Chapter 5: Iris Miller

Five

Iris Miller

Someone grabbed my hand tightly, turning me around so fast it nearly gave me whiplash. “Do you have any idea how stupid you are?” he demanded, snarling. I looked him up and down, and realized it was Malaki Crescent.

“Let me go!” I demanded. “Clearly I’m not stupid, because I turned down the raging asshole.”

“You’re a human!” he snarled, pulling me close to him. I was so close, in fact, I was up against his chest. I could feel the heat of his breath up against my face. My heart pounded against my chest, a paranoid humming bird trying to escape its captor.

“Thank you for the status update!” I snapped. “Can you please let me go now? I’m just going to the dorm. I think I’ll survive.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re on a magical campus filled with creatures that go bump in the night. You’re one of a handful of humans, you’re a young, naïve freshman, unmated, and a virgin.”

I glared, somehow horrified that he knew. “How????”

He smirked. “Virgins have a certain smell that’s very appealing to immortals. Well, every human has a certain smell. Some good, some bad. Based on the kind of energy they put out in their life. But virgins, they smell fresh, innocent. Untouched.” He started stroking my wrist slightly, making me shiver.

“Let me go, please.”

He sighed. “Alright, since you said please.” He dropped my wrist. And, strangely, without his hand holding mine, it felt as if I were missing a limb. Even though I had everything perfectly in-tact. “But you’ve got to let me walk you home.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why? I thought there was a rule against immortals attacking human students.”

“Immortals are Immortals. We’re faster than you, because of the magic that runs through us. Stronger too. And we live forever. You humans are mere blips in the universe, unless of course, the stars decide to grant you the privilege of being our mate.”

I rolled my eyes. “How do you figure that being an immortals’ mate is a privilege?”

“Well,” he said, running a hand through his hair, “once you’re our mate, and we’re together, intimately, you become immortal also. You get access to our powers.”

“Good thing I don’t want to be immortal then. And I’ve never had one of those little symbols appear on me either. I think I would freak out if I did. All of you immortals are overbearing, and constantly on the brink of the apocalypse. Everyone’s like ‘oh, it’s so romantic, the stars chose you for each other’. I think that’s crap.”

“You think soulmates are crap?” he said.

I nodded.

He laughed. “You’re going to be mated within the first month, and you’re probably part of some magical prophecy too.”

“Not a chance. I’m going to meet someone nice, have a beach wedding, and open an inn somewhere that apple picking exists. I’m going to have a nice, simple life without any immortals screwing shit up for me.”

Malaki rolled his eyes. “God, even listening to that makes me want to die and feel sorry for you. You really want your life to be that boring?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “There’s nothing wrong with a simple life.”

He reached out and played with one of my brown curls. “You’re too pretty to have a simple life. It would be a shame.”

My heart was racing again. “It’s getting later out. I need to get back to the dorm, so I’m not wrecked for the first day. Didn’t you say something about walking me home because you were afraid of the monsters that might attack me?”

“Suppose I did.” He ran a hand through his hair again. We started walking together, falling in step by step. “What are you majoring in?”

It was such a normal question, I almost laughed. Instead, I answered, “Human and Immortal Relations, with a specialty in magical law.”

“I didn’t think humans could study magical law.”

“Why not?” I asked. “We’re so often the ones that are victims of it. Of course, we should know how it works.”

“What do you want to do with that?” he said.

“Make the world a better place,” I answered, “so often we’re just afterthoughts in this world of magic and stars that you rule in. Girls become mates to further prophecies that don’t want to, people get cursed or disappear into magical realms, and no one does anything because we’re not important enough in the grand scheme of things. I want to make sure everyone feels important, not just immortals.”

“You really think that’s possible?” he asked.

I nodded. “I do.”

I expected him to laugh at me. He only stared at me for a minute.

He smirked at me. “It’s such a shame.”

“What’s a shame?” I said.

“That you don’t want to be immortal,” he told me, “I think you’re the kind of girl that could change the world with that kind of power.”

It was, quite possibly, the most romantic thing I had ever had anyone say to me. “Anyway, doesn’t matter. I’ve got a boyfriend that I’m really in love with. He’s part of why I’m here, actually. It sounds pretentious but his family put in a good word. I didn’t ask him too, his mom and dad just really like me and I think they wanted me to be close to James when he went to college. Here, actually.”

We had reached the dormitory at that point.

“Boyfriend?” Malaki asked, his brows furrowed. “Who’s your boyfriend?”

I hesitated, for some reason, my heart racing against my chest again. “James Kentwood. The Governors son.”

I could see Malaki’s wolf pacing with rage for reasons I couldn’t understand.

“You know, I don’t think being with James Kentwood is going to give you that small life you want,” he said tersely, “good luck with that. Good night, Iris Miller.”

He turned, and for some reason I felt like I’d insulted him somehow. “Malaki!” I called out.

He froze, his body stiff, and then he turned slowly around, his jaw clenched. “Yeah?”

“Um, thanks,” I said, “for walking me home.”

His lips twitched into a smile. “Of course. Can’t let the monsters get you now, can I?” And then I watched him, until he disappeared around the corner. Then I went inside, got to my room, and went to bed. Hoping that morning would erase the long night off of me.