Page 9 of Cruel Destinies

“Wonderful.” He all out grinned now, making me sure I’d done the right thing. “Come to my room at six o’clock.”

“Yes, sir.” I gave him a sarcastic two-fingered salute.

He just chuckled and shook his head as he left my room.

I stayed there on the edge of my bed for a long moment, trying to change my perspective about all this—daddy issues aside. Really, Niko leaving wasn’t the worst thing in the world. It didn’t mean we had to break up, just that we’d get less time together. On the bright side, we’d probably never fight. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that shit.

Glancing at the clock, I knew it was time to go. I composed myself, repeating the mantra that this was not goodbye, this was no big deal, and went out to the school’s main entrance.

My heart didn’t seem to listen to my mantra, though. With each step closer, it pounded harder and faster. And when Niko stopped his pacing in front of the vault door at my approach,his concerned expression morphing into a gorgeous smile, my heart practically did an ollie in my chest.

I wanted to sprint the rest of the distance to him and jump into his arms, but the last thing I was about to do was act like some pathetic, love-sick schoolgirl. I needed to play it cool. Especially since his parents were standing nearby, watching us with keen eyes.

When I reached him, he pulled me in for a tight embrace, and I may have squeezed his shoulders as hard as I could, savoring this moment.

Niko pulled away first to take my face into his warm hands. “I will see you tomorrow. I swear I’ll come back.”

And even with the audience of his mother and her father, he stole a kiss that made me momentarily light-headed.

I nodded and offered him a reassuring smile, even as those damned feelings began to push their way out of the box and claw their way to the surface. “Nothing has to change.”

Mrs. Candida appeared behind Niko and gently tapped on his shoulder.

“I have to go. This is not goodbye. I’ll see you soon.” With another soft kiss on my cheek, Niko turned and let his parents usher him out the vault door.

Those feelings were surging up my chest, forcing my throat to tighten and my eyes to sting with fresh sorrow. So, I did the only thing I knew how to do. I let my grief morph into anger and stormed off back to the avian training room in search of something to burn.

Chapter 4

Arya

I could hardly contain my excitement as I made my way to the avian training room after defense class on Tuesday afternoon.

I felt like this was the first day of class at a new school, but in a whole different way than I’d ever experienced after years of moving from town to town. Because I wasn’t just some aimless new girl, and at least as far as I could tell, the harpies didn’t utterly despise me like the mer did.

My brief healing session with Ms. Heather the other night gave me so much hope! I was actually going to learn something new, and I couldn’t wait to explore this new part of myself.

The avian training room was a world apart from the mer training room. There were still hoops hanging from the ceiling, all varying sizes and heights, but no oversized pool. To one side stood what could only be described as a miniature mountain, rocky and perfect for climbing. On the opposite side sat a huge earthy hearth with a blazing fire.

I understood the need for the fire when it came to dragons and phoenixes, but I didn’t see how it was relevant to harpies.

Ms. Heather stood next to the hearth, the glow of the fire shining in her fluffy yellow hair. She wasn’t in her whitenurse’s scrubs as I was used to seeing her. Today she was wearing a snug t-shirt of the same smart material as my swim top, the avian symbol over her right breast. I couldn’t help but notice that her feet were bare, and I tried not to stare at her exposed toes as I came closer.

“I have always loved the warmth of a fire,” Ms. Heather said, gazing fondly at the blaze as if it were an old friend. “Man-made heat just doesn’t compare. Don’t you think?”

I made a non-committal shrug-nod. I hadn’t spent much time around fires in my life. Growing up, there were no campfires for me and Mom, not even in the backyard. The no-going-out-after-dark rule was very firm, and none of the houses we’d ever occupied had a fireplace.

“I think it’s funny that our genus is called avian,” Ms. Heather went on. “Because you know what I think? Even though flying is something that dragons, phoenixes and harpies have in common, it’s not the shared trait that binds us as a family. No, it’s the connection to fire.”

“Fire?” I asked, confused. “But harpies don’t wield fire.”

“On the contrary,” Ms. Heather corrected. “In the days before man-made light, fire was our only easy access to light. Even now, it remains the most potent form for us to use, save for the light of the direct sun. But we don’t get that down here.” She laughed. “So fire is the source we will be using to practice.”

Now that Ms. Heather had spelled it out, I was surprised I hadn’t realized it before. I had only ever seen dragon and phoenix shifters use fire directly, so I hadn’t made the connection that fire also made light and didn’t just burn things.

Ms. Heather turned toward the flames and reached her hands out to warm them. “Do you mind if I get a little more comfortable?”

I didn’t really know what she meant, so I stammered, “Um, sure.”

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