“You have come to the perfect advisor. I am thy wise one. I will bless you with my knowledge so you can conquer the world, young child.” Her chin is tipped up as she speaks, an uppity air to each word until she stops and bursts into laughter, making me grin with her. “Oh my gosh, this is exciting. I don’t know where to start,” she says gleefully.
“For a psycho bitch, you sure are giddy today,” Kael states, dragging the chair out beside me as Rion and Thorne sit on the other side of the table with Ocean.
“Good morning to you too, Kael. Did you brush your teeth this morning, or were you busy sharpening them?”
Rion snorts a laugh, cutting through the tension between them, but a grunt parts his lips a moment later as a pleased smile spreads across the vampire’s lips.
“Did you just kick him?” I blurt, watching as Rion runs his hand over his leg under the table.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kael mutters, leaning back in his seat as three staff members appear with plates piled high with food, placing one down in front of each of us. Pancakes, too many of them, with a jug of maple syrup filled to the rim.
I mutter my thanks, the smell infiltrating my senses and making my anger quickly fizzle out.
“So, what are we excited about? The party down at The Hut isn’t until the weekend,” Rion states, and Ocean rolls her eyes.
“There are more things in the world to be excited about other than parties,” she states, waving a fork at him, but her clipped tone quicklydisappears as she groans around her forkful of sweet goodness.
“It was a good one last time,” he insists, and my mind darts back to the night in question as my cheeks threaten to burn bright.
I can feel Kael staring at the side of my face, remembering the night he fucked me with his helmet on, but my gaze remains locked on Thorne staring at me from across the table. I know he was in the shadows that night. I know he watched me climb onto the back of Kael’s bike, toy and all.
A shiver runs down my spine and I quickly clear my throat and dip my gaze to my plate.
“We’re excited about girl things. You don’t get to know,” I offer, hoping to put a pin in the conversation.
“Like what?” Kael pushes, and I opt to stuff my mouth with food instead of answering.
Ocean cocks a brow at me in question and I shake my head as subtly as I can, hoping she takes the hint that I don’t need the three of them to know how goddamn clueless I am. Instead of revealing my insecurities, she turns to the vampire beside me with a wide grin. “Like how many days my last period was. I actually found the tampons to lessen my cramps, and?—”
“That’s enough. You’ve made your point,” Rioninterjects, grimacing as he lifts his hands in surrender.
Ocean winks, pleased with herself as Kael leans in close, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear. “I know she’s talking shit, but don’t worry, I’ll find out what you’re up to sooner or later.”
His smirk is sinful as I turn to him, running my tongue over my bottom lip, but my ability to deny it is weak.
“I’m not up to anything.”
“Yeah, right.” He sees right through me, but I ignore it as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, making my stomach twist with unease.
Prying my attention from him, I glance around the room, my gaze finding the source quickly as I lock eyes with a fiery red head over in section one.
Willow.
A flash of her mother’s face in The Sanctum makes a cold chill run down my spine as I gulp. I’d rather deal with her wrath than her mother’s, which means being on my best behaviour. I just need to keep my head down and pay attention. I’m no longer fixated on getting out of here, which means I’ve got more energy to deal with the present.
I just have to take it one step at a time.
Step one: survive the day.
ELEVEN
ELODIE
Any hope that today was going to kick off with a good start is quickly diminished the moment I step onto the combat field. Professor Drayker’s gaze snaps to mine like a laser in the dead of night, zeroing in on me as I watch a curl form on her lips.
I’m sure that if the ground doesn’t open up for me right here and now, she’s going to put me in it herself with the way she rakes her eyes over me from head to toe. What she’s searching for, I'm not sure, but I don’t think I want to find out.
With Ocean's arm linked through mine and three men hot on my tail, her gaze turns more withering the closer I get. There’s already a mass gathering of students ready for the class, but it’s as ifthey don’t exist now that she has somewhere to focus her hatred.
