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His hand falls to her shoulder, surprise consuming his features along with many others around us, but it’s not relief that resonates in his eyes. It’s something else. Something I can’t put my finger on, and that only intensifies my wariness of him.
Wetting my lips, I turn my attention back to Ruben to see a few more guys standing closer to him now, all dressed in the same uniform as they sneer at Brax. Eldon’s arm drops from my side while Zane’s hand flexes tighter around mine.
I half consider asking him to use his magic to turn us invisible so I don’t have to deal with this shit, but there’s no point in delaying the inevitable. Releasing Zane’s hand, I take control of the situation.
“Are you going to get him or not?” I ask, cutting the remaining steps toward Brax, but instead of slowing to a stop, I brush past the Shadowgrim students with ease. “It would save me the time if you did,” I add, glancing over my shoulder to see Ruben glaring at me. “We’ll be in the courtyard.”
I don’t wait for a response, absorbing the sound of my shoes hitting the marble floor beneath my feet. Anger fills my thoughts as I consider whether it was Ruben and his asshole friends who ransacked our home and damaged our belongings. Fuckers. It took ages to reorganize everything last night, and that was with magic.
They’ll have retribution to face if I find out it was.
By the end of the hallway, Creed has managed to outpace me, placing him a step in front while Zane and Eldon reappear at my sides. The opposite way around. The grumbles and heavy footsteps behind me confirm Brax is still with us too. He’s probably not happy with me for disrupting his preferred formation with which he likes to protect me, but I won’t falter under these fuckers. He knows that. Deep down, I know he trusts my judgment on it too, but that doesn’t make it any easier for him to swallow.
Stepping into the courtyard, there are a few groups huddled together waiting for classes to begin, but one snarl from Brax has everyone scampering without another word. I roll my eyes at their lack of backbone, but appreciate the empty courtyard at the same time.
The back of Zane’s hand ghosts against mine, and as much as I want to reach for him and feel his warmth against my palm, I refrain. It’s already clear to Burton, even in his Erikel fur cloak, that these men are my weakness; I don’t need to offer him the reminder of it, too.
As if sensing my thoughts, hurried footsteps echo from the marbled hallway and a moment later, a sword-wielding golden warrior appears. He eyes us frantically, his pupils dilating just a smidge, but it’s enough for me to notice. His gaze settles on Creed, eyeing him from head to toe before he tucks his sword into his sheath.
“Clear,” he calls, and a second later, Fitch steps out with Burton behind him. It’s weird to call him that when he looks every inch like Erikel. A wolf in sheep’s clothing. But we’ll call him what he is, even if that’s not who he resembles right now.
The sneer over Burton’s face accentuates the scar down his eye as he storms toward me with barely contained fury. His hand rests on the hilt of his sword at his waist, like he’s tempted to use it, but before he can get within arm’s reach, we all summon our swords, just as planned.
Weighted silver hangs from our grasp, the golden hilts shimmering enough to make his steps slow as he snarls in my direction. “You were called upon yesterday. Where were you?”
That’s where we’re going to start? I thought for sure it would be more around the three men that are now back at my side.
Shrugging, I keep my mouth shut, silently enjoying the irritation that brims in his dark eyes.
“Your lack of attendance hasn’t gone unnoticed for the entirety of the day yesterday and half of the day before; consequences will come,” he promises, and I roll my eyes before I can stop myself. His knuckles turn white as he grips the hilt at his waist tighter, but he still doesn’t pull the weapon. “Are you going to tell me where you were, or are we going to have to interrogate you?” he snaps, turning his attention to Zane, Creed, and Eldon. He may seem done with me, but I know it won’t last. That’s the one and only certainty in this whole situation.
“You left us in the cave system,” Zane replies, twirling the tip of his sword against the grass at his side.
“Don’t lie to me, boy. We returned, and you were nowhere to be found,” he sneers, clearly enjoying baring his teeth at us a little too much.
“Well, we obviously weren’t going to stay there, and our magic doesn’t allow for us to re-enter the academy, so we took shelter elsewhere,” Eldon states, his tone bored as he sighs heavily.
“I had men search your homes. You. Weren’t. There. So try again,” he pushes, and I feel the anger thrum among Creed, Zane, and Eldon.
Rhys didn’t mention that? Would he have told us, or would he have considered that something for him to worry about and not us? Fuck, I don’t know. Either way, fucking with their families is not in his best interests, that much is clear.
“The closest home to the cave system was Brax’s. We took refuge there,” Creed bites, clearly feeling anger on behalf of his mother. We haven’t had any contact with her, but if she’s been left vulnerable at the hands of this man, my onyx-eyed love is not going to be happy.
Burton shakes his head, anger burning deeper from within him. “Of course, you’ll tell me somewhere that no one can bear witness to you since his parents are dead.” He spits the last word with purpose, aiming them like spears at Brax, who doesn’t move an inch.
He knows differently, and we know differently now, which only makes it sweeter. This man is out of his depth. Minute by minute, hour by hour, nothing is going his way, and now he’s floundering, leaving us with the opportunity to get the upper hand.
When it’s clear he’s not going to get the response he wants from Brax, his glare turns back to me. “How did you reconnect?”
“The shadows.”
His gaze narrows. “How?”
“I asked, and they showed me.”
He dismisses my answer with a shake of his head. “That’s not how it works.”
“What would you know?” I ask, acutely aware that I’m the necromancer here, not him. I might not know what I’m doing with the shadows, but I surely know more than him.
