Chapter 13
When Mavi and Adam entered the building once more, she went immediately to her room. Adam popped his head into Owen's and let him know Mavi had gone to bed early.
Owen nodded as he wondered if she was feeling ill again. Adam assured him she was just tired and didn't want to be disturbed.
Across the hall, as Mavi changed out of her clothes and slipped on some pajamas, she took her phone from the dresser and opened a new text.
I am not going to train tomorrow. The text read.
A second later, Mavi's phone dinged.
Alright.....are you okay?
Mavi stared at the screen of her phone. How had she not noticed his actions before.....The thought of him being concerned for her made her heart leap. But just as quickly her little flutter was drowned by the knowledge that she was just his assignment. He was doing his job.
Mavi didn't respond to Owen's texts. She switched off her phone and pulled the covers over her head. Taking long deep breaths, she tried to calm her beating heart from growing too hopeful.
Owen was good at his job, he was the best.....Mavi tried to convince herself not to confuse his actions as something else. But as she laid awake that night thinking over every single moment since the day she had met him, she grew a little more infatuated with the man. She couldn't control the muscles on her face as she smiled widely thinking about the way he had taken pictures of her in New York.
Quickly, she pulled out her phone and scrolled to the picture of Owen and her. She stared at it until her phone screen dimmed and her eyes fluttered close.
That night, she dreamt of Owen again. She dreamt he held her in his arms as she slow danced in the palace ballroom. She wore a beautiful lilac dress and he looked dazzled in a suit. People gathered around the dance floor to watch them dance. Mavi should have been nervous, but she couldn't care less who watched.
But suddenly the dream changed and she was whisked away to the Kapoor penthouse. Mavi found herself standing in the halls as she heard voices coming from the living room. With quiet steps, she moved down the halls and entered the room to find Alec sitting on one of the large sofas. In his hands he held a little baby.
Mavi stared in confusion as Owen emerged from the back room with a frown on his face. He opened his mouth and said something but Mavi couldn't hear. The baby had begun to cry in Alec's arms.
Alec looked down at the baby and tried to pacify it but bouncing it in his arms. He looked over at Owen and said something. Mavi still couldn't hear them over the baby crying.
Then just like that, her eyes snapped open to the blaring alarm on her phone. She groaned as she regretted turning it back on to look at the pictures of her and Owen. Rolling over, she turned the device on to see it was only 6 AM.
Since she wasn't training, she decided to use her time wisely and do some more digging on dragons. Sitting up in bed, Mavi pulled out her laptop and began her search. After an hour she gave up and felt her lids closing. She still had a good few hours to herself, maybe going back to sleep was just what she needed.
But every time her eyes closed and she began to drift away, she heard the distinct sounds of large wings beating against the wind. She felt restless.
Jumping out of bed, she pulled on her gold ring and headed out the door. When Owen opened his door a few seconds later, he was confused to find Mavi standing outside.
"I'm going to the palace library," Mavi held up her hand with the ring.
"I'm coming with you," Owen said immediately.
"No," Mavi's voice came out a little louder than she had intended. Owen froze and looked at her. "I can do it on my own."
"I don't doubt it," Owen said. "But two heads are always better than one."
Mavi thought about what he was saying. The palace library was huge, it would take her hours on her own to look through all the books.
"Fine," Mavi nodded. She tried to tell herself she had agreed solely because he would be there to help and not because her heart was aching to be with him alone.
As Owen stepped out of his room, Mavi opened the portal by turning the ring on her finger. They each took a deep breath as they stepped through the portal together.
On the other side, the library was dark. The only source of light was the fire burning in the fireplace. Mavi looked around and felt a sense of comfort knowing she was back home. But she also knew she couldn't let anyone see her. They would all ask too many questions.
"Make sure you stay quiet," Mavi told Owen. "I don't want anyone knowing I'm here."
Owen nodded, "Alright."
Mavi pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight, Owen did the same. With quiet steps, they moved to the back of the library and began to search the shelves. There was hardly anything about Hestia or Libelle. Owen, by some luck, had found one book on dragons. He went back to the shelf in hopes of maybe finding something else on shapeshifters.
Just then, Owen heard the door to the library open. He ducked behind a shelf and turned his phone off. His eyes landed on Mavi and he dashed towards her in silence.
When he wrapped his arm around her waist, her lips parted in a gasp, but Owen's free hand fell over her lips covering her mouth.
Mavi's eyes widened as Owen spun her around in his arm and moved her into a corner of the library. He motioned towards the door of the library.
Someone's here, he mindlinked her.
He felt Mavi still in his arms. They both stood quiet as statues as the footsteps grew closer and closer. Mavi's hands gripped the fabric of Owen's shirt as she stood pressed against his body in the tiny space. From the corner of her eyes, she spotted Mardick through the books on the opposite side of the bookshelf. She prayed to god, the old man wouldn't turn his head.
Mardick looked around at the empty library before bending down to feed the fire one more log. Mavi and Owen waited patiently as the old man picked out a book from one of the shelves and read the back.
Please tell me he's not going to be reading in here, Owen prayed through the mind-link.
Mavi's thoughts mirrored his. But to their luck, Mardick tucked the book under his arm and slipped out of the library.
Both Owen and Mavi sighed. Owen removed his hand from over Mavi's lips and apologized.
"Sorry about that," he said.
Mavi could tell she was blushing in the dark, "It's fine."
"I think we should head back," Owen said and Mavi nodded.
Even though Owen had removed his hand from her face, they were still pressed against each other between the bookshelves. Owen's eyes dropped to Mavi's lips for the briefest second and her heart picked up it's pace.
It had been so quick, the rational side of Mavi's brain tried to convince her she had imagined it.
When they portaled back, Owen handed Mavi the book he had found and disappeared into his room. Mavi stood in the halls staring after him. After a few seconds, she convinced herself it wasn't a good idea to fake needing his help and making him read with her. She sighed and went back to her room.
She flipped through the pages of the book about the dragons until she came across a picture that had the name Hestia written underneath it. Mavi stared at the sketch of the dragon.
It's wide eyes were shaped like almonds. The powerful horns that came out of either sides of her head curved up and out as if they would meet over her head to complete a circle. The scales on her face were arranged in a delicate way to allow her narrow jaw to appear long and sharp. The long neck that connected to her body was held high and proud in the air. She seems to be almost smiling in the picture.
On the next page was another picture of Hestia. This time, the dragon was swooping down from the sky with her nose pointed to the ground. Her strong wings were pointed behind her as her long body stretched out in the sky. As Mavi studied the picture, she could almost feel the wind in her face. She knew the feeling of driving down from the skies. It was one of her favorite tricks when she flew. But as Mavi continued to look at the picture, she could also imagine how the muscles on the dragon's body must have moved.
She couldn't explain how she knew, but she realized she too could move her body like that. Suddenly it felt as if it was her second nature.
She got off the bed to run to Owen's room when suddenly there was a knock on her door.
"Owen!" Mavi said, opening the door.
"Sorry, sugar," Adam laughed. "But it is I."
Mavi frowned.
"Oh don't look so disappointed," Adam walked into her room. "I will forever remain the greatest love of your life."
Mavi rolled her eyes, "What do you want Adam?"
"I came to give you back our paper from Price,"
Mavi groaned. She had completely forgotten about that headache. As Adam pulled out the essay from his bag, Mavi marked the page with the picture of Hestia and moved the books.
"I didn't read it, but from the looks of it, he hated it," Adam said as he handed mavi her paper.
Mavi gasped as she looked at her essay. It was littered with red marks. Sentence after sentence was crossed out. Whole paragraphs marked off.
Unnecessary.....pointless argument......what are you trying to say? Those were just a few of the comments that nasty old man had scribbled on her paper.
Mavi's eyes watered in anger as she gripped the paper tightly in her hands. She didn't understand why he was after her like this. Something inside of her boiled in rage as she felt her skin heat up. Adam watched as Mavi ran into her closet and pulled on a pair of jeans and some sneakers.
"Where are you going?" Adam asked with concern.
"I'm going to go give this bitch a piece of my mind," Mavi said as she grabbed her paper. She couldn't understand the rage she was feeling. But damn it felt good.
A part of her knew her actions were rasha and careless, but she was surprised to notice how small that part was. It was as if the voice in her head that always wanted to do as it pleased had suddenly grown thirty feet tall.
Adam jumped off Mavi's bed as she stormed out of the room. He called out to Owen as they rushed passed his room towards the stairs.
Owen pooped his head out and looked at the boy.
"I think Mavi is going to commite murder tonight," Adam said with a nervous laugh. "Just thought you might want to know."
"What?" Owen asked with worry as he looked down the hall at Mavi's figure disappearing.
"Price gave her a failing grade and she is going after him," Adam explained as they hurried after Mavi.
The two were shocked to find Mavi had taken off running towards the school building when they stepped out of the dorm building. Owen called out for her, but she didn't stop. She ran passed the group of students at the door and vaguely heard Becca calling out to her as well. But it was as if an invisible force was pushing her to move forward.
When she reached Price's office, she found him sitting at his desk. He looked up at her immediately as she stormed in.
"Don't you knock, Dorin?" The man asked.
Mavi slammed the paper down on his desk, "What is this?"
"A bad grade."
"Why?" Mavi demand. "It was a perfectly well written essay. Even if it wasn't, I don't think it deserved a failing grade."
Price snickers as he leaned back in his chair, "I decide the grades here, Dorin. If I say you fail, then you fail."
The smartass look in his eyes pissed Mavi off. She decided she officially hated the man.
"Listen you imcompatent pathetic excuse of a man," Mavi slammed her hand onto his desk and leaned forward.
Owen and Adam froze at the doorway of the office as they heard her low threatening voice.
"I know what your problem is," Mavi continued as she locked eyes with the man. "You haven't felt relevant since your last screw up with the witches in the 1920's."
Price's slightly gasped as Mavi spoke those words.
"Yes, that's right," Mavi smirked. "I know all about how you went around accusing innocent women of being witches and burnt them at the stake. Now, it was one of my father's greatest mistakes to let you off with a few warnings and slaps....but how do you think Gemma will react when she finds out what you have done to those women and other witches?"
Price paled as he listened to Mavi's words.
"My father has taken away all of your privileges and doesn't give a damn about your council. You're just a figurehead, a place holder," Mavi spat out the words. "You think you can take out that anger on me? You must be the greatest fool. I will have you hung from the highest poles of the palace and watch you bleed from your mouth. And if you have any life left after that, I will throw you to the witches."
Adam couldn't believe what he was witnessing. A part of him wanted to give her a standing ovation.
Owen on the other hand rushed into the room and pulled Mavi back.
"Mavi," He whispered into her ear. "Let's go."
But Mavi wasn't done. She shook Owen's hand off of her and reached for Price again.
"From this day forward, if you ever even dare to look me in the eyes I won't hesitate to remind you who's daughter I am."
Price lowered his gaze as his face reddened. Mavi pushed her essay towards him.
"Read it again," She said calmly. "I don't want a 100, I want the garde it deserved."
Owen slowly took her hand into his and pulled her towards the door. Mavi watched as Price stood up from his chair.
"Ms. Dorin," he said in a timid voice.
Mavi straightened up, "You may call me your grace."
Prince stood with his mouth shut and nodded.
"Have a good evening, Professor." Mavi said as she gave him one last look and let Owen guide her out of the room.
Adam's mouth hung wide open as Owen dragged Mavi through the halls and into her room. As the door closed behind them, he began to clap in slow motion, "For the first time I see the Rye in you."
Owen huffed as he placed his hand on his hips and looked down at Mavi, who had taken a seat on her bed.
"Are you out of your mind?" Owen asked. "I bet Price is on the phone with your dad right now as we speak."
Mavi shrugged. She knew he was right. Xavier would give her an ear full. But she was enjoying the feeling of relief flooding through her system. It was exhausting to always hold back on what you wanted to do, Mavi realized. All her life, she had done exactly what everyone told her to do. Xavier expected her to be polite and thoughtful. Exton expected her to be strong, Ellanore expected her to be posh.....they were all after her to turn her into a proper queen. She never had a say in how she wanted things because she was always afraid to disappoint, always afraid to rock the boat.
Suddenly, Mavi laughed as she realized she had just tipped the whole goddamn boat over. Her insides began to shake with the adrenaline in her system. She felt like she could run for miles....for fly.
Owen and Adam watched her closely as she jumped off the bed. "I want to try shifting!"
"What?" Owen asked. "Mavi, you're acting really strange. We need to talk about what just happened in that office."
"Nothing happened," Mavi said with irritation. "I just reminded him who he was dealing with."
"Mavi, I do-" Owen began but Mavi cut him off.
"Owen, I want to shift. Right now." She said sternly, looking into his eyes. "Are you going to help me, or should I do this on my own?"
"Ah!" Adam protested. "I guess you don't need me then."
Mavi rolled her eyes. "Adam, grab the book off the desk."
"Maybe you should tell Owe-"
"Now." Mavi said, still looking at Owen.
"You're being crazy." Owen said slowly.
"I don't care," Mavi shook her head. "Are you with me or are you not?"
Mavi watched his eyes as he struggled with his duties to do the right thing. After a long pause, he nodded.
Mavi sighed in relief, "Okay." She began to push her bed against the wall.
"What are you doing?" Adam demand.
"Making space," Mvai sad looking up.
"You're possibly a dragon. A Dr-a-gon!" Adam enunciated. "If you do manage to successfully shift, you are not going to fit in this room, my dear."
"He's right," Owen agreed.
"What do we do?" Mavi looked to the two.
Adam looked at Owen and Owen signed.
"I can not believe I am doing this," He mumbled. "I should be informing your parents. What am I doing?"
Mavi and Adam smiled as they quickly followed Owen out of the room and down to the parking lot. The evening sun had set and dusk was upon them. Owen opened the passenger door for Mavi as Adam climbed into the back seat. Mavi watched him as he walked around the car and started up the engine. As he pulled out of the school campus, Mavi turned to look at him.
"I am legally an adult, you know." Mavi said.
Owen turned to look at her in the passenger seat and raised a brow.
"Legally, I do not have to tell my parents any of this stuff. If I was sick, even the doctors couldn't tell my parents my health information without my consent. So....you're not breaking any rules really."
Owen rolled his eyes as he turned back to look at the road. He knew she had a point, but still. He didn't like it.
"Speaking of age," Adam poked his head out between the two seats. "How old are you, Owen?"
When Owen didn't answer, Mavi faked a gasp, "Oh my god, Adam! You can't just go around asking people how old they are. That's sensitive information."
"I say 21," Adam guessed staring at Owen.
"23," Mavi estimated.
Owen sighed as he shook his head in disbelief.
"Not 23?" Mavi pouted.
"27," Adam guessed again.
"30!" Mavi giggled.
"I'm 25," Owen suddenly said.
"I win!" Mavi threw her hands up in the air but they smacked onto the roof of the car.
Owen turned to look at her quickly as he heard the loud sound.
"Be careful," He said as Mavi and Adam laughed. "What's going on with you two?"
"I have a lot of adrenaline running through my system right now so I feel really good," Mavi said. "I don't know about Adam, he's always this crazy."
"That's how my dads knew I was the one," Adam laughed. "They walked into that adoption agency, took one look at my crazy ass and Toby was like Yep, this is it. This is our child."
Mavi laughed because she could picture Toby saying exactly those words.
Owen couldn't help but join in with the laughter. He heard Mavi's laugh and it felt as if the sound was traveling all throughout his body. He felt lighter.
Mavi and Adam continued to goof off as Owen pulled into an empty parking lot next to a farm. He turned the engine off and walked around to open the door for Mavi.
"Where are we?" Mavi asked looking around as Adam came to stand next to her.
"It's an apple orchard," Owen said. "It's far away from campus, no people around. I figured it was the best place to turn into a dragon."
"I love apple picking!" Adam said.
Mavi shook her head as they began to once again follow Owen towards the orchard. He climbed over the fence and held his hand out to help Mavi.
"Now this is breaking the rules, Mr. Radacovick," Mavi teased.
Owen just rolled his eyes and began to lead the two strange creatures towards the back of the orchard. They walked for twenty or so minutes before they were far enough away from the roads for no one to notice them.
"Alright," Adam said. "Do you wanna strip?"
"What?" Both Mavi and Owen asked at the same time.
"Well you're gonna be bursting through the clothes you are wearing now," Adam pointed out. "What are you going to wear when you shift back?"
Mavi hadn't thought that part through. Normally, she wouldn't have cared about stripping if Adam had his back turned towards her. But stripping with Owen around made her belly drop to her feet and her insides shake.
As Mavi weighed her options, Owen began to take off the denim shirt he had been wearing. Mavi stared at him as he pulled it off to reveal a plane white shit.
"Here," Owen said as he handed the shirt to Mavi. "Wear this and then when you change back, you can put on your regular clothes."
Mavi thanked him as she took the shirt. Owen and Adam turned their backs to her as she stepped behind a tree and took off her clothes. She quickly pulled on Owen's shirt and buttoned it. The shirt hung loose around her slim body. The sleeves stopped all the way to her finger tips, covering her hands completely. Because she had inherited her mother's long legs, the hem of the shirt grazed only the upper half of her thigh.
When she stepped back out and cleared her throat, the boys turned back around. Owen's eyes moved over her legs as she chewed on her bottom lip. She could feel his gaze on her skin. Her stomach felt as if it was on a roller coaster.
Adam looked from Owen to Mavi before he cleared his own throat loudly, "Alright, let's get started."
Owen and Adam took a few steps back as they gave Mavi some room.
"Alright, Piglet," Adam said. "You know what your wing looks like. Now imagine two of them."
Mavi closed her eyes and pictured her wing from the night before. She focused hard on how it had felt when the scales ripped through her skin and sprung out.
At first nothing happened, But as some time passed and Mavi took deep steady breaths, she felt her shoulder blades start to move.
Then, just like that, the sound of the shirt ripping echoed through the night as both of her wings sprung out of her back. Mavi pressed her hands against her chest to keep the shirt from falling off her body.
Adam clapped and cheered as Owen sighed in relief. Mavi looked back at her wings and laughed.
They were incredible. And it all felt so natural. No wonder her body had been in so much pain when she had tried to shift into a wolf....she wasn't a wolf at all. She was a dragon.
"I want to try shifting completely," Mavi said breathlessly.
"Are you sure?" Owen asked.
Mavi nodded in the dark.
The boys turned their back to her once more as Mavi let the shirt drop to the floor. She closed her eyes and practiced moving her wings back and forth. The wind they created ran through the large apple trees.
Remembering the pictures of Hestia, the dragon, from the books, Mavi relaxed her mind and let her body do the talking.
Owen shifted his weight as he heard the sounds of bones snapping. He clenched his fists as he heard Mavi's little whimper.
"She's fine," Adam said from next to him.
The sounds continued for a while until they stopped. Owen and Adam looked at each other with concern.
Owen, Mavi's voice suddenly rang through Owen's mind through the link.
He turned at once and gasped.
Gone was the beautiful girl with long brown hair and stormy gray eyes. In her place stood a large silver dragon the size of a horse.
Adam turned and dropped the book he had been holding.
"Holy fucking shit!" He laughed in astonishment.
The dragon, or Mavi, blinked it's large gray eyes. Her body was covered in shimmering silver scales. Her large wings were folded neatly against her body as she stood still as a rock.
"You have horns!" Adam said running up to his best friend.
Mavi lowered her head for Adam to get a closer look at them. She couldn't explain the surreal feeling of suddenly being so large. She didn't know how much of her body she needed to move for each task. When she tried to take a step towards Owen, she wobbled and crashed into an apple tree, making it rain apples on her.
Owen watched her with wide adoring eyes.
"Just like a deer," he chuckled. "Even as a dragon."
Mavi huffed and shocked herself when smoke came out of her nose.
"Ahhhh!" Adam was having a field day. "You can breath fire!"
Mavi blinked and turned her head to Owen.
"Do it do it do it!!" Adam clapped like a little child.
"No!" Owen stepped forward. "Don't do it!
Mavi decided to listen to the wiser of the two.
"How do you feel?" Owen asked as he took a step closer to her.
Like I'm learning how to walk for the first time, Mavi chuckled nervously.
"You did good," Owen said looking into her eyes. "You did it all on your own."
Thank you.
For the next several minutes, Adam and Owen tried to help Mavi learn how to walk in her new body. To her, it felt as if she was crawling on all four legs, yet she could still do things with her wings that she would have done with her hands.
After several minutes of practice, Mavi was able to walk in a straight line without crashing into any trees. She flapped her wings around for a while and tried running down the apple lanes.
She was becoming more and more comfortable with her new form. And when it came time to shift back, she wasn't as panicked. She knew her body would listen to her.
And it did.
When she shifted back, she picked up her clothes from the pile on the floor and changed quickly.
The whole ride back, Adam and Mavi chatted with excited voices about all they wanted to try when Mavi started learning to fly. Owen stayed quiet as he listened to Mavi's voice and occasionally looked over at her when she laughed freely.
He realized her laugh was becoming one of his favorite sounds. But just as he had that realization, something else crossed his mind.
Braxton had called Owen in the morning to pursue him to apply for his position. Owen didn't give him an answer due to the fact his mind was occupied with Mavi. but he knew he had to give them an answer quickly. And by the way everyone was constantly asking him about the job, it seemed as if they were eager to have him shifted off to Romania.
Owen ran a hand through his hair as he followed Mavi and Adam back to the dorms. It had been a long day. He was truly glad everything had gone well with Mavi. All he wanted to do was collapse in bed and not think about anything else.
But as they entered their floor of the dorms, their eyes landed immediately on Alec. He stood with his bag over his shoulder as he raised a brow at his brother and the two royals.
"What did I miss?" He asked.
I'm going to be away tomorrow so double updates :)
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