Deviant Descendants (Descendants Academy #2) - Belle Malory Page 0,32

away from this one. When we were like this, the bubble was real. Real enough to make me forget. And real enough to make me want to stay inside of it forever.

“Do you feel that?” Xander whispered, his breath hot on my lips.

I nodded, my forehead brushing his, glad to know I wasn’t the only one.

I’ve been kissed before, by Connor many times, and once by Joey Douglas at a Halloween party in seventh grade, so I grasped the basics of how kisses were supposed to go down. This was like nothing I’d ever experienced. It felt like when Xander and I touched, we created our own fusion of magic. “Whatever it is, I like it,” I whispered back.

He grinned. “Me too.”

13

I woke in my dorm room, tucked beneath the covers on my bed, warm and cozy. As I stretched, the previous night’s memories came back, and I smiled lazily against my pillow. Last night had been perfect. Better than perfect.

The last thing I remembered was falling asleep on Xander’s chest, and later, vaguely noticing he was carrying me back to campus. It was kind of a long walk to carry a sleeping person, but he managed it like I was a sack of feathers.

I dreamily got ready for the day, then walked out of House Aphrodite, still stuck in my own world. It caught me off guard when Zack jogged up the steps to meet me. “Hey, Sheridan,” he said, breathless as usual.

“Hey, Zack. What’s up?”

“I have a message for you.” His tone was urgent. “Your dad and your grandfather have arrived on Spring Island. They want you to meet them for dinner.”

I stopped walking, pressing my hand over my heart. They had made it. “Tell them yes—definitely yes!”

He grinned. “Figured you would be happy about that.”

Happy was putting it mildly compared to rush of endorphins and serotonin flooding into me. This was amazing news. The only annoying part was having to wait until dinnertime.

Classes dragged on, each second slower than the last. In Basic Magic Principles, Jett sat next to me again. This time, I blocked her from reading my thoughts. When the bell rang, she pushed a black rose in front of me, then quietly left. Black roses were the Hades version of an olive branch. I tossed the rose in Professor Ambrosia’s wastebasket on my way out of the classroom.

Later, as we walked to class together, I recounted the story to Hazel. I didn’t expect much of a reaction. Perhaps, “that girl has some nerve” or an eye-roll at best. Instead Hazel’s eyes watered, leaving me completely dumbfounded.

“Seriously, Haze? You hated her.”

She pursed her lips, her shoulders stiffening. “That’s not true. I didn’t always get along with Jett, but I didn’t hate her.”

I stared at her pointedly, hardly able to believe what I was hearing. The two of them constantly bickered when we were friends.

“I hate what she did to you.” She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, shrugging. “It just sucks…I miss the trifecta.”

I shuffled my sandals against the sidewalk, pressing my lips together.

“I do, too.” I could, at least, admit that much. Even though I despised Jett for what she did, I also missed the way things used to be.

14

Xander found me on the way to Weaponry, sneaking up out of nowhere as usual, causing my heart to trip over itself. He reached for my wrist, twisting it back and forth, and my charm bracelet sparkled in the sunlight.

“Looks good on you,” he said, running his thumb over the little blue stone.

“Oh, that?” I smirked. “A handsome gladiator gave it to me.”

His lips curved. “He must really like you.”

“Oh, he does. A lot. I mean, it’s almost overwhelming. The guy would be lost without me—”

“I get the picture.” Xander chuckled. Then he gently squeezed my hand, the humor vanishing from his face. “I would be though.”

“What?”

“Lost without you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, stop.” He had been doing just fine before I came along, and he handled everything thrown at him far better than I did.

“I would.” The way he said it combined with the intensity in his gaze made me almost believe him.

We walked to the training field together, our hands entwined. Once there, I found an available spot on the grass and took a seat. Xander took his place next to Redtree, getting the weapons ready for today’s training session. Students filed around me, spreading out along the grass. I felt the moment Riley arrived, her venomous gaze searing the