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“Hi,” I breathe, my voice quiet, and Eldon places his hand on my thigh, filling me with more confidence.
“How are you this morning, Raven?”
“I’m good.”
“For now,” Rhys states, completing the sentence based on his own conclusions, and I can’t say that his assumption is wrong. “I’ve put some feelers out and ensured that Burton is prepared to go to the lengths I am while I’m not there. We want you as protected as possible, but we can’t guarantee any outcome, so I need you to be completely alert and on guard at all times. None of us have any history with Erikel, so we don’t know how he operates, but from what I’ve seen so far, he’s unpredictable.”
“I agree,” I murmur, my chest tightening at the memory of last night again. “What did you mean about Burton? About him going to the lengths you would?” I feel stupid asking, but nothing makes sense to me right now, either.
“We protect you at all costs, Raven. All. Costs.”
My heart races as my gaze locks on Zane’s. Rhys's words sound just as solid as his son’s did last night. It’s clear where he gets his intensity from.
“Why?” I breathe, needing to hear from his lips that he’s not trying to protect me so that I can become a weapon for him instead. I know that’s not the case with complete certainty, but I need to know his reasoning.
“Because my son says so.”
FOUR
RAVEN
“Are we supposed to continue classes as normal? Like yesterday didn’t happen at all?” I ask, needing to hear Zane reconfirm for the hundredth time. I’ve never heard so much bullshit in my life, but if that’s what Erikel declared yesterday, then that’s what we’ll all do now as his puppets.
Fuck.
“Dove, you know the answer to that. Now, we need to head out before we cause any more of a stir.”
My eyebrows rise at his statement. “I wasn’t aware I had caused a stir already.” I drop my hands to my hips as I give him a pointed look, but my efforts are completely lost on him.
“So you don’t think the fact that there’s a necromancer on campus is going to cause mayhem?” He cocks his brow back at me, and I wave him off.
“He’s right, Shadow. Genie had to be the first to try and knock you back last night, of course, but what is startlingly real to everyone at the academy now is that there is someone undoubtedly more powerful than them. And I don’t mean Erikel before you try that crap,” Brax states, making me pout.
I don’t like feeling outnumbered. Especially when I’m not the one in the right.
Fuckers.
I look to Eldon and Creed, who are hovering at the front door, and when they choose to look anywhere around the room but at me, I know they’re siding with Brax and Zane. Typical.
Sighing dramatically, I run my hands over my academy-issued blazer and skirt. “Fine.” Before I can say another word, a knock sounds from the door, sending a shiver of uncertainty down my spine as the Bishops stiffen, their eyes sharpening as they become more alert.
Eldon nods for me to move out of sight from the door, only grabbing the handle once he’s sure I’m out of eyesight.
“Hey, where’s Raven?” My shoulders sag in relief at the sound of Leila’s voice and I rush to Eldon’s side. She smiles when she sees me, a sense of ease seemingly washing over her features.
“Sorry, I know we haven’t really been doing this lately, I just…” Her words trail off as she waves her hands at her sides.
“No, you’re good,” I reply as I step over the threshold to walk beside her.
“I’m surprisedDaddyhas let you out of his sight,” Brax blurts, making my eyes widen in surprise as the Bishops swarm us. Leila doesn’t miss a beat, though, she simply nods toward the end of our pathway to reveal Professor Fitch waiting. There’s a deep scowl on his face, his arms are folded over his chest, and I’m sure there’s an extra weapon at his waist that I’ve never seen before. “Well, then I’m surprised he let you steer from the path and come down here instead of playing it safe and heading straight to class,” Brax relentlessly continues, but again, Leila brushes him off with a shrug.
“It was on Burton’s orders.”
Damn.
My chest clenches at the realization that they’re definitely taking this as seriously as Rhys said they were. I don’t evenknow what to say, so I opt to say nothing, falling into step with Professor Fitch as we take the pathway toward the academy.
The dark and muted sky continues to mask the usually pretty clouds and I can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with Erikel. I don’t recall it ever being like this until he got here.
