Chapter 24: Chapter TWENTY FOUR

Mia might not be a fragile little thing, but she hadn't escaped Lily's prophetic warning. Andrei had fun spraying Arry with water and Mia, trying somehow not to be collateral damage, had ended up stepping where she was obviously not supposed to. Her body tumbled backward as she lost her balance, and she found herself fully immersed in an unsightly splash.

A little stunned by her unexpected fall, she got back to her feet to get her head out of the water, noticing that Ethan had wasted no time in lecturing her friends and inquiring about her health by grabbing her by the arm to help her up.

Luckily, they had sunk a little deeper into the lake and the water was up to the middle of their thighs, a level that was more than enough to mitigate her fall – that plus the dish responsible for the splash – and she got out of it without any hurt, except that she was now soaked to the core.

"Can't you be careful? Seriously," Ethan roared to her friends, still holding her arm.

"Oh come on, she's fine," Arry replied, rolling her eyes, "no need to be so dramatic."

Ethan finally released her when he saw that the redhead was right. Mia replaced two or three locks that had slipped in front of her eyes behind her ears and looked at her friends for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. They went with her immediately, except for Ethan who had decided to go to the shore, not finding it comical the prospect of his soul mate getting hurt.

What a killjoy.

Mia had never been so relaxed since she found herself at the academy. Surrounded by her new friends, life seemed as normal to her as it could be in a world populated by dangerous creatures. She still felt pain thinking of Eva, Lydie, and Maxime, but the feeling gradually faded in favor of simple nostalgia. They had often found themselves at the swimming pool or at the sea to take advantage of the summer temperatures. The group of friends had always enjoyed spending as much time outdoors as possible with each other. The irony of her new trio of friends did not escape her. She had simply replaced them.

Can anyone truly blame me for looking for friendly faces in a world seemingly determined to hate me?

Rhetorical question. When she came to her conclusion, Mia shook off those gloomy thoughts to focus on the present moment. There was no point in feeling guilty about things that weren't up to her. It wasn't as if she had chosen the direction her life had taken.

"I'm going to dry off a bit there," she said, shivering and pointing to their picnic spot.

Spring temperatures or not, the air was not very warm and the slightest breeze caused tremors in her limbs. The image of a nice hot bath imposed itself on her mind, like a distant dream. Her clothes sticking to her skin didn't feel the most pleasant either.

A detail that had not escaped Ethan who stared at the young human with a clenched jaw. A smirk appeared on Mia's lips. She wasn't particularly shy, and the idea of ​​being able to torment him a little bit with something so simple seemed relatively satisfying to her.

"Is something wrong?" she said, heading towards the Vila, her mischievous look still plastered on her face.

He winced as he looked away, running his hand through his hair, embarrassed. Mia took the opportunity to stretch, putting her arms behind her head and puffing out her chest. She accompanied it all with a small moan of well-being as she cracked the back of her neck, fully aware of the effect she had on the man. The action had lifted her sticky dress by a few centimeters on her thighs and her nipples were pointing proudly under the fabric due to the cold and the friction of the garment.

Ethan tried his best to appear impassive, but his lips curled into a thin line and his eyes black with desire betrayed his emotions.

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When Mia finally sat down beside him, she felt intoxicated by the control she had over the young man. That, plus the bewitching masculine scent he gave off. She put her nails on his shoulder and slid them to his hand resting on his knee. They then deviated towards the inside of his thigh, slowly, causing the young man to shiver.

"Stop," he ordered, grabbing her wrist and pushing her away.

"Why?" she whispered in his ear, inhaling his musky scent.

Frustration was beginning to win her over the Vila's rejection. She had been caught up in her own game. Her intoxicated mind had one thing on its mind: to put her lips on his and close the distance between their two bodies. The presence of her friends a few meters away from them was of no importance at this moment. When Mia's dark eyes met those of the Vila, he let out a plaintive groan, in the grip of an internal fight that he did not intend to lose.

"Because it's the pheromones acting, not you," he explained, gritting his teeth.

Pheromones?

A gleam of lucidity passed through Mia, freezing her in place. She wasn't the shy type, but she had never been so outgoing. It wasn't her. Her desire, meanwhile, seemed very real. Although it quickly diminished to be replaced by embarrassment, it didn't seem to want to go away entirely. Once the brazier was lit, even though the fire was extinguished, the embers were still hot.

The blonde raised her head to observe her friends, remembering their presence, fearing that they had witnessed the whole scene. Andrei and Arry were still having fun and chatting, but she did not doubt that Lily had witnessed the events. The fairy gave her a mischievous little smile to which Mia responded with a pleading look before burying her face in her palms when her friend showed her no mercy or compassion.

To her delight, Ethan didn't comment on what had happened. She didn't even dare look at him anymore, for fear of his reaction.

"Who's hungry?" Lily asked, finally coming to help the young human.

The question was followed by two approbative yells from the magicians who hurried to the shore. Mia wasted no time either and jumped up to greet her friends and sit down next to them. She couldn't help but want to put some distance between the Vila and her after what had happened. Lily unpacked the lunch box and pulled out a bottle of grape juice and four sandwiches and some fruit.

"Ethan?" she inquired, pointing to the food.

"No thank you," he replied simply with a sigh.

Mia managed to swallow a few bites of her sandwich to look good, but her appetite was not there anymore.

It's going to be a long day, she lamented to herself.

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