The Claddagh Academy

Kodiak Has an Eight Pack

Blaise

            I hated when people told me they’ve lived their best years during their school years. Who liked school? What kind of person would actually like to go to school? No one! Nobody wakes up at sunrise with a smile on their lips and stretch in perfect harmony while saying; “Oh, this is a great day to go to school and learn something new!” Those were my thoughts during my last day of punishment at Claddagh. Three long days have passed, and I’d finally finished making every single bed for the day. Mss. Lambert didn’t seem very happy about the ending of my punishment. She had left me alone as a reprieve, but I had my secret suspicions she was somewhere around, checking her books of rules and imagining how she could use them to punish me next. No punishment ever could beat making twenty-five beds without any breakfast.  I’d coincidentally saved Aella’s bed for last. It might had been my intuition, but something told me the queen bee loved making a mess of her bed just to make me spend an extra minute on it. And Aella slept with five pillows. FIVE. I think I hated her even more after learning that little detail. How dare she like pillows as much as I liked them? I was on my way out of her room when Aella herself opened the door and lifted her perfect manicured eyebrows at me.

            I could sense her broodiness in the air. She looked like a shark after blood. Three days had passed without any interaction between us, but Aella had come purposely during the last day of my punishment looking for trouble. I squared my shoulders and readied myself for the battle ahead of me.

            “Are you still playing to be the maid?” She asked me, and I frowned, ready to produce a powerful comeback before Aella beat me to it, waving her hand at me and following her previous conversation, “I guess that’s what he finds interesting about a mutt like you. You are extraordinarily…common.”

            “What, in the name of fiddlesticks are you talking about?” I asked and Aella-who was one of those capable creatures who could apparently sustain a conversation with herself- smirked at me while crossing her arms.

            “Oh please, stop acting as if you don’t know what I’m talking about!” She exclaimed, flipping her long, strawberry blonde hair over her shoulder and giving me a murderous look. I smirked, ignoring the violent need to put Aella in place. It just wasn’t worth it and if I’d slapped her and ruined her second nose job her daddy would probably have me expelled from Claddagh. I simply couldn’t have that.

            “Whatever you say Aella,” I said taking a step away from her and rushing to the door. The sooner I was out of her room the safest from punching her face I would be. She moved to a side, blocking my exit and frowning at me. The girl clearly had a death wish. I rolled my eyes and counted to ten in my mind.

            “Stop flirting with Kodiak. He is mine,” I sincerely didn’t know if I should laugh or kick Aella’s skinny butt. I sighed, trying to understand Aella and failing. She had everything any girl could want and possibly even more. She was a princess, gorgeous and rich, with friends who seemed to like her and about a dozen of boys after her. Why she wanted Kodiak so bad when it was clear he wasn’t interested? Not that I cared. I wasn’t in anybody’s way and I sincerely didn’t want to be in the middle of any possible love triangle.

            “If you want Kodiak you can have him. I don’t care,” I told her and moved to the door, only to be stopped by Aella one more time. She crossed her arms again and lifted an eyebrow at me.

            “Then why is he saying everywhere that you belong to him?” She said, and I felt the distinctive sensation of my anger raising like a typhoon from my stomach to my ears.  Kodiak had been saying what? I pushed Aella out of the way, taking a little bit of comfort in the fact she screamed at me in indignation at being treated so poorly. I’ve never walked so fast in my entire life but as in that moment.

            Kodiak Doomhold was dead. He was soooo dead. Kodiak was the reason why every other boy in Claddagh had been evading me for the last three days! At first, I thought it was just a boy’s thing to ignore me. Then I’d grew suspicious, but decided it was my imagination playing tricks. It couldn’t be that every boy in school was trying to ignore me. Right? But then Aella had come to me and opened my eyes. Kodiak was spreading lies and he was going to stop all that bullshit right away. I was going to make him eat his own words even if it was the last thing I ever did! I groaned all the way to our Introduction to Conjuring class. When I walked in professor Delacroix hadn’t arrived, but the entire Doomhold clan was present…minus Kodiak. How convenient for him.

            “Where is he?” I asked to the Doomhold brothers. Karoo’s mouth opened and then closed in a perfect O. Her big, golden eyes brightened with lots of feminine intuition and passion for drama.

            “I’m gonna make a wild guess and say you are referring to our big brah,” said one of the Doomhold boys, the blonde dude with green eyes whose name was Gwilym. Why he was smiling so much? I groaned and walked to their table, slamming my hand on its surface and making the entire First year class jump on their seats and look at me as if I’d lost my mind. I’d probably lost it alright. I wanted to disappear or kill Kodiak. Preferentially not the former and more likely the latter. All the brothers seemed to smile more, which by result only made me angrier, “Just tell me where Kodiak is.”

            “He is in the library, but he is busy…Blaise! The class is just about to start! Where are you going?” Screamed Karoo after me, while I turned around and run my way out of the classroom. The fact that every single boy in the hall looked away from me whenever I passed only managed to triplicate my already combusting temper. How dared him say I was his? I wasn’t anybody’s. I’d thought I could tolerate Kodiak before, but after this I sincerely couldn’t put up with his arrogance and egotism. How the hell was I supposed to live in peace after the Unseelie king had claimed me? Fae loved to gossip and spread news. I was betting my own weight in gold that right now every single court in Faerie was talking about Kodiak and the mysterious Darkholme girl he claimed as his after only three days of school. I was so mad I was thinking in italics. With trembling hands and a hungry heart for confrontation I made my way to the library.

            The library occupied the entire fourth floor of the castle. It took more than ten set of stairs to get to it and not even them my temper was quenched by the exertion. I walked inside the large main room of the library, which by lack of any other comparation looked exactly like any other library, just bigger, comfier and strategically equipped with beautiful gothic arches that let natural light in. Like a bull I found my red flag in the strong presence of Kodiak. The rest of the world disappeared, and my heartbeat started beating dangerously faster. My anger raised another notch at the same time Kodiak stopped speaking in midsentence and turned around in my direction.

            Just then I realized Kodiak was speaking with a man that been kneeling on the ground, with his head hunched down in reverence. My heartbeat kept raising, speeding to the point it hurt in my chest. Kodiak shifted at my side, staring down at me with worried yellow eyes. For some reason his worriedness only managed to irritate me even more. Kodiak didn’t have any right to care for me. I wasn’t his for him to care. I wasn’t his at all.         

            “I’m going to kill you,” I said through my clenched teeth and Kodiak only lifted his eyebrows at me as if he couldn’t quite tell if I was joking or not. I pushed him, gaining a lot of attention from the librarian- a fat female Fae who had previously proved me that every race in existence had a predilection for trans-fat food- and the man who had been kneeling on the floor. The man rushed to get on his feet and lifted his hand at me in a threatening gesture, but one look from Kodiak made him stop and go back on his knees in a supplicant position. I ignored the weird dude and the librarian and pushed Kodiak again. He let me, with a pleased look in his obscenely good-looking face. “Take it back! Whatever you said about me, just take it back right now! You have no right to spread lies about me around the entire school!”

            “And what kind of lies would those be?” He asked me curiously, while turning around and walking to the far wall ahead of us. His midnight blue hair looked spiky this morning. Even the tiny braid he kept longer than the rest of his hair seemed to me almost bluish under the soft light of the sun. I followed Kodiak, closely, passing the guy who was still on the floor. Kodiak seemed to remember him and clicked his fingers. The guy shifted out of the room at once. I groaned in exasperation and walked closer to Kodiak.

            “You know exactly what I mean!”

            “All I know siren, is that one of us is right and the other one is you,” he said, turning around and giving me a lopsided grin. Kodiak opened one of the large gothic winds while I rolled my eyes. The glass opened delicately, creating a very large aperture big enough for a tall person to fit through. Kodiak turned to me then. At his back I could see the open sky and the promising good weather of a summer day. If I hadn’t been so mad I’d probably wondered what Kodiak was doing opening windows when we were supposed to be downstairs, inside our Introduction to Faerie classroom, but alas, madness made my deductive skills scatter.

            “You said I was yours!” I screamed, and then I grew hot. Saying my worst fears aloud was kind of a therapeutic experience, just a lot more awkward and a lot less relaxing. Kodiak took a step closer and my heart beat a little bit faster until it found Kodiak’s heart rhythm and maintained its static. His scent of rain and wood invaded my senses, overpowering me for a moment, right before Kodiak looked down, engulfing me with his body heat. Whoever looked at us right then would have thought we were about to kiss. True was I was about to kill him.

            “You are forgetting something siren,” he said, pushing his head down until it was close to my ear. I breathed slowly, focusing on ignoring his closeness and making a poor business out of it.

            “What?” I asked Kodiak at the same time he closed an arm around my waist and I gasped in surprise. Kodiak hugged me closer to him, probably a tactical move since I was too shocked to properly react at the time. His amber eyes found mines and then he caressed my cheek with his free hand. His calloused thumb felt my skin with so much care I lean in, experiencing an ocean of angry butterflies storming in my stomach. His mischievous lips opened, and his fangs shined dangerously close to my skin. The moment seemed to stretch a dozen of centuries and multiplicate in millions of atomic opportunities before he spoke again.

            “Fae can’t lie,” he whispered in my ear and then pushed my body to his, right before taking me in his arms and jumping out of the window.

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~          

  Kodiak

            I’ve flied more than a thousand times, but never in my whole existence I experienced the same wholeness I felt when I took Blaise in my arms and jumped out of the library’s window. She clicked in me. Every single one of her curves fit against my body, her legs suited my hips and her arms matched the valley of my shoulders while she pushed her head on the curve of my neck and started repeating the same mantra over and over.

            “This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening…” I, like any other good gambler, took my chances and pushed her head closer to me. Blaise sighed like a satisfied cat. Her thin body relaxed, and I felt her lips grace the skin of my neck when she moved her head to a side. Suddenly, flying and keeping us alive became my second priority. All I could think of was that Blaise was in my arms and how her lips had kissed me-however accidental that had been, it was still a kiss- and how beautiful she had looked when she opened her big amethyst eyes and looked down.

            “Oh s**t,” She closed her eyes again, paling and making me laugh under my breath. We were mile above the ground and she was probably terrified, but Blaise was too hardheaded to recognize such a thing. I couldn’t blame her. I was taking us above the clouds, so she could see the beauty of the Unseelie court in all its totality.

            “It’s fine, you don’t have any reason to be afraid. I’m not going to let you fall,” I said on her ear and slowly, like a little girl testing with her feet how cold the ocean could be, Blaise opened her eyes again and looked down my shoulder to the blue mountains underneath us. I felt her gasp in surprise at the beauty of the view. The valley we were flying over was covered by wild green mountains and intermittent rivers that converged into a waterfall up north. When I looked at her face she was smiling, her eyes shining enraptured. “The mountains you see at your right are called the Shadow Mountains. It’s the home of the Scorpion King and all its family and spawns. If you ever bargain with him, don’t ever look at his tail. The King of Scorpions broke his barb in a fight long time ago and he is a terribly proud creature. Last thing I heard he was giving a chest full of gold to whoever found his lost barb.”

            “Then is decided, all kings are proud,” she said with a smile and I smirked, moving my wings faster to take us south, to the place we were headed. I saw Blaise from my peripherals, looking at my wings with curiosity. She balanced her weight in my arms, the height soon forgotten in her interest for my wings. I watched her, now curious about what she would do. One of her small hands moved up, to the black talons of my wings and softly she caressed them. Oh f**k. I looked away from her as soon as I could and focused on the hot currents of air flowing around us and all the other particularities of flying. I felt her smile against my shoulders. “I’ve only seen Amadeus’s wings before and they are…not like yours. He has never let me touch his wings, is it fine what I’m doing?”

            I could be very honest to Blaise and informed her that Fae wings were one of the most erogenous zones of a male Fae anatomy. I should have told her, I really, really should. But I wanted her touching me like this all the time and I sure like hell wanted her hands on my wings…among other things. I was an extremely patient creature with an inclination to play dangerous games like letting Blaise touch me. I nodded, not trusting my own voice at the time and Blaise smiled down at me in reward. She was a little spoiled brat that one. Who would have thought that the only thing I needed to do to make her smile was giving her whatever she wanted? Blaise touched the soft cartilage of my wings and just because she was an innate torturer, she moved closer to the inner folds of the wing’s membranes. I hold the shiver of pleasure that invaded me under her touch and looked away from her. Who knew what I would do if she kept her explorations a second longer? Mercifully, Blaise stopped, putting her arm down and staring dreamily at my black wings.

            “They are beautiful,” she said in a whisper that would have been lost in the wind if it wasn’t because- as she had said- I was a very proud king with very good ears. I enjoyed any of her compliments with a selfish greediness, even the accidental ones. Blaise sighed, staring down at me, “I think is unfair only male Fae have them. If girls could have wings I would have wished to have wings like yours. Your wings are badass.”

            “If girls could have wings they would have managed to start aerial traffic inside Faerie. Flying and driving are activities better reserved to men,” I said and Blaise slapped one of my shoulders in irritation. I’d successfully pushed her mind away from the dangerous topic she had been talking about. There was a reason why Fae males were the only ones with wings and it was concerning courting females and reproduction. I guess she didn’t want to know wings size were directly proportional to other parts of the male anatomy. Or the fact male Fae liked extending their wings especially when their mates were around to see them. Blaise looked down again and frowned when she realized we had moved away from the Shadow Mountains and were now closer to the Copper Hands territory.

            “Where are we going?” She asked me with a frown, and I smiled. It was just now that my soul mate deemed necessary to ask all the important questions.

            “The man you saw in the library is one of my royal advisors. He came to inform me about a situation that requires my kingly intervention and you are coming with me. Don’t worry about Cauldron or school. I will have a word with him later,” By having a word I actually meant letting Cauldron known I’d taken Blaise with me for the day. I was a king and didn’t need to give explanations to no one, Cauldron even less. I let him play his position of principal to keep appearances, but everyone knew I did whatever I wanted. Blaise nodded at my side and then frowned.

            “Is your kingdom in danger?”

            “Never under my protection, siren,” I said to her with an arrogant smile, the same one that always managed to make her twist her lips in disgust. I let her look at me expectantly, as if she was waiting for any further explanation to where I was taking her and why. She would know soon enough. I only smiled and folded my wings, using a warm current of air to duck and start our descent.           

            The closer we were to the ground the clearer the situation became. Copper Hands were water Dryads. Fae like creatures who were deeply connected to the elements. Copper Hands ought their name to their hand’s rusty discoloration. Rumor has it that Copper Hands fed from the sand at the bottom of the river they lived in, which was a reddened clay that smell like pure rubbish. Copper Hands weren’t particularly good-looking creatures. Their skin had turned bluish after spending so much time under the water and their eyes- which were big and completely black- were covered by a membrane without eyelashes that produced wet noises whenever the creatures blinked. For the life of me, I’d never been able to distinguish them by gender. Copper Hands were all equally ugly and hairless.

            I landed on the floor silently and had just placed Blaise on her feet when the Copper Hands surrounded me, kneeling by the basin of the river they lived in. The Giants, who had been standing a good couple of feet away had some trouble finding enough room to bend their knees for me. I waited patiently until both parties had offered the required respects before I connected with their consciousness. Giant’s consciousnesses were spacious and comfortable, but their magic lightened small flames that were-in my experience- extremely easy to extinguish. Copper Hand’s consciousness were another thing. Their magic was powered by the elements and it burned hot and bright inside of their heads. I explored both consciousnesses trying to understand what the reason of their conflict was. My advisor had only informed me about the conflict between the population of Copper Hands and the Giants, but I needed some details to better understand the whole situation. After inspecting their memories, I walked closer to the Giants, who were still on their knees, surrounded by pines trees that looked like small needles in scale to their impressive height.

            There were three Giants trying to pass the river. Two males and a female Giant. In comparison to the Copper Hands it was easier to differentiate a female Giant from their male counterpart. All Giants had beards, but female Giant’s beards were slightly shorter than their male’s beards. I’ve learned this the hard way, after accidentally insulting a very angry female Giant, who taught me how to properly distinguish females from males of her race. I focused my eyes on the Giants and slightly tapped on their consciousness to see if they were lying. The Giants groaned in pain. For their own good their memories didn’t change. Their perspective of the events hadn’t changed which hinted they hadn’t been lying to me. Apparently, they had been trying to cross the river on their way to the Shadow Mountains, but the Copper Hands had stopped them, refusing to let them pass without any reason. Copper Hands only talked in the tongue of the sea creatures and nobody else but themselves understood what the hell they were saying. To make things even more complicated, their memories were absurdly fragmented. They memorized sounds, no images or episodes and I had no way to understand their reasons to stop the Giants from passing through their territory. I scratched the back of my neck trying to find a plausible solution. I could shift and bring over my translator, but then I would have to leave Blaise alone and without my protection in the middle of a conflict between two very dangerous races.

            “What is going on?” Asked Blaise at my side, while she studied respectfully the group of Copper Hands that surrounded us. I explained to her the situation as good as I could, omitting the details about how confusing it could be to differentiate genders inside Faerie and smiling at the prospect of letting her find out on her own.  Blaise seemed to really think about the conflict between Copper Hands and the Giants, before turning to me with her cheeks blushed. “I can talk the tongue of the sea creatures. You know, thanks to my heritage. I could help them.”

            I felt myself frown at that piece of information. I didn’t know Blaise could talk the tongue of the sea creatures. Usually only full-blooded races of the sea could speak their own dialect, but I’ve never heard of a half Fae that could also speak like them. That could only mean her siren heritage was stronger than what I’d initially believed. A part of me wanted to shield Blaise away and protect her, but I knew this was the opportunity I’d been looking for Blaise to exercise control over the siren. I nodded at her and Blaise sighed, turning around to the lake and taking a couple of steps before stopping, and looking at me with a nervous expression.

            “Have you ever been around a siren before?” She asked me, and I slowly shook my head no. Sirens were extremely reclusive and nobody had been in contact with one full blooded siren in years. I’d started recently to research and ask questions here and there about the places where the mythical, beautiful, creatures liked to stay, but sirens had gone quiet for so long that nobody had a clue where they could be. Rumor has it that the last siren to be seen had been Blaise’s mother, who was crowned the most beautiful woman of Faerie back in her day. I was curious to see what Blaise looked like whenever she let the siren go out. I’ve tried to see her through her own memories, but like any other sea creature, Blaise’s siren only remembered sounds and it was genuinely impossible to understand her. Blaise blushed harder, her cheeks and neck gaining a pretty pinkish complexion. Her thoughts were scrambled and nervous, which made me smile. Blaise was anxious about transforming into the siren in front of me. Little she knew I was thrilled by the possibility of seeing her siren once and for all.

            “It’s going to be alright, I’m not going anywhere, and I can assure these party isn’t either if you don’t start talking to those dudes over there,” I told her, pointing at the Copper Hands, which were still looking at me with a mix of horror and respect.

            Blaise looked anxiously in my direction one last time, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. The change occurred so fast that my eyes had trouble following her transformation. First her skin brightened outlined by a golden hue, then pure magical power oozed from her body, exploding in waves of magic that tasted like ocean in my lips. Her long auburn hair floated in the air while she slowly opened her eyes.  I’ve never seen a creature as beautiful as her. She was pure light and every feature of her anatomy had gained an otherworldly finesse. From her iridescent eyes to her curved body. Blaise blinked slowly, with an elegance that was more prominent than her usual grace. I saw the real siren then, staring at me through Blaise’s eyes hungrily. The siren blinked once, studying me.

            “So handsome…” said the siren with a provocative air, turning around and walking seductively in my direction. I was man enough to say that right then and there I would have let her do whatever the hell she wanted with me. My self-control had been a mess since I’d met Blaise and having to deal with a horny version of herself was asking too much of me. It was asking the impossible. Blaise was my mate and I’d wanted to claim her since the first moment I saw her. Resisting this version of her was pure torture. The siren was s*x. She smelled like it, she smiled like it and walked like it. When she was just a step away from me I saw her beautiful face change in mortification and stop. I, uncappable to resist her any longer, moved to Blaise, extending a hand to touch her and test with my fingers the softness that promised her shiny skin. I never got to touch her. The siren sighed, taking a step back and looking at me with so much wanting that it made me half crazy, “She is screaming at me to stop…she is not fun that one…always warring and warring. She is asking me to do something for her, but I don’t want to.”

            I wanted to punch a mountain right then. Or fight. Fight hard and long enough to forget all this wanting inside of me. One look at the Copper Hands and the Giants at my back and I was reminded I needed to focus on the situation. I looked down at the siren and pointed at the Copper Hands at her back. The siren looked in the direction I was pointing and lifted a beautiful eyebrow as in boredom.

            “I need you to talk to them in the tongue of the sea. They are not letting the Giants pass across the river when they had always let them pass. Ask them why and help me, and in return, I would give you whatever you want,” I added that last part out of selfishness, since something told me the siren and I wanted the damn same thing. The siren smiled, biting her lower lip seductively. I could only look at that lip and wish to be the one doing the biting. The siren moved closer, pushing her breasts in my direction and probably inducing me a spontaneous case of insanity. Her legs moved even closer, until she was only a kiss away from me.

            “Let’s make a deal Unseelie King. I will help you and in return you let me feed from you next time I’m hungry,” Said the siren, blinking and studying me with so much hunger that our wanting combined could light an entire building, “Don’t let Blaise feed from anyone else. From now on I only want you…just you Kodiak… Your lust tastes like ambrosia to me.”

             “Deal,” I said without having to think too much into it. I’ve read sirens fed from emotions. The stronger they were the tastier for them. Since the strongest emotion were always the most violent ones I didn’t want Blaise feeding from anyone but me. In a way, I’d won more in this bargain than what the siren could have ever imagined. The siren nodded, taking my word as the promise it was and walking away. I could lie and say my eyes weren’t fixed in her perfect backside when she moved seductively to the Copper Hands, but then I would be lying. I looked at Blaise with fisted hands, barely containing the hunger my soul mate awakened in me while she talked in the tongue of the sea.

            Her pronunciation was soft and melodically pitched, it was like hearing the most ethereal song and be transported to Heaven itself. I could hear Blaise talking in the tongue of the sea to the day I died and die a happy Fae.  The Copper Hands seemed excited to be understood and promptly surrounded Blaise, talking all at once and gesturing with their amphibian hands to her. I watched them talk back and forth for what it seemed like forever, before Blaise nodded to them all and returned to me. The siren smiled, moving closely and giving me a quick kiss on my cheek before looking into my eyes.

            “My work is done, but remember our deal Kodiak…just you… I will be hungry very soon,” And just like that the siren closed her iridescent eyes and when she opened them again Blaise was back in control. She shook her head, as if she was awakening from a bad dream and then tapped her forehead a couple of times between groans of irritation. I had to say I didn’t know which girl I preferred more. Blaise or the siren? Staring at my soul mate hitting herself made me wonder if there even was a decision to make. Blaise rolled her eyes and looked at me angrily, “Oh, what an impertinent siren! She is so freaking annoying! Just forget whatever she said in my absence, okay? Anyway, the Copper Hands won’t move since there is an elder from their people stuck at the bottom of the river. The elder can’t swim to the surface and they can’t help her. The Copper Hands won’t move until their elder is safe and the path is clear for the Giants.”

            That made sense. Copper Hands were very egalitarian people. If one of them was in trouble, then their whole population joined to help and find a solution. They weren’t against the Giants passing by their territory, they were just trying to protect one of them. I started taking my clothes right away, until all that was left were my pants and then turned to Blaise. She was already talking to the Giants at my back, gesturing with her hands in case they couldn’t hear her up there, were the big Giant’s heads almost touched the clouds. I smiled at that. Blaise was proving more and more to be perfect. With one last look at her I plunged into the green waters of the river.

                                                                               ~~~~~         

            Blaise

            There were several things that were a given for me. Like the fact cheese pizza was the best pizza in the world. Or the fact Ryan Gosling was the best-looking human, hands down. Or the fact chocolate could solve any problem. However, I wasn’t ready to admit I’ve never-not even in my weirdest dreams-imagined Kodiak could have an eight pack. Until I saw him appear back on the surface of the river, dripping water and carrying in his arms the Copper Hand lady that had been stuck at the bottom of the river. I imagined he was strong, but not that strong under his clothes. Weren’t eight packs an urban legend that girls could only find in movies and books? Why Kodiak had an eight pack? Why the world was conspiring against me? And above all other things, why Kodiak had to look so good when he was wet? He was supposed to look like a wet racoon. Wasn’t he? The more I looked at him, the more I liked to watch those strong abs, and the V line that disappeared under his pants, and the way his arms flexed in perfect muscular symmetry. I focused my mind on helping the Giants pass the river, while Kodiak helped the Copper Hands treat the old lady he rescued. I chatted with the Giants, asking them where they were heading to and laughing a bit with the female Giant of the group. She seemed pleased I knew she was a female-with Giants you always needed to be extra sensible about the size of their beards or you could confuse their genders-and waving my hand at them when we parted ways.

            Kodiak joined me by the opposite side of the river’s basin. His tanned skin had dried under the sun and his hair looked positively wild, tangled and wet. I was dying to comb his raven black hair with my hands, but that was an impulse I managed to control after reminding myself I was still mad at Kodiak for claiming me back in our school. We walked in silence for a long time after saying our goodbyes to the Copper Hands. Kodiak didn’t look as if he was going to open his mouth any time soon, so I decided to be the one doing the talking. I stopped him, taking him by his arm. Kodiak’s golden eyes lightened like thunders, staring at my hand over his forearm. I sighed and stopped touching him, gaining an obscure glaring from him.

            “I still don’t understand why did you tell everyone that I was yours? I’m not anybody’s. Can you please take it back?” I asked him, and Kodiak’s golden eyes darkened slightly. It was as if a shadow had passed by his irises and then disappeared without any trace. He took one step in my direction and looked down at me. Sometimes I forgot he was two heads taller than me, but there were times like this, in which the only thing I could think of, was how impressively tall Kodiak was.

            “I never take my word back, siren. You are under my protection now and there’s nothing in this realm or any other, that can make me change my mind about that. I recommend you get used to the idea of having me as your protector,” he said, c*****g his head to a side and smiling darkly at me, “The way I see it, I’m making you a favor. Think of all the unwanted attention I’ve lifted off your shoulders.”

            “Masculine attention you mean?” I said, crossing my arms and looking up at him. Kodiak’s smile widened, and his dimples appeared.

            “Potatoes, potatos,” he said shrugging. Then he loosened his shoulders as if he were warming up and his wings appeared through his golden skin, growing right in front of my eyes. I hadn’t had a chance to study them in detail, but I’ve been honest when I told Kodiak his wings were beautiful. His wings also looked scary, the wingspan from his talons to the end of the black membranes was probably five feet tall and they shined in dark blue hues under the sun. I moved to his wings and touched them, feeling their silky texture under my fingers. When I looked at Kodiak his cheeks looked slightly reddened, probably a consequence of walking under the sun for so long. He took another step in my direction and silently took me in his arms. His golden eyes glowed with so many hidden emotions I couldn’t possibly understand. For a long moment we just stared at each other, trying to understand why our heartbeats felt like unsaddled horses running wild, or why that knot in my chest pained me like the wound of an arrow. He opened his mouth then, looking at me from under his dark eyelashes, “I claimed you, and there’s nothing you, nor I, can do to change that. Let me protect you while you are in Claddagh and forget about asking me to change things. You will soon understand that once I make my mind about something I never go back.”

            “I don’t need any protecting, but I appreciate not having to deal with any unwanted attention. For now, we both agree on something,” I said, and Kodiak smirked.

            “After this morning, nothing else should surprise me, but somehow, we, agreeing about something had managed to amaze me,” Kodiak pushed his wings back and then we were in the sky, flying high above the rest of the world.