“A bruise,” I answered, inserting a hefty dose of sarcasm into my tone.
His frown deepened and his displeasure swelled until he seemed to grow several sizes bigger. He stepped into my personal space and brought up a finger, holding it right in front of my face. He didn’t admonish me, and I couldn’t shake off the suspicion that he was too angry to form words.
“What?” I balked. “I get punished for bruising easily now?”
“Seraph—”
“Don’t Seraph me,” I griped half-heartedly.
“Yeah,” Cabe added, sounding highly entertained, “don’t Seraph her.”
“Go and lock the door, Cabe,” Quillan snapped. “Before someone walks in here.”
Cabe jumped over the row of seats to make his way up to the door to the lecture hall. He flicked the lock on the door and then returned to us. Nobody had moved, and I seemed to be stuck in a silent battle of wills with Quillan. Eventually, his eyes strayed from mine, and caught on the bruise that marked my neck.
He made a scoffing sound and dropped the finger that he had been holding up.
“Are there more?” he asked.
“Um…”
“Show me. Now.”
“This should be good,” Cabe intoned.
“Shut the hell up, Cabe.” Noah spoke up for the first time since I had texted Silas, his voice rumbling with angry emotion.
I glanced over at him, but his eyes were also on my neck. Since he and Quillan really couldn’t get any angrier, I pulled down my neckline and flashed them the other bruise before releasing the material. It clearly hadn’t been enough of a demonstration, because Noah stepped forward and unceremoniously yanked down my shirt again.
Noah and Quillan seemed riveted to the mark, while Cabe watched my face. He looked like he was feeling a little sorry for me now, but he certainly wasn’t intervening.
“It’s not going to grow legs and walk away,” I said dryly.
Noah quickly released my shirt and stepped away, averting his eyes. Quillan had half of his face buried in one of his hands and his shoulders heaved with a deep breath.
“Will someone just take the picture?” I asked, plucking my phone from Quillan’s fingers and waving it around.
“Give it here,” Cabe said, snatching it off me and kneeling in front of me.
Quillan turned away, striding a few rows of seats down. Noah seemed torn, like he wanted to follow Quillan, but also wanted to keep an eye on Cabe. Since Cabe was the only one being nice to me, I ignored the others. He bent his leg and then tapped his thigh. I planted my foot where he indicated and he turned my leg from the knee so that he could get a clear shot of the mark.
Noah made another angry sound: this one caught between a snarl and something that snagged on frustration. I caught Cabe smiling again.
“You can help, if you want,” he said.
Noah seemed to think about it for a second before kneeling on the ground beside Cabe and snatching the phone off him. Cabe didn’t seem perturbed as he leaned out of the way, simply holding my leg from the knee and propping up my foot while Noah quickly snapped a photo. He handed the phone to me and then shoved my jeans into my hands.
“Thanks.” I pulled my clothes back on and quickly checked the picture before I sent it to Silas.
It showed the edge of my underwear, half of my thigh, and of course, the mark. It was also pretty clear from the angle that I hadn’t taken the photo myself.
Quillan returned to us without a word and the three of them resumed their seated positions while I waited for a reply. It was past time for Quillan’s ‘tutoring session’ to end, but we didn’t move until my phone finally vibrated, and I opened it to show them the message as I read it.
Invitation or threat?
“He’ll come tonight,” I told them, slipping my phone back into my pocket without replying to the message. “I have to go and meet Poison and Clarin before they think I’ve been abducted.”
I picked up my bag and slung it over my shoulder, heading toward the door. The messenger was out there somewhere, but he’d have to do more than quote creepy nursery rhymes if he wanted me to lie beneath that tombstone.
For the first time, I had foiled one of his plans, and I got the feeling that he was still reeling from the fact that I had returned to Maple Falls after only a night, with no collar to be found. Perhaps I had just declared war, but war was better than espionage.
War was something that I could win at.
I paced beside my bed with my heart in my throat, my palms gathering sweat and my stomach flipping over and over until I felt sick—but I didn’t stop pacing. I was in my normal pajamas and it was midnight; Cabe had already texted me twice to find out what was happening, but I had nothing to report. I had no idea how Silas had managed to break into Cabe’s room the night before, so I didn’t know whether to wait inside or on the balcony.