Vala Eminence (4 page)

The three adults all glanced between one another, as if they were having some kind of silent, telepathic, conversation. From what he knew of them, none of them should have had that ability, but anything was possible.

Finally, Mr. Anais sighed. “We will let you have a private tutor outside of class hours. A tutor of our choosing.”

Denver's smirk spread into a full out grin. “Excellent.”

“You're okay with that?” Mrs. Bobbine gasped. “You're not exactly the academic type.”

“When it comes to my magic, I'll study any time I can.”

“All right, I'll be sure to tell Mr. Thantos,” Mrs. Bobbine said and wrote something down on a piece of paper in her file.

Denver's grin faded and he swallowed. “Mr. Thantos?”

She nodded. “You have dark magic, Denver. We don't have many teachers who are skilled in that to begin with. Just Mr. Thantos, and Mr. Orinda. Mr. Orinda is out of town for the time being, so Mr. Thantos will be your first tutor. Then you may switch if you like, or speak with both teachers should you so choose. It doesn't matter much to me, because you'll be doing it in your free time.”

“Good to know.” Denver didn't care much for the dark, fallen angel Mr. Thantos, or the minimally-skilled warlock, Mr. Orinda. If he had to choose between the two, he would go with Mr. Orinda. The guy was a mystery, much like Denver, so they had something in common, at least. Mr. Thantos had nasty habits of acting as if he knew everything and sticking his nose into business that wasn't his.

“We're almost done,” Mr. Anais said.

“Good,” Denver grumbled.

The Dean of Students let out a heavy sigh. “We think it would be in your best interest to stay away from Miss Loveless. While there are aspects of her company that have been a good influence on you, mainly your grades increasing and your more calm behavior around campus… there are also some things that concern us. Your history of feeding on her is one of them. I understand you say you're doing it with her consent, which surprises me, to be honest. She didn't strike me as the type to let you do something like that to her, but I didn't know you had those kind of morals.”

Denver shrugged. “She brings out a new side in me, what can I say?”
Maybe she's the cure to the curse Lucien put on me when I was a kid? That could be why I feel so many things around her.

“Whether you choose to believe it or not, we do care about what happens to you.” Mr. Anais's gaze met Denver's. The man's words actually came across as genuine. “Which is why we do want you to move on from our school. Of course, should you choose to apply for college then—”

Ms. Lis cleared her throat loudly, and she made no effort to hide the glare she was giving Mr. Anais. “Miss Loveless does not need you as a distraction while she settles into school here. She's been through a lot. Being kidnapped and tortured in the underworld is not something someone heals from easily. We want to make sure you don't spark any relapses.”

“If she wants my company, then I'm not going to turn her away.” He faked a yawn. “Are we done yet?”

“Yes, you can return to class.”

He stood and walked to the door, not waving or even saying “goodbye” to the three staff members who had just bombarded him.
Something tells me the Cheyenne ban is Lucien inspired. He always told me to stay away from her
—
or else. It wouldn't surprise me if he went to his Divine Council connections and they used their weight to pull some strings for him. Time for me to teach that demon a lesson or two about his proper place in the order of things.

Denver took his time getting back to class. He might as well dawdle until class was dismissed because there wasn't much time left. There was a temptation to skip the entire day, and hang out in his dorm room. Going back to sleep sounded like a great idea. But if he went back to bed, he'd miss out on his chance to see Cheyenne. The two had a number of classes together, and shared the same lunch period. That class time together might soon become the only chance he and Cheyenne had to be with one another.

****

“So where are we sitting today, Princess?” Denver asked Cheyenne, carrying both of their trays of food.

Cheyenne's blue eyes searched the room, looking for an open table. Finding a private place to sit was hard to do in the cafeteria. He would have preferred they took their lunch outside, but it was too cold for that. Most of the campus didn't allow food and drink and going all the way to the dorm to eat took up too much of the lunch hour. While Cheyenne was popular enough to go and sit at any table she pleased, Denver wasn't wanted by hardly anyone.

He noticed her gaze settle on a round table in the back corner of the cafeteria. The 'it' table where the Willam twins sat with their small, selective social circle. Not just anyone was allowed to join them at the table. The two were more popular than anyone else in the school. Why, Denver didn't know. He assumed it had something to do with Anj's ability to be mysterious and alluring, and Zes being “so adorable.” Denver saw behind it all. It was all an act. Anj wasn't mysterious, he was a coward, and Zes was far from being adorable, he was pathetic. Then again, Denver also wasn't a girl, so he didn't understand their logic. He was probably the only guy in the school who didn't want to be one of the twins.

“You can go join them if you want,” Denver said with a shrug. “They don't scare me.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “But I promised I wouldn't bring you over there with me… yet. The wounds are still too fresh between Zes and I. If I had to choose between you two, you know I'm going to pick you.”

“Aww shucks,” Denver deadpanned. “I also know that being social bubonic plague isn't necessarily your style.”

“Are you kidding me?” She laughed. “Back at my old school that was my existence. I like it more than having the spotlight on me all of the time. Because while I'm sure all of the other tables would die of happiness if I sat with them, I kind of am hoping to go back to being normal and boring again.”

He laughed. “Then you picked the wrong guy to hang out with.”

“Normal and boring to an extent, then.” She winked. “A lot of the instant popularity from the twins is starting to die off.”

Denver watched her stare longingly at the table as she said that, so he wasn't convinced. “Princess, go sit with your friends. I know you miss them and all that jazz. It's not like I'm concerned Squeakers is going to woo you back. Pretty sure he doesn't want you anymore anyway.”

Her face paled. “Yeah, I kind of figured since I cheated on him with you. Which is fine, because being with Zes was a big mistake. I just wish I had ended things with him earlier, or never started them to begin with.”

“What if, what if, blah, blah, blah. Chey stop living in the past. Move forward with me,” Denver said. He walked toward the twins' table. In the past, he would have stayed just to torment them. He got along with Anj's girl… thing, Jewl. The two were on and off so often, it was hard for Denver to keep up with the relationship. For some reason, the girl was devoted to Anj. A pity for Denver, she could have been a lot of fun for him to play with until Cheyenne had come into his life.

He set Cheyenne's tray down onto the tabletop. The whole group was already sitting there. Anj was in his usual seat and he jumped, startled. The guy was blind, so it never took much for Denver to scare the guy. As much as Anj liked to pretend he couldn't be snuck up on and that he knew everything, he was pretty easy to mess with. It was a highlight for Denver.

Zes was sitting next to his brother, and he glared across the table at Denver. He opened his mouth, but Denver spoke first.

“I'm just helping her with her stuff. Don't worry, I'm not going to crash your cool kid party,” he said.

Zes rolled his dark eyes, and played with his hair for a moment. His fingers picked at the small satyr horns buried in his brown hair. “You can stay if you want to.”

“Are you sure?” Anj asked.

“Yes,” Zes mumbled. Then he went back to doing what he did best — eat. Denver liked Zes best when he spent time shoveling food into his mouth instead of talking. Zes also had more bite to him than people assumed. That made him more fun to break. Sometimes Denver liked to push his buttons just to encourage Zes to have more of a backbone and stop letting people walk all over him so much, more particularly his brother. For some reason Anj liked to control his twin. It couldn't have been healthy.

Anj's eyes glowed blue and his gaze locked onto Denver for a moment. Denver recognized the spell being used. Anj was using magic to actually see him.

Folding his arms across his chest, Denver narrowed his eyes and made eye contact with Anj. “Yes?”

“I just want to make sure you're sure Zes, because just say the word and—”

“I said I was fine,” Zes snapped. He muttered something else under his breath and stuffed a roll into his mouth.

Slowly, Cheyenne sat down and Denver did the same. He contemplated leaving, if only for her comfort more than anything else, but they would all have to deal with the awkwardness at some point or another. It made sense to get it out of the way. Delaying the inevitable would only hurt Cheyenne more. She was the only person he cared about being good to.

Anj's magic turned off and he went back to eating. “You know Zes, I find it insulting that you'll take a ballroom dancing class in college, but you won't let me teach you. Don't you want to impress all of the ladies there?”

“You're a crappy teacher,” Zes said. He glanced at Cheyenne. “We've had this conversation how many times? Every lesson you've attempted to give me ends badly.”

His brother sighed dramatically. “I'll try not to take it personally.”

“I just want to learn so I can possibly keep up.”

The two kept talking, but Denver tuned them out. When he sat with the twins in the past, all he liked to do was watch or play the part of the Devil's advocate. He couldn't do the latter, so he was left with watching and waiting for someone else to join the table.

Jewl sat down next, taking the chair on the other side of her boyfriend. Along with her was a new addition to the group, a redhead who answered to the name of Noel. She sat next to Jewl, which also put her next to Cheyenne. Halyn made a show of avoiding Denver and choosing to sit by Zes instead of him. Good, ol' Teague, didn't care much about who he sat by, and gave Denver's shoulder a squeeze in hello. He was probably the only other person there besides Cheyenne who wanted Denver around. Maybe Jewl didn't mind his presence so much, but she would ultimately side with the twins no matter what.

“You're going to come with us, right Noel?” Anj asked.

Denver snapped out of his daze then because Cheyenne grabbed his hand and gave it the squeeze of death. He scowled and glanced at her.
What's the big deal?
And why does she look like she wants to kill someone?
Cheyenne was glaring, her lips pursed, and her breathing was heavy. It took him a moment to figure out that the person she was glaring at was Zes. Her ex must have been just as confused as him, because Zes frowned and ate slowly.

“You want me to come dancing with you guys?” Noel asked.

“Sure,” Anj said. “We need an even number. It's unacceptable for Zes to sit and eat all of the mushroom poppers while the rest of us have a good time.”

“The mushroom poppers sound like more of my style.” She laughed.

“Then split a plate. I keep telling him he needs to watch his caloric intake before we're not so identical anymore, if you catch my drift.”

Zes groaned a little and pushed his plate away.

Anj pushed it back toward his twin. “You're a growing boy. How are we going to get to be six feet tall if we stop eating? Honestly…”

“You just said…”

“I was kidding. Will you stop trying to hinder my ability to make some magic?”

Denver snorted. “I didn't know you had any magic.”

For a brief second, Anj flashed on his magic so he could look at Denver again. “I'm capable of a lot of things.”

“By all means, continue to work your 'magic' then.” Denver gestured towards Zes. “I personally think it's sweet you're trying to set your brother up on a hot date.”
It'll help him and Cheyenne get on better terms and then maybe she won't be so mopey all of the time, or keep trying to hide from everyone. Sneaking around is getting kind of old. I want to flaunt what's mine.

Always acting the sweet, good boy, Zes started to choke on his food. He coughed a few times, hitting his chest with his fist as he did, and turned an impressive shade of red. Denver had seen him do this on a number of occasions and it was always a riot. The whole thing had to be nothing more than a well-done performance. How could anyone be so pathetically shy? Denver couldn't believe that guy was able to woo Cheyenne, let alone be intimate with her. That bothered him, a lot.

When he glanced at Cheyenne, Denver noticed she too was starting to turn red. The glare in her eyes increased. She leaned in and kissed Denver firm on the mouth, at the same time standing from the table, pulling him up with her.

“I have some studying to do, but I'll see you later tonight,” she said before stomping away.

The table grew quiet, even Halyn, who Denver was positive didn't know how to shut up. Every so often there was a casual crunch from Teague who was busy eating a carrot, unbelievably happy. “She's mad,” he said.

“Yeah,” Denver said, stiffly.
Thanks for pointing out the obvious, like always, kiddo.

That was what Teague did best. The boy claimed to be a sixteen-year-old, but he had the attention span and innocence of a five-year-old, sometimes even the intelligence of one as well. As Denver learned more about the kid, the less he was surprised. Nobody else knew it, but Teague was from the future. To make things even more hilarious, he was Anj and Jewl's son from the future. How far off Teague's conception was from the present time Denver didn't know, but it was by far the juiciest secret he'd ever kept in his entire life. Lurking in the underworld taught him a number of interesting things. It would be amusingly ironic for Anj, Mr. Know-It-All, to produce unintelligent children, but Denver had the feeling Teague's lack of brains was a nasty side effect from time traveling.

Anj stared blankly in front of him, as if he were watching Cheyenne leave. His eyes were dark and dull however, so he wasn't using his sight spell. After a moment passed, he shrugged. “Not my problem.”

Jewl stirred some mashed potatoes on her plate. “Awkward.”

“I promise you Noel, our table is hardly ever this dramatic,” Anj said. “Who am I kidding — it always is! We're an interesting bunch, and things just have a tendency to get a little crazy.”

“Yeah, because some people thrive on drama and attention,” Denver grumbled. “Better think about this one, Cutie Pie.”

“Why are you still here?” Anj snapped.

Denver's fists clenched. “Why do you even care?”

“Are you really asking me that? I can't even count on my hands the number of times you've tried to ruin my life. Double that for Zes.
That's
why I care.” Anj gripped his fork tightly, and for a brief second Denver wondered if the guy was getting ready to use it as some kind of a weapon. His twin reached over and put a hand on Anj's forearm. The grip on the fork eased and Anj set it back on the table once more.

Zes's gaze locked with Denver's. “I can fight for myself when I want to.”

“I'm ready for a rematch when the lady folk aren't present,” Denver said icily. The two had exchanged blows over Cheyenne. She was the only reason he hadn't given Zes the worst beating of his life. If Denver wanted to, he could do worse damage than the demons who had already tortured Zes back in the fall when Lucien had kidnapped both him and Cheyenne.

“Can't wait,” Zes said then went back to eating.

That was as good of a time as any for Denver to leave the table to find Cheyenne. Respecting her need for space was one thing, but as her boyfriend he felt like he'd given her enough of that for the time being. He didn't know what her problem was, but he was going to find out. Not bothering to even put his leftover lunch away, he exited the cafeteria to make his way toward the dorm. He didn't get far, because Cheyenne snagged his shirt with her hand the moment he walked out the door.

She smirked. “Took you long enough.”

“Had to do some talking. You know how they are,” he said. Without hesitation, he snaked an arm around her waist. “What was that all about anyway?”

“I don't like her.”

“Who? Jewl? Last I checked, you two were fast becoming besties.”

“No, Noel,” she said quietly.

He laughed. “Do you even know her?”

“Can't say that I do.”

“Then you can't make any judgments either,” he stated. With a slight nudge he urged her forward so they could leave together. Standing outside of the cafeteria door was never a good place to hang out.

She scowled. “There's no way she's his type.”

“Why do you even care?” Denver snapped. She gasped, and let her jaw hang open. He continued. “No, seriously, why do you care so much? You broke up with him. In fact, I remember you seeing
me
behind his back because you were that dissatisfied with your relationship. Am I wrong? So why do you care so much if he moves on too?”

“Because he's not allowed to. He belongs to me.” Her tone took on a darker, grittier form, and she no longer sounded like the girl he was in love with.

His eyes narrowed.
Persephone the First? Is that who's talking now?
Cheyenne was possessed by her great ancestor so it was a possibility. Breathing in to prevent himself from snapping off at her, Denver made sure to cleanse himself of all negativity before speaking. “I'm pretty sure Zes is his own person.”

Cheyenne shook her head. “You don't understand. I don't want him, let alone to be loved by him, but that doesn't change the facts. He was my gift, and he belongs to me and no one else.” The same grit was still present in her voice. Closing his eyes, Denver leaned in and kissed her deeply. Her fingers tangled into his hair and he could have sworn he heard her breathe out his true name. “Hades?”