“Splendid,” he says in a deadpan tone. “Now, as I was saying, both Councils are aligned in executing the fiscal policy which the High Council determines, as are the Lower Councils comprised of the Shifter, Witch, and so on…”
For the rest of class, Lyra and her cronies throw me dirty looks that I ignore completely, riding the high of the professor’sverbal sparring match with the entitled Legacy—even if it was only because she disrupted his lecture and challenged his authority, not because he actually gives a shit about me. The best part? I didn’t have to say a single word.
At lunch, I listen as Tori and Evie tell Brynne and I all about spending Winter break at their coven house. Well—covenstead is the more appropriate term, apparently. The mansion itself belongs to the Hektreia family, but it also acts as the meeting place for their coven. The more I hear about their mother, Vivica, and how she’s not just the coven Matriarch, but also co-head of the Witch Council and the Witch representative on the Dark Council, the less I want to meet her. I have no desire to cross paths with someone that powerful and influential. I imagine I’d feel like Frodo when Sauron realizes he’s about to fuck shit up at Mt. Doom.
Kind of like I feel now, when the hairs on the back of my neck stand up like I’m being watched. I try to ignore it, but the feeling stays with me even as I smile and laugh at the Hektreia family antics. I stay with them as long as I can, dreading going to my Chemistry 202 class where I now know I’ll see Killian for the first time since we drunkenly hooked up. He hasn’t texted me. I haven’t texted him. I may not have that much experience with one night stands, but I don’t have to be a genius to know that sneaking out before dawn means he probably doesn’t want to talk about what we are.
Which is nothing.
The moment I walk into the classroom, he has me in his sights.
God damn it.
“There’s my smart girl,” he practically purrs as I walk in and set my things on a counter at the back of the classroom. He follows me the moment I sit on the metal stool and my heart stutters in my chest, but I try to cover it by rolling my eyes.
“Hello, Killian.”
He props his head on his fist and grins. “A little birdie told me something this morning.”
“Was it to go fuck yourself?”
His smile only sharpens at my insult. “This semester is going to besomuch fun.”
“For one of us, maybe.”
“Oh I don’t know, we have fun together, don’t we?” He winks, and I swallow thickly, turning back to the professor, an older Sikh man.
“If by ‘fun’ you mean me telling you to go away, and you ignoring me, then yeah we’re having a fucking blast.”
“Knew it.”
“Are you going to be like this for the rest of term?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to ask the professor for a different lab partner.”
“Good luck, I paid him off.”
“You bribed a teacher? Aholy man?” I ask incredulously, raising my eyebrow.
“Okay fine, it was less a bribe and more a steady supply of a custom masala chai blend for the rest of the term. And if he wants to express his gratitude by letting me partner with the smartest girl in class, well then who am I to stop him?”
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’ve been called worse.”
“Yeah, by me.”
He snorts, which makes the professor crook his eyebrow at us before turning back to the board. I try to stifle a smile so as to not give him the satisfaction, but he still sees it.
“I’m on to you, baby girl,” he leans close and whispers in my ear, and a memory of our drunken hook up flashes through my mind: him groaning into my neck as my body struggled toaccommodate his girth, brushing his nose against mine before kissing the tears from my cheek.
I don’t bother answering, and we spend the rest of the class trading barbs back and forth. But that glimpse of our night together plays on repeat behind my eyes until finally, class ends and I run out of there like my ass is on fire. One glance back tells me I’m not wholly incorrect as the heat of his gaze follows me out the door.
By the time Milo texts Ramsey and I in our group chat that he’s ordered dinner for all of us from the Mexican place in the Student Union, I’m fucking exhausted. Not from the increased course load, that’s a piece of cake. I just hate being around so many people. Spending Winter break with Ramsey was the closest I’ve come to feeling relaxed in… fuck. Ever, honestly.
The weight of all the shit I’ve dealt with today lifts the moment I see him waiting for me at the restaurant. He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed and glowering at anyone who gets too close. But when he sees me, his eyes soften and his shoulders drop, and I can almost imagine he might just feel the same about me.
