“You don’t trust Miro? I’m sure he told you what happened.”
“He might be protecting you.”
“Shut the hell up, cousin,” Poison appeared behind Noah, her book bag knocking into the back of his head as she passed him.
Noah didn’t seem perturbed, but he did reach out as she passed, grabbing the back of her bag and yanking, hard. It slipped off her shoulder and her books tumbled out, some of them hitting the table, some falling to the ground. Poison only grumbled in retaliation, which was a testament to how strong Noah truly was. Even Poison didn’t want to pick a fight with him.
Me, on the other hand…
“What the hell was that for?” I snapped, standing to help Poison with her books. She waved me off and I turned on Noah instead, shoving against his chest so hard that his chair ground against the floor in an attempt to slide backwards.
He smirked and then stood, grabbing a hold of my wrist. “Hand over their timetables,” he said, shaking my wrist a little to stop me from trying to wriggle it out of his grip. “Now. We have somewhere to be.”
“I don’t have anywhere to be with you.” I tried to ignore the way my body leaned toward his, the tight grip of his fingers sending a pleasant shiver down my arm.
I knew that feeling.
The strain was back.
Perhaps it was because I had used one of my abilities for the first time in months. I had possibly even overused it.
“Yes you do.” He pulled again, causing me to stumble sideways. He turned a little, pulling my arm behind his back and catching me against his torso. He leaned down, his voice sounding in my ear. “Give her the timetables. You really don’t want to pick a fight with me right now. Keep in mind that you’re remaining with us because of me, Seraph. Cabe wanted it, so I’m allowing it. That doesn’t mean that I won’t change my mind and drag you straight to the Klovoda if you push me too far, because I will.”
I nodded slightly, despite how badly I wanted to hit him again. I wasn’t going to call his bluff. Not when he was in the mood he seemed to be in. I quickly handed over the timetables to Poison, who was keeping herself uncharacteristically quiet. It seemed to be a theme of hers and Clarin’s: they didn’t hesitate to make it their business whenever anyone else tried to mess with me, but they refused to interfere whenever one of my pairs was involved. Perhaps it was an unspoken Zevghéri rule.
Noah dragged me away, pulling his phone out of his pocket and sending off a text. I assumed that he had messaged Cabe and that I was about to be cornered by the both of them, but I was surprised when we ended up in a full lecture hall. Cabe was leaning up against the back wall, out of sight of all the students, who were facing the front as they listened to…
Quillan?
Quillan’s steady speech halted, his eyes tracking us as Noah dragged me over to Cabe, before he quickly gathered himself and continued speaking. Noah walked me down to the back row of seats, sitting down and pulling me into the chair beside him.
Cabe followed, sinking into the chair on my other side. “Are we putting this to the test?” he whispered.
Noah grunted quietly. “You read my mind.” And then his hand was on my knee.
I glared at it until Cabe put his hand on my other knee, and then I understood. At the front of the room, Quillan was still trying to ignore us.
“Can you two please stop molesting me?” I asked calmly.
“Do you feel molested?” Cabe replied, his eyebrows arching up in question.
I wanted to say yes, but his hand had inched up higher, his long fingers brushing lightly against the material covering my legs. I swallowed instead, forcing down the rush of feeling that the strain had whipped up inside my chest. It felt like his skin was on fire, and the fire should have been singeing through the material to burn my skin. There was the barest tremor in Cabe’s grip, but Noah’s hand was heavy and firm.
“Why are you trying to get a reaction out of him?” I asked instead, hating that my voice sounded so raw.