Axl chuckled, his hands flat on his textbook even though he wasn’t reading it any longer. “We’re not Russian. You can think of us like human army brats. Our families were close because the ‘descendants of Atlantis club’ is small. They were mostly all friends, which turned into shared work traveling between the different supe communities. We were dragged along, and in that regard, we have no real home or identity.”
“Except here,” Jesse added. “This is the first home for all of us.”
“It’s my first real home too,” I admitted, before slamming my lips shut. That was such a personal thing to reveal, but then again, they were sharing with me and it felt right.
Silence fell between the three of us, and it was surprisingly comfortable. Which lasted exactly two point three seconds before an asshole destroyed it.
“What the fuck is she doing at our table?” Rone said, slamming a book down on the other side of Jesse. Now it was three of them facing me, and whatever comfort I’d been feeling completely disappeared.
Rone was even broader across the shoulders than Jesse, which was quite a feat. His features were beautiful. I mean, a fallen angel from the sky beautiful, with that golden-blond hair and icy blue eyes framed by long golden lashes, defined cheekbones, and a strong, angular jaw.
But I knew angry men, the kind that had a hatred festering deep inside of them, swirling violently until they could no longer control themselves. Rone was that sort of angry.
Lurching to my feet, I slipped around the chair and started to back up. “Wait,” Axl said, holding a hand out to me. “Ignore Rone.”
It was too late though. The moment I felt my safety was compromised I was out of there—an instinct that had saved my life more than once growing up. Spinning, I got no more than a single step in before I slammed into a hard wall. Strong hands wrapped around my biceps, stopping me from bouncing back into the table. I knew before I even lifted my head that it was going to be another one of the five. I hoped it was Calen, because the devil you know … but my luck had officially run out.
Sea-green eyes streaked with silver met mine—it was almost as if silver had been melted through his irises, that’s how bright it was. Even through my jacket, I could feel the heat of his hands, and my heart started to race as I fought against myself. I needed to get away, but I couldn’t make my legs move.
Asher continued to run that disconcerting gaze over me, and I wondered how the fuck he was real. Lashes that were dark and thick framed his eyes, topping a nose that was straight and proud, no sign of ever being broken, unlike most of the dudes I knew back home. His skin was golden … bronze … and his face was strong and perfect, like every piece of him had been hand selected and assembled by thosemanygods they worshipped.
He towered over me, almost as tall as Jesse. “Uh,” I stuttered, both of us doing the silent staring thing for an uncomfortably long time. “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”
He wasn’t smiling, but he wasn’t scowling like Rone, so I took that as a positive sign. When his full lips finally curved, the slightest outline of dimples appeared, and I all but groaned. He probably had a huge…
My eyes trailed down him, and I jerked my gaze back up. Yep, not a single flaw I could see on him.
Was it fair that one person …supe… got to be so perfect? No, it wasn’t.
13
Before things could get embarrassing—and we might have already been past that point, I was too flustered to tell—Ilia and Larissa appeared like the guardian angel friends they were and all but hoisted me out of Asher’s hands and into a safe space away from the “kings of the Academy.”
Then we were walking, and I was still unsure about what the hell had just happened. The only thing I knew was I could still feel the burning imprints of his hands.
“What are you doing?” Larissa hissed as we hurried through the tables. “You were sitting with them?”
I choked out a strangled sound. “I—I didn’t realize it was their table. I— Fuck…”
When Ilia was satisfied that we were far enough away, hidden behind two ivy-covered pillars, she released my arm and got right in my face. “Holy shit, Maddi! We leave you alone for twenty minutes and you end up in the midst ofthem!” Her shock faded away to be replaced by a huge smile. “Tell me every. Goddamn. Thing.”
Larissa wasn’t quite as excited. “You ran from them last night, but today you sat with them… I don’t understand?”
“I don’t understand either,” I replied. “It was only Jesse at first and then Axl, and it didn’t even seem that weird.” My breathing was finally starting to calm. “Is it an Atlantean thing?” I asked. “Because I wasn’t afraid of them; I didn’t want to leave.”
“Like I told you, they’re nice and scary, and you never know what you’re going to get,” Ilia said, her eyes shifting back to the general direction of where they were, even though she couldn’t see them through the pillar.
I shook my head. “Jesse ate so much food … and he even offered to share it with me—”
I was cut off by a huge gasp. This came from Ilia, and she was blinking at me like I’d just told her that the world was going to end tomorrow.
“He offered you food?” she asked, and I tilted my head as I squinted in her direction.
“Yeah, but I mean, he ordered like eight meals. I’m sure he wouldn’t have missed a few bites.”
Larissa cleared her throat. “Did you take the food?”
I looked between both of them. “Should I have taken it?” I asked hesitantly.
