AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I told you she would try and sneak out,” Creed states, a ghost of a smirk on his lips as Eldon chuckles.
Assholes.
“I wasn’t doing anything at all.”
“Of course you weren’t.” Zane hums with amusement. Everyone falls into step and I startle when his hand finds mine, lacing our fingers together.
I stare, dumbfounded, at where our hands are joined, trying not to stumble over my feet before meeting his gaze. “What’s going on?” I keep my voice low as the rest of the group chats around us.
“You really do need to read the handbook, Raven,” he says with a smirk, squeezing my hand, and my body tingles.
“This handbook is driving me insane. Why don’t you just explain things to me?” I cock an eyebrow at him, internally berating myself for not reading the stupid thing already.
He shrugs. “It’s more fun if you read it.”
“There’s no fun in reading unless it’s inked porn,” I say with a scoff, acutely aware that he’s still holding my hand while other students start to join us on the pathway.
“Inked porn? Color me intrigued.”
“It’s the good stuff. The holy grail. The raw existence of slipping away from reality and escaping into another world. Sexy stories written by women, for women. Hot guys who know how to make a woman find ecstasy and look good doing it, even with their asshole tendencies. You don’t find that in real life.” I was going for the shock factor, but the smirk on his lips makes him appear unfazed.
“Fuck that bullshit about not finding it in real life. You just described me.” Eldon’s voice is so loud I almost blush from embarrassment over a game I started. “And don’t you try to tell me otherwise or I’ll be forced to give you a reminder of Friday night.” He winks, making my cheeks heat as Leila grins at me.
“Girl, you got some explaining to do,” she whisper-shouts, and I shake my head at both of them. I’m too speechless to come up with an excellent snarky response and find myself leaning into Zane, who squeezes my hand again.
The academy building comes into view, and the sound of the bell chiming echoes around us. Wordlessly, everyone picks up speed, heading for the courtyard for another gathering. As we enter the bustling, waiting crowd, I try to pull my hand from Zane’s but he only holds it tighter.
“I feel like you’re doing yourself a disservice associating yourself with me.” I look up at him, noting the frown that marks his forehead. I’ve never really walked around holding someone’s hand before and I kind of like it, but with all the bullshit that’s following me around already, I don’t want to pull him under with me.
“I feel like you need to hold yourself in higher regard,” he states, lowering his head slightly to murmur against my ear. As he speaks, my eyes lock on Genie, who glares at me from the front of the courtyard. The scathing look on her face could slay a man but I keep my chin high and shoulders back, refusing to wither under her gaze.
“Everyone is watching us.”
“Nah, it’s just Genie…” Zane explains, running his thumb over my knuckles. “Oh, nope, you’re right. That’s a lot of eyes,” he adds when more and more people seem to turn in our direction. The two of us were leading the way for our group, but in an instant, Creed and Brax move in front of us as we stop. I can hear Leila and Eldon talking behind us like the four of them are standing guard.
Zane’s hand flexes tighter around mine as I glance around Creed to see Genie still giving me her best death stare.
“Why is she mad at me for holding your hand if she was chasing Eldon?”
Zane nudges me forward a step and releases my hand, plastering my back to his front as his hands find my hips. I can’t breathe. My body is so aware of his that I feel like I will fracture into a million pieces from the tension running between us.
He leans down to whisper in my ear, his soft lips brushing against my skin. “Because we didn’t accept her. If you had read the handbook, you would know that when one of us is claimed, we all are. So when Eldon declared you had claimed him…”
I had claimed them all.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
I’m hot all over. I definitely need to read the damn handbook.
The projection flickers in the sky and a few moments later, Professor Burton appears in a crisp white shirt and tailored suit with black-rimmed glasses framing his face. I’m in no state right now to listen to what he has to say but he starts despite the fact.
“Good morning, students.”
“Good morning, Professor Burton,” I mutter in sync with everyone else.
“We’ve had some changes arise this week, which means your usual timetables will not apply.” He spreads his arms out wide, a touch of a smile on his lips, but it doesn’t seem pleasant. “This week, we will have each year rotating in the Monster Gauntlet.”
Gasps echo around me. People murmur over him speaking for the first time since I’ve arrived. I don’t know how this place operates yet, but something tells me this isn’t the norm.
