I woke up with a jolt. A thick layer of cold sweat covering my neck and chest from the nightmare I had during the night. Letting out a shuddering breath, I tried to remember what the dream was about, but the more I tried to hang onto the faint whispering memory, the faster it drifted from my mind. I pulled myself up to sit against the headboard and turned my head to look at the still fast asleep werewolf beside me.
Derek let out a thundering snore, something I'd adapted to over the years, before dreamily rubbing his face against his pillow. He slept on his stomach with his pillow curled into a ball and held in place by one of his hands; his other hand was outstretched over the other half of the mattress. My half, to be specific. It was currently thrown over my legs since I'd woken up and shifted from my slumbering pose. Derek loved to cuddle in his sleep. He'd deny it—especially to Simon—if ever asked about it, but the proof was in the pudding. Not a single morning had passed since my return from Edison where I didn't wake up with some form of skin to skin contact.
I loved it.
A soft, scratching noise stole my attention from Derek's sleeping face. Brows crinkling with dread and concern, I carefully slipped out of bed and walked towards the noise. It seemed to be coming from the back door and so with tentative feet, I stepped closer and opened it. Looking down, I sighed sadly. It was a rabbit.
A dead one.
Well, sort of. I must have summoned it in my sleep. I hadn't done that for a while now—thirteen days to be precise. It had been a new record. I thought I was on a roll. "Go back to where you died and—and stay dead," I ordered. The rabbit cocked its head, as if it was thinking about the task, but then hopped its little battered body away from me and back wherever it came from.
A pair of strong, warm arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind and I didn't even hesitate to lean back into Derek's chest. Something deep within him rumbled with satisfaction and I felt a light kiss pressed into the top of my head. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I sighed. "It was just a rabbit. No biggie."
Derek laughed, "Guess we'll have to reset the 'so many days since an animal summons' counter." He gestured to the right of them with his head to a small chalkboard with the number 13 on it. "Don't worry, Chlo', someday we won't have to keep count at all."
"Y—yeah, you're right." Still, it was frustrating. I'd gotten better over the years with practice and, unfortunately, as Edison's test subject, but I still hadn't made it two weeks without my powers somehow flaring up in one way or another. I leaned more onto Derek, wishing he could take away all my anxiety.
He kissed the top of my head again before pulling away, "Since we're already up, wanna grab some Dunkin' Donuts on the way to class?"
After we took down Edison, ensuring they'd never be able to track us down again, we moved to California. That was three years ago, and two years ago Derek, Simon and I enrolled in University of California San Diego. Tori was still nearby, of course, but she never was one to be shackled down. She needed to spread her wings and be independent. So she enrolled in Santa Monica College two hours away in L.A. The city lifestyle definitely suited her.
Kit even lived in L.A., too. It served as a dual purpose, really. He was nearby Tori in case anything happened, and was able to find work at an engineering firm in the city. I think it was a tough choice for Kit, whether to stay with Derek, Simon, and me in San Diego, or go to L.A. to keep an eye on Tori, but in the end I think he bowed to the old aged saying of 'strengths in numbers'. Derek, Simon, and I all had one another to lean back and depend on, but if Tori was in trouble, she'd be all alone. So Kit decided to stay within hollering distance of his daughter and driving distance of his sons.
It seemed to be working, since the most trouble we've been in the past few years has been deciding what to order for dinner.
Derek, Simon, and I lived in a small, two story rental home just a couple blocks off campus. Between the three of us and our part time jobs, the rent was more than affordable, and it came with its own laundry appliances, which was a huge plus in my opinion.
Laundromats were the worst.
It was only two bedrooms, but since Derek and I refused to sleep separated from one another anymore, that wasn't really a deal breaker. The second floor was all one bedroom and the second one was on the ground floor; another nice feature for when Simon brought a girl home with him, or for when Derek and I wanted some . . . alone time.
After agreeing that donuts were a great idea, the two of us hustled back down the hallway and into our room. Half an hour later we were sitting in Derek's Ford Focus play-fighting over the radio as we waited in the drive through line for deliciousness.
"You got to choose the station yesterday!" He whines, looking at me with his huge puppy dog eyes.
"Only because you got it for two days straight before!" I argued back, trying to use all my strength to push his fingers away from the radio controls. Needless to say it wasn't making much difference.
Derek glanced up at the line and moved the car forward a few inches before returning his attention to the real important matter, "That doesn't count! We were visiting Tori and Dad. No way was I gonna listen to freaking One Direction for two hours!"
"One Direction is great, you watch your mouth!" Though it wasn't really the same without Zayne, but whatever. Eventually the line moved up enough for us to pay for our treats, which meant Derek was distracted with that, and I successfully staked my claim over the radio station. A Ke$ha song was on. Derek groaned.
He hated Ke$ha.
I just laughed and grabbed the bag of baked goods and cardboard tray with two coffees, immediately taking a sip of mine. Derek asked for his, and I gave it to him. He always drank his coffee straight up black with no additions. It was gross. Good thing he always chewed on some gum afterwards, or else I don't think I'd be able to kiss him without gagging.
By the time we arrived to class, the donuts were devoured, Derek's coffee was completely gone, but mine was still half full. It'd be nice to have it in class. Derek and I decided to take a class called 'Supernaturals and How to Spot Them' as an elective. We thought it'd be a laugh.
It wasn't.
The professor was a complete kook who knew absolutely nothing about the actual supernatural community, but still gave us tons of homework every week. We'd have dropped it weeks ago, but we had nothing else to fill the gap it'd create in our semester hours, and we need at least twelve to remain full time students. Usually we just ignored the professor during lecture and scrolled on websites. I preferred Instagram, but Derek was a Reddit and Twitter sort of guy. We'd been skipping in the beginning of the semester, but I guess too many people were doing the same thing because he started taking attendance a week ago—and that now counted for 30 percent of our final grade.
Professor Wiley walked in, his hair piece bouncing dangerously with every step he took, and he logged in to the computer and booted up the overhead projector for his power point. A cartoon ghost appeared on the screen and I groaned. Derek choked out a laugh. He had to hide his smiling face in the crook of his arm and I jabbed him sharply—not that it'd hurt him—in the ribs.
Professor Wiley clicked the mouse to go to the next slide and the word 'Necromancer' appeared in large, black words. "Well class," he said in a monotone voice which blasted through the lecture hall thanks to the microphone hooked up to his podium. "Today we'll be diverging from the syllabus yet again—" third time this term, my God, "—and talking about those who can raise the dead. Commonly referred to as Necromancers."
Just what I needed.
A/N: I'd just like to say thank you to the Guest and Justrockzyxxx for reviewing! Without these two I don't think I would have mustered up the motivation to actually start the sequel. That being said, please review and let me know what you think of it so that I know you're interested and want me to continue. You could even just review to say hi-that works too!