“Run away really fucking fast if shit goes sideways and try again later?” Sean offers.
“Look at that. The first accurate assessment you’ve ever made in my classroom, Mr. Brewer.” I gather the essays and slide them into my briefcase. “Leave. As amusing as I normallyfind your antics, I have company on the way. It would be better if you weren’t here when they arrive.”
Micah’s head snaps up. “You find usamusing?”
He sounds insulted.
Before I can respond—or more likely, choose not to—a knock sounds at the door.
I know who it is before I see him.
Vyse leans against the doorframe, red hair spilling over one shoulder like a gunshot wound. His blue eyes sweep the room like a lazy cat surveying a room full of mice.
A predator wearing a pleasant mask.
“Am I interrupting anything fun?” he asks, his honeyed voice pitched to slip past defenses. I’ve always found it grating, personally. But then, I suppose I’m not his target audience.
“Who’s the red-haired lady?” Sean asks warily.
Vyse’s expression flickers, his eyes momentarily lit with irritation.
Then he laughs and slinks into the room with the boneless grace of something meant to live underwater. “I am manythings, but aladyain’t one of them.” He crosses to Sean and trails one finger down his bicep. “Aren’t you a tall, thick glass of water?”
Sean flinches away and awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. “I’m more like a keg of beer, if anything.”
“Charming,” Vyse purrs.
His eyes flash like a camera snapping.
Sean freezes mid-motion, his hand still raised to his head, his expression going slack. The change is instantaneous and total. One moment he’s a person, the next he’s a statue.
I should have moved faster. Should have anticipated this, really. Vyse has always been predictable in his unpredictability.
“What—” Micah starts forward, reaching for his frozen packmate. “Hey! What the fuck are you doing to him?”
Vyse ignores him completely. He circles Sean like a shark, head tilted, examining him with curiosity. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen such low brain activity in someone who wasn’t asleep.”
“Let him go,” I say with a sigh.
Vyse continues as if I haven’t spoken. “Dumb as a box of rocks, but admirably loyal. To the point of obsession, really.” He taps his chin thoughtfully. “And completely heterosexual. How boring.”
Micah lunges for him.
Bad idea.
Vyse doesn’t even look at Micah. He just flicks his fingers and Micah joins Sean in frozen stillness, caught mid-stride with his hands outstretched.
“This one’s got a bit more going on upstairs,” Vyse observes, poking Micah’s forehead with one long finger. “But he’s equally obsessed with the little witch. Wolves and their mates.” He heaves a dramatic sigh. “How charmingly droll.”
“Vyse.” I stand and the chair scrapes against the floor. “The wolves are off limits.”
He pouts. The expression would be more convincing if his eyes weren’t stillhunting. “You’re never any fun.”
He waves his hand.
Both wolves stumble back into motion simultaneously. Sean pitches forward into Micah, who barely catches him, and they end up in an ungainly heap of limbs and confusion.
“Feels like my brain threw up,” Sean groans, pressing his palm to his forehead.
