ARIA
I have no words! Alexander walks out of the dark corner of the library and carefully steps over the broken pieces of wood. He looks like nothing serious has happened and my blood boils at the thought that he was just standing there and watching my ass getting kicked.
“You really are not getting this teacher of the year award, you know that, right?” I hiss at him.
“Let’s get it straight from the very beginning, Aria. I am not really a teacher here. I just needed this position to be in the school. That is it. As soon as I am done here, I’ll move on and forget about this place,” he informs me coming closer and the next second he lifts me off my feet.
“What the hell are you doing?” I almost yell at him, “Put me down! I need to get to the infirmary. ”
“They don’t have what you need,” he replies dryly and starts walking.
“And you do?” I snort.
“I do.”
“And that is?”
“Healing magic, Aria,” he says emotionlessly.
“You can do that?” my jaw drops to the floor.
“I can do anything, Sparkle,” Alexander chuckles.
He walks slowly through the empty school corridors, not a single muscle on his face gives out that it’s any kind of struggle to carry me. And I am pretty sure I am not the lightest person in the world.
“Don’t call me that, I hate any kind of nicknames,” I say after a while.
“Sparkle, I will call you however I choose to call you,” he says simply and I want to kick him. But my arm feels like it is broken.
On one of the turns, we almost bump into two guys.
“What the…,” Hunter says, his eyes glowing golden for just a second as he sees us.
“Wow, Princess, who made a hamburger out of you?” asks Logan, Hunter’s best friend and future beta, “You look like s**t!”
“So do you,” I snort, “But at least with me it’s temporary.”
“Good looks wouldn’t help in your situation though,” he adds oil to my fire.
“Good looks could help you, but it wasn’t meant to be, was it? “I chuckle and then something stings painfully in the area of my ribcage.
Logan is the one who bullies me the most after Hunter and Marissa. It’s his way of licking their asses and he is sure good at it. I hate him big time because back in the day my Dad saved his miserable life when no one could. He lived with us for months and I nursed him to health. Then Hunter’s dad accepted him to his pack and a year later he enrolled in the Springwood Academy. He was friendly at first, but when he saw the situation I am in, he stopped even saying hi to me. I also owe him my first big public humiliation. He wrote me a letter, apologizing and asked me to meet him and talk. The naïve me, decided to give him another chance. But when I arrived at the school garden, someone threw a bucket of water at me in front of everyone. And then they all came out, laughing. He also told them that I begged him for a date. And that was his reply. And then they laughed, and laughed, and laughed…
So, yeah, I hate the guy and have zero respect for him.
“Forrester, Woods,” the warlock says in his teacher tone, “Back to your rooms.”
“It’s not our curfew yet,” Hunter says, his eyes on me.
“It is now,” Kingston replies while passing the two of them, “Besides, you have a busy day tomorrow.”
“How so?” Logan looks startled.
“You’ll see,” the warlock says darkly and keeps walking.
“The infirmary is in a different way!” Hunter growls to our backs.
“You are very helpful,” Kingston snorts, “Go get yourself a candy. Inside of your room.”
My hand is still hurting and yet I manage to lift it up behind the warlock’s back and show the two werewolves my middle finger. Then I groan from pain and return to my previous position.
“Was it really worth it?” Alexander chuckles.
“Probably not, “I answer honestly, “But it was very satisfying.”
When he takes the next turn, however, I start to get worried.
“Uhm, my room is not this way,” I say carefully.
“I know that very well, Sparkle,” he smirks, “We are not going there. I am taking you to my room instead.”
“Wh-what? No!” I exclaim.
“The girl who can’t walk doesn’t choose where to go!” he chuckles.
And yes, he brings me to the teacher’s wing, going to the very top floor. His room turns out to be in our school’s tower. I didn’t even know that someone is living here!
The door opens before him touching it and we enter a spacious room. Since it’s in the tower, the walls are round but to be honest it only brings more charm to the space with tall windows, a fireplace, two cosy armchairs in front of it, a desk, a wardrobe, and a huge wooden bed. Alexander carefully places me on top of the latter and I hiss as it turns out to be pretty painful.
“Just wait for a second,” he says and takes off his blazer, sitting right next to me, “Tell me where it hurts the most and we’ll start from there.”
“My ribs, my wrist, my knee, my back, my head…” I start listing and a small smile touches the corner of his lips. Oh, mighty Goddess, Alexander Kingston can smile!
“You are quite the warrior,” he says, touching my knee and making me flinch at the sensation, “Easy there! I need to touch you to be able to heal you. Sorry for the inconvenience.”
“Uhm, it’s ok,” I say feeling how my cheeks flush red. However, the pain in the knee does go away and brings me a bit of relief. He goes up my thigh, healing little scratches I got here and there. And I start to get agitated.
“Ghm, Aria,” he clears his throat, “I am afraid you need to take off your shirt… Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to heal your…”
“Ahem, you know what,” I try to roll away from him, “It doesn’t hurt anymo… Ouch!”
It does hurt. In fact, it hurts so badly that I can barely breathe!
“That’s it,” with one swift move he tears buttons on my school shirt, making me gasp, “Sorry, Sparkle, just imagine we are at the beach and you are wearing a bikini.”
Oh, god! I cover my face with the healthy wrist and feel his warm fingers on my bare skin as he helps me out of my clothes. Leaving me in just my underwear. I am grateful, though, that at least I am wearing a nice matching pair today.
I close my eyes. Simply because this is too embarrassing. But as soon as I feel his palm on my abdomen, I am not so sure that it was such a good idea after all. All my senses are heightened and as he starts slowly moving up, I feel prickling sensations all over my skin. Is that how healing magic feels?
It seems like forever before he touches my lips. I open my eyes and meet his piercing green ones, which somehow look darker now. Warm light is glowing where he touches me, bringing relief from my pain. He brushes his hand over my neck, to check if I have any wounds there. And, lastly, buries his fingers into my hair, healing the cut on my head. Then, slides his palm all over me, as if admiring his own work, sending thousands of tingles over my body, even though he doesn’t use any magic anymore.
“I’ll give you one of my shirts, Sparkle,” he says, standing up suddenly. As if he just woke up from a dream.
“Th-thanks,” I mumble, pulling it on as soon as he throws it at me. It’s too big, almost reaching my knees, but it’s better than staying in front of him in just my underwear. “I don’t know how to call you,” I say, “Mr Kingston just wouldn’t do. Should I call you Alexander?”
“Call me Lex, Sparkle,” he smiles, sitting on the top of his desk.
“Why do you keep calling me Sparkle? I hate it,” I roll my eyes.
“Because, Aria, I saw a spark of fire inside of you,” he says, making me part my lips in surprise, “I am pretty sure you have magic in you somewhere.”
“Just a spark?” I chuckle, “Not much!”
“Even one tiny spark can ignite an all-consuming flame,” the warlock replies, not taking his eyes off me…
Aksara