Page 49 of Veiled

“Mine,” she whispered softly.

I frowned and looked behind me, taking in the four men, realization dawning, and I shook my head. Figures. Something else to explain later. Fun.

“You four, come here,” I demanded rather than asked. If anyone could help her let go of the magic, it was them.

Without hesitation, they stepped forward; Remi as well, to my surprise and anger, approaching Hudson without fear. That was either very stupid or very brave. I was interested to see which.

After she snapped out of this, it was going to be fun to explain. But first, I needed to get her to gain control of herself.

Hudson

The power coursingthrough me was intoxicating. A small part of myself registered Kalen in front of me instead of my rabbit, I mean the Dean. I heard everything he said and responded in kind. I was still here, but the magic also took my will and shaped it to baser needs and responses. I felt like I was in a werewolf book. I did not enjoy the lack of having full control of myself, and seeing Kalen reminded me of that. He was right. He had consistently repeated that magic should not control you, rather the other way around, during our training. I sighed internally, but it was so much fun this way too. Decisions, decisions.

“Nah, you can’t have it,” I sang. I felt a little more me when Kalen rolled his eyes. I loved being a thorn in his side. Then I heard Ryder laugh and the magic took control again. It has been hard enough controlling the urges during the day, but hearing any one of them when I had barely a reign on my powers, snapped me right back into those damn werewolf tendencies.

“Mine,” I whispered. A part of me noticed Kalen calling them forward, but I’m not sure if I wanted that. I wanted them, sure, on a baser level. I craved them on an emotional one as well, but at this point, what I needed was to be grounded, not to give in to the urge to get closer to them. Somehow having a magical orgy didn’t seem like the best course of action. So, I stepped back.

“Baby, we just want to help,” Zane’s dark tone sent a shiver down my spine.

“Yum, I want help too.” I moved my hand down my chest and to my abs. Ryder and Grayson barked a laugh and Hunter shook his head.

“I’d be happy to oblige. You know I like an audience, angel,” whispered Hunter.

Zane groaned. “Not that kind of help, we can go back to that later though. I promise.” I stomped my feet in frustration.I’m a fucking glowing goddess of magic and I’m still being turned down. I’m going to turn him over my knee and spank him.

Remi cursed and looked back. “Kalen, Alvor. I'm sure you understand the dynamics here.”

Kalen chuckled. “Oh I understand, the only way to ground her without her having a magical sentinel-don’t worry, I’ll explain that later to you, gentlemen-is if you all bond with her magically…” Kalen trailed off and Remi rubbed her head and grumbled about a sausage fest and Dean Alvor laughed.

“Babe, we’re going to help you ground your magic, you don’t have to necessarily release it, but this way you won't have the urge to hurt anyone and the magic will stop trying to gain control,” Zane said smoothly.

I grumbled, “mine, mine, mine.” I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, willing myself to come back to the front as much as possible. I grated out, “You fuckers always take all the fun, I. Have… control… what… next… now,” I grounded out.

“We’re each going to touch a part of you, and it will help funnel the magic through us, so it isn’t too much for you at once,” Remi said and nodded at the boys, who all stepped closer. When I stayed still, they all approached me and placed a hand on me, one by one. Remi, Grayson, Ryder, Hunter, and finally Zane. When Zane touched me, completing whatever type of fucked up sexually charged circuit this was, I felt, rather than saw, myself glow brighter. They all took a sharp intake of breath that knocked them to their knees, their arms started to glow red, and the guys grunted, and Remi let out a small cry in pain. I felt the magic become more intense, and I felt like I was burning from the inside out, until I felt the urge to just let it all go. I took a deep breath, tired of the burning, and I heard myself yell out as I let go of all the magic inside of me. The release shot us all backwards in different directions. I braced myself to hit the ground, but, of course, I ended up falling back into the fucking water pit.

I dragged myself out of the damn pool for the second time of the damn night. Well, at least it helped the burning. I stood up and walked forward towards Kalen and Alvor, the other five grumbling and getting to their feet. Well, at least I didn’t hit the ground. Sucks for them.

“Is this national drown the fuck out of Hudson day? This is some bullshit you know,” I pointed at the Dean, who looked away sheepishly. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed you in all my classes today, watching me like some creep on the six o’clock news; you and Blair can have a creep-off. Was this another test? See how fast Hudson can drown?” Kalen laughed outright, shaking his head. I rolled my eyes and smiled at him. I even threw in a hug for good measure, since I knew hugging freaked him out. He stopped laughing and grumbled something about personal space between trainers and students.

“You laugh, you get hugged…” I paused, “Wait, why are you here?”

He rubbed his neck and blew out a breath. “To check up on you, of course. I knew you could never get the training you needed here,” he said lamely.

“Yeah, sure. Because that sounds believable.” I waved my arm and paused.

“What the fuck…” I whispered? I looked up and down my arms and belly, which were now covered in swirling black ink. I looked at Kalen and Alvor, who seemed to notice the marks at the same time.

“What is this?” Zane said suddenly behind me. I turned back to respond when I realized he had similar, no... he had the exact same markings as I did. Hunter, Grayson, Ryder, and Remi stepped closer, transfixed by the marking on their own skin. We all had the same marks, same patterns. I reached over and lifted their shirts, ignoring the thrill of passion that coursed through me at the contact and noticed that, just like mine, the markings were also on their abs.

“What the hell is going on here?” I whispered.

“I think we can answer that…” Dean Alvor said, and Kalen looked at him, eyes wide.

Kalen nodded to their silent conversation and sighed, “Let’s go somewhere more private. We will meet you at your house shortly.” Then he just fucking strode out of the room.

I looked towards Remi, who was chewing on her lip, looking a little lost. Well, join the club.

“Well, let’s go see what the fuck this means now. Today is proving to be too long of a damn day. There better be some chocolate in that house.”

---