Touchdown Daddy (107 page)

Chapter Four

The smell of breakfast made Avalon's stomach rumble, but every time she tried to get out of bed. Vaughn gave her the stink eye. So she stayed where she was, watching as he cracked the eggs and added them to a pan of sautéed peppers, onion and celery.

It was Monday morning and Avalon was glad classes were resuming. Since the unfortunate incident Friday night, Vaughn hadn't let her leave her dorm. He claimed she needed rest, but she felt fine.

She took the time to read ahead on some of the theory for her classes and practiced some basic magic, but soon grew bored and restless being inside all day.

"The doctor said it was just a stomach bug," Avalon ventured as Vaughn dumped the scrambled eggs into a burrito wrap. "There's no need to coddle me anymore."

He added some spinach, then tightly wrapped the burrito. "The doctor didn't know what he was looking at. That was no stomach bug."

Avalon groaned. "I
am
going to class today."

Vaughn put the egg wrap on a plate and handed it to her. He sat on the edge of her bed, frowning.

His frowns were almost as sexy as his smug smile.

If she wasn't so pissed off at him for not letting her outside and glowering at Elsa every time she visited, Avalon would have thought about heading downtown to find some silk pajamas, since he had taken to sleeping on the floor at the foot of her bed every night. Her old, comfortable cotton nightdress did her no favors.

I'm mad at him,
she reminded herself sternly.
You don't dress sexy for someone you're mad at.

"I suppose you do need to go to class," he said reluctantly. "And you ought to know what actually happened on Friday."

"I had a bit of a stomach bug."

"No, you were poisoned."

Avalon had been about to take a bite of food. She stared at the dragon, jaw hanging loose. "Poisoned?"

"I collected a sample of your vomit—"

"You–what?"

Avalon's face went beet red. That was the only reason she had allowed Vaughn to keep her cooped up. The whole vomiting-all-over-everyone thing that had happened was embarrassing enough that she might have stayed in her dorm all weekend, even if Vaughn hadn't insisted she did.

Vaughn chuckled at her expression but grew serious again. "I had it tested for several poisons and the results came back positive for ironide. It's a witch-specific poison. Only magic users react to it, but even when consumed in small amounts it can be fatal."

"Somebody tried to kill me?"

"I suspected as much when you collapsed. My first thought was ironide. It was a favorite choice to use among the magic monarchies of the past. That's why I made you vomit. Immediate expulsion is necessary."

Avalon pushed her plate away, her heart beating faster. She took a deep breath. "Why are you just telling me this now?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

She rubbed her arms, feeling chilled. Maybe she didn't want to go to class today… "But who here would want to kill me?"

"Your mother has enemies."

"Only the kind that will say nasty things about you behind your back. Nobody wants to
kill
us."

Vaughn gave her a look that clearly indicated he thought she was being naive. "Any person with power and money has enemies that would like to kill them. That's why Uncle Stane is necessary for her and I'm necessary for you."

"Nobody has ever tried to kill me before!"

"That you know of." Vaughn sighed. "There have been increased rumors lately that the Ladies of the Lake are returning."

The Ladies of the Lake were originally the serving-maids to Morgan le Fay. But while Morgan tried to dissuade Arthur's passion for Guinevere, knowing the fair maiden would be the downfall of Camelot and everything they strode to build, the Ladies craved war, to increase their own power. They thus created Excalibur, to prod Arthur into arrogance and a taste for violence. They succeeded, and Morgan waged war against them after Arthur's defeat.

"But they aren't really real," Avalon ventured slowly. "Morgan destroyed them."

"Unless you believe certain texts, that Excalibur was locked inside a tree-world with Merlin by Nimhue in an effort to protect her creed. And that she entrusted the secret with one woman before she died—"

"And the Ladies of the Lake continued in secret," Avalon whispered.

She had, of course, read those texts, but they seemed, like such works as
Le Morte d'Arthur
and
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
, to be essentially well-written glorified fanfiction. Even her mother scoffed at the continued existence of the Ladies of the Lake.

"It's said they want the keys to Albian's gate, so they might force Arthur's return and put Excalibur into his hands, uniting the world in blood. They also have dragon guards: Wyverns, the White Dragons."

Avalon shuddered. "Since when do you know all this? When I first came you didn't know anything about Albian and Morgan le Fay."

An impish smile crossed his face. "Oh, I knew. I was just trying to figure out how much
you
knew, and what your prejudices were."

Avalon sent him a dirty look, but all he did was chuckle and nudge her breakfast back towards her. His fingers brushed her knee, then rested there.

The witch wondered just how aware of her beating heart and tingling skin he was.

"You don't have to worry. I'm with you and I won't let anybody hurt you. From now on I'll be making all your food and I don't want you to drink from anything except for sealed bottles that you've rinsed off."

Avalon nodded.

"I doubt that the assassin will try anything more overt than poison and we can defend against that easily enough."

He said 'assassin' so casually. How could he be so
calm
about this?

Still, Avalon forced herself to eat. When she was finished, she slipped into the bathroom to do her magical grooming routine and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. She opted away from her regular wedges, instead putting on a sensible pair of running shoes.

"Do you have any ideas who it is?" she asked as she and Vaughn walked to the Offense building. There was a heavy rain pouring down, but Avalon had magicked a cloud umbrella and they stayed dry.

"Several." Vaughn barked out a laugh. "Elsa gave you your drink, Mike was eyeing you something fierce—"

"Because he wanted to kill me or f—" she cut off at Vaughn's glare.

"There were a couple of girls who were loitering near the punchbowl when Elsa was getting your drink. Either of them could have slipped something into your glass. And I don't like the look of that George."

"Why? He seemed nice to me."

Vaughn frowned. They were at the building by this time, though, and had to stop talking in case anybody overheard. He moved closer to her.

Well, at least there is one benefit to all this,
Avalon thought, repressing a shiver as they entered Madame Fire's classroom.
I've found my strong emotion to work from.

***

For the next few weeks, Avalon jumped at any unexpected sound or movement, but nothing threatening happened. Vaughn never left her side, even standing directly outside the washroom if she needed to use it outside the dorm.

The fact that he was sleeping in her room instead of his, which was right next door to hers, did not escape Elsa's notice. Elsa waggled her eyebrows suggestively every time they met in the corridors.

Maybe Vaughn was wrong about all this. Maybe it had just been a stomach bug and the ironide test had given a false positive.

In any case, Avalon soon found herself more worried about her lack of progress in magic than her supposed assassin.

While her water skills were skyrocketing, despite being enrolled in only one class, her offensive magic was 'too timid' according to Madame Fire. And her defensive magic, while not terrible, wasn't improving much either, especially when she tried to defend and attack at the same time.

She needed to learn how to multitask, to feel strong emotion while also being in complete control. It would help if Avalon knew what that meant.

Just before midterms, she lay on the floor in her dorm, watching a solar system of rocks move in lazy circles over her.

Levitation was a defensive magic and she was supposed to levitate these rocks and crack them, an offensive technique. But every time she tried to explode a rock in the air, she lost her concentration and everything came raining down. She'd already had to heal a few bruises.

I'm never going to be able to do this. Why didn't Mom and Dad send me here years ago? Maybe then I'd stand a chance at learning all of this in time!

The bathroom door opened and Vaughn's voice reached through her gloomy thoughts. "It doesn't look like you have any asteroid belts up there."

"I'm taking a break," she muttered.

"Break a rock."

Avalon's mouth twisted at the order, but she moved the rocks over her bed and concentrated on the large purple one. Just as she began to crack it and they all started dropping, Vaughn stepped into her line of vision.

He had just showered and his skin still damp from the water, red curls tousled. He only wore a towel around his waist, showing off his rock-hard abs. Instant heat flooded Avalon and she whipped her head back to the rocks, determined not to let her emotions show.

The rocks exploded. Each went off like a crack of a gunshot, spreading fine dust and projectiles everywhere. Everything shot straight up as Avalon gasped. She mentally reached out, blocking them from going through her ceiling. They froze, a cloud of bits of rock and dust.

"Wow," Vaughn said.

She snuck a glance at him. His awed expression made her heart leap. And everything collapsed to the floor. Avalon squealed and brushed bits of rock from her hair.

Vaughn laughed. He stepped closer, that smug-but-still-sexy grin back on his face. "Should I start taking my shirt off in your classes? You think that will help?"

Avalon glared at him, stomping into the kitchen to grab the broom. She determinedly did not notice how much her hands were shaking, or that warmth that was spreading up into her face–and down into other regions as well.

Chapter Five

"You! Dragon! Are you taking good care of my little girl?"

Avalon groaned as her father, Chen, caught sight of Vaughn and covered the webcam with her hand. She turned, exaggerating a grimace and Vaughn's mouth twitched. His shoulder shook with suppressed laughter and he came over to where Avalon was enjoying her “Happy Birthday” Skype call from her parents.

"I am doing my best, sir," he said when Avalon moved her hand. "I assure you I will give my last breath before I allow anything to harm her."

Avalon's cheeks burned at the seriousness of his tone and made a face at her parents. "Hey, isn't this supposed to be you telling me how proud you are of me for my progress? Yesterday I managed to shield myself from Madame Fire's attacks. I mean, I wasn't able to shoot anything back at her, but her magic couldn't get through my defenses at all."

Vaughn chuckled. "Her fists did."

Elaine frowned. "Of course we're proud of your progress, honey. You've really improved."

Avalon heard the unspoken “but not enough” and held her breath. Her father gave her mother an irritated glance, to which Elaine responded with a scowl.

They had been informed about the supposed attempt on her life, but given that literally nothing had happened since then, they had decided to inform the dean and leave it at that.

Even though Avalon would have liked a lot more to happen between them, Vaughn seemed to be fully focused on his job of protecting her. He even stopped walking around without a shirt on, which was a shame.

"We've spoken with your teachers," Elaine said. "We all agree that it would be a good idea for you to stay there for the summer semester. You seem to be really blossoming under their teaching methods and there isn't much time—"

"I know, Mom," Avalon interrupted, unable to keep a note of irritation from her voice. "And I figured you'd want me to stay over the summer. It's fine, I like it here."

"Are you sure?" Elaine's eyes were worried. "We know how lonely you can get, honey."

"I'm sure. I have a class starting in a few minutes," she lied, eager to get off of this line of questioning. "If I don't go now, I'll be late."

"Okaaay," Elaine dragged out the word like she always did when she knew Avalon was lying, but wanted her daughter to confess on her own. "Love you, sweetheart."

"I love you, too. And you too, Dad. I'll talk to you later. Bye."

"Love you, bye."

Avalon disconnected the call and sat back, frowning. She
had
made a lot of progress. Good progress. She was starting to find new ways of developing a passion for her offensive magic, though it still remained her weakest subject.

The most frustrating thing was that defensive magic required a calm mind and the teachers expected her to use both fire and earth at the same time. It should be impossible to feel passionate and calm at the same time, yet Madame Fire was able to defend against and attack her students so effectively Avalon wondered if the tiny woman actually had two brains.

"I can see why you've had so much trouble in the past," Vaughn said, putting his hands on her shoulders. His touch was electrifying, made all the worse by how rarely they actually made physical contact. "They coddle you. Especially your father."

"They care about me. That's not coddling."

"They haven't prepared you for the real world. It's not their fault. They just love you and didn't want you faced with the awfulness of reality."

Avalon bristled and pulled away from him. "Was there something you wanted, Vaughn?"

"It's time for you to practice your fire magic. I've set up targets in a spare classroom in the offense building."

Avalon groaned.

Vaughn smirked at her. "You don't want me to tell your parents you lied to them about having a class do you?"

"Not fair! You're supposed to protect me, not blackmail me."

"I protect you by any means necessary."

He winked at her and a flutter went through her stomach. She wondered how he'd react if she marched up to him and threw her arms around him and planted a big, sloppy kiss on his lips.

There were times when she thought she saw an attraction towards her in him, like at Elsa's party, but Avalon was afraid she was just projecting her own feelings onto him. She might just not be his type. Lots of guys preferred smaller girls than her, just like a lot of girls preferred men who were taller and more tanned than Vaughn.

He's tall enough for me,
she thought stubbornly.
Any taller and I'd get a kink in my neck trying to kiss him. And I like his freckles. They give him character.

"Shoes," he called back at her as he stepped into the hallway. "I'm giving you two minutes and then I'll carry you on my back."

Avalon stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh as he closed the door. She quickly changed into some workout clothes, which were much more comfortable for the fighting that offensive magic required and mournfully looked at the pretty things in her closet. She'd lost weight since arriving at school and her clothes didn't fit her quite right anymore.

Well, at least that means I'll be able to go shopping again soon,
she thought, ruffling her short bob.
That always cheers me up. Hey, maybe that's the key to my magical fighting. I'm passionate about shopping, and it calms me down.

The thought made her smile as she went out to join Vaughn.

***

Elsa and Helen were sparring in the classroom that Vaughn had booked. Avalon watched Helen's form with envy. She was truly masterful at this! Her movements were smooth as she defended herself and attacked at the same time. Elsa wasn't as good, but she was still pretty darn efficient. As the two women prepped to leave, Elsa wandered over.

"Semester's almost done, isn't it exciting?" she gushed. "I'm arranging a dance to celebrate."

Avalon smiled. Elsa had parties and dances for everything. End of the month, end of midterms, beginning of rest week, just because she felt like it. "When?"

"May first. It's after all the final exams are done and everything. When we'll actually be able to relax and party. You'll come, right?"

"I'll try to," Avalon promised, glancing at Vaughn.

He hated parties. It was too difficult to keep track of all the moving bodies. If Avalon was honest, not being able to drink was pretty annoying and sucked a lot of the fun out of it for her, too. She'd been to a few of Elsa's gatherings and always left after only a couple of hours.

The Valentine's Day one was the worst. George was drunk and

had tried to kiss her. Vaughn had practically dragged her out after that and seethed for hours about all the ways toxins could be slipped into the body via the mouth. For the next few days every time he saw George he glowered, as though wanting to rip his head off.

Elsa followed her gaze and lowered her voice. "Oh, are you going to have your own party? Tell me–and you can trust me–how is he in bed? Are his abs as yummy as they look?"

Avalon's face flared red, but Helen saved her from having to reply.

"Elsa, come on. I want to catch a movie tonight."

Elsa sighed dramatically, but skipped away, waving.

Avalon, her face still beet red, faced Vaughn on the fighting mats. She tried to solidify her embarrassment to use as an attack, but her heart just wasn't in it. She was bored with routine. Elsa's dance seemed like just the thing to take her mind off magic for a couple hours and let her relax.

Now she just had to figure out a way to convince Vaughn.