I was going to lose my mind, thinking that every guy I ran into with green eyes and full lips was my freaking fated mate.
“What isshedoing here?” Rage snapped.
Well, maybe noteveryguy. Surely my mate wouldn’t talk to me likethat.Was it my imagination, or did his gaze flick to my fingers? Just as quickly as the thought came, his attention was back up to my face. His cold, hard, and unforgiving gaze.
I let my own eyes linger on his fingers, my heart sinking a little when I saw they were bare of marks. What was wrong with me? Rage was the last man I should want to be mated to. I returned his glare, adding a middle-finger salute when Master Carn faced him.
“I’m sorry, Prince Courage, we weren’t expecting an extra student this year. Especially not one with two affinities.” He pivoted and looked down his nose at me.
Even for a mage, Master Carn was tall, at least six and a half feet, and he was thin. But I’d long since learned that bulk didn’t necessarily equal strength. His eyes swirled like a high mage’s, only the colors were limited to his affinity: red, orange, yellow. He was an elemental mage. There were different kinds of mages, as many as there were shifters: healer mage, potion mage, war mage, the list went on. He pursed his lips as he assessed me, and I tipped my head high, feigning strength I didn’t feel inside.
“Does she have to be in my private session?” Rage asked the master, his voice low.
The teacher’s mouth pulled into a frown. “The high mage was the one who ordered me to work with her, but you’re right. I’m sure she can join someone else's private hour. I’ll speak to the headmistress at once.”
Rage waved off the professor quickly, his eyes narrowing at the mention of this being reported to his mother. “Nah, it’s fine. Don’t bother my mother with this. I’ll need a moving target for practice, and this will be a trial by fire for her.”
“Ha-ha.” I crossed my arms, giving Rage a scowl.
“You’re sure?” Master Carn wrinkled his nose as if the idea of me studying with Rage was disgusting.
Rage nodded. “If she gets in the way of my progress, I’ll speak to my mother myself.”
Ouch.
Snitches get stitches, buddy.
“Very well,” Master Carn said. Looking at me, he pointed at the door. “Go to the library and get the textAn Intro to Fire Elementsand return promptly.”
“The library?” It could be on the other side of campus for all I knew. “Could you tell me where—?”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Just sit down,” he snapped and rolled his eyes. “In the interest of time, I’ll get it. But you will get the remainder of your other books on your own time.” He walked to the door with an air of superiority. “Be right back.”
As soon as the door closed, I stepped closer to Rage, determined to go into full-on detective mode.
“So … were you at the party last night?” If my mate was a friend of the Midnight brothers, then maybe I could get some names from him.
He crossed his arms, his expression giving away no emotion. “Obviously, it was at my house.”
“Riiight.” He wasn’t giving me any help. “Were many of your friends there? Like friends who might know about a secret garden in your woods?”
He stiffened. “What?”
My heart pounded, climbing up into my throat. “I mean, you know … what friends of yours were there?”
Rage furrowed his brow, looking at me like I was an alien. “All of them. Pretty sure the entire student population was there, all fifteen of us plus some guards I grew up with. Why?”
“Hmm.” Really not helpful. “Can I get a list of your closest friends? Ones who—”
“Umm, no, psycho stalker,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m not giving you a list of names.”
“Why not?”
“Let me guess, you hooked up with someone, and you’re trying to find out who it is now? They said they were my friend?”
I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. “Yeah… how did you…?”
