Page 59 of Phoenix Academy: Madness

When I pull back from the kiss I'm audibly panting, my lips chapped, suddenly worried someone might have seen. Looking awkwardly away from him, I point out, "We should probably go inside. Use that arena time you booked."

"Oh, were we going to do that?" There's dark amusement in David's tone. "I thought that was just an excuse to get me alone without yourboyfriendrealizing."

I wince at the word. "Xavier isn't my boyfriend."

"Yet."

"I..."

There's nothing I can say to that, except excuses. The truth is that I'm greedy. I met the trio at the same time, and the attraction grew slowly, over months. Once I realized I was attracted to allthreeof them it was too late. There was no going back and trying to redirect my feelings.

I don't know what I'm going to say to Xavier. And I don't know what to tell David right here, right now.

So instead I offer, "You can beat me up a whole bunch."

"Really?" He blinks at me disbelievingly, that scowl settling back onto his handsome face. "That's what you're going to offer—you kiss me likethat, practically dry humping me until my dick is hard as fuck, and now all you have to offer is a little platonic combat practice?"

I can't stop myself from pointing out, "I never said it had to be platonic."

Hunger flashes across his eyes, followed just as closely by bitter anger again. He snorts, then puts his hands on my shoulders and gently—but implacably—pushes me back, putting enough room between us that I can see his remaining arousal, even if I can't feel it brush against my thigh anymore.

"Ari, I don't want to just... havethat.One cheap night in the combat arena that we both agree to never talk about." Frustrated, he rakes a hand through his hair, his cheeks growing red with either anger or too much exposure to the cold. "I thought we were going to at least talk about this. Especially given everything that's on the line."

Helplessly, I tell him, "I don't know what to say."

"A little bit of the truth wouldn't hurt. What do youwantfrom me? What do you want from Xavier? Hell, what the fuck do you want from Reggie?"

Eyes darting to the scanner on the door, I point out, "We should go inside."

"In a minute." He crosses his arms, stubborn as hell, and because he's the one who booked the combat time, he's the one whose ID will open up the door and let us inside. "Before we go inside, I want you to answer at least my first question: what do you want from me?"

Looking into his blue eyes, thinking of all the time we've spent together, and yet all the things I don't know about him, I realize that I know the answer. It's not easy, or simple, but it's the truth.

"I want to know everything there is to know about you." Taking a deep breath in, I let it out and admit, "I want to know why you shift differently than the others. How you and Xavier became best friends. I want... I want to see you naked on purpose. And kiss you again. And fuck you, because hey, I've seen what you've got going on. I want to make you laugh, and I don't really care if I make you mad, too. But most of all, I wanteverything. All of it. And I don't think I could give you up even more than I think I could give Xavier up if you made me.

"There." I reach up to press at my eyes, afraid tears might fall, and push my emotions down. I can't look at him anymore. "That's all of it. I like you, a lot, a stupid amount, but it doesn't change how I feel about Xavier. Or Reggie. Because I'm greedy and dumb and I—"

My mouth is muffled by his coat as he draws me into his arms and hugs me so tight against him that I can barely breathe—or maybe that's the little bit of crying I'm doing, because I know that I'm ruining everything, but I don't know how to stop it. There are feelings inside me that I can't seem to control. I've pushed them down time and time again, but now they're bubbling up, impossible to ignore.

"Ari." I suck in a breath against David's jacket, knowing that I'm about to have to face the music of what I've done. "Ari, you should... you should calm down. Or maybe we should at least go inside, before it gets worse."

"Before what gets worse?" I ask.

Then I step back, out of his arms, and see what I've done.

Chapter 28

My magic wasn't bornfrom anger and rage this time, but it came all the same. Its blue power dusts the ground all around us and has settled into the trees. It turns the edges of David's hair greenish instead of blond, and his eyes an eerie blue color.

"It went so far this time." Glancing around, I can't see a spot on campus that the magic didn't touch. "I didn't even realize it was happening."

Studying the area all around us, David points out, "There's no rage this time. No mad shifters. It's just... seeping into things."

He's right, I realize. When I reach out with my naturalistic senses, I can tell that the magic has been gathering inside the plants and little animals, dusting them with blue. They inhale it, let it into their stems and leaves, until it changes their color. It seeps into the ground and water. But it hasn't brought rage down this time, and where it touches it simply falls like snow, melting into the earth itself.

Biting my lower lip, I glance up at David, whose eyes are already losing their unnatural blue tinge. "So, what comes next?"

"I don't think we have to worry about—oh, you meant with the two ofus.Not the magic."

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