“What was that?” Vallynn demanded as soon as I stepped through the door to our dorm. “Why are you flirting with my mate?”
I forced my expression to remain neutral and shrugged. “It keeps her off kilter. The more I do it, the more she wants to stay as far away from me as she can. Since I’m usually with you, it helps keep your distance.”
Vallynn pressed his lips into a thin line and stared at me. For a moment, I thought he was going to call me out on the lie — maybe he’d figured out she was mine too, and I’d been hiding it from him. “Fine,” he hissed finally. “The bond is urging me to rip you to pieces, but you’re right. She can’t know what we are to each other, and if this keeps her in the dark, I’ll allow it.”
Shadows leaked out from around his feet, lashing up his body as if to illustrate his meaning about the bond. I remained rooted in place, in hopes it would help him keep them under control. It seemed every hard-won ounce of control he had over his ability had been slipping from his grasp since the start of the school year. His fists curled at his sides, trembling slightly as if in response to the direction of my thoughts.
“I’m going to bed. If Daena shows up, you know how to deal with her,” he bit out through clenched teeth.
I watched Vallynn turn on his heel and stomp to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. My breath whooshed out of me, and my shoulders sagged in relief. Part of me wanted to confess that I had my own mate bond to the tiny redhead riding me hard to claim her. The rest knew Vallynnwould do the honorable thing if I did and insist I claim her. He wouldn’t allow me to wallow in my own unhappiness, even though it would rip him apart trying to fight his own bond with her so close.
The truth lingered on my tongue, bitter and heavy. Mine. She was mine as much as she was his. Lying about it, even to protect him, was slowly shredding me from the inside out. My only reprieve was the stolen moments I tried to tempt her, knowing she would never accept. I could feel Vallynn’s power pulsing from behind his bedroom door, and my lips tugged into a humorless smile. “We’re both fucked, brother,” I muttered to myself as I turned and made my way to my own bedroom.
The next week seemed to drag by. My gargoyle instincts had me tailing Bechora when I wasn’t busy working on assignments or coaxing Vallynn into focusing on our mission. She was rarely without Zypher, and the riot of sensations I’d felt the night she’d claimed him as her mate threatened to drag me into that memory each time I saw them together. That only strengthened my resolve to get to the bottom of the King’s treachery. If we could uncover his plot, maybe I could tell Vallynn the truth, and we could both claim her as ours.
Probably the most curious thing I’d seen as I stalked her from the shadows was the way Gabriel Dreadgrave seemed to hover just beyond her notice. Rumors had flown around campus the day after he’d bitten her. Daena had even made sure to mention them with her snide, high-pitched trill any time she caught Vallynn’s focus on Bechora. It was whispered that he’d made her his thrall in an attempt to put her in her place. Except he’d never made her do his bidding, and the way he’d been hovering lately made absolutely no sense. The entire campus knew he hated her for her lack of power.
Needing to sate my curiosity, I slipped from the rooftop where I’d been perched watching him follow her to the building where our Human Studies class was held and dropped to the ground behind him. Gabriel whirled around to face mewith a snarl, poised to attack.
“Careful,” I drawled, crossing my arms over my chest and letting my stone form slip away. “You’ve been trailing little Red like a lovesick puppy for weeks now. Not exactly giving ‘fuck her’ vibes.” I paused to smirk at him. “Well, not the ones you want to be giving anyway. Want to tell me what gives, or should I assume the Dreadgrave heir simply needed remedial stalking practice?”
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed into slits. “What I do is none of your business, gargoyle. Shouldn’t you be guarding your prince?”
“Prince Vallynn is capable of handling himself,” I shot back with a smirk. “Which means I have time to harass whoever I want. And I gotta say, Gabey, you’re making it really easy. Strange how you seem to be hovering around her, though. Word around campus is you hate her guts, but here you are shadowing her like some broody bodyguard.”
“I said what I do isn’t your concern,” Gabriel snapped. “That means this isn’t your business either.”
I whistled low, rocking back on my heels. “Oh, so it’s a secret. That just makes it even juicier. Don’t worry, I won’t let anyone know you’re pining away over the little mage. You might want to try smiling once in a while, though. Or blinking. The whole following-her-around-like-an-unblinking-predator thing screams ‘serial killer’ more than secret admirer.”
Gabriel snarled, turning his back on me with deliberate disdain. “You really don’t know when to shut up. I suppose it’s true what they say about your kind having gravel for brains.”
I threw my head back with a laugh and fell into step beside him. “You want to know what I think, Dreadgrave?” I asked, not bothering to wait for a response. “I think you want her. Maybe the story about you cornering her to make her your thrall was rooted in truth, but somehow our little redheaded mage managed to get away from you, and now you’re obsessed with her. It would make sense. Don’t vampires obsess over things they can’t have?”
“You’re worse than the damned demon,” he snapped.
My eyebrows rose in question. Gabriel was clearly referring to Zypher. It was well known around campus that the demon prince loved to meddle in things that interested him, and sussing out the remaining members of his mated bond group had become a special interest of his since finding Bechora. The vampire didn’t seem to realize what he’d given away by mentioning the male.
“I know you’d rather chew glass than admit why you’re really following her around. Which means…” I called out, causing Gabriel to look at me as we walked toward class. Something like panic flashed across his expression, there and gone so fast I would have missed it if I hadn't been trying to draw it out of him. “…I’ll keep asking until you snap and spill. It’s only a matter of time until you find me so frustratingly annoying that you tell me everything.”
Gabriel sneered, his tone pure venom. “You’ll be waiting until your wings crumble to dust, Vazgurr, since there’s nothing to tell.”
“Such a drama queen,” I chortled, clapping him on the shoulder before he shrugged me off like I’d burned him. “I do have some notes if you wanted that to be more believable, though.”
“Fuck off, Dante,” Gabriel snapped, putting on a boost of vampiric speed to get away from me.
I followed behind him with a laugh. I nearly laughed again when I made it to Human Studies and spotted the vampire staring angrily at Zypher as the demon played with Bechora’s hair. A zip of my own jealousy ripped through me, forcing me to tear my eyes away from them and stalk to my seat. Vallynn was already seated in our usual place, waiting for me.
“Where did you vanish to?” he asked.
“Looking for Thrackborne,” the lie rolled off my tongue with the taste of ash, but I wasn’t about to tell my oldest friend I’d been following our mate around lately. That would require telling him truths he didn’t need to hear.
“And?”
I shrugged. “Not sure where the overgrown lizard has gotten off to.” That at least wasn’t a lie. Thrackborne had made himself scarce the last month, and I didn’t know why. I had a vague memory of him showing up in our dorm the night Bechora enchanted all of us except for Zypher with siren allure, but beyond that, I could only recall my burning need for her.
Professor Kragmane called the class to order. One by one, groups were called up to give their presentations on their assigned region. I found my gaze drifting toward Bechora more often than not, needing to soak in the sight of her. I was working out ways I could get her alone, just so I could have her to myself for a few fleeting moments, when our group was called to the front. Vallynn jabbed me in the side with his elbow, sensing I was distracted, and I jerked my head in his direction. He cleared his throat and gave a pointed look at the front of the room.
I had to force myself to move, but once I was out of my seat, the bond seemed to seize all my common sense. Shouldering my way past Gabriel, I planted myself next to Bechora, my arm brushing her side. She frowned up at me, her lips pursed as if she wanted to make a sassy remark, only to snap her eyes to the front when Kragmane commanded us to proceed with the presentation.
