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A smile tilts the girl's lips and I focus on her green eyes. They contrast with her black and white striped hair. “I’m a healer. Are you hurt anywhere?”
I swallow past the lump in my throat and nod.
“What hurts the worst and on a scale of one to ten? Ten being the worst.”
My head gives another dull throb that has my ears echoing the pain and I simply gesture to my head as a whole. The woman’s—Katrina’s—mouth turns down in a frown and she turns to the two men behind her. She asks them something, but it’s too quiet for me to understand. When she turns back though she says to me, “Alright let’s get you cleaned up okay?” She hovers her hand over me like she’s going to use her magic and I scramble back with a discontented sound.No.I don’t want her magic on me. It’s never been something I’ve been sensitive about before, but right now I want to peel my skin off already, and something like that will push me over the edge.
I pause my frantic backwards movements when warm arms wrap around me and the scent of clean laundry and old books fills the air.Dylan.He grounds me, and that in itself has another wave of anxiety rolling through me, though this one I can suppress. Lips brush my ear. “Would you feel better about it if I did it, love?”
My brows furrow and I’m about to say no, when the memory of my magic connecting with his hits me. It didn’t feel wrong then, so it shouldn’t now either. Releasing a puff of air, I nod.
“I’m going to need your words.” A shiver races down my spine, and bewilderment floods me at the clashing emotions rolling through me.Lust. Confusion. Anger. And a whole slew more that I can’t decipher.
“Yes.” It comes out with a waver, but I ignore the slip of weakness. Tonight has been hell.
His magic swells before gliding over my skin, in a way that’s more like a gentle caress than a spell. Damn. I have to swallow a sound that almost slips out. Could have warned a girl. I’m twice as relieved now that I didn’t let Katrina do that. I turn my head so my face is nuzzling Dylan’s chest as I wait for the spell to finish. My limbs unlock once I’m clean. I didn’t realise how much the blood was triggering me, but now it’s gone most of my panic recedes. I draw back and meet Dylan’s eyes to thank him, only to suppress a smile at his beet red face. He doesn’t make eye contact and I have a sneaking suspicion that he didn’t mean for the spell to feel like that.
Rather than hop off his lap, I shuffle so I’m facing Katrina again, ignoring the muffled grunt that comes from Dylan. Before she has a chance to ask anything I speak up. “My ears were hurting, and I couldn’t hear properly, but that seems to be getting better. I was also slammed against the wall pretty hard. I think that’s why my head felt so foggy and still a little cloudy.”
She nods and does a few routine checks on me before stepping back. “You have a mild concussion and your eardrums ruptured but they’re healing very well on their own. Your sped up healing seems to be taking care of everything. Just get lots of sleep today and check in with me later this afternoon. I also recommend you take tomorrow off as well and just rest.”
I nod my acceptance and she hangs back as the professors rapid fire questions at me. I answer as best as I can, fibbing a little to keep Ghost Girl out of the story. “—I was snooping around to see if there were any old books on spells that I could find and stumbled uponthem.”
More professors are called, and so is the headmaster. They file off to find the girl I mentioned and search for the cloaked figure I saw. When they finally leave, I rub my eyes, already leaning heavily into Dylan. His lap is so warm and inviting that I could easily fall asleep right here and now. My eyelids droop and the world fades to black.
Chapter Twenty-Five — Corin
Mylipspullbackin a snarl when the headmaster's words reach my ears from my vantage point. “ —I know, I-I’m sorry! I have no idea. He’s gone rogue. I don’t knowhow the girl managed to stumble upon him—”
An angry voice yells through the phone, but it’s not loud enough for me to decipher. The weaselly man's shoulders bow forwards as he takes a verbal lashing, but I stop listening to his pitiful begging when he saysNessa. My body freezes for a few seconds before jolting back online with a start.Nessa. What’s happened to her?
The feral side of me sings in my blood as I pick up her scent and race off in her direction. I swear to the Goddess, I leave that woman alone for five minutes and she manages to get the attention of the slimy headmaster of all people. I low growl falls from my lips and I pick up the pace, a burst of surprise panging in my gut as her scent pulls me to Dylan’s door.Huh. I shake off my surprise, wondering how she got here when there is no trail of scent that suggests she walked here, more focused on getting to her and making sure she’s okay than her location.
Now that I’m closer, I can also discern the irony wisps of blood mixed into her normal candy sweet scent. My jaw grits and I knock on the door in quick raps. The kid is nice and shy as hell, so I highly doubt he’s the cause of her blood or the secondary female scent that’s wrapped around Nessa’s, but can you ever really trust anyone fully?
A bleary eyed Oscar opens the door and I peer over his shoulder with ease, spying Nessa’s sleeping form draped over Dylan’s on his couch. She appears to be okay, with no blood or visible wounds. A slow breath escapes me. When my focus returns to Oscar, a silent understanding passes between us and he steps aside. Something inside me settles once I’m safely inside and know that my mate has three layers of protection between her and any threats with me and the guys here. Dylan twitches when his eyes flicker open and land on me as I settle into a chair across from him. His eyes widen as though he’s expecting me to hurt him, but when I don’t move he settles again. Those bright blue eyes focusing on the girl that’s sprawled out on his chest. Her lashes flutter and a murmur falls from her lips before she curls into Dylan more.
I focus on Oscar, my expression grim. “What happened?”
He motions me towards the door and I get again up so we can step into the hallway. The door closes behind us with a gentle click and silence stretches between us. Oscar’s brows tug low as he searches my face. Probably wondering why the hell I’m here and if Nessa would want me to know anything. She seems to know these two a lot better than she knows me. A soundless growl vibrates in my chest. The chains that prohibit me from knowing her properly pull tight and my breathing goes ragged.
The Troll's silver eyes shift to the door and resolve tightens his features. “She had a run in with someone, but she’s okay now. If you want to know more, you’ll have to ask her. It’s not my story to tell.”
Pain swirls in my chest. Completely irrational because I barely know the girl, but the weak mate bond tugging between us protests otherwise. It’s a constant flicker in my chest, though I know it won’t turn into anything solid unless we share bites and complete the bond. My monster species has a rather primal mating ritual compared to that of others. All species vary at least slightly in the way they cement their bond, but most centre around biting each other. Oscar clears his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “You can stay here for a while if you’d like? I’m sure Dylan won’t mind and I doubt I’m going to sleep anymore tonight.” His eyes flick down to his watch and he grunts. “This morning,” he amends.
I flick open my phone and smother the urge to groan.Five Am. I run a hand through my hair, but nod in agreement to his offer. We move back into Dylan’s dorm room, my eyes flickering towards his roommates door for a moment before I flop down into an armchair that gives me a good vantage point so I’ll know if the handle so much as twitches. I cock my head, pricking my ears, but I don’t hear anyone breathing inside. Or a heartbeat. My eyes flick to Dylan who is still awake and has shuffled into a half sitting position, having rearranged Nessa so her head is on a pillow that’s resting in his lap. His fingers brushing through her hair absently. “Do you have a roommate?”
His cheeks flush at my attention and a small grin quirks my lips. “Y-yes, I do.”
So shy. “He’s not in there at the moment?” It comes out as a question, rather than the statement I meant it to be and Dylan’s forehead crinkles.
His eyes dart to the door then back to me. “He’s a night owl and hardly ever here at night. It used to wake me when he got home early, back when I first started rooming with him, but I’ve gotten used to it now,” he replies with a shrug.
I nod, appeased for now as I rub a hand over my mouth and a yawn slips out. Rolling my shoulders as I settle in, mentally running through my timetable and Nessa’s so I can figure out what classes to change so I can keep a better eye on her.I also keep an ear out for my phone, knowing I’ll be receiving a call from my employer soon so they can update me on the details on what happened to Nessa and specifics about the crime scene.
Chapter Twenty-Six — Nessa
Iblinkawakewitha yawn and stretch, only to freeze when the warm body beneath mine registers.Where the hell am I?I jolt into a sitting position, my eyes darting around the room before landing on Dylan’s sleeping face. He doesn’t look comfortable at all. His long legs are sprawled out in a V shape around the spot I was lying and his head is tilted back at an angle that has me wincing for his neck when he wakes up. It makes me realise,I was sleeping with my head in his lap.My brows rise before furrowing.What am I doing here?My eyes snap to the opposite side of the room when a door opens and Corin steps out. Now I’m really confused and my breathing speeds up,why is he here?I spy a sink and toilet behind him, and absently realise it’s a bathroom before my face scrunches up.What is the Mountain Man doing here?I’m pretty positive they aren’t roommates. I scrub my hands over my face as though that will help me make sense of things, but nope, his huge form doesn’t disappear.
