Dark Water: A Collective World Novel (Academy's Rise Book 2) Read online

  Dark Water

  Academy’s Rise, Book 2

  Lia Davis & L.A. Boruff

  Dark Water

  © Copyright 2019 Lia Davis & L.A. Boruff

  Published by Davis Raynes Publishing

  PO Box 224

  Middleburg, FL 32050

  DavisRaynesPublishing.com

  Cover by Glowing Moon Designs

  Formatting by Glowing Moon Designs

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  DavisRaynesPublishing.com

  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  18. Ami

  19. Tala

  Epilogue

  The Collective World

  About Lia Davis

  Also by Lia Davis

  About L.A. Boruff

  Also By L.A. Boruff

  Dark Water

  Academy’s Rise, book 1

  A Collective World Novel

  As firstborn, my sister, Meda, will be High Alpha to all the lycans and vampires in the world—The Collective. She’s just found her mates and one of the three is heir to a huge witch Circle, which will one day unite the three major paranormal races.

  I dodged a major bullet there. Thank Lucifer. I’m not a leader. I’m not someone to look up to. I like to do my own thing and go my own way.

  Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure I’m fighting a mating bond myself. As if I needed three guys hanging on to my every freaking word.

  And now, I’m having visions of what’s to come. It isn’t pretty.

  My sisters and I must race against time to figure out what the vision means and how to stop the pending evil from destroying everyone we love.

  Failure isn’t an option.

  Chapter One

  "Tala," Kinsley hissed. "He’s got to be the hottest teacher I’ve ever had." Kinsley fidgeted as we waited on our mixology teacher to show up. "Even if we’ve only had him one day."

  "Why has he been gone, anyway?" I asked as I studied my nails. I'd painted them blue the night before, which was my favorite color to have on them. It was my favorite color to have on anything. Made me think about my water, which always grounded me.

  "No idea. Maybe a death in the family." She looked around the room at the other students, mostly people we'd known all our lives. It was odd to be back in class after what happened with Meda, but life went on, we might as well go along with it.

  "Why were you gone?" I asked bluntly. She'd been there when we started school but had totally disappeared. I hadn't seen her since before Meda went all batshit and got demon-drunk the week before.

  She stiffened. "You know," she said, widening her eyes at me. "The same reason I'm in this class. The only lycan in this class."

  "I'm a lycan." I tossed my dark hair over my shoulder.

  "Partly. You're one of the triplets. You don't count."

  She tossed her hair back.

  I studied her, considering her words. "I'm glad you came back," I said after deciding not to argue that I didn't count. She had extreme social anxiety, and I wouldn’t add to that. School had been difficult for her on the best of days. We were all really surprised when we’d heard she planned on joining us at the Academy.

  I’d shared my recipe for anxiety candy with her and she’d decided to take this class to strengthen her potion-brewing skills so she could make her own. The candy required baking a complex potion.

  Kins leaned forward and lowered her voice. "Me, too. I want to do this and overcome my fears. Professor Fenton and I talked extensively before the term started, and he said that all of us have magic. He thinks he can help me connect with a part of me that will override the anxiety."

  "That would be amazing. You know you can reach out to me, right? I mean, I know you're supposed to be Meda's best friend, but that doesn't mean we're not friends. And I deal with some pretty serious anxiety myself."

  "I know, and thank you. If it weren't for you three, I wouldn't have been able to make myself come back."

  "Hey, Tala." A vamp we'd gone to school with yelled across the room to get my attention. "Your sister okay?"

  "Yeah, Bryce, thanks. She's all right." I was pretty sure she was holed up with her new mates in her dorm room, probably a lot more than all right, but no need to give them all the details in the world. Plus, I really didn't want to think about it.

  "I guess the whole world knows a crazy half-demon attacked us?" I asked Kinsley ruefully.

  "Well, considering she possessed like half the student body, yeah." Kinsley laughed. "Thank goodness I had to go home. It was a little too much at first, so I bailed. If I hadn't, I might've been caught up with that and there's no telling what that would've done to my anxiety."

  I nodded at her and was about to open my mouth to tell her I'd check to see if there was any reason she couldn't take Calista's old room, when the door opened. I turned to see if it was the professor.

  "Sorry," Professor Fenton walked in, arms full of books and a soft-side brown briefcase slung over his shoulder. "I tried to get back in time, but didn't quite make it."

  As the door closed, his scent blew into the room and washed over me. Every nerve in my body tightened, and my hair stood on end. My wolf woke and jumped around inside of me. Even my vampire, who was usually the most laid-back vamp ever, perked her head up and considered how yummy he would be to drink from.

  Mother-fucking hell. He was my mate.

  Bullshit! I thought I'd already found my mate, even if we were both hardcore denying the pull. Randell and I had been fucking like bunnies since we were both in high school. When Meda met her guys, though, something changed. We'd been sneaking off to do the deed every chance we’d had since then. Hell, I wouldn't have been surprised if he was waiting for me in my bedroom right then.

  Now things would be infinitely more complicated. Two mates.

  Super.

  Apparently, polyamory was going to run in my family.

  The professor froze when he saw me. Sighing, I settled in to wait through a long, torturous class while he tried to figure out why he couldn't take his eyes off of me. At the same time, I fought the intense desire that the mating call produced.

  Mom had talked to all of us about it once she found out Meda had fated mates. She’d said she suspected all three of us would have rated mates, but none of us had guessed we'd each have more than one. I'd have to warn Ami.

  I ha
d no idea what Fenton’s lesson was. My mind was stuck on the way he moved and bounced back and forth between worry about how Randell would take the news to wondering why the mating pull hadn't started until now. As soon as Meda found her mates, suddenly Randell and I, who had always only liked each other, couldn't keep our hands off of each other.

  And now Fenton. Fucking super.

  I pictured myself standing up and ordering everyone else out of the room. If I told them to leave, they would. The only person that wouldn't be compelled by my instruction would be Meda or my parents—and even my niswi might feel compelled. As soon as the room cleared, I could press him against his chalkboard and pull his tie, bringing him down to my level.

  The guy beside me dropped his pencil and the clatter of it hitting the ground startled me out of my daydream. Damn, I'd been about to get to the good part, too.

  By the time class was over, even I was noticing how distracted he was, and I was possibly more distracted than him. Ugh, what a mess.

  "Class dismissed," he said, finally. "Tala, could you stay after class?"

  Duh. It took him damn long enough to send everyone away.

  Kinsley gave me a panicked look. "What did you do?" she mouthed at me as she walked away. I sent a shrug back her way. No time to explain now.

  None of our sentries had wanted to take this class, so Elijah always hightailed it from his class to mine to walk with me. When the last student walked out the door, and I didn't appear, Elijah stuck his head in.

  "It's all good, Elijah. You can go on. Fenton will walk me home."

  Elijah looked back and forth between me and the professor skeptically. If I was Meda, he never would've left in a million years. But I wasn't the one targeted by the batshit crazy witch, so the sentries weren't quite so strict about staying right by my and Ami's sides.

  "Okay," he said finally. "I guess." He squinted at Fenton and left the room.

  Fenton still hadn't stood from his chair, tucked in under his desk. "Do you know I had to send the class away because my dick has been hard since I saw you sitting in the middle of my class?"

  "I figured," I said and walked toward the classroom door. As I turned the deadbolt, I pulled the cord to lower the blinds.

  "What kind of spell have you done?" he asked, gripping the sides of his desk so hard his knuckles turned white.

  "It's not a spell." I unbuttoned my shirt. No way my vampire was letting me out of this room without tasting him. My wolf growled at him, too. They were completely in agreement, and as they pushed me to strip naked, my water heated to nearly boiling. If I let it loose, steam would probably rise from my skin.

  Tossing my navy shirt to the side, I kicked off my chucks and unbuttoned my jeans.

  Fenton's eyes, glued to my breasts, straining against my lace bra, widened. "You can't do that."

  If he'd been a lycan, he would've broken the wood of the desk. He was gripping it that hard. As a witch, I was more worried about him breaking his hand than the wood. "It's not a spell," I repeated. "Apparently, you're my mate."

  His jaw dropped. "I've heard of that," he whispered, shocked. "Is it for real?"

  "Well, yeah." I wiggled out of my snug jeans. "Haven't you heard about my parents?"

  "Thought it was a rumor." His voice was strangled and no wonder. His eyes were about to fall out of his damn head as he stared at my panties.

  Luckily, I'd taken to making sure I was always ready to strip naked and have fun. Randell and I had been going at it so much I never wanted to be caught in my granny panties or old bra.

  "Strip," I said, waiting on him to show me his before I showed him mine. I was gonna have my mate, whether I liked it or not. All the parts of me except my sensible brain agreed. We had to have him.

  The apprehension in his face turned to desire as he stood and pulled his sweater over his head. I took a few steps forward, eager to see what was underneath the stuffy clothes he wore.

  His face, chiseled under his nerdy glasses, was gorgeous, and his broad shoulders and trim physique indicated I'd be pleased with what he unwrapped.

  I was. He unbuttoned his own shirt to reveal an undershirt as I inched toward him, and by the time he finished, I was close enough to reach out and touch him.

  So, I did. Grabbing his belt, I unbuckled it and his pants as fast as I could while he slipped my bra straps down and pressed kisses against my shoulder. "How is this possible?" he asked against my skin.

  "The ancestors think we'll be compatible. So, they make us insanely attracted to each other until we give it enough time to fall in love."

  His zipper was freaking stuck. He pulled back and unzipped himself, letting his pants fall to the floor and stepping out of his loafers and slacks.

  "How many freaking shirts do you have to wear?" I grumbled as I tried to slide his shirt off of his shoulders. He lifted the hem of his undershirt and removed it, finally standing in front of me in his boxers. His very tented-out boxers.

  His chest was sculpted perfection. Leaning forward, I couldn't help myself. I licked him up the middle of his chest, both my wolf and vamp begging me to bite him.

  "Are you going to freak out if I claim you now?" I asked as he pulled me close, forcing my face into the nape of his neck where I'd be tempted the most.

  "What does a claiming entail?" He reached around and fiddled with my bra, unclasping it in seconds.

  "You've done that before," I said as I let it fall to the ground, revealing my tight, aching nipples. "And I would bite you. Then we'd be connected."

  "I have done that before, and maybe we wait 'til later for any claiming to happen."

  "Okay." I sighed as his lips landed on my nipple and he sucked it into his mouth. "But they say it feels great." I really wanted to bite him, but in the mood I was in, I didn't know if I could bite him and drink without claiming him. I’d never claimed a mate before, for all I knew it would happen automatically.

  He moaned low in his throat and put his hand on my lower stomach, sliding it underneath the scrap of fabric that served as my panties. His fingers found my nub immediately, and he applied the perfect amount of pressure. My knees buckled as he gave both my nipple and clitoris amazing attention.

  Moaning, I used his shoulders to hold me up. I would've liked to have returned the favor and shown him some pleasure, but his movements had succeeded in rendering me utterly useless.

  Reaching behind me, he grabbed my ass, squeezing almost roughly as his talented fingers drew me close to a quick burst of orgasm.

  I'd been horny since the moment I smelled him when he walked in the door. I was pretty sure I'd made it halfway to my own orgasm daydreaming about him.

  Totally leaning on him as he switched to the other nipple, my orgasm broke and drenched his hand. My panties provided zero protection from the liquid that inevitably came whenever I did. Being a water elemental meant always having mattress protectors on my bed, that was for damn sure.

  I ejaculated as much or more than Randell most of the time.

  Apparently, that was okay, because Randell always seemed to freaking love it and Fenton moaned as I did it now. Pulling away as soon as he felt the moisture, he watched it drip down my thighs.

  "Shit," he said. "You're a squirter."

  "No," I replied as I tugged down his boxers. "Well, yes, but I'm pretty sure it's because I'm a water elemental."

  His mouth dropped. "You are?"

  I nodded as I finally got a look at his dick. It wasn't as big as Randell's, but Fentons curved upward a little more, so he'd hit really good in missionary.

  Unfortunately, we were in a classroom that wasn't really welcoming to the missionary position unless I wanted to bruise my tailbone sitting on top of the desk.

  "That's really rare."

  "I know, dear." I'd learned the spell to protect me from pregnancy when I was probably far younger than my mom would've ever wanted me to be having sex and definitely way, way too young in my niswi's eyes, but hey, at least I hadn't gotten pregnant.

 
I protected myself and moved toward his desk. "Anything on here important?" I asked.

  He shook his head, so I pushed it all to the side. Not quite the sweep-in-floor move from the movies, but enough to make room so I could lean over the desk, wiggling my panties out of the way as I did. When Fenton didn't touch me or move, I looked back at him, standing naked behind me, impressive body and impressive dick totally still.

  "What's wrong?" I asked, but I knew. His eyes were glued to my crotch, ass-up in the air, waiting for him to fuck me senseless. "Get over here and relieve the mating itch that's riding us both hard. This doesn't have to be a big deal."

  "It is a big deal," he whispered.

  For fuck's sake. "Listen, I get it. Sex is important. But I'm a lycan. I can't catch a disease, even if you have one, and I can't give you one. I did the protection spell to prevent pregnancy, and if you don't believe me, surely you know how to do one on me yourself. So, do it and get over here and fuck me."

  He snapped his eyes to mine at the word fuck, the brazenly erotic nature of the sentence catching the desire in him and overriding his apprehension. Striding forward with one hand on the base of his cock, he rubbed it up and down my folds, wetting the head, before sliding inside me with a nearly violent thrust.

  For the love of Hell. Mr. Teacher knew how to fuck. I grinned and braced myself against the desk, hoping it wouldn't slide. There was almost no possible way he could hurt me, him a witch and me a hybrid, but if he went as fast and hard as he could, we'd both probably have a better time.

  He started off slow and hard, which was a nice build. His dick, once inside, didn't feel smaller than Randell, though Randell was stronger.