Activities Gym ended and Scarlett quickly ran to the showers. She needed to be done before Jayden. Scarlett made a beeline for the entrance and leaned against the wall until a purple-haired Dreammare walked through.
“Jayden!”
“No.” Jayden walked ahead and turned down a hallway.
Scarlett wasn’t going to give up easily. “Please, it doesn’t have to be training, I need to see him.”
“I’m ordered, Scarlett.” She walked until they were alone in the hall.
“Orders from my father? Or orders from Cain?”
“You already know who.”
Scarlett shook her head. “Did Cain say anything?”
“So what if he didn’t?” Jayden threw her arms up and let them fall to her sides. “It doesn’t matter because your father said you are no longer allowed to go to the Refuge. Do you know what kind of trouble I could get in?”
“Who is your leader? Cain or my father?” Scarlett was reaching the end of her rope and Jayden didn’t respond.
“Exactly, Cain is. If he didn’t say anything, then I still have a window to go to the Refuge. I will deal with my father later.” She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Please, I need answers and Cain’s the only one to give them to me. I want to know what’s going on. I know I’m not like the other Dreammares. I know I’m different and have something to do with the ongoing activity. I need and have a right to know.”
Jayden ground her jaw and ran her hand down her face. “I’m going to get in so much trouble for this.”
Scarlett sagged in relief as a smile spread across her face. “You won’t regret it.”
The girls exited the hall and rounded the corner to the entrance of the school. Jayden abruptly stopped in her path and stumbled backward.
“What the –.”
Scarlett steadied Jayden by gripping her arm and looked to see who bumped into her.
“Ren?”
The redhead stood with a gaping mouth. “I’m... I’m so sorry!”
Jayden inwardly cringed at the sugary voice and glanced Ren up and down.
“What are you doing here?” Scarlett asked as she let go of Jayden’s arm. Ren wasn’t normally seen at the Dreamer’s School.
Ren’s green eyes slightly widened and her face lit up. “Oh! Um, I needed to collect some files from the front desk.”
“Oh okay,” Scarlett trailed off as Jayden grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Well, we’ve got to get going. See you around, Ren.”
Ren waved as she glanced at their intertwined hands and her plastered smile flickered. Scarlett caught the glitch and gave a small smile while Jayden didn’t bother with one. Ren turned and continued into the office while Jayden hurriedly pulled them outside. She kept Scarlett facing forward when she tried to look back.
Scarlett knew Jayden noticed something. “What was that about?”
She stayed silent and looked straight ahead.
“Jayden?” Scarlett called and snapped Jayden out of her thoughts. “What’d you see?”
“She gave me a weird feeling. Something wasn’t right...” Jayden shook her head before fully facing Scarlett. “Did you feel it?”
Scarlett raised her brows. “No, I didn’t”
Jayden rolled her lips and looked around before shaking the thoughts off. “Let’s just get going.”
The Refuge came into sight and Scarlett rushed Jayden to walk faster. They immediately spotted Cain. He was alone in the field with his back to them.
He whipped his power around and his armor, despite the added on bulk, molded to his body and flexed to his every movement. Scarlett watched in awe; as frustrating as he could be, she admired him.
Cain’s power flung across the air before it vanished from sight. The show’s over; he knew they were there.
He turned around and found Scarlett’s gaze. A bubbly heat scorched through her veins.
“Jayden, go with the others.”
Jayden bowed her head at his order and hesitantly glanced at Scarlett before leaving.
Scarlett kept her arms loosely to her sides and lifted her chin as she stared Cain head-on. She held a tight rein over her expression and didn’t let a single twitch slip.
“You’ve been trained well.” Cain raised a brow as he strode towards her. With each step he took, Scarlett struggled to keep her breathing in check.
“Only by the best.” She threw back as she softly eyed him.
There was no denying there was something there. She knew without a doubt that he knew it too.
“Your father made it pretty clear you were not to return here.”
“My father has a way to make decisions that aren’t fully thought out.” Scarlett tilted her head. “Hence, the one where I’m to be kept in the dark about what I am and what is going on in the Realms.”
“Despite the logic, he has his reasons.”
“Reasons I don’t agree with, leading to me being here with you.”
Scarlett took a deep breath and looked at the ground. “I can’t be kept in the dark forever, Cain. I have a right to know.”
“That may be so, but it is ultimately your father’s decision,” Cain observed Scarlett and knew her hold on her emotions was thinning. As advanced as she was, the emotional battle that waged within a Dreammare was the most grueling aspect.
“Why can’t you tell me?”
“It is not my place too, he will come around soon enough. The truth always comes out.”
Scarlett rolled her lips and clenched her fist. The move didn’t go unnoticed.
Grey flowed from Cain’s palms and circled him as they rose to his back, forming grotesque wings. Scarlett’s eyes lit and were amazed as the first time she’d seen them.
“What are you doing?” She whispered as her chest rumbled with excitement and her fingers itched.
“Let it go.”
Scarlett didn’t hesitate and her black power flew from her hands like lightning. Warmth filled her palms and spread to her arms and chest. Her power moved like a storm before it settled into wings of her own. They matched Cain’s but Scarlett struggled to keep them high enough.
Without warning, Cain’s wings flapped inwards and shot out bolts of grey at Scarlett. She lifted her hands and managed to block his hits with ease. A smirk slipped across Cain’s lip and he threw more bolts. Scarlett smirked her own and swiped her hands across her body, creating a wall of blackness that his grey bolts disappeared into.
“Is that the best you’ve got?” She playfully threw.
“You haven’t seen anything yet.”
A tingle of warmth seated itself on Scarlett’s lower stomach as she let out a small laugh.
Cain shot webs at Scarlett and she ducked as they moved past. She threw a blast of her own which Cain simply stepped away from. They created their dance, Scarlett would throw and he’d return it; a light sparring.
Scarlett’s black hair framed her face as loud laughs filled the air. Their blasts shortened with each hit as they neared.
A pull yanked at Scarlett’s chest as she found herself getting closer and closer to Cain. It nerved her…in a pleasant way.
With lit-up hands, Cain and Scarlett ended up a few inches from each other. Her breath caught as her desire flickered to life. The surroundings dulled to the background and Scarlett locked her eyes on Cain. She moved her gaze from his armored chest to where it revealed his strong neck and sharp jaw. Her eyes traveled past his parted lips and nose to his piercing smoky grey eyes.