“Oh?” Niko—who had gone back to his food—suddenly looked up again, his eyes narrowing.
She felt her face, neck, and chest all start to heat up, and she quickly pulled up her palms to cup her cheeks, turning even redder as the warmth flooded into her hands.
“You really don’t know?” Niko asked, his gaze pulling her in.
“I might know,” she blurted, before quickly shaking her head. “I’ve gotta get to my first class.” She shot to her feet, realising she had somehow been sandwiched into the back of the booth with three Alphas either side of her.
She turned her pleading look to Theodore, and he met it with a small, amused smile.
“I want to say that won’t work on me, but nothing’s ever worked better,” he declared, pushing Cian out of the booth and reaching over to drag out an annoyed Moses, who tried to take his plate with him.
Cian grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Let’s go, doll.” He snatched up her bag before she could, and then he hoisted up a third, sending it flying into Moses’ chest. “You’re with us. Sorry to break your absent streak.”
“Was hoping to finish the year without going to a single one of those ridiculous classes,” Moses grumbled beneath his breath, abandoning his breakfast to follow Isobel and Cian out of the hall.
14
The Healing Power Of Crystals. Or Not
Isobel had been in such a rush to escape breakfast that she didn’t even realise how early they were until they spilled into the still-dark, empty classroom. Cian flicked on the lights and took hold of Isobel’s wrist, pulling her to the back of the room. He nudged open the swinging door to the supply closet where Professor Vega kept her psychic paraphernalia. He twisted his body at the last second, pulling her ahead of him and into the cramped space. He stepped in after her, his face carefully blank, and Moses moved in beside him, dropping his bag by the door and reaching over for Isobel’s bag as Cian pulled the door closed behind them.
It wasn’t too dark to see their faces, but the shadows now settling into their features made the flat set of their mouths look more like scowls. She felt along the shelf behind her, knocking over a stack of tarot card boxes.
“What are we doing in here?” She stepped onto a pile of divination textbooks, just so that they wouldn’t be towering over her, and Moses flicked his attention down to her feet with a small shake of his head.
“You’re hiding something.” Cian stepped into her personal space, reaching out to the shelf beside her head. His scent washed over her, saltwater and gentle heat seeping into her pores and making her lick her lips as she tracked him warily with her eyes.
He only grabbed a long, smooth crystal from the shelf, turning it over in his palm with a thoughtful expression.
“Hiding what?” she croaked, glancing between them.
“Elijah and Gabriel.” Moses stepped over a box of meditation cushions, nudging them back toward the door to make room for him and Cian to crowd her up against the shelf. She had no idea if they were trying to intimidate her or simply trying to keep their voices low. “What really happened? Why couldn’t you say it in front of the cameras?”
“Because Elijah surged.” She stared down at her feet. “Gabriel said we had to leave him—”
“He actually surged?” Moses interrupted, like he still couldn’t believe it.
“Surged how?” Cian cocked his head to the side, looking more curious than surprised, a lock of dark gold hair slipping over his forehead, tattooed fingers brushing it absently back.
“What do you mean how?” She switched her attention from her shoes to the roof.
“Isobel.” Cian’s voice lowered to a purr. “Look at me.”
Her attention darted back to his face, her jaw set stubbornly, teeth grinding together.
He cupped her jaw, his thumb slipping up above her chin, brushing beneath the swell of her lip, his eyes darkening to a velvet sapphire, his Alpha ring glittering almost menacingly. He tipped forward, whispering close to her face, “Did he want to fuck you, doll?”
She blinked at him, her stomach swooping. “W-We were just dancing.”
“Hm.” Cian’s attention switched to her mouth. “Do you know what it looks like when someone wants to fuck you? Do you know what it feels like?”
She lifted her chin. “Yes.”
He licked his lips like he was tasting her deception, and his grip on her chin tightened, his eyes darkening further, his Alpha ring beginning to swell.
“Get it out of her now, or I do it my way,” Moses snapped, his acidic and sweet scent growing sour. “This class is going to fill up in a matter of minutes.”
The door to the classroom opened as if on cue, and a small group of students entered, chattering animatedly about what had happened in the dining hall. The storage cupboard had slats in it, just big enough to let in a small amount of light, and angled to show them a hint of the classroom beyond.
Isobel tried to pull her chin out of Cian’s grip, but he only shook his head, making a quiet sound of reprimand before his hand fell to her neck, pushing her tightly to the shelves. She darted a look to the slats, but there was no way they could see inside the dark closet without angling the slats in the other direction. Her eyes snapped to Moses, finding only annoyance.
“Why are you so stubborn?” he asked, mouthing the words more than anything.
“Why are you?” she returned, but Cian tightened his grip, and she immediately returned her attention to him.
He had switched the smooth crystal to his other hand to grab her, but now he reached up to set it back onto the shelf.
“What happened?” he asked softly.
His grip had been incrementally tightening, so subtly that she didn’t even realise when she stopped breathing. She reached up to grab his wrist, and the second her fingers hit his skin, he loosened his hold, his expression unchanging, chillingly blank.
“You’re freaking me out,” she grumbled, as the students began loudly replaying a recording of the dining hall incident on someone’s phone.
“Please.” Moses rolled his eyes, shrugging back his shoulders until he found a comfortable spot to lean against the shelves, tucking one of his feet behind the other and crossing his muscled arms. “Nobody’s nose is as good as mine. You’re not freaked out.”
“Then what am I?” she flung out in a distressed whisper.
“Turned on, honey.” Cian breathed the words against her ear, his grip tightening again. “Tell us what happened with Elijah.”
She wanted to snap back at him, but her knees had gone weak, and he had pushed one of his thighs between hers like he knew he would need to hold her up, his spare hand dropping to her hip.
“Be a good girl and I’ll give you what Elijah couldn’t,” he purred into her ear.
She felt her eyes fluttering shut, but then immediately pulled them open, wide with embarrassment as she stared over Cian’s shoulder at Moses.