No worries! (smiley face) See you soon!
I locked the tablet with a click and put it back into my bag. My fingers brushed against my thigh wrap. It seemed like everyone was staring at me today, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t give them another reason to stare.
“Gravesend,” Nightwind murmured behind me.
I jolted in my seat before glancing over at him with a cautious glare. Dreadful had tried to get me alone with them, usinghimas an excuse. I didn’t even know if he had been a part ofthe group that had hit me, but I wouldn’t put it past him. “What?”
He ran a hand through his dark blond curls as his blue eyes softened. “I’m glad you’re back. I was worried about you.”
“I’m sure you know what your friends did.” I clipped my tone.
A faint wave of pheromones wafted from him, skimming up my arms and doing nothing to calm me like he seemed to want. “I didn’t know about it until after it happened. I wouldn’t have let them do that to you.”
“I don’t know if I believe you,” I whispered. “They used you as an excuse to get me alone, and I didn’t fall for it. But they found me anyway.”
“Someone cut off Dreadful’s hand,” he mentioned weakly. “And she’s been stripped of her nobility. She got her karma.”
“She may have, but what about everyone else?” I whispered harshly. “There were at least seven demons that attacked me.”
His gaze dropped, and he shrugged. “I don’t know, but I’m sorry I couldn’t stop it.”
Swallowing a lump in my throat, I turned back around as Dusk started her lecture. She went into a full discussion about demon instinct and mob mentality. She explained how fear and anger could spread and amplify within a group to thepoint of them ganging up on someone they see as a threat or as weak to eliminate them.
I couldn’t help but notice a parallel between the lecture and what had happened to me. I didn’t think that was a coincidence.
After class, I rushed out without talking to Nightwind again. My stomach churned with the way his pheromones spread over me. Ihatedthem.
I walked into Serpentine Stadium and spotted Reed right away.
His violet eyes met mine, and he rushed over, wrapping his arms around me and spinning me around once before dropping his lips against my ear. “I’ve missed you so much, dream girl.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” I hugged him tightly before pulling back just a bit.
He leaned in close, and his breath fanned over my lips, smelling sweet like cotton candy. But before he could kiss me, I jolted at an interruption.
“No hug for your dad?” Daryl joked, striding over to me with awkwardly opened arms.
Reed’s arms smacked to his sides like touching me burned him, and he lowered his head in respect toward Daryl for a moment before meeting his eyes. “Death, it’s good to see you.”
I stepped into Daryl’s hug, and he trembled as I wrapped my arms around him. “Hey.”
“So it’s not just Hunter, then?” he murmured as we pulled back.
I shook my head, biting my lip.
He knew.
“Interesting,” he hummed, glancing at Reed. “You’re the one who found Pandora, right?”
Reed bobbed his head. “I’m the one who brought her to Hunter, but I wasn’t the one who brought her to Sunstone Revive. That was those three.” He pointed to the corner of the room.
I followed his direction and stiffened as I met the gazes of Dex, Hemlock, and Skel. A violent chill worked its way down my spine at the eye contact.
Dex’s tongue ran over his bottom lip, and I caught a glimpse of his tongue ring. He winked at me.
My body flushed with heat.
Hemlock took a swig of his current alcoholic beverage before nodding in my direction, but his gaze kept flicking between Reed and I.
