Page 147 of Twisting Beauty

He was right. I couldn’t save Bridgit today, not if I wanted to save everyone else.

Shame settled hot and sour under my ribs. I shoved it down before it could slow me. Cry later. Hate yourself later.

I rubbed my thumb along the scar in my palm, adding Bridgit to my promise. I won’t forget you. Please just… hold on.

My mission grew heavier, the weight of one more life in my hands threatening to break me.

A bell rang somewhere above us.

Across the corridor, Lorcan pushed off the lockers.

I had seconds.

“Nuala.” I lowered my voice. “Bridgit wasn’t safe. What happened to her wasn’t random. I’ll help you figure it out, I swear to God. But not here. Not now.”

Her eyes searched mine, then she nodded. She believed me. Her trust landed in my chest like another weight added to the pile.

I slid the photo back to her as we started walking toward the lecture hall.

Lorcan fell into step beside me, his shoulder brushing mine as he leaned in. “You sit next to me.”

It was not a question.

I bristled at his audacity. “No,” I hissed. “Aoife’s already watching us. The whole campus will be.”

“I’m not asking, Gray.”

“You don’t get to demand⁠—”

“I need you where I can protect you today,” he said, his voice cracking.

My step faltered.

Something in my chest twisted at the way he said it, the sharp edge of control wrapped around something that felt too close to protection, too close to him fearing that he’d lose me.

I hated that my body responded to that. I hated that part of me leaned toward it instead of away.

We entered the lecture hall. Rafe, Breezy, and Finn were already in their usual block of seats up the back.

“Protect me from over there.” I slid my arm into Nuala’s. “She needs me.”

Nuala and I turned toward our usual seats closer to the front. For a moment Lorcan just stood there, glancing between me and his friends who were already waving him over.

He peeled off toward his friends across the room.

Damn. I’d actually won that argument. I eased into the seat beside Nuala and let out a breath. We were closer to the doors than Lorcan. Which meant I had a chance to slip out from under him when this class ended.

The thud of chairs cut through the hum of the classroom.

I turned.

Lorcan was on his feet. So were Rafe, Breezy, and Finn, their bags swinging onto shoulders, notebooks gathered. The four of them moved across the hall in a single coordinated drift.

The whole lecture hall stopped to watch them, the kings of Ravenwood, as they settled around us.

Finn took the seat on Nuala’s left, dropping his bag by his feet. Rafe and Breezy filled in the row behind, Breezy stretching his legs into the aisle with a low whistle, Rafe muttering something about the angle of the heater.

And Lorcan slid into the empty seat to my right.