Levi sits down and immediately puts a napkin on his lap before picking up his menu to order his food, and we all know he will be engrossed with his routine process for the next ten minutes. It’s always the same with him, order his food, check his messages on his phone and reply to anything “mommy dearest” wants to know. When his food arrives, he will only engage with the rest of the class, or family in this case. Don’t get me wrong, he’s excellent at thinking logically and making plans, but I love throwing off his schedule just to see his head explode. He has to follow everything to a T. Not a shiny blond strand of hair out of place or wrinkle in his uniform. He needs to loosen up more. That’s why I fucked with his workout session for this evening. Levi loves running on the treadmill and he has a set pace that he keeps. So, of course I’ve reprogrammed that sucker to constantly speed up and then drop at unexpected moments. I can’t wait to see how he reacts! It should be fun to watch him flip his lid. I’ll make sure to have a front row seat to that shit show.
Knox throws his large body into his seat with a scowl.What’s with him?He should be feeling the high that is Rez since he was around her for the last hour. Instead, he’s sporting his permanent scowl on his rugged face. If his six-foot-six muscled frame didn’t scare people away, his signature look is a good deterrent. Still feeling the loss of Rez, I look back up and around the room, frowning that I’m not seeing her anywhere.
I find eyes latched on to our group though, the Queen Harpy herself is focused on our table. I just finished Kris Butlers’ debut book, Damaged Dreams. The main bitch of a princess was called Voldemort, and I’m so close to adopting her name for Emer. Unfortunately, Emer has wings, so Harpy is a better fit, but mark my words, I’ll be using Kris’ stuff where I can. She has a way with words.
Queen Harpy, using Rez’s term, is staring at the back of Levi’s head like she can bend him to her will and make him look her way. It’s like she doesn’t know his routine by now. The only way he would deviate is if there was an emergency. She looks over at me, catching my eye, and sends me longing looks. The bitch once tried to seduce me right after sleeping with Levi. It’s not uncommon with our nature to be in poly relationships or even share partners. Still, it’s something that’s talked about beforehand. You definitely don’t change the script while your partner is passed out from a sleeping draught you slipped him. Then to make things worse, hitting on his brother. It was the last mistake she ever made in their relationship.
She gives me what she must think is a seductive smile and pushes her breasts up, so they almost spill out of her top.Blech!Disgusted, I flash my eyes and fangs at her in a warning. She pales and looks back at her own table, trying to engage with her friends, and I find myself chuckling at her. She knows better than to make direct eye contact with me when my power surfaces. I could compel her to do the funky chicken on top of the table while spewing all of her horrible deeds.
Turning back to our table, I get back on task. “Where’s Rez?” I ask no one in particular, and all I get are shrugs. My eyes almost bug out of my skull. Really? I look over at Knox, “Yo, man. Did you just leave her in class to find her own way?” I accuse. I know it’s not smart to poke the bull when he’s already moody about something, but this is Rez, my woman we were talking about. Okay, I know she’s not MY woman, but you know what I mean.
“Wasn’t in class,” he growls, giving me the stink eye. I quirk an eyebrow in question, hoping he will elaborate more. I swear it’s like pulling teeth with him.
Rolling his eyes, he picks up the menu and answers, “Ops this morning.”
Well, that would explain his lousy attitude, but he doesn’t answer where she’s at. Trying to calm my nerves, I take a deep breath, but that doesn’t help. Feeling like my skin is tight, I start bouncing my knee again. Maybe she’s just walking with Moni since they had the same class.
“You guys really hit it off yesterday, huh?” Ryker asks between bites of his Salisbury steak. Surprised by his question, I’m temporarily at a loss for words as I stare at him. He’s never shown interest in any girls around here, let alone ones I’ve liked. Hell, he’s always down for giving girls the fantasy of being shared with Knox, but then barely looks at them again, letting the rumor fly of how great he was. So, he’s never shy in finding someone to warm his bed, but to actually ask about one? His eyes dart my way to see if I heard him, but they don’t linger. In that brief look, though… I must have woken up this morning in the twilight zone. Ryker’s jealous?
Holy spitballs.
“Why Ryker, is that jealousy I’m picking up on?” I tease, chuckling under my breath. Entwining my fingers and resting my chin in my hands, I watch as he squirms. “Like I said yesterday, we go way back. She’s my bestie, like my other half.”
“Bestie?” Knox grumbles, looking up from his menu with a look of vulnerability. Oh, that’s right. He doesn’t know anything about Rez yet. I take a closer look at my brother in all ways that matter and notice the dark circles under his sapphire eyes. The five o’clock stubble is a little thicker than usual. His shoulders are slightly slouched, and his skin has lost some of its pallor. His dad is back to running him ragged it seems. We might have to get Levi’s dad to step in with the Chief. He needs to be reminded school is more important in attending if he ever wants to get the Fates’ blessing and travel to Earth.
Before I can explain, JP plops into the chair next to me and hands me a bloody chocolate smoothie.
“Thanks, man. You are my savior, you know that, right?” I say and take in a long sip, suppressing a moan. I love these damn things. I don’t know how he makes them, though, since they aren’t on any menu, but I’m glad that he does—the perks of having a friend who is also an aspiring chef.
“Yeah, I know. That’s why I know you’ll never kick me from the group,” he laughs. Moni pops up out of thin air and sits in the seat across from me, giving me a heart attack and making us all jump except Levi, who’s still engrossed on his phone.
She laughs and grabs the coffee that’s on the table, “I love doing that!”
“Well, I hate it. Will you knock it off? You’re gonna put me into an early grave,” JP says while grabbing some butter and slathering up a piece of toast from my plate as the food starts popping up for our table.
“That’s the plan,” Moni replies under her breath in jest, but we all hear her.
It takes me a second, I’m ashamed to say, to realize Moni is here without Rez. “Moni, isn’t Rez with you?”
Moni opens her mouth to answer, but Knox lets out a low growl, “There’s that name again, Rez. We have fifty new students this year, and you’re focused on one puny girl. Who cares about the damn human, or whatever she is.” He throws his arms up and glares at me.
“Just because we’ve been designated tohelpher doesn’t mean we have to be stuck up her ass. Yes, she’s here by some dumb luck, and Diablo brought her over, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a mistake. Hate to agree with the popular vote, but a human doesn’t belong here, and they should have taken care of her instead of sending her to school. She’s just another kid we have to babysit,” he shakes his head and digs back into his food.
Everyone at the table is speechless, and I notice we’ve drawn the attention of the entire cafeteria. Flashing my eyes and fangs once more to the room, the conversations start back up around us. No one is talking at our table though, and for good reasons. One, Knox isn’t known for his words since shifters typically react with aggression. They are known to act first and ask questions second.
Two, did he just imply Moni and JP were kids we were babysitting? We had adopted them and brought them under our wing a few years ago because they lost their parents in one way or another. JP’s mother died from the Sulks, and he didn’t know his father, so he was left alone. Moni didn’t know their father either, and well, her mother was a bitch that had disowned her.
I hear sniffling and watch in horror as tears run down Moni’s cheeks and a blue tint takes over her body. Shrinking down to her preferred height, she zips out of the room, leaving her coffee behind. JP throws a dangerous look at Knox as he gets up before he chases after her.
“What the fuck, Knox?” Ryker and I say at the same time, and the look on his face says it all. He honestly didn’t mean to rip Moni’s heart out and stomp it to ashes.
How could he do that? I understand he’s mad about his morning, but lashing out in any form isn’t the way to go. Yes, we’ve been working on his physical aggression, but words can hurt just as much as his claws.
“I… I didn’t… I didn’t mean to,” he bows his head in defeat, “Maybe I should go and talk to her.”
“I think that’s a terrible idea right now. Let JP talk to her before you try and apologize, Knox,” Levi says, finally joining the land of the living. “But you do bring up a good point. Is that how you really feel? You feel like it’s not our place to watch and report back our findings to the council?” Levi asks, pulling on his damn cufflinks. Even though we don’t need them in this school uniform, he has switched out the buttons for the cufflinks. Says it’s the appearance he needs to keep up. Yeah, right. I know it’s Lilith’s influence.
I can see it in his expression, Knox knows he’s already fucked up and doesn’t want to add to this shit show, so he just shrugs and goes back to his meal. Torn on what to do now, I take another look at the entrance, when Levi comments, “What are you looking for, Ezekiel?”
