Before I could call him out on that asshole question, Asher swung the car around and drove onto the main road. I settled for flipping Calen off. His low chuckle had my hands clenching, but I knew ignoring him was my best defense.
Asher drove fast too, but he felt more controlled than Ilia. Which gave me plenty of time to overthink everything that had just happened. After about five minutes, the silence was too much, and words spilled out. “Can someone please tell me what just happened? Why were we attacked by Atlantean assassins? And how did you know we were in trouble?”
Asher turned to look at me, which was kind of stressful considering he was the driver. “We felt them when they started using their power. Atlanteans are all connected. Our power calls to each other.”
“The Arterians are well known in our world,” Axl added. “We’ve crossed them a few times before and they usually know better than to play in our territory.”
Apparently their badass reputation was actually earned.
“We’re the ones who control the Academy and its territory,” Jesse said, shooting me a lazy grin. He definitely had that sleepy cat thing nailed. Right until he sprang into action. Jesse was even bigger and scarier than Josh, so it stood to reason his lion would be as well.
“Can you sense Atlantean blood in me?” I asked, deciding it was best to come right out with it. Ilia’s words had stuck with me, and after this little run in with the Arterians, it stood to reason that I might be connected in some way to Atlantis.
“No,” Asher said. “I have sensed no Atlantean blood. I have no idea why you were a target.”
Huh. What the fuck, then?
“He asked if I was Macilinta of the Sonaris people…” I let those words trail off into a heavy silence.
“He said I was a royal,” I pressed further.
Rone shifted toward Asher, speaking for the first time. “Tell hersomeof our history. Also … check her blood thoroughly.”
Short and not-very-sweet, was Rone. But, for the first time in my presence, there was no disdain in his voice. Asher eyed his best friend for a beat, and then nodded. “When we return to the Academy.”
We got back in record time, and Asher didn’t pull his car into the same garage that Ilia had taken the Mercedes from. He followed a dirt road around toward the back of the Academy. I’d never been in this section before. I blinked as a gorgeous weatherboard house came into view. It had a huge garage off to the side, with double automatic doors that opened as we neared. Asher parked his SUV inside, the space big enough for about ten vehicles. In fact, there was almost that many parked under here.
“Is this your personal parking space?” I asked incredulously as I climbed out and blinked at all the shiny and expensive cars filling the room.
The guys looked around like they were trying to figure out what had me so shocked. “It’s ours,” Axl said. “We like cars, and we had permission to build this plus the pool and house for our private use.”
I rushed across to the window and peeked out. The Academy was about a hundred yards away. “How special are you five? Truthfully … has any other student been allowed to build their own freaking house on campus?” I paused. “Wait, don’t you all live on the sixth floor of the magic users' wing?”
Rone glared. “Why don’t you mind your own business? What we do with our lives has nothing to do with you.” He waved toward a door on the far side. “Let’s get this over with. I have shit to do.”
Before I could think about it, I flipped him off. I’d done nothing to him. Nothing. He could take his scariness and bad attitude and shove it. Rone’s face darkened, and it looked like he was coming to throttle me—until Asher got in his way. The friends exchanged an extended look, and then Rone swung around and left the garage in a few long-legged strides.
“Come on,” Asher said, following Rone. We walked through a large doorway, Axl and Calen behind us, and up a set of stairs that led to the first floor of a loft-style house. It definitely had a vibe of the guys about it. Everything was simple but high quality, with large and cozy couches, huge windows that showcased a thick dark green forest beyond, and a roaring fireplace splashing heat and light across the dark wood floor.
“This is our home,” Axl said, stepping closer to me, his eyes doing that analyzing thing again as they ran across my face. “Seeing you here in my environment … it’s very interesting.”
I laughed gently, because I was falling in love with his unique quirks. In a purely platonic way. “It’s exactly what I would have expected from you five. I mean, not that I know you well yet or anything … but this place suits you.”
I didn’t want to dwell on the fact that they hadn’t brought anyone else here before, because I knew this was not a “you’re special” sort of situation. This was a “some crazy shit went down and we need to deal with it in private” situation.
Asher waved me toward the couch and I dropped—more like sank—onto a plush three seater. He stood before me, staring down with an unreadable expression. It should have felt uncomfortable, but … it didn’t. We just stared at each other, whatever the connection was between us continuing to pulse slowly.
“There is a lot about us that you don’t know,” he said softly.
I nodded, needing to hear this story.
Asher sat beside me, and energy licked across my skin again. I had to hold back a groan because it felt so good, and so scary, to have him this close. We weren’t touching, he was very careful not to do that, but I could stillfeelhim.
The others, minus Rone, sat in various chairs and couches around us, and Asher continued, “A lot of our history we’ve pieced together from books and legend. There are none left who remember the original days, and the stories have been passed down so many times that it’s almost impossible now to know what’s true. But we’ll tell you what we know … or think we know.”
My breath caught in my chest, and I couldn’t quite figure out why this felt so important.
“Atlantis was thought to be the first instance of supernaturals crossing from Faerie to Earth,” Asher started. “Somewhere around 10,000 B.C., if you want to use the Christian way of measuring time.”
