I get Maurice to drop me off outside a restaurant that’s apparently trendy, wait until he’s driven off, and then hire a more discrete ride to get me to the Raiths’ neighborhood. After the car drops me off a few blocks away, I wrap myself in concealing ephemera before hurrying the rest of the distance to the house.
Cole glowers at me and the world in general as he ushers me into the living room and double-checks that the curtains are totally closed. The floor creaks ominously under his pacing feet.
Asher hovers in the doorway, and Byron stands behind the sofa, resting his hands on the thready fabric. I guess Cole decided avoiding the memory of his forced interrogation theother day was more important than the slightly increased privacy of the basement.
Then Salvatore steps past the door, and the professor’s temper comes off its leash.
“What the fuck were you thinking?” he demands before Salvatore has even reached the living room. “You couldn’t keep your dick in your pants for five seconds? Now the whole school’s going to be watching the two of you like hawks.”
I’d be glad he isn’t laying into me, except putting all the blame on Salvatore doesn’t seem any fairer. “It isn’t?—”
“I was careful,” Salvatore retorts before I can get more words out. “We only talked for a few minutes. I had magic up to deflect attention.”
Byron’s fingers tense against the sofa. The faintly clipped British inflection colors his voice. “Obviously not enough magic.Someonesaw you. The rumor didn’t come out of nowhere.”
He’s pissed off at Salvatore too. I guess that’s not really a surprise considering how they’ve gotten along—or,notgotten along—so far.
Salvatore scowls. “I can’t help it if the dimwits in that place are nosy assholes. If they’d minded their own fucking business?—”
Cole’s voice comes out in a snarl. “You should never have risked?—”
Asher steps into the middle of the room with his hands held out. “Hey. Let’s stop with the accusations and focus on figuring out who started the rumor and what they actually know. Isn’t that the important part?”
A twinge of affection passes through my chest as I gather my words. “I already know most of that. Cadance has been paying extra attention to me lately. I thought she was trying to butter me up, but it looks like she was just hoping to stumble on an opportunity to embarrass me. She must have followed me when I went to talk to Salvatore.”
“Justtalk?” Cole says darkly.
I glare at him. “There wasn’t much else to see, even if she managed to peek through the concealing magic. And I’ve spoken with one of my—of Other Elodie’s—other friends and to the headmaster, and neither of them sounded like they’d seen any proof. They accepted it when I denied everything. I think Cadance only caught a glimpse of us together and spun a story from that.”
“That’s not going to stop everyone from gossiping about it for days,” Byron says with a scowl.
Cole jabs his finger at Salvatore. “You shouldn’t have been calling her over to ‘talk’ in the middle of a school day to begin with. I know you think the rules never apply to you, but when it comes to?—”
“When it comes towhat?” Salvatore interrupts, his voice laced with warning. “Taking care of our match? Making sure she’s all right? I wouldn’t have said a thing if you hadn’t laid into her like a scalder,again. I was looking after her because you couldn’t be bothered.”
Cole’s mouth snaps shut. Even Asher looks taken aback when his gaze shoots to his brother.
Byron’s tone turns even brusquer as he stares down our professor. “You did what? What did you say to her?”
Salvatore waves his hand through the air. “She sparked his glim for him, and obviously everything went fine since we’re all still standing. But instead of thanking her like anyone with half a brain would, he got mad at her for not handling it absolutely perfectly. Convinced her she screwed up again. Just what she needed.”Hisglare is hot enough to sear.
Byron’s gaze darts from me to Cole.
The professor’s hackles have come up, his shoulders tensing. “You have no idea how it was. You weren’t there.”
Salvatore takes a threatening step toward him, managing to look like he’s looming even though he’s a couple of inchesshorter than Cole. “I know she’s doing her fucking best, and that’s better than the rest of us have been managing most of the time since she got here. I know it’s our job as her matches to help her, not beat her down for every tiny mistake.”
“Cosgrave is right about that.” Byron moves to stand beside me, his gaze searching my face. “What did he say to you?”
I try to wave off his concern. “It wasn’t that big a deal. You know how intense awakening a glim is.”
“I know I didn’t start berating you about your technique.” He aims a glare of his own at Cole, and the overhead light flares with a spurt of extra electricity.
“All right,” Asher says, cutting through the argument. “Some people could have handled some things better. And hopefully they will in the future. Fighting about it doesn’t help Elodie.”
He looks so pained my heart wrenches.
This is my fault. It’s my fault these four men have been forced into a union, my fault they have to clash with each other when before they’d have kept their distance.
