“We have a dress code, Miss Madizza,” I said, placing the book in front of her.
She leaned forward, taking it from me. Her fingers brushed against mine as I released it, and I knew the contact hadn’t been unintentional. How quickly she’d gone from telling me she would never allow me to touch her to hinting it was what she wanted. The suspicion that had sunk inside me only grew with every lingering gaze and flirtatious comment.
“Are you going to give me detention, Headmaster?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
Margot swung her head to look at her as Willow flipped open the textbook, thumbing through the pages absently.
“We don’t have detention here,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I tried to decide exactly what sort of game she was playing.
Her eyes met mine once more, and beneath the false bravado, I saw it lingering there. Uncertainty. I pursed my lips, nodding in understanding. Willow was using her flirtation as a way to hide her discomfort, sinking her teeth into anything familiar.
Me. Iban Bray.
We were the only two males she’d met, aside from Kairos, and she’d flirted with him as well.
It wasn’t about me. It never was, but that wouldn’t stop me from taking exactly what I wanted from her.
“That’s a shame,” she said, her mouth dropping into a pout that was somehow cute.
“Not particularly,” I said, not bothering to disguise the sting I didn’t want to feel. Her lack of specific interest shouldn’t have mattered to me. Who she fucked wasn’t my concern as long as I was one of them.
But somehow, it did matter.
“If you’re in need of personal attention after class, I’m sure Mr. Bray would be more than willing to accommodate your needs, Miss Madizza,” I said, allowing my eyes to rove over her figure.
Her mouth dropped open just slightly.
“Excuse me?” she asked, her flush confirming what I suspected. She didn’t even want to take someone to bed, but for some reason she just couldn’t keep herself from taunting me.
I called her bluff. “If you need to be fucked,” I said, dropping my voice low. Only the students closest to her could hear my words, but her cheeks darkened and highlighted the dark spots of her freckles all the same. “I’m certain Mr. Bray would be happy to service you.”
She clamped her mouth shut, her embarrassment fading away and fury taking its place. Her jaw hardened. It was gone only a moment later before she struck me with a smile that felt as sharp and dangerous as a belladonna plant.
“You’re right. I’m sure he will be.”
I glared at her, my smirk dropping as she leaned back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her torso, highlighting the swell of her breasts as she turned to Margot and smiled as if she hadn’t been affected by my harsh words in the slightest.
Fucking Hell.
“Turn to page three,” I snapped, turning back to my chalkboard. My mood had sufficiently plummeted, and Willow only continued to taunt me as she slowly ate the rest of the fruit I’d had delivered to her.
All men enjoyed a challenge, but Willow was something different. She was something worse.
She was impossible.
15
GRAY
I cleared the board of all my notes, focusing on the task as my room full of witches shuffled their belongings and prepared to head to their next class. Forcing myself not to look at Willow, I couldn’t stop the growl that vibrated my chest when she spoke to Margot. Where the blonde witch had spoken quietly, murmuring at an appropriate level for speaking to someone who stood directly beside her, Willow carefully calculated her next words.
“Do we have any classes where Iban will be present?” she asked, and I could practically hear the threat in her voice. I didn’t know her well enough to know if she intended to follow through on it or if she planned to just continue to use him to push my buttons.
The Coven would do their best to entomb me if I killed off a male witch who’d sacrificed his magic to breed. They weren’t common, and as such, they were rewarded in other ways. Iban would be provided for by the Covenant until he made an appropriate match, given luxuries that even the other male members of the Coven weren’t afforded.
A private room at Hollow’s Grove so that he could entertain all manner of company if he chose. His pick of witches to mate with.
There was no doubt who he’d set his sights on. I just didn’t know if the Covenant had pushed him to make the match or if the interest was genuine. I supposed it didn’t matter, as Susannah would agree to it, regardless.
I smirked, realizing I wouldn’t need to risk her wrath to rid myself of the boy’s interference.
Willow would do that for me if she suspected that was his intention.
“Why do you teach history to witches?” Willow asked.
I turned to find her standing behind me. Her roommates lingered at the door, watching her cautiously as if she were a ticking bomb. I suspected her behavior was rather odd to them, given that they’d all been raised the same way—a way that was very much different from what I suspected of Willow’s upbringing.
“Who better to teach history than someone who was alive to see it?” I asked, dropping the eraser to the ledge at the base of the chalkboard. I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for the next inevitable question.
“It seems an odd choice, given your obvious bias against the Coven,” she said, her bottom lip twitching ever-so-slightly. I noted the act, realizing she’d done it whenever she considered something that didn’t make sense to her. A twitch when she attempted to solve a riddle.
Whatever Willow’s life had been, one thing was clear. She was not purely driven by whatever her mother had taught her. She was not indoctrinated in the same way the witches of the Coven were from the time they were born.
There was an element of justice within her. A desire to know the truth that couldn’t be denied. I had a feeling whatever her mother had raised her to believe, she’d also given her the gift of thinking for herself.
It was a gift many were not afforded.
“Name me one person who would not have a bias in teaching history,” I said, laughing as her mismatched eyes glimmered with malice. She knew I was right, and she smiled to confirm it, turning her gaze to the window at the side of the room.
“I merely meant that it is interesting that the Covenant allows you to teach—”
“The Covenant does not control me. I do things for the good of Crystal Hollow, because seeing it preserved serves my purpose. Whatever you were told about the hierarchy of power here, consider the bias of the source. Of course, witches would believe they sit at the top and run the show,” I answered, grinning at the way that bottom lip twitched again.