“Because you are no use to me passed out.”
“Right.”Even through her sarcasm, he watched as her chest rose and fell, taking deep breaths at his command. A senseof calm replaced the bothersome panic that had been filtering through his walls before.
“Good girl, just like that.”
Something else flickered down the bond at his words. Something he vehemently ignored lest he get a boner like a fucking teenager. The bond flared to life in his chest, its golden tether searching for its other half. As if she felt it too, her eyes flicked to his, lips parting in recognition before both of them took a step away from one another. A stony wall wedged between them. It was only the bond. And that was all it would ever be.
The professor looked down at the pair, judging their progress through his thin spectacles. All the others had closed their wounds. The only one left was the little witch, her blood dripping slowly onto the floor as she hid her arm from the rest of the class. The professor gave her a disapproving look, as if he had caught a child awake during nap time and moved on without a word, nose plastered high to the sky.
Felix ran a hand through his hair, something knotting in his stomach. He had not only caused the wound, but the humiliation along with it.
Laughter broke out behind him, stealing his attention. Two students, one of them with the wolf that sniffed his ass the other day. A growl rumbled through his chest. They were not laughing at him; they were laughing athiswitch.
“I guess even with a familiar, she’s still useless.” The guy with the shaved head looked like a boiled egg he would happily crack open. He would Humpty Dumpty that motherfucker. The other one was obnoxiously pretty, a golden halo of hair sitting on top of his pompous head. Felix’s eyes zeroed in on his notebook, where he had written his name on the front like a child.
Julian.
Any coherent thought flew out of Felix’s mind, replaced by a choking rage threatening to overtake him. His shortened fangsground so hard into his teeth that he thought they might break.She is mine. Mine. I am the only one who gets to laugh at her, touch her, hurt her.
The monster within him stirred, taunting him as his vision narrowed towards the smug smile resting on Julian’s face. The words weren’t even directed at him, or that loud. But Felix heard them perfectly, and from the way her shoulders tensed, so could she. It was suffocating to be in a room full of people and unable to do anything about it. Felix’s nostrils flared as a violent heat rose within him, his pulse reverberating in his skull.
“The only thing useful about her is her cunt.” The boiled egg smirked, smacked Julian’s chest, and he laughed as if he had just heard the greatest joke of his mediocre life. “At least you got a taste of it before she went all weird.”
That was it. He was going to fucking kill them.
His vision bled red, and his jaw clenched as his fangs lengthened to rip their stupid heads off. He almost shifted right there, damn the consequences. The monster continued to stir and throw itself against his ribs, demanding release, screaming for blood.
Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.
The word rang through his skull. This washiswitch. He would make them regret her name ever leaving their lips. Claws threatened to come out, the tips of his fingers darkening and lengthening, black bleeding into the tips. He curled his hands into fists tight enough that the sharp ends dug into his palms, his blood joining hers on the floor.
A low growl escaped him before her hand found his, her fingers pressing flat over his skin. The moment she touched him, Felix’s entire body went rigid.
Such a small touch, enough to send a shock clean through him and pull him out of the trance and haul him back from whatever edge he’d been about to throw himself off.
“Don’t,” she whispered. “They’re not worth it.”
Oh, they were worth it. Unfortunately, she was right about staying quiet. He ground his jaw, willing his fangs to retract before he felt the need to use them again. Slowly, his vision cleared, and the laboratory came back into focus. The world still turned, students chattering away while they healed themselves or cooed over their familiars. He didn’t dare look back at theboys.He could only control himself so much. They had no idea how close they had come to having their heads removed from their bodies. In any other setting, city or room, there would have been nothing left of them to identify. He would have enjoyed it. But never say never. Their time would come, just like the goddamn professor who waltzed over to their station. An interruption, Felix was choosing, very generously, to treat as a reprieve rather than an insult. Felix yanked his hand away from her, not missing the slight flicker of hurt that found its way onto her face.
“Everything okay here, Miss Alarch, Mr. uh?”
“Sukacok,” Felix replied through gritted teeth. “Transfer student.”
She couldn’t help the snort that left her nose, earning a glare from the teacher.
“Interesting last name.”
“It’s Russian.”
He was only half-lying; his real last name was Sukachov. His mother was Russian. But Sukacok was an unfortunate nickname that had stuck since he was a child back at the den. And it felt good to have a little revenge.
The professor turned his shrewd brown eyes onto the little witch, eyeing the cut. “You used your magic?”
“Yes,” she said meekly.
“It didn’t work?”
“Obviously, you old cunt.”Her voice slipped into Felix’s head, making it his turn to snort, earning another glare from the old cunt. He didn’t think she meant to project that, which made it even funnier.
