Page 16 of Eight Embers

Wil stands up suddenly, scraping his chair along the floor. I wince, knowing somebody's going to wake up for sure now. Or come over now that Wil’s practically yelling at his parents. “That is enough, Mother! If you would have spoken to me like I begged of you on several occasions, we would not be in this situation. As it stands, you've probably alienated me from the only genuine friends I have on campus. Delaney has been nothing but wonderful to me, and her mates as well. This is theprincess. Daughter of the queen. She's not just any conduit, and you have crossed one line too many. You are the embarrassment here, not me.”

His father matches Wil’s temper, standing up to lean over the table. Others in the dorm are starting to stir, and I know I need to get these people out of here before it gets really ugly.

“You will not speak to your mother this way, Wilford. We raised you to be a virtuous member of The Fundamentalist Church, and now we hear you're galivanting around with conduits behind closed doors, and defying your mother when she's only trying to look out for you? To protect you?”

I try to make eye contact with Wil, to get his take on this, but he's working very hard to avoid that. So instead, I make my own call. I step to his side and lace my hand with his, if nothing else than for a show of solidarity. “I will not do Wil the dishonor of forming an engagement with him merely to get you off of our backs, he’s deserving of so much better than that and so much more from a partner. Judging you off of this behavior, I can't imagine you actually care for him as a person. But if I'm wrong and you do, I sincerely hope you'll reach out incredibly soon with a ready apology.

“I must ask you to leave my home. Your son will be staying here, behind my closed door, so we can have a discussion of our own.” White lipped and stiff as hell, the two of them start walking towards my door, eyeing the array of men now at my back and around them in distaste. Leo is nude, bless his soul, because he just does not like the feel of clothing on his newly sensitive skin.

“The headmaster will be hearing from us soon,” his mother promises, clearly not actually taking stock of who’s in the room with her.

Her stride out the door would be a hell of a lot more impressive if the man in question wasn't naked but for one of my red Lacy thongs and standing behind my couch. I honestly have no idea how that situation happened, but I'm not mad.

Wil tries to tell her that she’ll get nowhere with Headmaster Aspis, but I stop him with a hand to his chest. “Good luck with that,” I smirk at them as they finally cross the threshold.

Zac snorts and then immediately starts coughing, waiting till the door is shut behind them before anybody says anything.

I appreciate that nobody speaks for a few minutes, because it gives me time to pull Wil in for a hug and hold him. He's stiff atfirst, but soon enough he collapses into me and starts breathing erratically.

Adam clears a spot on the couch for us, so I lead Wil over there and sink down, wrapping a blanket around myself before pulling Wil into me again. He feels surprisingly good in my arms like this, but I hate the reason that he’s there.

“I'm so sorry Delaney. You have no idea how much so. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that they would confront you in such a way. Anything I can do in restitution is yours. Do you need a servant? I'm your guy. Needs somebody to do your laundry, cook your meals? Whatever you need. Please, give me something so I can make it up to you.”

I keep patting him on the back, waiting for his breathing to even out a bit before I try and talk. “You owe me nothing, Wil. I wouldn’t mind an apology from your parents, but this was nothing, I promise. I do think you need to explain some things to me, so that we don't get in this position again. Was me taking you into that bathroom grounds for mating? How are the fundamentalists so rigid in their beliefs?”

Wil starts to play with the threads on the blanket, not meeting anybody else's eyes in the room. “That church is all I've ever known. We’re sent on missions after high school to spread the word about the goddess, and it's this whole big deal. I always thought being a part of that church made me very good, better than others even, I guess, which is sinful, and not at all how I should be feeling. Sometimes... sometimes I'd look at the conduits that the goddess blessed and wonder at their behavior, question why they were allowed to do as they liked without repercussion, when I couldn't so much as speak to a woman alone without serious tongues wagging. But I know it's just my lot in life.”

“Your parents would seriously kick you out, cut you off, for being alone with Delaney in a public place?” Ash asks.

“And they'd be right to. A lot of our value is held up in our ability to remain pure for our mates. We're taught how important it is to keep our bodies clean, to not give anybody any grounds to suspect us of anything. Kissing is for your mating day, and you're definitely not allowed to be alone until you're at aminimumengaged with a mating ceremony planned. Even then, chaperones are highly suggested.”

“Well then, I owe you the biggest apology of all, Wil. If I'd known what I was risking pulling you into that bathroom with me, you have to know I never would have. I was raised with incredibly different values, so different in fact it's actually comical.”

Wil takes my hand in his, slowly lacing them together and watching our fingers get mixed up. “Which is what I would have explained to my mother if she'd given me the courtesy of a conversation before barging in here the way she did. If she knew the whole story, knew what your magic entailed and all the goddess has blessed you with, she'd understand exactly why you see things differently than she does.

“I know they mean well, but sometimes it's difficult to get them to see me through the haze of our religion.” He pauses before taking a few deep breaths and trying to stand. “I should leave you to your day. I'm sorry for the interruptions of your morning. I'll try and talk to her later after she's calmed down, and hopefully this won't happen again. Until then, it's probably best if we only talk for assignment purposes. I don't want to give the other members of our church that are attending Hemlock any more reason to report back to the elders.”

I feel sad, a bit dejected at the thought of him leaving me like this. Adam actually kicks my ankle, August and Jackson arewagging their eyebrows at me like I'm the daftest person on earth, and I'm sure if I looked over at the others, they'd be having similar reactions. I think they all suspect I'm a little sweet on Wil and seeing him so sad like this is heart shattering. I'm pretty sure if I don't do something, one of the others will.

I have to force myself with a good glare at the ceiling before I make an attempt, silently cursing out the goddess for the ridiculous ways she's making me collect my mates. “Wait, Wil. You should stay and have breakfast. No need to rush out of here.” Okay, so I chicken out.

Oh, I made Cory mad. They're tapping their foot on the ground in a cute little shimmery pink nightgown, and I think I'm more afraid of them than anybody else if I hurt Wil. Maybe I can just whisper it in case I'm wrong, save myself some humiliation.

I make a quick dive under the pile of pillows and blankets on the end of the couch, completely burying my face so my voice will be muffled. “I think Wil is one of my mates,” I whisper to the cushions.

They're all stalling Wil, preventing him from leaving until I suddenly throw my arm in the air, feeling the burn as his mark etches onto it.

There's gasping and hooting and hollering and I'm sure Wil is very much confused, but now that I know for sure, I need to be the one to tell him.

His back is to me as I approach, but Jackson spins him around to me right as I'm before him. Of course, his first impulse is to reassure that I’m okay. “Are you well, my lady?”

I get confused and I'm grabbing him for a giant kiss instead of saying words, and then I pull back horrified, immediately remembering what he said about kissing. How it's only for mating day. “I'm so sorry Wil. I did not mean... I mean I did,but I mean...fuck.” I cover my face, embarrassed and generally feeling horrible, but there's no movement in front of me.

“Why did you do that?” Wil asks. “I need to know now, Delaney. If I have any hope of winning your heart over—”

I pull my arm out of the blanket I’ve still got wrapped around me and show it to him, placing his hand on the new mark that's his. It's empty still, but I know it'll be filled up soon. “You're one of mine, Wil.”

Wil faints.

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