Filed To Story: The Perfect Luna by Marissa Gilbert
“I am afraid you will have to. It pains me to hear you call me Teacher when I know you don’t mean it.”
“I will try to mean it… better,” she replied awkwardly, knowing that it sounded silly and he wasn’t buying it.
“Astrea, just when did our relationship get this way?” he laced his fingers through her hair, playing with her long locks and clearly enjoying it.
“Somewhere between you ordering the other Firstborn to hunt and kill me and throwing me to the silver pit for months,” she admitted, finally managing to sit back up, “accidentally” obstructing him from entertaining himself with her hair.
“If I issued the order to kill you, you would be dead. You know this,” Joran retorted and sighed. “As for the silver pit… what choice did I have exactly? You had to die for your crime, and I… I wanted to protect you instead.”
She did not respond to that. It didn’t feel like protection to her, but she knew better than to say that out loud. She wanted out, and to do it… she had to play the game.
However, he wouldn’t believe her if she wasn’t smart about it. She had to be in her character still.
“Did it have to be so long?” she asked, turning away, and he caught her cheek into his palm, making her look at him again.
“It had to. I had the other Dragonflies petitioning me daily to kill you as I was supposed to. After all, you did kill Amber.” Joran looked her straight in the eye, and she knew that at least that part was true. Amber was the other spy sent together with her to the Northern Kingdom, another Dragonfly who hated her with passion, and the moment she realised Astrea’s plan to escape, her life was over. Leaving her alive wasn’t an option.
“I didn’t murder her in cold blood.” Astrea swallowed uncomfortably. “We fought, and it was an honest fight.”
“You know she had no chance against you, though,” he sneered at her.
“I knew, but she didn’t think so,” the assassin met her mentor’s gaze. “If there was a choice, I would never–”
“See, now you know how I feel about not being able to protect you better,” Joran caressed her cheek again, and she sighed.
“Thanks.” Her voice was barely a whisper, but he heard her, and his lips curled into a smirk.
“That’s much better.” Joran stood up from the bed and offered her his hand. “Now, come and see my new gift to you.”
She followed him, now trying to keep the dress on with just one hand as he led her to the closest mirror wall. Joran loved mirrors.
Her hair was covering her neck, and once again, her Teacher gently brushed his fingers through it, pulling it back.
“Like liquid stars,” he murmured, but she did not listen. Her gaze was glued to what was on her neck now.
Frozen in shock, Astrea couldn’t form a single word as she watched at an intricate curling snake tattoo around her neck. It looked like a fashionable necklace pattern inked on her skin, where the head was barely touching the tail, however, that thing seemed to be alive. The stunned girl tried to touch it, and it wriggled away as if it didn’t wish to be disturbed.
“Do you like it?” Joran wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her to his chest from the back while his hand caressed the serpent on her skin. And this was the touch the snake did not mind. In fact, it loved it so much that Astrea almost moaned as the two connected, throwing her head back.
“What the–” she tried to catch her breath.
“Don’t worry,” he chuckled softly. “It’s still sore and needs to get used to you, but soon you will be inseparable.”
And that was exactly the problem.
“You said you would let me go,” she reminded him, and he paused.
“I did, didn’t I?” His lips curved slightly. He knew exactly what she was thinking. “Astrea, this is for your protection. While it’s on you, I will be calm that you are safe. If you are in trouble, I will come for you. I wish I had created such a connection between us earlier. Maybe then you would have known that I wouldn’t have hurt you if you simply came to me and told me the truth. I feel like– we have misunderstood each other lately.”
“Will you know everything I do?” she found herself asking, voice almost broken. This was simply another type of collar, and she had just gotten rid of the one she’d worn for months.
“Would that be a problem?” he caught her gaze in the mirror and sneered at her, still playing with the little snake. “I thought you decided to be a good girl from now on.”
“Good girls love some privacy too,” she almost snapped at him, but at the last moment, offered a taunting smile to cover up her frustration.
“It’s for protection only,” Joran assured. “It will keep you safe and on the right path. I will be able to connect with you wherever you are and feel if you are in danger.”
She wasn’t sure she wanted to know more now.
“All that being said,” he leaned lower, and it looked like the little snake sought him because it followed his every move, “even Serpents need to sleep. You will have enough privacy, but I am never losing you again. Not like the last time.”
She felt his lips pressing against the wriggling tattoo and this touch made all the pain go away, the ink shining brightly until the little snake settled into its original position and froze. Astrea really preferred it that way.
“But my freedom–”
“It will be yours,” Joran sighed and distanced himself away immediately as if he wanted to avoid that conversation. “All you need to do is complete your mission and return to me to claim it. Then, as I have promised, if you still want freedom, I will give it to you.”
She felt like there was a catch, but it wasn’t the time to annoy him any more. She was already dangerously close to his limit.
“Would you like some breakfast?” Joran asked as if they were an old married couple. Although in the past, they’d often have their meals together. She was his favourite Dragonfly, after all.
Now it felt awkward and out of place.
“I am a bit nauseous after the dinner we had.” She quirked her brow up at him, pointing at her neck. “It will be a while until I can eat. So, I’d prefer to prepare for my mission instead.”
He did not look pleased with her response but contemplated it nonetheless.
“I wanted you to rest for tonight,” his eyes travelled back to the enormous black bed, and Astrea shuddered. He had never invited her to his bed or offered her anything more than guidance before, and she wished for that same treatment again. Purely a Teacher and his Dragonfly warrior.
“You just cured me,” she pointed at the tattoo with a forced grin. “No need to waste time. And I haven’t been training for a while. I feel a little rusty.”
“No training today,” he prohibited her at once. “You may study the research I prepared for you, you may meet with Alisha in your old room and prepare your wardrobe and any gadgets you may need. But that’s it until I say so. You do not leave this house, you do not meet any Firstborns who are not invited here, you eat, you sleep, you take care of yourself. And you dine with me every evening. This is an order. Are we clear?”
It was hard to hide her disappointment, but she nodded. “Of course, Teacher.”
“Joran,” he reminded her how he preferred to be called now and she swallowed the lump in her throat.
“Jor– an.” The words tasted bitter on her tongue.
“One more time,” the Serpent, however, was enjoying this.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?