Page 182 of Echoes of the Banshee

“He what!”

Mavrik, Dylan and Zair spin toward me. I wince. I guess with everything that happened I’d completely forgotten about Ethan till he showed up.

“Ethan hit me with a body-bind. Then kissed me.”

The silence that follows is sharp and loaded.

“I stopped him,” I add quickly, feeling heat rise in my chest.

Mavrik’s shadows grow more agitated than I’ve seen them. Dylan’s eyes flash gold. Zair turns red, like something inside him just broke.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Dylan’s voice comes out garbled around his canines.

Zair doesn’t speak. But his expression twists like I’ve betrayed him.

My pulse hammers as I glance at B, who’s already grimacing.

“I zapped him,” I say quietly. “I didn’t think it mattered. Not with everything else. I only told B because I ran into him right after.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with the kidnapping?” B asks.

“No. I actually think he’s cursed like B was. I need to figure out a way to get him to Professor Tennant,” I tell them.

“You want to save him?” Dylan asks, skeptical.

“Better than continuing to deal with him,” I reason.

We reach the diner, the neon buzzing overhead. B slides into a booth with Dylan, and I hesitate, glancing at Zair, who looks like he’s ready to murder someone. I slide in next to him as Mavrik pulls up a chair.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, eyeing the way he glares a hole through his menu.

“Just—” he grits out, “give me a moment.”

His moment takes most of dinner. But I can see the wheels turning. He’s definitely up to something. I want to reassure him that it was just a kiss and didn’t mean anything. But after I’ve so vehemently rejected his advances, I know he knows how much a kiss means to me.

After dinner, we split from the boys by my dorm because Zair insisting on walking me to my door and checking inside. However, once inside, he just pulls me into a hug.

“Don’t keep things like that from me, Thea. I can’t help you if I don’t know you’re in trouble.”

“I didn’t need your help,” I tell him. He still hasn’t let go.

“I know, but I needed to help you,” he says like it makes perfect sense. And strangely it does. He kisses my forehead and leaves me with butterflies.

Thea

We Regret to Inform You Your Crown Is On Fire

The next morning, Ethan isn’t in combat class. It barely registers at first, but when I reach Otherfell the whispers begin.

They’re all a little different, but the gist is the same. Ethan’s in the hospital. Attacked by a pack of shifters. Robbed of all his jewelry. Left naked in the park.

I head straight for a suspiciously quiet table in the back and cross my arms, glaring at four of my favorite guys.

“Real subtle, guys,” I mutter, eyeing them. “There are cameras.”

“There might have been a big cat helping,” Dylan says, not even trying to hide his grin.

“And I can turn invisible,” Mavrik supplies.