Page 89 of Siren’s Secret

Afterlife massage.

What the fuck was that? A typo? She scanned the rest of the row and it started to make some twisted kind of sense.

Afterlife massage. School of necromancy. Focus: body manipulation and preservation. Class requirement: advantaged.

Well, that was one class she wasn’t going to take for sure. Cold shivers ran down her spine and Wave shuddered. Apparently, Tracthesian Academy believed in well-rounded education even more than she had previously thought.

Her phone rang, and Marc’s name popped up on the screen. Wave almost dropped her phone. Hesitantly, she answered, “Yes?”

“Wayla?”

“Yes,” she said, clearing her throat. Why was he calling her now?

“Are you… Could we meet up somewhere?” He sounded quiet and reserved. Wave frowned.

“Um, sure, maybe. I’m in my room,” Wave replied, while biting her lip. “What is this about, Marc?” She had to add. They had spent the afternoon rehashing everything Elena and Dr. Kelsey had said to her and came up none the wiser. And Marc had watched her come.

No biggie.

There was a moment of silence on the line before he answered. “You need to ask?”

“I just meant… Never mind, where do you want to meet?”

“Would you be all right coming here? I can send Sinister over to pick you up.”

“I’m not sure—”

“Wayla, please. I really think we should talk… you know, when you don’t have Irishen’s fingers buried in your pussy.”

“You liked that,” Wave immediately shot back.

“Hmm. I did.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “Like I liked seeing Hellion’s fingers in your pussy, too. Neither situation was really a place for discussion, though, was it, sparkle?”

“I… what did you want to talk about?”

“After all the information today, I think we should pick up your shielding lessons.”

“What? Why? I won’t do any better in them now than before,” Wave argued. She wanted to learn the way Marc shielded, but if it required her to drop her inner shields… she just couldn’t. It was too much of a risk.

“Wayla.” He sounded exasperated and Wave’s hackles rose.

“Forget it,” she snapped. “This is a bad idea.”

“No! Please don’t hang up,” Marc hurried to say and then groaned. “I’m fucking this up again.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, listen. Forget about the shielding. I’d like to see you, talk things out.”

“Why can’t you talk them out now?” Wayla narrowed her eyes, not ready to let go of her irritation. The line was silent for a moment and Marc sighed.

“Yeah, I deserved that. Okay. Just promise me you won’t hang up, okay?”

“I’ll make no such promises.”

“I’ll give you a free punch for every time you want to hang up on me and resist the urge?” There was a hint of a cheeky smile in his tone again. Wave knew she was walking into a trap but couldn’t resist.

“Okay.”