When – the end of the school day – Friday finally came, I felt like I'd been chewed up and spit out by a pack of hungry wolves, and I'd thought Wednesday was bad though in hindsight it felt more like being ambushed by a pack of purring kittens. It got progressively worse as – one by one – our instructors realized how massively unprepared we were for any kind of attack and like they were expecting a war of epic proportions they were relentless in their drills.
I'd heard that it was just as bad in the Moroi magic classes and that the teachers there were also showing no mercy whatsoever. I had no energy for extra training with my grandmother, but that didn't stop her from pushing me past my physical limits, though today I simply refused to go.
My wardens were flanking me again, like every other time I was outside my dorm, and when Andrei's hand lightly touched my back to guide me towards the training grounds, I stopped dead in my tracks.
"I'm not going."
I said with the resolve of a slab of concrete. I knew that resolve had been firmly in place on my face as well. At first – my other guardian – Guardian Kalashnik lightly pushed me forward, but I could see Andrei slightly shake his head. We stood there, unmoving, for quite some time and then came both of their sighs.
"Fine, back to the dorms then." Andrei finally said and I smiled brightly as I lead the way. Never in my life had I thought I'd be happy to go back to my broom closet, but today was just one of those days.
Three days and I already had one of the toughest Guardians wrapped around my finger, but I knew that Kalashnik wasn't going to be as easy as Andrei. I'd just have to find another way to get him to soften up, but that'll have to wait until I've slept for a day, because after this week I don't think I've ever been as mentally and physically exhausted as I was in that moment.
Like every night – since I'd gotten out of the hospital – I stared up at the ceiling, focusing on one spot so sleep would claim me. I was wearing black boy shorts and a black tank top, which was seasonally inadequate since it was snowing outside – but for some reason I wasn't cold. My dream world was just starting to materialize when there was a swift knock at my bedroom door. At first I thought it might have been my grandmother coming to see why I'd blown off practice, but then the knock came again. I almost turned around and pretended to sleep,
"Hey, Lils, it's me. Are you decent?"
Came the voice from the other side of the door and I almost yelped at the familiar feeling stirring within me. He didn't wait for my answer instead he opened the door and I jumped up just as he closed it.
"Micah!" I exclaimed loudly, not caring that the goons outside could hear.
With his back to me I ran to him flinging my arm around his neck which almost toppled us over, but he steadied himself and automatically embraced me.
"I missed you."
He all but whispered before he pulled back.
"I just got in and I wanted to see how you were holding up."
He wasn't dressed in guardian attire – rather sporting a black t shirt, blue jeans and an unfastened black leather jacket – and though I loved seeing him in thermal gear and combat boots, this was a really hot look on him. Snowflakes were melting into his hair and a couple of white strands were sticking to his face making his tanned skin almost glow in comparison. He was looking down at me, eyes sparkling, staring into my soul like I knew only he could.
He tipped my chin back with his forefinger and placed the lightest of kisses on my mouth. Like always, anticipation radiated through me, starting at my lips and moving through my entire body. I knew he could feel it too, because when he pulled back and looked into my eyes his lips were back on mine in an instant. I pressed my body against his, molding myself to him, my hands around his neck trying to pull him even closer.
His one hand was at the back of my neck tangled in my hair and the other was pressing me to him at the arch in my back. That hand slid down, leaving a trail of fire on my skin, further and further – over my butt and then Micah completely stopped as skin made contact with skin. He stepped back and I could tell there was shock all over my face, but only because he stopped so abruptly.
It was like he was only now really paying attention to what I was wearing and I could hear him gulp as he looked at me hungrily, but then he chuckled slightly and put his thumb to his lower lip like he was pensive.
"No man should ever have to possess this amount of restraint, Lily."
His eyes lingering on my body as I realized just how little I was wearing and a light blush crept onto my cheeks, something that had never happened before Micah. He smiled before he opened the door and slipped out, but before he closed it again he peered around the corner sneaking one last look.
"You should get some sleep, novice." He almost whispered before he disappeared.
I couldn't sleep that night, I mean how could I when every single nerve ending in my body was exploding? How could I sleep when I kept thinking about how warm his skin had felt on mine? How could I sleep when the only thing I wanted to do was stalk to his room and continue what he had started? To all those questions the answer was, I couldn't.
Had I still been rooming with Lexi, I would have broken curfew to walk around in the snow and cool myself down – hell if I'd still been rooming with Lexi, this would probably not have happened in the first place. I couldn't help thinking about Lexi just then as I stared at the ceiling and then a familiar feeling seized me as the shadows grew longer, huh that's strange.
I dreamt that I was Lexi and I (she) was staring at her phone longingly, texting with… Daniel? Weird, I hadn't even known they'd exchanged numbers.
D: They still have you under house arrest?
L: Yeah, and the worst part about it is that they're keeping James and Lily away from me as well.
D: You guys will figure it out, those two are probably devising a plan as we speak.
Lexi felt a prideful feeling growing in her chest as she thought about the fact that Daniel could very well be right about that. I felt a little pang of guilt knowing that I hadn't been doing anything to get us out of our predicament
D: Why are you still up though?
Lexi panicked for just a second before she typed back
L: Couldn't sleep, I'm lonely without Lily
The messages were dated today and the timestamp read 4:13am, then suddenly I was back in my room still staring at the ceiling, weird didn't even begin to cover how I felt in that moment. I knew about shadow kissed abilities, but I wasn't shadow kissed. Then I realized that the timestamp was right around the time Micah was with me, so I couldn't have been in her head.
Then the voice in my head spoke like it knew the answer, unless it was just a memory. I was completely freaked out and that was a feeling I hated, so I called the one person I knew I could trust with this… Uncle Adrian. Well not immediately of course, first I knew I had to get some sleep.