the corridor. “Hurry up or I’ll tell the headmaster you tried to run away.”

I was so angry that I wanted to hit him on the back of the head with my bag, but the loops of fire around my wrists tightened as if sensing my emotions. Scowling, I glared down at them instead.

Misha followed my gaze and her eyes widened. “Oh, what are they for?”

“Ira bands,” Anna answered immediately, “A level three fire demon is capable of creating them in order to restrict someone’s movements. In Kat’s case, I assume they are used to ensure she won’t escape again. They are linked to her and the caster’s emotions so they will always be able to locate her.”

Misha stared at Anna open-mouthed. “How the hell do you know so much about demon powers?”

“It’s called a book, Mish. I read them.”

The look on Misha’s face was priceless. Her aversion to books, reading, and the library was no secret. If you asked her what her greatest fear was she would say the librarian, Mrs. Padena.

Clearly trying to shut out Anna’s words, Misha placed a hand on my arm eagerly. “Did you find-?”

Anna jabbed Misha with an elbow and shot her a meaningful look. Misha had nearly blown our cover by asking me about Valeska within earshot of Loire. His advanced hearing would easily pick up on our conversation.

“I’ll tell you guys everything when I can,” I said in a whisper, glancing down the corridor to where Loire had stopped and was watching us warily.

They both nodded back at me, solemn, but then Misha brightened up. “Hey, at least I’m not stuck with Anna anymore!” she said, much to Anna’s chagrin. “She is such a bore. I practically lived in the library for the last month.”

“Every time Mrs. Padena walked past, she hid under the table,” Anna said, quite seriously, with a glint in her eye.

Laughing, I linked my arms with my friends’ and followed Loire down the corridor, a sense of familiarity and peace settling around me.

In the back of my head, I wondered how long it would last.

Chapter Six

When we stepped into the dining hall, I felt like a celebrity as hundreds of heads swiveled in our direction. But not an Oscar award winning celebrity; more like a celebrity who’d just returned from a brief stint in rehab.

I probably looked like a recovering drug addict, anyway. My friends were right—I had lost weight, plus the bags under my eyes probably weren’t helping my cause. Honestly, I hadn’t bothered with my appearance like I normally would. I just didn’t care today.

Everyone’s gazes probed into me, taking in every part of me, as though they weren’t quite sure if I was really there or just a product of their overactive imaginations. Some students were even standing up to
catch a glimpse of me.

Whispers of, “Oh, my God!”, “Did she really do it?” and “Where was she?” reached my ears.

I’d never been used to this sort of attention before and it was definitely something I didn’t like. If anything, it was making me feel claustrophobic and nauseous. Would I still be as infamous if I threw up all over the dining hall?

“…So then Penelope left and now everyone is sure she’s pregnant and that Orwell is the father. It’s like an episode of
Gossip Girl
,” Misha was saying from beside me.

I had only been half-listening to her gossip, so I wasn’t sure who the topic had shifted to now. It was hard to focus on the conversation when everyone’s eyes were on you.

“Isn’t Orwell a mortal?” I asked, as I put a face to the name. Orwell had always been a quiet guy who hid behind his shaggy, black hair. He was the last person you’d expect to fall for an angel.

Out of the thousand students that attended Esteré Academy, only around fifty of them were mortals. The rest of the student body was an equal distribution of angels and demons. That’s why it was pretty easy to keep track of the other mortal students.

“Yep.” Misha bobbed her head up and down

“Trust you to believe in unfounded rumors,” Anna said from my right, shooting Misha a disapproving look. “The real reason Penelope left was because her father got a job in Australia.”

Misha shrugged as she pulled a loose thread from her jacket. “My theory was way more fun.” Her eyes lit up and she dipped her head closer to mine. “Oh, my God, Kat, you will not believe who Talon is-”

“Stop.” The word sounded so harsh that it took me a moment to realize that I was the one who had said it. I took a deep breath as Anna placed a steadying hand on my shoulder. “I really don’t need to know anything about
him
. Honestly.”

Misha’s eyes were large with alarm and for once she didn’t have anything to say as we reached the breakfast table. My sour mood at the mention of my demon ex-boyfriend dissipated when I saw all the food I’d been missing out on for the last month.

“Are you waiting for the bread to jump up and shake your hand?” Loire drawled, looking over his shoulder at us. “Hurry up already.”

Pointedly ignoring him, I grabbed a plate and topped it up with croissants, fruit, bacon, and a big helping of pancakes with maple syrup drizzled over the top. As an afterthought, I added an extra pancake to my plate just as Anna and Misha finished getting their food.

We were just about to sit down at an empty table when something slimy connected with the back of my neck. I shrieked, trying to get off what I now realized was cold eggs.

“Oops,” a girl said from behind me.

I turned around furiously, the flame bracelets licking against my wrists in warning. I ignored them and gave my assailant a death stare.

She was a very pretty erat—or earth—demon with the good fortune of having her erat markings in a bronze pattern around her wrist like a bracelet. She was super short, her hair was long and curly in a dirty blonde shade, and she had large, green eyes that blinked back at me innocently.

I recognized her immediately as Cadence Black, or Cedee as she liked to be called. She was notorious for being an uppity bitch, but had never shown the slightest bit of interest in me until this very moment.

“That darn tray flew right out of my hands,” she said in a sugary voice. “I’m
so
sorry, um, Rat.” Her friend, a pretty girl with long, chocolate-brown hair, giggled from beside her and shot me a snotty look.

“It’s Kat,” I said, gritting my teeth as I tried to control my temper. I was very tempted to punch her in the face but resisted the urge.

It was pretty obvious that her apology was fake and that she’d intentionally thrown her eggs at me. I couldn’t understand why though. I had never done anything to her and I’d been gone for the last month. What did she have against me?

The answer came a few seconds later in the form of a tall and very good looking demon, Talon Kinsley. He was the douchebag ex that I’d been in a serious relationship with for about a year before we’d broken up. Even though sexual relationships between demons and mortals weren’t encouraged, Talon and I hadn’t really cared about the repercussions. We’d had more pressing matters at hand, like taking each other’s clothes off.

There was no way Cedee could have known that though. Talon had wanted to keep our relationship a secret from everyone so his reputation wouldn’t be ruined and his parents wouldn’t find out. Aside from the two of us, only Anna and Misha had known about our secret relationship and there was no way they would ever tell anyone, especially Cedee.

So once again, I was left with another burning question. Why did Cedee hate me?

“Cedee, first period’s about to start,” he said in a low tone, acting like I didn’t even exist.

Cedee’s eyes flickered to me for a second before she wrapped her arms around Talon’s body and sucked his lips off. It was lucky I hadn’t eaten yet, otherwise I would have puked all over her.

“Thanks so much, baby,” she cooed once Talon managed to disentangle himself from her grasp. “You’re so considerate and you take such good care of me.”

I stifled a laugh and turned to glare at my ex. “Wow, Talon, how much did you have to pay her to say that?”

Loire sniggered from somewhere behind me which boosted my confidence. I may have been a nomad for the last month but at least my sarcasm was still alive.

Talon’s face flushed and our gazes locked briefly. Something burned in the depths of his deep, blue eyes. He hastily ran a hand through his dark blonde hair, looking extremely uncomfortable with the situation he was in. I guess being caught between your ex and your current girlfriend wasn’t the best start to the day.

“I like those handcuffs you’re sporting there, honey.” Cedee lowered her gaze to my ira bands before looking me right in the eye as she tried to assert her dominance. Which was pretty funny considering she looked like a midget in comparison to my tall frame. “Seriously, they’ll let anyone into this school.”

Her friend laughed as she shot me a dirty look. “Like we need any more mortal scum around here.”

Anger shot through me, and I wanted nothing more than to kick their asses. I could always try and assault her with my pancakes. Maybe she was diabetic or gluten intolerant.

Then Delware’s words came back to me.

I expect you to abide by the rules. Do not give me a reason to discipline you further.
 

I was pretty sure breaking Cedee’s nose counted as breaking the rules.

When I felt a steadying, unfamiliar hand on my shoulder, I glanced around in surprise. Loire was beside me now, giving me a small smile as though to calm me. I shot him a grateful look, still confused by the gesture, as I concentrated on my breathing. In. Out. In. Out. 

Once I was sure I had a handle on myself, I shot her a cold smile. “So, how did you get in? Did you flip your hair and blow kisses, or did you have to blow something else?”

Cedee’s lip twisted and all of a sudden she didn’t look so pretty anymore. She stepped towards me, her hands twirling at her sides. A gush of movement flew past me, and I was grasped by the shoulders and thrust aside with force. I glanced around, startled, and saw that Loire had taken my place and was now staring Cedee down.

“Are you sure you want to be doing that in front of so many witnesses, little girl? Save it for another time in a deserted corridor.” Loire casually glanced around the dining hall where everyone was craning their necks in our direction, sensing that a fight was about to go down.

Cedee’s face hardened and she seemed to rethink what she was about to do. Finally, she shot me a dirty look. “You’re lucky you have your babysitter with you this time, Rat.” She grasped Talon firmly by the arm and turned away.

“Enjoy your day,” I said in a sing-song voice.

She made a sound like an angry cat and stormed down the hall with my ex and her minion yapping at her heels like a brainless zombie.

Loire turned to me and raised an eyebrow. “She seemed
nice
. Friend of yours?”

I suddenly remembered what he’d said to Cedee, and shot him a death glare. “You told her to attack me in a deserted corridor when there wouldn’t be any witnesses!”

“It was a figure of speech,” Loire said with a shrug. “You really think you couldn’t take her in a fight, Miss I’m-the-best-fighter-in-my-class?”

“You know, you do make a good point,” I said, biting into a pancake.

***

The rest of the day went by slowly and only brightened when I got to see my friends at recess and lunch. Loire never left my side so I couldn’t even pass Anna and Misha a single note about Valeska or the prophecy about the Mortal Blade. I didn’t know how we were going to discuss anything with my 24-hour guard constantly listening in.

At around four, Misha and I were lying on the beds in our room while Anna sat at our only desk. I was struggling to do theory homework for my Tactics class and kept getting distracted by Misha who was making faces and widening her eyes every time she looked at Loire.

I knew what she was thinking. There was a hot guy in our room who was strictly off-limits and it sucked monkey balls. I’d never admit it out loud, but I could easily fall into a fantasy where Loire was featured with no clothes on. He was the enemy, but a frickin’ hot one.

“Mish,” I said, sitting up. “If I had you in a chokehold, do you think you could break free?”

“Maybe.” She appeared thoughtful as she considered my question. “I could probably try and electrocute you to get out of it.”

I winced and stared down at the textbook in frustration. “How am I supposed to know any of this if the only people we fight in class are other mortals?”

There was a shuffling from beside the door where Loire was stationed. I looked up in time to see him roll his eyes. “Don’t you know anything, Rookie? It’s a hypothetical. You’re supposed to come up with all the different ways you could beat a demon.”

“That’s a little hard considering I don’t control the elements like they do,” I shot back.

“Ever the optimist,” Loire said snidely. “You need to come up with a list of weaknesses for each elemental demon. You know, use your brain. Be imaginative.”

I wanted to tell Loire to shove his imagination in a dark hole, but bit my tongue. Instead, I began reciting the elements a demon could possess. Fire. Water. Earth. Air. Ice. Electricity. Metal. That was seven.

“Do you know how long it would take to come up with even one weakness for an element?” I demanded.

“Considering I’m the qualified SRECON agent who scored top marks in school
and
passed my training at Academia, yes, I do know.” He gave me a haughty look which worsened my mood.

Smokin’, frickin’ hot, douchebag.

I noticed Anna nodding her head in agreement. Trust her to be impressed by Loire’s credentials. Misha was nodding too, but I think it had more to do with Loire’s looks and less to do with his résumé.

“What’s the point anyway?” I grumbled. “It’s frowned upon for mortals to attack demons and angels.”

“And what if you have no choice?” he asked in a low voice. “What if you have to fight a Hell Hunter one day who shows you no mercy? What would you do then? Cower like a little girl and cry?”

His comment pissed me off, but also sent a shiver down my spine.

That was why we trained at these academies and why some of us went on to become SRECON agents or bodyguards, like my mom. We were being trained to fight against Hell Hunters because we didn’t know when they would have enough power to tip the scales in their favor. Because that’s all they wanted—power.

“Point taken,” I muttered, glancing down at my book again.

Loire swore and looked at his watch in agitation. “Where the hell is he?” I figured he was talking about Tyrone who was supposed to start his shift thirty minutes ago. “I’m going to make a call. I’ll be right outside, so don’t try anything stupid.”

He gave me a warning look before walking out of the room. The three of us stared round at each other, hardly believing our luck. We didn’t think we’d get a chance to talk so soon.

“Kat, quick!” Anna was the one to snap out of it first. “Tell us everything, but keep your voice down. We don’t want him to hear us.”

“You know how my mom told me that the only way I could clear my name was to find the witch, Valeska?” I began.