My urge to fight injustice surged to life, because casual murder during training… yeah, that was unacceptable. But then my righteous fury faltered; it wasn’t like I could do anything right now. Still, since I had no choice but to stay in this world, I vowed to do it onmyterms. I’d focus on this education I was being given. I’d study and learn, till I was able to help the people here. I’d do whatever I could, use whatever power I had, to fight for equality and reason.
I rose and went to Myel, giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. Even with the bond quieted for now, I had to work not to press my lips to his and pull him close.
“Take care of yourself,” I whispered.
He nodded. “I’ll come to you tonight,” he breathed, “in secret.”
“Can you get in?” I asked.
A mischievous smile tugged at his lips.
“I have my ways.” He kissed my cheek, then vanished in a puff of swirling shadows.
I blinked.
Okay now that was some real vampire shit, right there. Myel was more than just a pretty Goth.
I wanted to lay back down and not get up, but as tired as I was, I needed two things before I allowed myself to rest.The first was more clothes. The second was a shower. Oh, and some food, I hadn’t eaten all day!
I unpacked my backpack, in which I’d thankfully stowed away an emergency pair of underwear and socks, but that was it. I also had my computer and some basic toiletries, as well as some other supplies including my charging cables, thank God!
My purse wasn’t large, but it had my phone, which would be useless for calls here, but oddly most of the apps seemed to work. It also held my wallet, but most of what was in there was useless now: earth ID, cash, credit cards… not needed here. I had some earbuds, sanitary pads, and other odds and ends, but not much.
I made a quick trip down to the store. The north building of the lesser residence lay across the open courtyard from my building. The store was easy to find.
Time to find out what my one gold could buy… turned out, it was a lot.
Five pairs of pants, five blouses, three skirts and leggings to match, one sweater — it seemed warm here, but who knew what the weather was like — and a jacket, a week’s worth of “Veilblood Academy” branded underwear — not what I would have chosen for myself, but oh well — and socks. The clothes all seemed well made, high-end stuff. I’d just spent the equivalent of a few hundred dollars, but that was only about half of my weekly allotment of funds. So, I also bought school supplies, toiletries, a couple towels, a new pair of running shoes — no dress shoes here — and some snacks to keep in my room. And I still had a little left over on my account.
I grabbed a quick meal from the cafeteria, also in the north building, then brought everything back to my roomand unloaded it, eating my dinner before staggering into the bathroom for a shower.
It was a testament to how tired I was that I didn’t notice the naked man until I was next to him. And when I did, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing…
Because the naked man was Rook.
IZZY
I was instantlyon high alert.
“Izzy?” His voice slid through three octaves. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Fuck me,” I said at the same time, drawing out the words with fed-up exhaustion.
I wasn’t too tired to note that, in addition to his sinful body, the man now sported horns a shade of red darker than his hair. They sprouted just above his ears, then curved back, following the contours of his head before twisting out and up a little. Also… he had wings. Large, blood-red wings clung to his back, currently folded up.
Given the day I’d had, and how drained I was, I just accepted this new version of the man. But what I couldn’t accept was the fact that he’d been the one who’d gotten me stuck here.
I stepped in and slapped him, hard. My palm stung. I didn’t care.
“This is your fault!” I shouted in response to his initial question. “You turned me in to the supernatural authorities. Don’t deny it! Now I’m stuck here because of you.”
“No, I meant here, in my bathroom,” he said, raising a hand to his cheek.
His bathroom…? No,mybathroom.
Wait…
No…
