“Yes, it is,” he grinds out, then he adds, “And stop babying my animali. He thinks you’re as insufferable as I do.”
I narrow my eyes at my reluctant fourth mate, refusing to believe him. Bonfang loves me in his own way. I’m sure of it. Seriously, Lady Fate misjudged when she picked this arrogant professor as one of my mates. Of course, I don’t say that to him.
Folding my hands behind my back I say instead, “Sooo, I thought you’d be with Thane and the others visiting the queen.”
Knox doesn’t reply, and he simply goes back to his favorite past time, staring at the dark water. I watch him silently for a moment, feeling even more awkward.I wonder if his friends know he has a problem,I muse to myself, because I’m not sure how long one has to spend staring at a pool of water before an intervention is needed.
“Or are they back already?” I persist, staring around me, though I already know if they were, Raith, Galen, and Thane would have found me by now.
“It was in the queen’s best interest that I remained here while they attended the audience,” Knox finally replies, his voice ice cold.
The queen’s best interest? What the hell does that mean?“You sure? Because I bet the queen is missing having you there.I bet you really lighten every conversation,” I say sarcastically, not sure why I keep blurting things that will likely get me into trouble.
Thankfully, Knox doesn’t seem offended, but he keeps staring at that water like it holds the answers to all his problems. More time passes, and I decide to give myself a mental pep talk. Sucking in a calming breath, I remind myself why I’m here.Answers. I’m here to finally get some answers about the missing students.
Putting on my big girl pants, I cross my arms and jut out my hip. “I’m not leaving here until you tell me where they are, Knox. Whatever you’re doing, it’s wrong. The students aren’t your playthings. I mean, can’t you take your anger out in a healthier way?”
When he turns to me again, it’s like he’s looking right through me, and there’s something sad in his eyes that I haven’t seen before. Sorrow, maybe? “My anger?” he asks, frowning like he has no idea what I’m talking about.
“Yeah,” I say, forging onward. “Obviously you have pent up anger for some reason, and you’re taking it out on some of the students. Making them disappear. It’s either anger, or you’re simply a sadist. Either way, it needs to stop.”
He blinks slowly at me for a long moment as my words seem to finally register, and understanding washes the sorrow from his expression as his cold, hard mask slides back into place. “You’re here because of the missing students?” he says, his voice disinterested again.
“Well yeah,” I reply. “I know you’re behind the disappearances. Are you keeping them in the cells like you did with Satine?” I make a face. “Please tell me you’re not torturing them.” I hadn’t seen any other students when I was down in the dungeons, but it sounds like the academy has a whole number of hidden rooms, so he could be keeping them anywhere.
“And why would I waste my time abducting and torturing students?” he says indignantly.
“That’s a great question,” I reply. “Whywouldyou do that?”
Realizing I’m not going to let this go, he sighs heavily. “Some of the students say the words that result in their enrollment being terminated, and they’re sent back to the human realm. Others are murdered by their classmates or perish during their training.”
“And others are being abducted,” I add on, circling my hand in a gesture that shows I’m trying to get him to continue.
“If they are, then they wouldn’t have been strong enough to survive being a shadow warrior, in any case,” he says. “And they’re not my concern right now.”
I gape at him, though I don’t know why I’m surprised by what I’m hearing. Knox has always been cold and detached, and I should have expected this. “What do you mean ‘if’? You’re telling me you didn’t notice the missing students?”
“There was a time when I would track each missing student down, but it usually resulted in me finding their remains beyond the walls of Shadowbone and the relative safety of this academy. If the students wish to end their lives trying to flee this place, and they ignore our warnings, there’s not much I can do.”
“No,” I say in denial, shaking my head. “I saw Satine in that cell. I saw what you did to her.”
“That was different,” he replies.
“You took her,” I say. “Because for some reason, you enjoy inflicting pain and?—”
“I took her because she dared to touch you!” he snaps, whirring on me.
My mouth falls open. I’d known Knox was the one to take Satine after she’d tried to kill me, but I hadn’t put too much thought intowhyhe’d done it. If anything, I’d thought he’d done it because he didn’t like seeing Thane get hurt, and he knewThane had accepted me as his mate. I hadn’t really thought that maybe Knox had taken her because he wanted to for himself.
I’m too late to react when Knox’s shadows shoot out, spearing across the clearing. They wind around my neck, and the instant they touch me, the sensation of ice and fire rushes along my skin. Horrifying images enter my mind. Flashes of bloodied fingers and cracked stone. A scream sounds in my ears, and I gasp as fear slams into me, though I don’t know why I’m afraid.
Knox’s shadows release me a moment later, and the instant they do, the images disappear as if they’d never been there. I bend over, heaving as I suck air into my lungs. “What was that?” I rasp, not sure why those images had seemed so familiar.
“How did you—?” he starts, then amends, “That wasn’t me.”
“What do you mean it wasn’t you?” My eyes widen, but Knox’s cold mask is back in place.
“When you enter the games, the queen will try to prevent my power from touching you,” he tells me. “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to enter your dreams. You may have to deal with your nightmares on your own.”
