Academy of Protectors (The Protector Guild Book 1) Read online

  I let his words wash over me and I felt the tension slipping away, morsel by morsel. Put this way, I could almost understand why the ritual was so highly revered in this community. The thought of someone always there, to have my back, was...nice.

  “Then again, a lot of times, the bonds are chosen as a way to create ideal pairings for future generations. It really just depends on how you, your bondmate, and your guardians view the situation.”

  Just like that, the serenity washing over me shattered. I narrowed my eyes at him, which solicited another chuckle.

  “You’re cute when you pout,” he said, his smile melting away as he stood up and cleared his throat. “Come on, we should go. Don’t want you to be late for your first day back. It’s sure to be a rough one.” He held out his hand and I grabbed it, my skin tingling as he pulled me to my feet. As if burned, he dropped my hand as soon as I was stable. “Do me a favor, Max? This place is pretty important to me. You’re welcome out here anytime you need a place to reflect, or whenever you need a few minutes of solitude. But don’t go talking about it. This place will lose its magic if everyone knows it exists.”

  I nodded, waiting for him to lead the way back. He had nothing to worry about. While I’d found this place on my own, the odds of me finding it again, let alone describing the directions to somebody, were almost impossible. And if I didn’t have him to help me retrace my steps, who knows if I would’ve ever found my way back to the path.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Max

  After a morning of classes, my excitement for rejoining the campus activities considerably dwindled. I sat through three hours of lectures that focused on dissecting the battle strategies of a specific werewolf pack from the eighties—using terminology that might as well have been elvish for all I could understand of it.

  And this lesson took place all while fielding suspicious glances and less-than-quiet discussions about the vamp attack outside of Vanish. The teachers were all on high alert and I could practically feel the overpowering sense of doom and fear layered heavily in the air. This was the furthest a vampire had ever crossed into protector territory. Students were banned from leaving the campus without team supervision until further notice, and instructors who lived away from the school were temporarily staying in some of the empty cabins scattered around the grounds.

  Between the gossip surrounding my near death, the anxiety coating the atmosphere, and the situation with Ralph, I was less than enamored with life in The Guild my first day back. Part of me even wanted to escape back into my cave of an apartment, shunning everyone but Ro, Cy, and Izzy. But at least we had training in the afternoon. Kicking ass was one of the best ways to melt away any of the lingering frustration.

  I ducked when Eli’s fist came flying lazily towards me. I dug my nails into my palm and swept his feet so that he went tumbling down hard on the mat. The resounding thud of his back against the spongy material didn’t bring the usual excitement of a win with it. He was my third sparring partner of the day.

  Wade was even more hesitant to fight me than he had been on my first day. And he’d spent most of the afternoon session off scowling in annoyance for being called out once again by his brother. Declan didn’t have much better luck.

  While my frustration with her over our Ralph discussion fueled my fight, it seemed to have the opposite effect on her; her moves were more predictable than they were the first time we fought, and I could see her annoyance with me clouding her judgment. I was partially convinced that she threw the fight so that Atlas would let her go spar with someone else. Part of me knew I needed to apologize for snapping at her, I just wasn’t sure how.

  Eli’s half-assed performance was somewhere in the middle of the two, but I could tell he was holding back, like he didn’t think I was ready to get back to fighting just yet. And that infuriated me.

  “You didn’t even try,” I mumbled, as he stared up at me with a sheepish grin. I grabbed his forearm and hoisted him back up until he was towering over me again.

  After surviving a vamp attack, you’d think I would have proven myself as a worthy protector and adversary, not some fragile little flower.

  “Not sure what you’re talking about,” he shrugged, that annoying almost-smile plastered across his face again.

  I breathed in deeply, knocking him back on the ground almost as soon as he’d regained his footing. I wasn’t feeling weak. In fact, I felt stronger and more awake to the fight than I had before being attacked. It was almost like the vamp’s bite had supercharged me or something. When I’d mentioned it to Ro and Cyrus, they told me I was being ridiculous, had seen way too many superhero movies, and to not go spreading that kind of crap around to everyone. Which was fine with me—I was already getting more attention today than I wanted, I didn’t need to go around bragging that I was becoming the vampire version of Spiderman. Which I guess was just...a vampire?

  Momentary panic clouded my senses. I ran my tongue along my teeth. No sharp points. I hadn’t had any cravings for blood either. I exhaled.

  Of course, I knew that protectors couldn’t be turned into vampires, but the fear was still there—like when you read up about your sore throat on WebMD and walked away suddenly convinced you were dying of some rare cancer.

  “Eli, get up. This is getting ridiculous.” Atlas walked over for the third time today, sizing me up, a look of annoyance driving lines between his dark, always-angry eyebrows. “She’s not going to get any better if everyone gives her special treatment. Go spar with Rowan.”

  Eli blew out a breath of frustration, mumbling to himself about Atlas having a stick up his ass as he walked over to Ro. I watched for a minute as he got into position, and narrowed my eyes when, almost immediately, he was back to fighting like his typical self. Within a few maneuvers, he had Ro pinned and yielding. Shaking my head, I caught sight of Declan. I saw her nostrils flare in frustration briefly, like she knew I was watching her, but she refused to make eye contact. Ignoring me, she walked over to coach Izzy and Reza through their match up. I watched as Izzy landed a killer jab into Reza’s side, unable to stop the grunt of approval from leaving my lips. Izzy was a badass.

  The sound of someone clearing their throat startled me back to my own little fighting ring. Atlas was still standing behind me, the realization of which had me backing up a few paces. He was...a lot to take in.

  I tried to ignore the way his black t-shirt hugged his muscular chest. And I absolutely refused to think about how he would look without it. Because while Atlas was all kinds of pretty in that I-can-kill-you-without-even-trying sort of way, he was an asshole. And there was no way that I was going to let myself have lusty thoughts about a dude who treated me like a pile of dog shit that had ruined his brand new shoes.

  “You done watching the show or can we get back to training?” he asked, his dark eyes cold and assessing.

  “Er, what show?” I asked, my words hurried and awkward. Had he noticed me checking him out? The thought had me ready to melt into the ground with shame.

  “Reza and Izzy,” he said. He lifted a single dark brow and stared at me like I was completely. “You’re here to work, not to spectate.”

  “Right.” My jaw tightened and I looked around. “Who’s my next sparring partner?”

  “I am.”

  My mouth dried a bit. I hadn’t spent any alone time with Atlas and any time I happened to meet his eyes or catch him watching me, he was always rocking a startling level of anger and hatred. It was annoying, having someone treat you like a mortal enemy or, at the very least, a nuisance, with no clear reason why.

  “You?” I asked, my throat croaking slightly. The adrenaline that had been pumping through my body all day bled out of me in one go. I felt lethargic, nervous all of a sudden.

  “Riveting conversation, let’s just start, yeah?” He ran a bored hand through his thick hair as his eyes roamed around the gym. I had the feeling that he was watching every single fight at once—like he could dissect each match in elaborate detail without focusing on any one for longer than a second or two. In some ways, he was more intimidating than even Cyrus.

  I took a few steps back and raised my arms, pushing my center of gravity forward a bit. Not waiting for him to say anything more, I did as he asked and started. Moving quickly, I pretended to throw a punch, but instead ducked and tried sweeping his legs. The move had worked hundreds of times on Ro, but I didn’t have the same luck with Atlas. He hopped over my leg immediately, as if he knew tripping him was my plan all along. I stood up and turned, catching his foot a few centimeters before it would’ve hit my chest. He was a lot heavier than me though, so despite my blocking most of the blow, the contact drew a brief gasp from my lips.

  We continued for what felt like forever, matching each other move for move. Sweat caked my body and I could feel my hair sticking to my neck, as if I’d just gone for a swim. In fact, the promise of a swim filled me with wild envy right about now.

  Any time I paused, thinking we’d get to take a quick water break with everyone else, I was met with another kick or punch. Atlas was relentless in a way that no opponent I’d ever faced had been. He was faster, stronger, and had more awareness of my every movement than anyone—even Cy. And Cy was the one who’d taught me all of my moves in the first place, so if anyone should’ve been able to read me, it was him. Hell, if Atlas wasn’t giving me such a thorough ass kick right now, I would have been impressed.

  Okay, okay, I was still impressed, I just would never admit it out loud. The cocky gleam in his eyes was proof enough that he could live without an ego boost.

  After half an hour of nonstop attacks, my breath was pulling in heavy, embarrassing wheezes. I looked around the room, noticing that we were drawing a crowd. It appeared that everyone else was watching us, no longer focused on their own training. I could understand why. I’d watched Atlas spar before, and he was a sight to behold. Still, the scrutiny, or at least my sudden awareness of it, had my nerves bouncing chaotically. I wasn’t used to having an audience. And if anyone wanted to know my opinion of the experience, I wasn’t really a fan.

  Then, all at once, I found myself no longer staring at the faces in the gym, my eyes studying the rather unremarkable ceiling instead. My body landed heavily on the mats, pulling a reluctant wheeze and groan from me. My sweat-coated skin sloshed unpleasantly against the weird plastic material and I was certain that when I stood up, there would be a disgusting sweat angel of my body.

  Atlas had taken advantage of my momentary distraction, and I was seething with anger—frustrated with myself, with him, with the entire Guild and everything that had happened since we got here. How did I wake up this morning looking forward to a day of classes and training? Right now, I wanted nothing more than to curl up in our cabin with an old blanket and my Netflix account. Just for a moment, I wanted to have a regular family and be a regular human teenager at a normal human college. Slowly but surely, I was beginning to understand why Cyrus had spent so much of his life hidden away from this world. It was...a lot.

  “Get up, Bentley,” Atlas said, lips quirked up slightly in a mocking grin. There was that annoying arched brow again.

  “I don’t think I will, actually.” I breathed in and out, allowing myself a few moments to catch my breath and steady my heart rate. I could hear every beat pounding in my ears.

  “I said get up.” Atlas glanced quickly around the rest of the gym before looking over at the clock on the wall. “Not sure why you’re all standing around, there’s still twenty minutes left.”

  I sat up, watching as everyone scattered, leaving Declan and Eli in our own personal audience. The heat of their stares boiled my last nerves. Their eyes danced from me to Atlas, like they were taking in the start of an entertaining new show.

  “Now, Bentley.” Atlas’s words were clipped, terse.

  I jumped up and felt all of the frustration of the day pool low into my belly until it just—snapped. “I’m sorry. Have I fucking done something to you? Made your life hell in another life? Kicked your puppy?”

  Atlas narrowed his eyes, “what do you mean?”

  “I mean that ever since I’ve gotten here, you’ve looked at me like I’m the spawn of Satan. Not sure what exactly I’ve done to deserve that. But either tell me what it is, or start treating me like you treat everyone else in this gym.”

  “I’m training you, there’s nothing personal.” His eyes narrowed as he took a step closer to me, then another.

  I let out a frustrated chuckle, feeling like a caged animal. “Training me? You’ve trained with Ro and haven’t been an absolute jerk to him. I’ve won most of my spars since I got to The Guild. It’s my first day back after a vamp attack and I haven’t had a break in almost an hour. So I’ll ask again, is there a reason you’re being such a dick?”

  Atlas prowled a few steps closer towards me, the muscles in his jaw clenching in time with each step. There was something wild, unhinged even, in his eyes as he studied me unblinking.

  “Easy Atlas,” Eli muttered from the sidelines. “She’s had a rough first week here. Let’s just take a breather for a few minutes and then go again.”

  “Did the vamp go easy on you at Vanish?” Atlas asked, a hint of mocking anger lacing his words. “Did he stop when you were getting tired? Did he go easy on you when you were having trouble keeping up? I don’t want to waste anyone’s time training you if you’re just going to function as supernatural bait and die.” His voice was so soft, so quiet, I had to strain to hear each word. “If that’s your goal, just let me know and you’re free to go whenever and wherever the hell you want. I won’t waste the resources or my time.”

  “Atlas,” Declan said, moving a few inches closer to us. She stood in front of me, placing herself in Atlas’s line of sight. She was tall enough that she eclipsed my view. “Don’t. She’s right. You’re being a dick, even for you.”

  I felt a momentary flutter that even Declan was sticking up for me right now. And it was weirdly validating that I wasn’t the only one who noticed how much of an asshat Atlas was being.

  My heart beat heavily against my chest. I remembered the strength the vamp had, the way he had pinned me; remembered the fact that I would have been dead within two minutes if it weren’t for Ralph finding me and taking over the fight.

  And then, in a rush, I remembered the werewolf, and how Ralph had helped then too. I’d faced two supernatural creatures in the last week and survived both encounters through sheer luck. Because I had a fuzzy fairy godmother. And now Ralph was locked in a glorified dungeon, surrounded by who knows how many evil dudes. If I was going to help him escape, and if I was going to protect myself outside of these grounds, I needed to suck it up.

  I squared my shoulders and stretched my neck from side to side, resolve sinking in low and heavy. Atlas—and the whole Guild in general, really—was wearing my patience thin today, but I needed to get over it. This was life and death, I wasn’t in a protected cabin anymore. I wasn’t here to be pampered. I had wanted to fight, to be a protector, for as long as I’d known what that was—no matter how much Cyrus tried to shield us from the realities of that life. And so far, that life wasn’t like it was in the movies, all good parts and fun and badassery. It was work and frustration and toil and good parts mixed with the bad.

  I didn’t get to speed through my training montage, as much as I wanted to.

  Besides, this whole Harry-Potter-Book-Five-emo-kid thing was not a good color on me. I was here to learn, and if Atlas wanted to serve that lesson with a side of douche, I’d take it.

  “You’re right,” I said, stepping around Declan to confront them both. The shock on their faces had me physically restraining from the urge to roll my eyes. “I want to learn how to defend myself against a vampire.” I took a deep breath in and out, steadying my pulse and letting go of my pride. “But I also want to learn how to kill one.”

  Atlas nodded. “I can do that.”

  “And,” I said, clearing my throat, and meeting his gaze, “I want to learn how to kill a werewolf.” I wasn’t sure how much Cyrus had told The Guild about our time in the cabin, but I was starting to think that the increased presence of other realm creatures was a lot worse than anyone realized and that I was an unlucky creature magnet of some sort. Two run-ins in the span of one week wasn’t anything to balk at.

  Atlas’s eyes hardened before breaking eye contact with mine. I turned to Declan and Eli, both of whom were studying Atlas. It was like the three of them were having a silent conversation, one that was layered with surprise and discomfort.

  “Fine,” Atlas said, resolve icing over his tone, “we can teach you that too.”

  Without another word or glance in my direction, Declan left to spar with Ro and Wade. Eli and Atlas spent the rest of the time teaching me how to utilize supernatural weaknesses as strengths. There weren’t many, but it was pretty clear that vampires and werewolves were hyper focused on the scent of their prey. Thinking of myself as a poor defenseless bunny didn’t exactly inspire confidence and power, but it did help me understand that most supernatural monsters would be underestimating me. I wasn’t as strong as they were, but I was definitely stronger than the average human.

  I flung the wooden staff at Atlas, grinning like a Cheshire when the wood met the skin of his neck with a dull ‘thunk.’