Isla
"I just want to stay here." I declared as I gazed up at the stars. "In this peaceful moment."
"You'd live with peace forever?" Riley questioned beside me.
"Of course."
"I like to think that there is a balance when it comes to life, where there are moments of peace and then there a moments of chaos. It's this balance that governs Werewolf life, in which we know that there will always be good times and always be bad times."
I turned to look at Riley lying beside me, his eyes trained on the stars. "So you're saying there are more bad things to come?" The idea didn't appeal to me.
"And good times." He turned with a smile on his face. His phone buzzed and he pulled it out of the pocket of his trousers. I leaned over to see it was Eleanor. I reached over, tapping the phone to answer it on speaker.
"Riley O'Sullivan!" Eleanor screeched through the phone.
I bit my lip to stifle a laugh.
"Do you know how humiliating it is to know that my ex was dating one of my students?"
"Very, I imagine." Riley beamed, meeting my eyes.
"My family is disgusted, but not as much as I am! How could you do this to me?" She was only interested in how everything affected her, when she hadn't been fired or suspended.
"To be honest Eleanor, I don't care about you." I loved Riley's bluntness.
"She is just a child! She can't love you like I do." Now she was sounding desperate.
"Quite the contrary actually."
I moved closer to the phone, my eyes on Riley. "It's long over Miss Taylor, our love is stronger then you could imagine."
She sputtered on the other end of the line as she struggled to say anything in return.
Riley leaned in, kissing me loudly for Eleanor to hear, before hanging up. I continued the kiss, falling into his embrace.
Days past and peace began to fade, with Riley returning to his family to prepare for the joint family gathering of Vampires and Werewolves, and myself returning to Uisneach to complete my end of year exams.
"They will forget by the time we return next year." April tried to make me feel better as I was mocked and stared at down in the hallways and waiting outside examination rooms.
"Not everyone will." I toyed with my pens as we waited to enter the room for our Chemistry exam. I sighed as Alick passed by without a glance, still pissed off with me.
"He'll come around too, he's just pig headed."
One by one our names were called and we filled the room from the front rows to the back. I tapped my pen against the desk as we were given five minutes reading time. I frowned at the multiple-choice section, grimacing at the short answer questions. I hadn't prepared enough; my mind had been elsewhere–or rather, on a certain someone.
The exam began and I struggled through the multiple-choice section, circling random letters based on how often I had circled them previously. I finished way too early, gazing out the windows until time ran out.
April and I walked into the cafeteria together. April rubbed her scarf-clad neck in the line in front of me as I gathered a tray.
"Hi Isla." Eliza met me in the line.
"Hi." I gave her a one armed hug. "How have your exams been?"
"Good, I'm very confident." Eliza had nothing to worry about, she was incredibly intelligent and her memory worked like a safe. Once information got inside her head, it would never leave. "Are you excited for Internationals?"
YOU ARE READING
DUCHAS (The Drive Within, Book 2 in Baile series)
FantasyA lot has happened since Isla and her friends assumed their supernatural abilities and in the second half of the year more secrets will unravel, powers will enhance and lives will be put on the line. The stakes have never been more high as the story...
