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They could appreciate a good debate, but could also recognize an attempt at ambush.An attempt.I wasn’t coming out of this the loser.
After a long, loaded silence, Lord Elliot tipped his glass and swallowed the rest of his drink. “My dear, I believe we’ve been fully routed. Dr. Merton, she is as smart as you said she was.”
Now,thatwas insulting. It was the equivalent of patting someone on the head and shooing them away. I was a goddamned adult. And a doctor.
“I’m so glad I could entertain you.” At least I wasn’t sweating from anxiety anymore. This was pure anger. My neck and chest were hot. If I looked in a mirror, I’d find my face beet red and the skin from the top of my boobs to my chin blotchy.
There was a ripple of movement behind the Elliots, as if the crowd was making a path. With my attention divided between my new enemies, and—no.I was being dramatic. They were just rich people with too much time and too high an opinion of themselves.
Through the path emerged a tall man, with dark hair, wearing an overcoat. Bright green eyes. Hands stuffed deep in pockets.
“If you’ll excuse me.” I began to move toward the man headed my way. “I see one of my students.” I edged past the group, refusing to make eye-contact with anyone who wanted to speak with me. “Where have you been?” I asked Pollux when he was within ear shot.
I studied him from his head to his toes. He wasn’t injured, nor did he look as if he was recovering from an illness. “Attendance is mandatory in my class, and you didn’t ask to be excused.”
The side of his mouth tipped up. He dipped his head, speaking in that low voice I’d forgotten he had. “It’s been a long time since I was a student. Can I get a special dispensation?”
I found myself grinning in response. “I’m not the pope, but I did find your email response intriguing. I might allow you to do some extra work.”
The other side of his mouth lifted. It wasn’t a full on smile, but his green eyes danced. “I’ve never been one to shy from a challenge.”
Oh my god. Was I— was I flirting?Shit.I had to dial it back. It didn’t matter that I thought he was older than me, or that my light stalking had shown him to be employed here. He was a student.
“I don’t generally make exceptions.” I hedged. “I’m undecided.”
“Then I’ll have to prove how serious I am.”
Pollux
Ishouldn’t be here.
Hector had expressly forbidden it. “We came to an agreement. It’s decided.” But I was never one to listen to authority.
And I’d never given Hector—no matter what he or Achilles thought—authority over me.
So here I was. Actively working against my friends to keep my—this—little professor alive.
“How have you been?” I asked. I eyed the glass in her hand. “Is that Guinness?” I breathed in, but all I could smell was perfume and tweed.
Leo shook her head and took another sip. “No. Just soda. I don’t drink.”
Hmm.That was good. She needed her wits about her. Glancing around the room for the man sent to kill her, I only found a sea of bored, if slightly drunk, mortals.
I stopped a waiter. “Whiskey, neat.”
Leo grimaced, but didn’t say anything. I waited, certain she’d fill in the look she gave me with an explanation. When she didn’t, I gave in. “You have a problem with my drink order?”
“Yes,” she replied. “It’s disgusting. Might as well drink lighter fluid.”
I laughed out loud, then swallowed the sound. “You get used to it.” And it was the only thing strong enough to loosen my nerves, even if only for a minute. We stared at each other. Her face growing redder and redder the longer it lasted.
“What?” she asked.
“You never answered my question.” My drink order made her forget entirely. Or something else did. I was old enough to know what was in her look.Interest.She didn’t want to be, though. She’d flirted for less than a second before it was back to serious Leo.
It hit me, right then, I had stopped calling her Dr. Ophidia. I thought back, but from the moment I left her office, she’d only beenLeo.
She looked beautiful tonight. Like a pre-Raphaelite painting. All creamy skin and golden freckles. And that hair. It was a deeper red in this light than it had been that one rainy day, weeks ago.
