AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The surly, grumpy man from the hall stomps over to me, his face pulled down into a scowl, just as it had been earlier. I brace myself, ready for him to blame this whole mess on me. Instead, he grips my shoulders, eyes intensely scanning my own, searching for what I’m not sure.
“What were you thinking?” he demands, voice coming out in a growl. His eyes narrow on me, anger radiating off him. I balk at his tone, at his question. Who does this man think he is, and how did he even know what I had done?
“What are you even talking about?” I scoff at his question. Surely, he couldn’t have known how brash I had been. My eyes glance to the pile of ashes and back to him. Realizing only now it was him who saved me from the creature. The full weight of the past few minutes finally sinking in.
I swallow, re-evaluating him, my eyes roving over his stern expression. Despite the anger drawing his brows and mouth down, his eyes don’t seem to hold the same disdain they had earlier. I swallow thickly, not knowing what to make of this shift.
“You put yourself at risk,” he roars, shaking my shoulders. The movement is not harsh, yet it bobs my head. As my eyes meet his once more, I see fear shadowing that intense gaze. His worried look drops my defenses, and my throat goes dry.
“Well, somebody had to do something. Was trying to tackle the creature the best idea I’ve ever had? Probably not.” I shrug, forcing nonchalance into my tone, refusing to allow him to see the fear clawing up my spine. My mind dredges up the memory of the creature’s cold beady eyes on me. How his razor-sharp claws cut into my skin. I push the thoughts away, swallowing back the bile rising in my throat.
“You did what?” He snarls, fury glinting in his hardened gaze. The anger in his voice snaps me from my thoughts, bringing my focus back to him. I hadn’t even noticed my eyes shifting over to the crumpled pile of green dust littering the floor. His breath comes in short and ragged, his grip on my shoulders tightening.
“Why do you even care?” I step out of his grip, my tone scathing. His hands fall away without a fight, hanging limply at his sides—the space acting as a reprieve from his intense presence, allowing me to inhale a deep breath.
I hadn’t noticed the short, shallow breaths I was taking, wrapped in his thick, calloused hands, as though the tension and energy radiating off of him had put me in a trance. He takes a step back too, as though coming to the same realization.
A pained shadow crosses his face before he quickly schools it into one of barely caged fury. He reaches for me before dropping his hands away, clenching them into fists. I grimace at the brief moment his walls came down, the pain so real and raw. As though my words had been a physical blow.
“I don’t,” he seethes. Despite his words, his eyes appraise me once more, skimming over every inch of skin. A shiver runs up my spine at his intense gaze on me, surveying me so thoroughly.
I’m pulled from my thoughts as two slender arms wrap around my waist. I jump at the touch, not having heard anyone approach. Glancing over my shoulder I see Kali wrapping me in her embrace, cheek pressed against my back. I chuckle at her, giving her a small smile, which she returns.
I find myself grateful again that I met her on my first day. Most students had merely hidden under their desks, happy to let others take on the creature’s malintent. She had my back, however foolish we may have been, at least she took the chance and was brave enough to stand up.
My head whips back to the surly man at the deep sound rumbling from his chest. His cold hard eyes narrow on Kali and a growl slips past his lips.
“She’s my friend,” I hiss, angling her further behind me, and I raise a hand to hold him back. The movement is instinctual, and I’m unsure how I knew he needed to be reassured that she held no threat to me. Especially when I’m not even sure if he means me any harm. His words and actions are so hot and cold—he says one thing with his eyes while his body screams another.
He shoots her a warning glance, eyes still wary, assessing. I glance at Kali, who unwinds her arms from my waist. She takes a slow step back, eyes still warily on the man.
“What was that anyway?” My gaze moves from Kali to the man, sure that one of them must know the answer. I go to wrap my arms around myself before noticing the blood still smeared across them. The wounds are thankfully shallow enough to have clotted by now. Detecting my movement, the man grits his teeth, eyes latching on to the wounds.
“A chaos demon,” he grits out after a moment, moving his gaze from my arms to meet my eyes. “They thrive on destruction and death. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.” His anger builds back up with each word.
His eyes glaze over for a second as though replaying the scene he walked in on. I shudder at his words, fear skittering up my spine. I had latched on to the thought of distracting him until help could come. My mind foolishly hadn’t even considered the possibility of not making it out of that encounter alive.
“How did it get here?” My mouth dries, and my mind whirs as I remember Professor Barros’ words from yesterday. Was this a regular occurrence? Demons popping up in the middle of classes. Could this have been a test? I shudder at that thought, not wanting to know what sick person would so callously endanger people’s lives for a test.
“Someone must have summoned it. Someone powerful, there’s no other way a demon from the infernal realm would be able to breach the wards.” He looks around the room, narrowing on each student, assessing them for any threats. Only then does the rest of the class filter into my consciousness. I hadn’t realized the students were getting up from the ground. Milling about while shooting us furtive, wary glances. Some gather by the fallen students, the first to take on the demon’s wrath.
I huff indignantly at him, drawing his attention back to me. My eyebrows raise in question, unsure how he could suspect anyone in this room. Especially since everyone wears the same band as me, blocking their powers until the Ascension.
My brows furrow, replaying his words in an attempt to make sense of them. My lack of knowledge of this new world grates on my nerves.
“What’s the infernal realm?” I look to him for the answer despite not wanting to admit my shortcomings to him. I shuffle awkwardly.
“Does your professor not teach you anything?” he barks in annoyance, shaking his head. I grit my teeth, already feeling like I’m behind everyone else. I don’t need this asshat confirming it. How many others in this class know precisely what that demon was? Meanwhile, I could have thought he was some lizard creature that crawled out of the lagoon.
“Well, I mean, it is only the second day, and she did just get frozen inside an ice cube,” I sneer back sarcastically, gesturing towards Gabris, still frozen.
His eyes dart in her direction, widening in shock as he follows my gaze. Scanning the professor, still frozen in place. As though only now noticing the glacial-sized ice cube for the first time. His attention solely focused on me since he entered the room. He quickly takes out his phone, dialing a number and barking out short commands to the person on the other end.
I turn my attention back to Kali, still standing behind me. Keeping her distance to keep the surly man’s attention off her. She breathes a sigh of relief. The distance between the man and us allows her to relax.
I smile, stepping close to her, and she opens her arms. Wrapping me in a comforting embrace. I take a moment, finally letting the terror and stress roll off of me, grateful to have a supportive friend to rely on. I spot Domenic stepping towards us, a moment before his arms wrap around the two of us.
I glance up at him, silently thanking him for keeping Kali safe. No words need to be exchanged between the two of us. He meets my gaze, nodding in understanding, his long arms gripping us tighter.
