I can’t decide if she looks like she’s made of ice or glass, as if one gentle nudge against her shoulders could shatter her into a million pieces or burn you with her chill. She’s usually calm and relaxed when Rion has a hand on her, but even that doesn’t break through her senses right now.
Pursing my lips, I consider my options as Rikard begins to speak. “Today, we will be delivering the Soul Searching Trial. It’s one of my personal favorites, and luckily for you all, it doesn’t involve any beasts or layers of danger as other trials have.”
I glance at him from the corner of my eye, and I don’t miss the slight air of disappointment in the slump of Cordelia’s shoulders at the acknowledgment of a danger-free trial.
It sounds easy enough based on that factor alone, so instead of paying them any more attention, I reach my leg under the table and tap my foot against Elodie’s. The sudden jolt snaps her gaze to mine as her eyebrows crinkle.
“What’s going on?” I murmur, watching as her brows furrow deeper and her mouth sets in a thin line. I’m sure she’s going to wave me off and make me push harder, but to my surprise, she exhales slowly, letting her shoulders drop as she turns her cell phone in my direction.
Unknown: Are you ready to come home now, Little Weapon? Just say the word, and I can put an end to it all.
That motherfucker.
He’s used that nickname before in my presence. I wanted to slaughter him then, even more so now. I should have killed him.I should have risked my life and torn his little world to pieces, but the fear of harming Elodie was too great.
“Block the number,” I grind out, my nostrils flaring with frustration as she shrugs.
“What’s the point? He’ll only use a different one,” she mumbles, a hint of defeat lowering her gaze, but she quickly shakes it off as she forces herself to sit straight.
Fuck.
This woman is something else.
Watching her strengthen her resolve, just like that, is too much to handle on a typical day, but it feels different today.
“What’s wrong?” Rion asks, sensing the air shifting around him as Ocean silently looks between the two of us, but it’s Kael who looms a step behind my Echo that pisses me off.
“You’re not wanted here, Kael,” I snap, my voice strained as I glare at the vampire in question.
He looks like shit, but it’s his own doing, and until he realizes that, it’s not my problem. He glares right back like I’m the shithead. “Wanted or not, I might be needed.”
Rion turns to him, anger vibrating from him so hard I can feel it from across the table. “It doesn’t matter. You chose your side when you allowed him to take her,” he bites as the entire room grows quiet.
Unfazed, the wolf adjusts himself in his seat, keeping his hand firmly clamped on Elodie’s thigh as he blinks at The Sanctum members, who have stopped whatever it is they were saying to stare at us too.
“Is there an issue, Rion?” Saken grunts, cocking a brow, and he shrugs.
“Not now there isn’t,” he replies with a gleaming smile, and even I struggle to contain myself at his smugness, but it’s made easier by the fact that Kael doesn’t move away. If anything, he stands taller and more defiant.
“I’m so sorry we were rudely interrupted. May we get back to the reason we’re all here?” Anya sneers, flicking her red hair over her shoulder with a level of superiority I don’t have the care to deal with today, but Rion doesn’t seem fazed at all.
“Of course, I can’t wait,” he beams, earning a withering glare from the woman in question.
I’m sure she’s going to say something back, but Toman interjects before she has a chance.
“As we were saying, the rules of the Soul Searching Trial are simple. Each participating student will be tagged with a bracelet and placed randomly in The Vale. Your quest is to follow the soul in the bracelet to find the other half. You will complete this challenge in pairs, you and the other half of your soul, of course, and in doing so, you will advance through to the next round, whenever that might be. Be mindful, though, this trial is time-conscious since it’s so simple. You have ninety minutes; otherwise, you will find yourself withdrawn from the trial. And as this is a pairs adventure, your success or failure does not reflect on your entire institute. Now, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t want to be part of an institute that succeeds without me. Would you?”
Murmurs filter through the dining hall, some students nodding in agreement while others look a little wary. I just want this shit to be over with.
“The bracelets will be your talisman. You’ll know when you’re close to your other half. So, without further ado, we shall have everyone form two lines, females to the left, and males to the right,” Rikard orders, and in one whoosh, everyone seated rises to their feet.
I watch across the table as Elodie stands, Rion at her side, his hand drifting from her thigh to her back, but it’s Kael’s presence that gets under my skin. He doesn’t even back up a step. Instead,he leans in closer, whispering something in her ear that makes her eyes widen and her throat bob.
I shoulder through the sea of students walking in the opposite direction so I can get to her.
The defensiveness I feel on behalf of this woman is something else. I don’t know where it’s suddenly coming from. I’ve been able to keep my thoughts and feelings for her to myself this entire time, but now it’s as though I don’t have any control over it.
The second I reach her side, Kael’s gone, and I can’t decide whether that infuriates me more or not. My gaze snags on Rion, who smirks knowingly, and that pisses me off more.
