He was a bastard…there was seriously no other way for me to describe it.

He was also a “man-slut,” a manipulative rat, an egotistical dickhead...

Oh, dear cosmos and all the other spirits that may exist in the universe...

How the freaking hell have I fallen in love with him?

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Chapter 01- My Mentor's a Man-slut

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My hazel eyes squinted at the odd name typed across the top of the chart in my hands. Revelin Eferize. How did a name sound so pretentious without so much as a face to go with it, the man's embellished rumors aside? Out of all the positions I was qualified for at the Academy, I'd been assigned to Wanderer training. Wanderers were barely more than jacks of all trades for hire and required being under a mentor. My mentor just happened to be this Revelin Eferize and his fancy name. For a moment, I thought of my own name. Was Cyrus Kairos considered a snotty name, too? 

I took a moment to scratch the top of my long, platinum hair. To make a good impression, I went through the trouble of straightening out my unruly curls and braiding the layered mess into a low ponytail. A nagging feeling at the back of my head warned me that anything with an acronym that spelled out "WRECK" (as in, "Wanderers Revelin Eferize and Cyrus Kairos") was sure to be a wreck itself. But I fought all of those insecurities back down where they belonged. 

According to the chart in my hands, my mentor-to-be was a Wanderer in high demand. He had saved an entire town from being flooded single-handedly, among other supposedly noble deeds. Mentor Eferize was spoken of in tones of high praise and admiration back at the Academy. But I knew better than anyone that appearances could be deceiving and that rumors were usually exaggerated down the line. The receptionist at the assigning office who handed me my paperwork told me that Revelin's understudies in the past only remained under his wing for a short time.

The doubts swirled around in my mind as I knocked on the door. What kind of mansion didn't have a doorbell and security cameras at the ready? When nearly a full minute went by with no answer, I knocked more loudly. The Academy had assured me that Revelin Eferize had been notified of my assignment. Why would he have sent over a copy of the key otherwise? With a long sigh, I opened the door with that very key.

Almost as soon as I entered the doorway, I heard the loud crash of something breaking in the distance. Did someone just fall? Were they injured? Thinking the worst, I ran in the direction of the sound. What if it was a thief? What were the chances of being the first graduate of the Academy whose mentor dropped dead on day one of training? The sounds of something clattering onto the floors persisted as I approached an open door. The moment I stepped through it, I knew that my peaceful days were over. 

The person I could only assume was Wanderer Revelin Eferize was thrusting fervently into a freckled, copper-haired young man whose upper body was pressed flat against a table. Was that a workroom? The noises that I heard were the sounds of the unbolted table legs lifting and falling with each of their movements. Of all the things that came first to my mind at that moment, it was a mental note never to use that table and always to wash my hands if I ever had to do anything in that room that didn't require wearing gloves.

Then, as I pushed through the shock of the situation, I managed to yell something akin to "Excuse me!" before turning around and just barely keeping myself from bashing my head against the door. During my first few minutes of training, I already had my mentor's naked back burned into my brain. Besides the firm buttocks that I had tried not to think about just then, I also noted that Revelin Eferize had shoulder-length jet-black hair that swayed with each of his motions.

I shook my head in horror. Since I was still trying desperately to shake away the image of my mentor fucking someone up against the wall, I couldn't will my legs to move me back through the door and out of the room. Talk about first impressions! Hell, I didn't even notice that the sounds of their fornicating died away the moment I spoke. I wanted to march right back to the office and beg to be reassigned to another mentor, preferably one who didn't have sex in an unlocked workroom of his mansion the day of his trainee's arrival.

"You must be Cyrus Kairos," A voice whispered in my ear, startling the hell out of me. "I must have written down the wrong date of your arrival. I wasn't expecting you for another ten days."

The lousy liar, I thought as I clenched my fists and raised my chin with what little dignity I had left before turning around to look my mentor in the eye bravely, and most definitely not any other part of his anatomy, only to freeze in place as I stared into the richest blue eyes I had ever seen. They were the kind of blue eyes that were nearly indigo with lighter flecks of blue and a few slivers of silver in them. I couldn't force any words past my lips even if I wanted to.

"Welcome to my abode." Revelin finished with a smirk firmly in place.