Fighting free of the memory, I set my teeth together, my next words sounding forced and angry. “Get out of my way, please.”
“No can do.” Noah folded his arms, his body relaxing into something chillingly close to nonchalance. “We can’t let you leave this room looking like that. Jayden’s men are in the hallway outside the lecture hall, they’ll want to know what the hell we did to you.”
“Shut the door at least. I’m not changing in front of you.”
“You have no choice.” Cabe was now acting as oddly unaffected as his brother. They were going to try to see my mark whether I willingly showed them or not. “We don’t trust you, so we’re not taking our eyes off you. None of this makes sense, and until it does, we’re not going anywhere.”
“Fine,” I spat, moving away from them. “Whatever.”
I knelt next to a bucket of water that had clearly been intended as a wash bucket for all of the painting implements, and began to splash water over my arms and face, washing away as much of the paint as I could manage. I turned my back on them and pulled my shirt over my head, turning it inside out to use it to dry myself. I could feel their eyes on me, equal parts curious and uncomfortable. They seemed hesitant to surround me, which allowed me the freedom to quickly pull a fresh shirt over my head before Noah walked around to stand in front of me. I scowled at him. He almost looked apologetic for a second, before folding his arms and resuming his staring. I quickly pulled off my jeans and almost laughed outright when Noah averted his eyes. They were stuck between respect and distrust, and it seemed that respect was winning. I pulled on the full-length tights and flicked a look over my shoulder, surprised that Cabe’s eyes had been trailing down my legs. He blinked back at me, and then seemed to grow angry. His eyes narrowed, his arms clinching tighter across his chest.
“I’m done here.” The short statement sounded more like a reprimand. He turned to leave the room. “You’re on Seraph duty for the rest of the day, Noah.”
I glanced back to Noah as I pulled on my sneakers. “What’s his problem?”
“You, usually. Are you ready?”
“Yes.” I avoided looking around the room as I walked out and dug my phone out of my bag, checking the time.
There were several missed calls from Poison and Clarin, and it seemed that I had been locked up for half the day. I swore quietly, because I was still in possession of their timetables. I texted them to let them know where to meet me and then ran the rest of the way up the stairs, hoisting my bag over my shoulder as I passed. Noah followed after I explained to him where I needed to go. He impersonated a silent shadow as I ran to the café bordering the college’s sporting complex. It was raised up behind the main college buildings, looking down over a hockey field on one side and a football field on the other. The indoor complex was behind the café, and I felt the pull to disappear into the world of sweat and strain. I wished that I had a regular sporting activity like football or hockey. Gymnastics had been interesting, but it hadn’t held my interest past the initial need to learn about it. Maybe I would try running, or swimming. Either way, my body was in desperate need of physical exertion. Soon, I promised myself as I slumped down behind one of the outdoor tables, turning my eyes toward the football field. Noah sat beside me, his body-language uncomfortable, his shoulders turned slightly away from me.
I watched the people on the field running through training drills, barely paying attention until one of them in particular caught my eye. Since when did Danny play football? I frowned as I watched, observing how well he seemed to get along with the other guys, even though he was a freshmen.
“Since when did Callaghan play football?” Noah muttered, forgetting that he was angry with me as he leaned over the table to squint at Danny.
I shrugged. “I haven’t spoken to him in a while, I wouldn’t know.”
“Because you bonded to my brothers?” Noah didn’t draw back, but turned his eyes from Danny to me, giving me the full weight of his skepticism.
“No.” I shook my head. “Because I was busy being locked up and starved by Dominic Kingsling, and then kidnapped by Weston, Kingsling and my dead father—who isn’t dead or my father.”
“So you were still dating Danny even when you were bonded to my brothers?” Noah pressed, completely ignoring the point of everything I had just uttered.
“Yes.” I sighed. “But they weren’t dates. Well, the first one maybe, but not the second one.”
“And Silas didn’t kill him…” It wasn’t a question, because we could both see Danny with our own eyes. Happy, healthy, and very much alive.
“No,” I confirmed.
“Right,” Noah drawled out the word sarcastically.
“Why didn’t you tell Amber the truth about Kingsling?” I asked, hoping to change the subject.
“I wasn’t there, was I.” He folded his arms, leaning back in his chair to regard me.