A big shadow fell over us, making Vax’s gaze leave mine and flick to my side. I swung my head to see the HICI Educator support for this class, Carnis Parlant, the Water Dragon-Sorcerer suddenly right there.
“While I’m all for flirting games here and there, if you can’t keep your focus through it, save it for after class,” he rumbled, his spiky golden hair glinting under the light and all the black marble surrounding the space. The guy was super down to earth always wearing ripped jeans and a tank that he looked like he was gonna bust out of any minute with all the broad, ripped muscle.
Fuck me,I was worked up.
I blinked. “Sure thing.”
“Understood,” Vax said, but his eyes darkened a little.
Yeah, he didn’t exactly like being challenged, let alone reprimanded. Although, making it obvious like this wasn’t really his thing either. Maybe whatever had been said during his text exchange with his parents had gotten to him and now having another authority figure coming at him was proving more irritating than it normally would be.
My gaze darted around the class.
He’d let himself become so immersed in me and not the actual lesson activity at hand—again, not normal for him—that he hadn’t even realized that things had moved on while we’d been doing that.
I saw Evira and Winter battling carefully with their magic now.
Octana Reyolde was working with Christalyn. Octana was creating an animated storm cloud that was being attacked strategically by Christalyn’s magic in flash lightning form.
And one desk in front of mine and Vax’s, River Leroux and Guriel Arlux—a Werewolf–Dark Fae—were battling with swirling mini-vortexes. Guriel was growling as River was winning with not just power, but some cool ingenuity. He was even kicking ass while still able to exchange what he thought were discreet flirty looks with his secret girlfriend, Octana.
“Everyone’s on the next exercise,” I whispered to Vax, trying to tell him that Carnis had a good reason for coming over.
Although, whispering, I realized, wasn’t doing much good, because Carnis had dragon hearing.
“Aww, a royal heir no longer with a crown? Too bad, so sad, huh?”
We all stiffened at that.
The voice was also way too familiar—because of how disgusting it was to hear. Anything coming out of that motherfucker’s mouth.
Keuric Glastor.
I looked around Carnis, and the first thing I noticed was that massive belt buckle. I hated that it was the first thing I saw, but for once it wasn’t on me where that sort of thing was concerned. One, because I hated the shithead. And two because, he made it that big and glinting with magic on purpose, to literally draw the eye there. As soon as I registered it, though, my gaze bounced to his wild blue hair, and that overly big black furry coat that was always open to reveal his naked chest. Why even wear it at all, then? The asshole thought he was all irresistible and charismatic, but he wasn’t. That was me. It had been my role here going on four years now.
The thing that really riled me up about him, though, was what he’d done to Evira.
Something that I’d thought had been settled when she’d punished him for it by beating him down dragon-style. But I guess her abdicating had him thinking she had less power now and that she was vulnerable.
The fuck she was.
In fact, her actually doing that had shown big-time courage.
He touched her shoulder.
Her left shoulder.
Where her Crown Heir dragon marking had been. Unlike the others that covered her skin, that was gone now.
Something Win and I had found out about the morning after our race. We’d had to quell our reactions because of a look we’d gotten from Vax. But right after we’d left Evira’s suite to go to classes—Vax and Evira headed one way, Win and me another—Win had dragged me into an empty classroom, and we’d had a fuck-and-feed, kind of taking out our upset about it that way.
But as Keuric brought that to the forefront now—something we were still trying to make peace with—I saw Win’s side of the magical battle over the desk snuff out.
And then he shot to his feet, amber power blazing from his palms.
No.
No. No. No.
