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“It’s fine.” The prof sighs and scrubs his hand over his face, leading me to believe it’s anythingbutfine. “Did you wait for Malia after class last week?”
“When you asked to see her?” He nods. I shake my head. “No. She told me not to.”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“One of my students hasn’t been seen since she left my class that day.”
“And now we’ve got screaming and no body.”
“And Malia, alone, both times.”
“She was with me when the screaming started though.”
“I’m not saying she’s to blame. But there’s definitely a connection. A pattern.”
“What do we do?”
“You go to class. Stay by Malia’s side whenever you can. I’ll call this disappearance in and see if one of my contacts can investigate and sniff around the woods a bit more. I’ll be in to take the seminar in a few minutes.”
He pulls his phone from his jacket pocket and turns away from me.
A bit dumbfounded, I follow orders and do as he says, schooling my expression before I walk into class and take my seat beside Malia.
“Phew. I was worried I was going to get in trouble for being late then.”
She gives an amused snort. “As if you were worried.”
“Well, no, I wasn’t. But I did think I was late.”
“Unsurprisingly, the professor is running even later than you. Again.”
She sounds so mad at him. It makes me smirk. No one else gives a fuck if he turns up or not, so long as they get their attendance credit.
“I’m sure he’ll be along any minute,” I tell her.
As soon as the words leave my mouth, the prof walks in and begins the seminar. I tune out, texting the group chat from under the table to let Cove and Reef know what happened at the lake.
“Miss Van der Zee…” I pay attention when the prof calls on Malia. We both hold our breath as he asks her such a complicated, convoluted question that it goes so far over my head, I’m not even sure what language he’s speaking anymore. God, I want our mission to be done so we can get out of here. Higher education is not for me. Give me a sword or a spear and a good grisly fight any day.
Malia’s answer is equally as confusing, but I can’t focus on the words coming out of her mouth. The air is charged with electricity as the prof’s gaze bores into Malia’s and she returns his stare. Every student in the class is staring at the pair of them and the tension could be cut with a knife. They’re all waiting to see if Malia will fuck up, if the prof will roast her again. But there’s not an inch of malice on his face. Not today.
No, looking closely, I’d say the prof looks enthralled by Malia and whatever it is she’s saying. There’s undeniably explosive chemistry between the two of them, and if I didn’t know better, I’d say the tension in the air was sexual.
But that’s insane.
Malia finishes giving her answer and the whole class waits with bated breath for his reaction. His face is stone, giving nothing away, and Malia begins to tremble beside me, but I don’t know if it’s with worry or anger. I’m sure she just smashed her question, and the prof’s frozen stature is due to him trying to pick holes in her logic.
Eventually his lips tug upward in a slow smile, which has no trace of sarcasm or malice.
“Well done, Miss Van der Zee. An excellent answer.”
Malia breathes a sigh of relief and sags beside me, as the rest of the room seems to sigh in disappointment. The professor has already moved on.
“Well done,” I whisper, slipping my hand onto her thigh. She relaxes under my touch and it makes me feel amazing that I can make her do that.
“Thanks.” She smiles at me and slips her hand into mine, where it stays for the rest of the seminar.
