Satine beams back at her. “Thank you, professor,” she replies in a sickly-sweet voice as she flicks her braid over her shoulder. She then steals a glance at me, her expression unreadable. Beside her, Paiton snickers when she sees me watching and notices my invisible arm.
I just grin and give them silent applause, because hey, I can’t argue with the fact that they managed to do the thing. Of course, this only makes Paiton sneer at me more.
“Hmmm, one has to wonder if they realize how lucky they are to be alive,”Galen’s smooth voice whispers into my ears, seconds before he comes into view not far from Satine. His sensual lips are curved into a smile, but there’s a dark glint in his eyes as he stares at her. Going by the way Satine doesn’t look at him, and neither does anyone else in the room, including Professor Lankin, I’m guessing Satine can’t see him, but her body tightens like she can sense a threat is near. Her eyes scan the room, but when she doesn’t spot my mate, she gives Professor Lankin a tight smile.
“All it will take is one more slip up, and we’ll be happy to end their miserable lives,”Galen continues.“I’m not sure if the one called, Satine, would have made it out of the cells if it weren’t for you.”A shadow blade appears in his hand, and he steps closer to Satine, slowly moving the blade in the air near her neck like he’s imagining plunging the dagger into her flesh.“Are you sure you wouldn’t prefer it if I finished the job?”
I try not to think about how Satine and her friends had found me in the communal washroom and tried to end my life. I should be terrified of them, but then I remember how scared and broken Satine had looked when I’d found her in that cell in the dungeon. I still don’t know exactly what Knox and the others did to her, but whatever happened, the memory of it still clingsto her. I see the darkness touch Satine’s eyes every so often when she thinks no one is watching. And if anything, I feel bad for her.
“There’s been enough death,”I whisper to Galen, relying on his magic to hide my voice from the other students.
“Yes well, if she so much as touches another hair on your pretty little head, death will be the least of her worries.”He says it casually, but going by his unhinged smile, I’m guessing he’s dead serious.
“Got it,”I murmur.“Don’t let anyone touch my hair.”
He smirks wickedly. One moment he’s standing near Satine, and the next he’s in front of me, dipping his head to breathe me in like he’s been starved of me. His hand grips my hip possessively, and my breath hitches.
“What are you doing?”I hiss.“I have class.”
“You know, little shadow, if it wasn’t for your racing heartbeat, I’d think you weren’t happy to see me,”he drawls.
I bite my lip, careful not to stare at Galen directly so I don’t draw any attention.“I just mean, you don’t need to babysit me. I’m doing fine.”
He arches a brow, his gaze fixating on my invisible arm.“Are you?”
“Yes, I’m making progress,”I defend.“You know, you could just say that you missed me,”I tease.
I expect him to grin at that, but his grip tightens on my hip, and he moves in closer.“Being away from you certainly is a test of patience,”he murmurs, leaning down to brush his lips against mine.
I have to resist the urge to kiss him, especially when Professor Lankin turns her attention my way and peers at me shrewdly. I still haven’t followed her instructions, and I give her a sheepish look as she stares at me with disapproval.
Galen chuckles devilishly, enjoying making me squirm.
“We’re burning candlelight,” Professor Lankin reprimands. “As you can see, Shade, most of your classmates are able to fully cloak themselves. I trust you understand the importance of keeping up.”
“Yep, sure do,” I respond quickly, even as Galen teases me, his icy shadows sliding against my skin as if they are his fingertips. They brush against the side of my neck, trailing lower and making my pulse quicken.
Thankfully, Professor Lankin only looks at me for a moment longer before turning her attention elsewhere.
“You’re distracting me,”I hiss at him.“If you’re going to be here, the least you could do is be useful.”
Trying to ignore he’s there, I close my eyes, but it’s hard to focus on the task at hand when all I can do is think about my shadow daddy mate.
After a moment when nothing happens with my magic, Galen moves his hands, lifting them to cup my face.
“Focus on me, treasure,”he drawls, and his silky voice makes my stomach tighten.“Open your eyes.”
“If I open my eyes, then I definitely won’t be able to focus,”I counter, but I obey, opening my eyes to stare up at his ridiculously perfect face.
His lips quirk up at the sides, but his expression remains serious.“Think of it this way. Cloaking is like adding layers of shadow to disguise yourself. The more layers you add, the different levels of power you’ll be invisible to. For example, your friend there,”he indicates with his head to where I assume Kenzie must be.“She’s mastered the most basic level of cloaking. She is invisible to those such as yourself, but to anyone with more power, like me or Professor Lankin, she’s still visible.”
I frown.“Huh. Is that why Professor Lankin can’t see you? But I thought all the professors at this academy are originals? Wouldn’t you all have the same level of power?”
“We are all originals,”he confirms.“But our power is not the same.”He says that last part cryptically and doesn’t elaborate any further.
“Okay then,”I say, making a mental note to get that information out of him another time.
For the next while, I follow Galen’s instructions, working on cloaking my body. I manage to get my different limbs cloaked at different times, but I can’t seem to cloak my entire form in the one go. As the lesson draws to a close, I let out a noise of frustration.
