“Oh, no you don’t,” he growled angrily and jumped up in a lithe movement.
Before I had time to react, he was running full force at me. He crashed into me. I fell down on the mat with the air knocked out of my lungs. I tried to fight back but Theo was too strong, too heavy. He straddled me and held my hands above my head.
“You’re a cheater. This is hand-to-hand combat, not magical. Therefore, I win.” He tilted his head, appraising me with a challenging smile.
“The lesson isn’t over yet.” I lifted my head and spat on his shirt.
He looked down at the wet spot, his jaw clenching. “Oh, you really want to pick a fight today, don’t you?”
“You started it.” I glared at him, bucking against his hold on me.
He licked his lips and leaned closer to me. My breath quickened. I hated what he did to me. I hated how he made my pulse quicken. I hated how I wanted it. I hated him.
“You’re supposed to fight back, Mara, but for some reason, you must like the feel of me on top,” he whispered seductively in my ear.
That was it.
I twisted in his grasp, startling him, and kicked his chest. He grunted and let go enough for me to get away.
I was pissed the only time he touched me and talked to me was in this class. It wasn’t fair. I used my anger to my advantage and swung around, kicking his feet out from under him just when he stood. He fell onto his bottom.
“Mara,” he hissed. His nostrils flared and his gray eyes darkened to black.
I raised a brow. “Is that all you got, Theo? Bested by a girl? Huh, you must be losing your touch,” I taunted him.
He narrowed his eyes, my words having their intended mark. “Or I just don’t want to injure my psychotic charge.”
I laughed under my breath. “I don’t know how I ended up with you as my protector. It seems like they could’ve assigned me someone a lot better than you.”
His face emptied of expression.
Oh, shit. I’d hit a nerve and that was never good where Theo was concerned.
Before I could see what was happening he stood in front of me, shoving me into the wall with controlled grace. He was so close to me that you couldn’t have slid a piece of paper between us.
His eyes flickered back and forth between colors. They finally settled on black and I knew that wasn’t good.
“I think the better question is, how did I get stuck protecting you?”
That hurt. I think I would’ve rather had him hit me. I swallowed and fought back the tears his words had produced.
“Let go of me,” I warned, the words biting out between my teeth. I shook my arms against his hold, but he didn’t let go.
“Or what?”
I zapped him. It was a useful tool I had learned on my own. I didn’t know if it was something all enchanters could do, just Chosen Ones, or only me.
Theo fell to his back. He was stunned for three seconds before he slowly stood in obvious pain. He grabbed his back and hunched over. “What the hell was that?” he snapped, anger contorting his face.
“I told you to let go and you didn’t.”
He smiled which surprised me. “Looks like you’re starting to get some special powers. I don’t know whether to congratulate or kick you.”
“Stick with the congratulations,” I deadpanned. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with his moods.
We sparred some more and finally were dismissed. I changed quickly and followed Adelaide to her room. Theo sulked outside the door.
“Ugh,” Adelaide groaned and tossed her backpack on her desk. “You and Mr. Donnie Downer are driving me nuts.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m here to work on botany. Not listen to you complain about me and your brother.”
“Fine.” She forcefully opened her bag and yanked out her sketchbook. “Help me then.”
I sat down on Adelaide’s hot pink bedspread. Her walls were painted a bright cobalt blue that made my eyes hurt.
I spread my sketchbook out on the bed so we could both use my illustrations instead of Adelaide’s stick-figure-looking ones.
Adelaide grabbed her laptop and turned it on.
I pulled some notebook paper out and began to write my papers. We were quiet, and I enjoyed the easy silence. The silence I endured with Theo was anything but enjoyable. I finished my papers before Adelaide who kept groaning under her breath.
“Done.” She finally shoved the computer away.
“About time,” I joked.
She stuck her tongue out. “What is up with you and my brother?” she asked softly.
I peeled the mask off my face, having forgotten it was even there, and toyed with it. “I don’t know,” I hedged.
It wasn’t the first time she asked this, and I usually changed the subject or avoided it all together, but I didn’t feel like brushing her off anymore. I could tell I was pushing her away, and she was one of the few people I trusted. I couldn’t lose her and Theo.
“Really? You’ve both been really weird for months but I can still sense the sexual chemistry so I’m assuming you didn’t sleep together and that’s the issue. Or maybe it’s the lack of sex that’s the issue.”
I laughed under my breath. “You’re so weird, Adelaide. Do you really want to know if your best friend slept with your brother? I mean, he’s your brother.”
“What?” she shrugged. “I’m not stupid. I know Theodore’s far from innocent.”
I clenched my teeth in anger. It shouldn’t matter to me how many girls Theo had been with and yet it did. I was messed up.
“We didn’t sleep together,” I finally supplied.
“Something happened,” she stated. When I didn’t say anything, she sighed. “Theodore’s my brother and you’re my best friend. I hate seeing you both miserable like this when there’s an easy solution to the problem.”
“Adelaide—” I warned.
She held up a hand. “I want to see you both happy and I think that’s with you both together.”
“We hate each other.”
Adelaide laughed and asked again, “Who are you trying to convince? Me or you?” She bit her lip, obviously toying with something. “Do you know why Theodore’s your protector?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Is it some sort of punishment?”
“Shut up,” Adelaide snapped and pulled the mask out of my hands so I would stop playing with it. She tossed it over her shoulder and it landed with a soft thud on her pillow. “Listen to me very carefully, Mara. I mean it.”
I sat up straight. “I’m listening.”
“Protectors are rarer than the Chosen. Protectors can’t be assigned. They’re born. Theodore is your protector because his soul is tied to yours. Some divine being out there—” she waved her hands about “—chose him to protect you because he’s your perfect half. You’re connected.”
I swallowed. “It sounds like you’re talking about soul mates.”
“No.” She shook her head. “Maybe … I don’t know. I think it’s more than that. What I do know is Theodore isn’t your protector by chance. It’s fate.”
“You said we’re connected. What does that mean?”
“I don’t know the specifics, you’d have to ask him. But there is one thing I do know,” she said softly, her eyes growing sad.