Dex nodded, his fists clenched at his sides. “He put his hands on her, Hunter. In front of the fucking class!”
“Not to mention he said I’d fail if we left,” I huffed.
Hunter exhaled slowly, his rage simmering through our matebond. “I’ll handle it. You know I won’t let him fuck with your grade over this. I’ll file a report with Verity today. Ironwood getsonelast chance from us. If he touches her again—he dies.” His vow was sharp, sending another pulse of magic through the air. A chill zipped down my spine from it. “I don’t care how he does it. Fucking kill him if he does. I don’t care if I get into shit for it with him being a coworker. I’m doing the proper thing by reporting it to the headmistress now, but I won’t follow protocol next time.”
“Ironwood sleeps with a lot of the nobles. He slept with Nightwind and his whole group of friends…” Fester cleared his throat, and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. “For what it’s worth, I regret ever being involved with Dark Veil. I never wanted to hurt anyone.”
The room fell silent.
Bram and Skel both turned to him, their expressions a mirror of sheer exasperation.
“Not the time, Fester,” Dex snapped. “We’re plotting murder, okay?”
Fester swallowed hard. “Right. Not the time.”
I exhaled, rubbing my temples. “Everyone, just calm down. We’ll handle this, but I’d rather Hunter not get into trouble for killing the professor.”
“But who cares? We’ll just say he went missing,” Dex suggested.
“Heisa menace,” Bram bit out.
“True. Who’s actually going to care if he dies?” Skel asked.
Nebula, who had been quiet until now, spoke from my bag. “Pandora’s right. You need to think, not react. We have more to worry about than a pervy professor. Hunter’s reporting him. Let’s focus on the real threat right now.”
Hunter’s jaw remained tight, but he gave a sharp nod. “Nebula’s right. But this isn’t over. Not by a long shot. Just wait until I get my hands on him.”
“Let Reed give him a message.” Bram smirked, looking up from his tablet. “I just told him what happened, and he said he’d pay Ironwood a visit tonight. Let’s see what that does. I told him about Ironwood’s fear, too.”
I furrowed my brows and pulled my tablet out to read through the messages.
Reed Nyx
Is Pandora okay? I felt disgust and irritation through our bond. She seems fine, but just wondering what happened.
Bram
She’s fine. Ironwood got touchy with her while trying to ‘adjust her stance’ in ceremonial magic. Skel found out he’s afraid of teaching to a class of hot reform kids while naked and non-erect, so if you wanted to give him a nightmare and a message to stay the fuck away from our mate, I think you should.
Reed Nyx
I’m on it.
I smiled, reading their messages in our group chat. “I love you guys.”
“We love you, too,” the four of them replied. I felt Reed’s protectiveness through our matebond.
We had a lot going on with the cult, but I loved that they wanted to take outanydangerous beings around us, even with being so overwhelmed with the state of our territory.
“Should I leave?” Fester got up and pointed awkwardly at the door.
“Yes, you’re dismissed,” Hunter told him, and I was wrapped in all of their arms before Fester shut the door behind him.
37
REED
Islipped into Professor Ironwood’s dream easier than I’d expected to, almost like ink bleeding into water. My magic saturated every corner of his subconscious.
