Page 162 of Vexatious Queen

“Oh…I’m thinkin’,” Myles said, his eyes tracing my body. “Nothin’ is stoppin’ that train.”

They all had a one-track mind. Pulling my hair up into a high ponytail, I headed for the door.

“Ready,” I said.

“Ren?” I stopped and looked at Liam.

“Don’t be a hero. If anything doesn’t feel right, you call immediately,” he said, his voice as calm and cool as steel.

It affected me more than the I’m-going-to-tie-you-up-and-keep-you-here, look that Nash was giving me.

“I will. I promise.”

“And if she doesn’t, I will,” Blake said, walking to the door. “Enough talk, let’s go.”

“Bossy, bossy,” Myles teased Blake as we left and headed for the back stairwell.

“Oh, the good old days. Doesn’t this just bring back memories?”

Myles wrapped his arm around Blake’s shoulders.

“No, not really. When did we ever sneak into a teacher’s office?”

“Technically, we never did, but it feels like us four years ago,” he said, and I shook my head at Myles.

He was way too happy about breaking the rules. It was almost like this had been missing from his life for the last few months.

It was strange and a little eerie to be wandering the halls this late at night. Our muffled shoes weren’t loud enough to echo, but the steady thump sent a shiver racing along my spine. All the doors were closed, and the lights were off. Even the main office looked deserted. For some odd reason, I had pictured Dean Henry just sitting in there all night.

“I can’t believe I got Nash to agree to let me go. I thought he was going to freak out and order me to stay.”

“He was definitely thinkin’ about it. But serves the bastard right to have to worry. Me arse is still sore from him marrying you,” Myles said.

Blake rolled his eyes as we turned into the hallway across from the main office.

“Dude, get over it already. It was never going to be you.”

“Shut up, man, you don’t know that,” Myles said, whispering angrily.

“Yeah, I do, and so do you,” Blake argued.

“Both of you knock it off. I made the final decision. Nash gave me the opportunity to back out, and I said no. But not because I don’t love all of you, I do.”

I grabbed Myles’s hand to reiterate my sentiment.

“I know. Sorry, it just sorta slipped out.”

A door closed somewhere and echoed along the quiet halls. We stopped and looked around.

“I really don’t want to get caught doing this,” I said.

“Don’t worry, they switch off the cameras in this part of the school at night,” Blake said, and I stared at his profile. He glanced at me and then at Myles. “I’m officially a tutor who will be teaching part-time once I reach college. I now know things.”

“Anythin’ else you’ve been holdin’ back there, friend,” Myles asked.

“Yeah, I know where the underground tunnel is that leads to billions in treasure. It’s what they use to pay the Curators,” Blake said.

Myles’s eyes bugged out of his head.