The next moment ignited a surge of magic that hit me from my back, exploding inside me for a moment before it rushed into Lisette's body.
I felt her nervousness, but all I could do was deepen the kiss to distract her. It took her a few extra seconds to recuperate and return my kiss with her own, and even with the swirling chaos happening within and around us, all I could feel was the blessing of being loved by this woman.
The idea of dating a woman never seemed to bother me. It didn't project itself as something bad but then again, I was a person who believed that we were judged based on our hearts and that what we did within this universe were lessons we had to learn and grow from.
Loving Lisette didn't feel like I was exerting myself. It simply felt right, like she was another partner who deserved to be loved and cherished, the same as the rest of my men.
Lisette deserved to be loved and live a life where she could flourish into the beautiful flower she kept hidden within.
I'd be the one to help her be who she truly wants to be. We'll get through this journey, together.
When the light dimmed completely, I could hear the huffs and puffs of the guys further behind me, but I could barely open my eyes as I noticed a blurry vision of Lisette. I forced my vision to focus, picking up on her wide eyes as they looked back into mine. Her eyes were growing more glassy by the second.
"No more...pain? I'm...I'm...myself again?"
That made me smile as I managed to give a slight nod. With every bit of strength remaining within me, I leaned closer to kiss her very gently on the lips.
"Happy New Year, Lisette," I whispered, allowing my eyes to close as I leaned into her arms. She caught me as I finally allowed my body to relax, feeling the urge to sleep for at least a week.
I listened to Lisette's quiet sobs as she hugged me tightly and kept whispering the same thing. "Thank you. Thank you so much," she cried.
My lips curled just slightly as my consciousness began to fade. Our unexpected mission to save Lisette was complete and we'd come out victorious.
I secretly hoped we'd be strong enough to wake up for tomorrow's classes, but if not, no big deal.
A Hive Queen entering the new year with four Hives. This really is the New Us.
Semester Four Of Chilling
"Alaric. If you think we're going to skip because of this 'all ten of your magic levels are low and it's a great risk' bullshit, I'll be the first, second, and last to tell you that it's a big, fat no!"
"No! Kill, hehehehe!"
We both looked over to kid Shadow Jade, who was spinning around in her chair. She was hanging upside down, her legs up in the air while she continued to go around and around.
"School! Kill! WEEEE! "
I looked back at Alaric and gave him an accusing look.
"You gave her candy, didn't you?"
He cringed slightly and looked back at the stack of papers to avoid my heavy gaze.
"She was staring at me for hours. How am I supposed to ignore her when she does that?"
I sighed and shook my head before I pulled out the chair opposite his desk.
Or my previous desk.
Eyeballing the middle of the stack of papers, I lifted the top half and put it on my side of the desk. As I reached for the pen he was using, he watched me carefully before commenting, "That's my favorite pen."
"Funny," I began. "It's mine, too."
With a wink, I sat down and went right into signing the papers.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm the president of Tracker Hive Academy's new student council, correct?" I acknowledged my new status. "I still have the privilege to sign documents on your behalf. Therefore, I'm helping you so that you're not here till two in the morning, and before you try and ask if I'm reading what's being asked, I am."
"Approve uniform skirts! KILL!" Shadow Jade added.
She knew the document I was currently signing was regarding the update in our uniforms.
It was one of the biggest requests, and we were ready to implement it though it was more of a variation of style versus changing the color scheme of Tracker Hive. With the addition of red and navy-blue blazers, socks, and ties, the upgrade was meant to give Tracker Hive a better name with the release happening at the start of Semester Five.
Alaric already mentioned wanting to do one of many upgrades to the policies that would aid in protecting students from outside forces as well as protect them legally if targeted solely based on being a student from Tracker Hive.
I hadn't realized the amount of reported abuse that occurred outside Tracker Hive walls, and to me personally, it was unacceptable. It had been difficult for Alaric to implement the change previously because he was doing everything else to make sure the building wasn't burnt to the ground by its own students.
Now with the help of myself, and my four Hives, he a lot more hands-on.
Four Hives. I can't believe it.
New Year's and all day today were spent recovering from the madness we'd experienced in Bora Bora. Charles’s blueprint of his plan had gone exactly as he'd described it, and thanks to me being the filter for each elemental magic, Lisette was able to return to her female self.
Bianca had done a full examination and completed a special analysis to make sure there were no underlying health issues that may announce themselves later.
From all the data, Lisette Cross was a healthy female.
We hadn't even celebrated yet, which would happen later tonight, but our combined actions resulted in all ten of us being practically useless.
We'd drained so much of our elemental powers that Alaric, Bianca, and Tanner agreed that it wouldn't be safe for us to take part in the main curriculum for this semester - which was what we were currently negotiating.
I understood his concerns and didn't really blame him for wanting us to sit this semester out, especially when we technically didn't need to graduate from here any longer with me becoming an official Tracker, but I wasn't the type to abandon stuff that I'd already started.
We'd already spent a year and a half attending this school. What was two and a half more?
Even with the idea of me being a Tracker, we all weren't sure if Tracker Hive was free from Charles's usual target practice or merely on pause. I'm sure he was waiting for the next opportunity to arise, even with him being down for the count.
We weren't far off with our elemental magic being so weak.
At the end of the day, we were safe which was what mattered, but I wasn't going to let Alaric force us into taking this semester off because we could barely use magic.
Shadow Jade may be a four-year-old, but aren't kids little devils at that age? All the mischief she could cause with her little dark elemental hands. The horror.
Alaric ended up sighing, giving up on any attempt to argue with me when it came to signing papers. Let's face it. Two people signing multiple pages was better than one.
"Aren't you tired?" he asked after I got through one-third of the documents.
"Not really," I admitted. "Could be the special candy," I teased which made him pout a little.
"It was only two sour bursts."
"One sour burst makes Shadow Jade crawl walls like that classic spider dude. Two leaves her like that." I pointed at Shadow Jade, who was still spinning happily, but this time a good chunk of the furniture in her corner was floating - each item wrapped with dark magic that eliminated gravity.