Page 6 of Zodiac Beasts

“It’s funny because I was just thinking the same thing. You do owe me that much.” Her words had more bite than the smile that graced her lips. She almost sounded playful, but I could sense it was little more than a front for her mental crisis. “What triggered you?” She asked so boldly, I nearly recoiled.

“The moon.” I didn’t have a better answer worked out yet. “Irritation towards a fire sign on a fire sign month.” I added quickly, knowing she wouldn’t be satisfied with the first statement. It wasn’t a lie. Just… not the whole truth.

“And you were irritated with Marcus because…” She pressed harder, and I wished she wasn’t as perceptive as she was. If she was fishing for something, I wouldn’t be the one to get caught.

“Because I’m always irritated with Marcus.” That was true.

Lila laughed, and it was both light and accidental. I fed on that fleeting moment of relief in hopes of calming myself down.

“Okay well, that’s fair.” She gave me the grace of accepting the explanation. Thank the devil, because the last admission she would get out of me was ‘because I got jealous when I saw him touching you.’

“Regardless, I’m surprised you came to class this morning. You could have rested, and I would have sent you the notes. You could stay home for my classes for the rest of your degree if you’d like, and I’d be happy to tutor you here and there to make sure you understand the material.” My desperate subject change was the kind of reasonable proposition I should have suggested months ago.

“And miss out on watching the brash and confident Professor Karras mix up the sine and cosine wave in front of an audience? I don’t think so.” She raise both brows to punctuate her half smirk.

Cheeky.

Cute and cheeky.

No, just cheeky. I couldn’t see her as cute. My idle thoughts were dangerous and misguided lately.

“Is that why you’re here? To see me rattled?”

“Yes.” She nodded firmly. “But also because I wanted to apologize to you.”

What in the devil. “You wanted apologize to me?” I was stunned beyond words. I mustn’t have heard her correctly. “For… what exactly?” I couldn’t even begin to determine which line she imagined she had crossed more inappropriately than I had. I was the one who marked her, intimidated her, threatened her, manipulated her, left her in the dark, pushed her away when she needed support, fucked her in a public place on three separate occasions, and I got her mixed up in my petty feud with Marcus. I upended her entire life, and likely ruined her college experience before it could even begin, all while in a position of authority over her. I was the person she was supposed to be able to trust and lean on as a mentor, who betrayed every expectation of our relationship.

The idea that she was apologizing to me was laughable. I could barely call it comedy, it was so ludicrous.

“For being so stubborn?” She suggested. “For not respecting your boundaries or listening to any of your warnings. I put you in a bad position without understanding the severity of your and Marcus’ unique situation as Zodiac Hybrid species. I think I have a lot to apologize for, actually.”

The only reason I didn’t cut her off immediately was because I was still beside myself in shock.

She continued, “It’s not fair for me to use whatever is in my blood to keep luring you into these kinds of situations, when you don’t want anything to do with me. I’ve kind of bulldozed my way into your life to the point that I’m pitting you and Marcus against each other over me, and I hate that I’m breaking up your family and causing so much tension.”

This was wild. Insane.

She bulldozed my life? She was ‘breaking up my family’ of all things? I was so lost as to how she’d come to these conclusions, I just continued to stare at this beautiful, confused young woman with my jaw slowly dropping.

And still she spoke, ever growing in her absurdities. “S-so, even though I was scared at first, you never actually hurt me, and I promise I’m okay with all of it. It was consensual on my end. But… you weren’t in your right mind—not even once. And I don’t want to feel like I’ve been taking advantage of you. I understand now that my natural scent forced you to be with me against your will, and every time I’m around you on a full moon, while you’re trying so hard to stay away from me and keep our relationship platonic and appropriate, I’m the one who is pushing and manipulating you into—”

“Stop. By the fucking devil, STOP.” My jaw must have been fully unhinged now. Was she about to imply that she was the one who had slept with me without consent? That her blood had enslaved me and she took advantage of my innocent intentions? Like she’d committed magical date rape? On an incubus! The same girl who I’d pinned to the door on her first day of school so I could scent her was now talking to me about violating my boundaries.

Fucking.

Astounding.

“I’m sorry I—”

“Stop apologizing.” I shoved a hand through my hair, then I balled it into a fist at the back of my head in pure aggravation. I can’t believe I’m having this conversation. “You haven’t done a single thing wrong since you got here. You’ve taken everything in stride in a way that is far more forgiving and kind than I deserve, you’ve kept secrets you have no obligation to keep, and for the love of the stars themselves, there is absolutely nothing you could do to make my relationship with Marcus any worse. If anything, because of you we get along better now than we have in the twenty-six unfortunate years I’ve had to know him.”

She shook her head. “But last night, if I hadn’t provoked you—”

“You mean when you stayed after class, and I put my number in your phone? When I texted you in the middle of the night, and you sent me that video?”

Her pale cheeks flared red. “That was so inappropriate. I’m so sorry. That was completely unsolicited, and you wouldn’t have come outside and been overcome by your ‘irritation with Marcus’ if you hadn’t seen me blowing up my life in real time—”

“Listen to yourself, Lila.” I interrupted her again, unable to listen to even one more word of this self-slander. “You think I would have just stayed home after watching a video like that, knowing the danger you would be in with those kind of pheromones surrounding you on a full moon night? Is there anywhere in your mind that you truly believe that I didn’t understand the risk I was taking by finding you in the courtyard, considering the tumultuous relationship we’ve had thus far? And that’s on top of the pull of my mate mark on your lip, that I placed there without your full understanding?” She’s smarter than this. She can’t possibly be blaming herself for everything I’ve done. “Take it a step further—You think I rented out an entire restaurant on the night of Pisces, completely oblivious to the possibilities of putting myself in the position to be alone with you on a full moon? Even if my intentions now and then have always been to understand you better and make sure you were safe, I’m not completely daft.”