Reckless Magic

“What business?” Kiran growledquietly without even turning to look at him.

“I am not at liberty to say infront of…. her,” Talbott referenced me with a disdain that let me know exactlyhow he felt.

“Fine,” Kiran stood still for a fewseconds longer, but did not let go of my arm. He left his back turned onTalbott and Principal Saint, apparently trying to decide what to do next. I wastoo afraid of him to speak. I could feel the heat of his anger swirling aroundus. The electricity pulsed between my skin and his fingers wildly. “I will walkher to the door,” before anyone else could object, he began walking again,pulling me along beside him.

“I’m sorry,” I stammered out; notexactly sure why I was apologizing.

“Don’t be. You did nothing wrong,”he mumbled through gritted teeth.

He did not let go of my arm theentire walk upstairs. I hurried along beside him as quickly as I could in theshoes that I was wearing. Kiran rushed up the long flight of stone stairs andthrough the long, brightly lit hallway. He did not stop moving until we reachedthe door to the outside.

If I was surprised by his behaviordownstairs, I was even more surprised by his behavior on the way back to thefront door. But nothing could have prepared me for what he did next.

Once we reached the door, I grabbedfor the handle, hoping to escape to the safety of the car Avalon had stolen. Iwas perplexed by Kiran’s behavior, but more than anything I was humiliated bymy exile from his private club. I wanted to put this night behind me and crawlinto a ball, forgetting about this entire experience. Kiran however had adifferent idea of how to end the night.

Although I reached for the door,Kiran stopped me by grabbing me firmly around my waist. His hands were hotagainst my skin, even through the material of my dress. He pushed me roughlyagainst the wall and pressed his body against mine. One hand stayed on my hip,but the other he raised above my head to plant firmly against the wall. Themagic flared in my blood, making it boil beneath my skin.

Kiran stared into my eyes forseveral seconds looking for something I was not sure I possessed. The intensityof his expression left me breathless and the closeness of his magic made medizzy. The electricity ran between us wildly, igniting a lightning storm in myveins.

Suddenly, his lips were againstmine, and his hand was tangled in my hair. He kissed me hungrily, pressing meagainst his body and wrapping me up in his magic. I kissed him back as if Icouldn’t breathe without him. Every place our bodies touched felt like athousand degrees; he kissed me passionately, leaving my mouth for only a secondto kiss my neck and jawline, but then he was back to my lips with even more passion.I heard him sigh sweetly as though he had waited for this kiss for a very longtime. Our magic co

Kiran’s sigh turned to misery asthe door at the end of the hallway slammed shut. Another magical entity waspresent and our perfect kiss was forced to a close. Kiran was across thehallway in milliseconds. He gave me one more intense look of longing and thenturned around to walk in the other direction. I was left staring after him withswollen lips and messy hair.

Principal Saint waited at the endof the hallway for Kiran to approach and respectfully opened the door for himto pass through. The door closed behind him with a loud finality, leaving me tofeel cold and alone. Kiran’s magic was no more a part of mine; I felt drainedand empty. Although my own magic was still pulsing through my blood at a rapidrate, without Kiran’s to set it on fire, it left me something to want.

Principal Saint stayed on my sideof the door as if protecting the entry way from the likes of me. The thought offorcing my way passed him crossed my mind, but the other side of the dooroffered no hope to reinstate the kiss anyways. I tore through the door to thestreet instead, ru

I found sanctuary in thepassenger’s seat of the sedan. I plopped down on the seat, very unlady-like andcompletely out of breath. I barely paid attention to Avalon, but out of thecorner of my eye I could tell he was equally as emotional as I was.

I touched my fingers to my stillswollen lips, expecting Avalon to drive away. Instead of making a getawayhowever, he rolled down his window and I saw the figure of Principal Saintresting his hands on the open window frame.

“How dare you bring her here,”although Principal Saint didn’t use my name directly, it was crystal clear whohe was referring to. His fingers gripped tightly to the window sill. Clearly hewas angry, but I was confused why my presence here would conjure such rage.

“Nothing happened,” Avalon defendedhimself loudly, and accentuated his point by slamming his hands on the steeringwheel. His fingers wrapped themselves around the leather and gripped thesteering wheel equally as tight as Principal Saint’s. “We’re all fine.”

“Something did happen.” PrincipalSaint spat back. I realized I preferred a much more docile school teacher, thanthis angry and scary version of Principal Saint. Everyone was clearly lividwith me, but I could not figure out why. Maybe I wasn’t allowed in the club,but were these reactions really necessary? “The entire room noticed who she isbecause of the Prince’s damn affections for her. Now not only do you riskdiscovery but the entire Kingdom will soon be aware of her effect on the Prince.Damn it Avalon, what were you thinking?”

“I am stronger with her near me. Ican’t just run reco

“Never mind that now. Get her outof here,” Principal Saint touched the steering wheel underneath Avalon’s firmgrip and the car instantly turned on. “Take her straight home; we will talkabout this later,” the two of them had yet to address me personally. If only Icould stay mad, but the burn of Kiran’s sweet kiss still lingered on my mouth.

Avalon stomped his foot down on theaccelerator and my head slammed back against the headrest. He peeled out of theparking space without slowing down. It was my turn to dig my fingers intosomething and I found the edge of my leather seat and held on tight.

“Damn it. Damn it. Damn it,” Avalonrepeated over and over; and then another long stream of expletives poured outof his mouth. I was not sure how to react, but felt strangely responsible forthe demise of whatever he had pla

My temper flared up immediately.“If I remember correctly, you were the one who dragged me along to that place,and you were the one who left me completely alone! Kiran approached me. I didexactly as you said and did not move from the bar. He came over to me. I didn’t even know he was there!” Iyelled back, suddenly over emotional and definitely sick and tired of beingblamed for Kiran’s actions.

“You ca

“There is nothing between us,” Ireplied just as softly; but my lips burned from the memory of our kiss. Ilooked out the window and watched the scenery fly by as Avalon drove a hundredmiles an hour.

“Do not lie to me,” he saidsternly. “Eden, don’t lie to yourself. He is dangerous and…. evil. You haveno idea what you are getting yourself into. You ca