“What heart?”
They smiled at each other, like two kids sharing a secret.
“Nix!” Elle’s voice shouted from the left side of the large cafeteria.
Uh, oh. Nix had damage control to do.
“Hey, it’s the girl whose wrist you broke this morning,” Bael said. “Smiling at you, in a cast, like a freak.”
Nix sighed. “Yes.”
“Why do you think she is waving you over with her not-broken wrist like she wants you to sit and eat lunch with her? Because that is not the common reaction to being attacked—even if she does think of herself as your sister.”
Even though every ounce of her being whispered, “Don’t,” Nix needed to talk with Elle because she needed to locate Persius.
The protection spell that sat in Nix’s pocket did nothing if she could not find Persius to “cure” him from Elle’s enchantment.
Nix asked Bael, “If I allow you to sit with me at her table, will you promise not to say anything in front of them?”
“Embarrassed of me?” Bael asked playfully, but there was a palpable edge to his tone. A darkness lingered in his red eyes.
“No. Protective of you,” Nix replied, shocking him. “I don’t want you saying things around them that they could use against you. Don’t let anyone get close enough to pour anything on you or take any of your hair.”Damn Enchanters.
Bael’s lips screwed into a sour expression. “What the fuck kind of people do you sit with, Nixie?”
Nix cocked her head to the side, and she turned to walk to Elle’s rectangular, dark wood lunch table. Other cygnus shifters sat around as usual.
Elle was the daughter of the clan leader and shifter council president, after all. She and her brother were basically royalty. In the past, Nix had always felt so incredibly lucky that the Oadess family took Nix under their wing.
Nix walked into an active conversation. About her.
“You took her in, she broke your wrist, and she seduced your brother and now the other alphas in this school,” a girl said to Elle. “What an ungrateful slut.”
Nix blew out a breath and summoned a sense of calm as she rocked on her feet, right in front of where Elle had motioned for her to come join them. Also, “seduced” Elle’s brother, Adar? Um, no. Never had that happened.
“Hey, don’t say that stuff,” Elle scolded the girl and feigned an expression of pity for Nix. “Nix didn’t mean to hurt me. You know how delicate and demure my body is. She didn’t mean to break my wrist.”
“Elle, you’re being too nice,” the girl said, glaring at Nix. “She deservesherwrists broken. See how she likes it.” The spiteful female cygnus shifter looked right at Nix and added, “Bet your alphas would disappear if you couldn’t offer hourly handjobs anymore.”
Elle acted scandalized as she scolded the girl. “Stop it! Nix is my friend. Please, Nix, sit next to me.”
Nix slowly followed the direction. She sat at the table, but she left extra room between herself and Elle.
Bael stood back several feet, watching the interaction carefully. Nix was rather impressed that he had listened to herand not spoken or jumped in when Nix was called an “ungrateful slut.”
“So, Elle, uh, sorry about this morning. I have, uh, no idea how I hurt you like that. You know I’m not very strong,” Nix told her, lying through her teeth.
What Nix really wanted to say was: “Where is Persius, and why did you bespell him to not recognize his fated mate?”
“I wanted to apologize to Persius as well. Is he coming to lunch today?”
“No, he was a bit…horrified from this morning. Didn’t feel very well, so he skipped classes today.”
He “didn’t feel well,” huh?Nix palmed the potion in her blazer. “When will I see him again? To apologize?”
“You don’t have to apologize tohim. And don’t worry, you are still my best friend.”
Am I? Really?
