The breaking period: Day 6, hour 10
“Corvus and Scorpius, sit down,” Ms. Gola snapped, and her blonde hair rose off her shoulders like she’d been shocked with electricity.
What species is she?
“What did you just say to us?” Scorpius’s long fingers were still tangled in my curls.
“I said to sit! This is my classroom, and I will be obeyed.” Ms. Gola stomped her high heel and raised her chin.
Malum crossed his flaming biceps. “You will refer to us as ‘Your Highness.’ You don’t have permission to use our names. I thought we already discussed this.”
The torches on the wall flickered, and papers fluttered off desks.
Danger.
Ms. Gola took a step back, eyes wide, like she just realized she’d fucked up.
Since she was the one who demanded I work with the psychopath, I didn’t have sympathy for her.
“You think because we fucked you that you can tell us what to do?” My head yanked to the side as Scorpius trembled with rage. “You are nothing but a whore that should be honored to touch our cocks.”
W-H-O-R-E.
That fucking word.
I jerked my hair out of his grasp, and he let me go.
High cheekbones glittered like glass in the shadows.
Scorpius’s expression was pure evil.
The class looked back and forth between the two kings and Ms. Gola with fear.
For a second, I could see the difference between the commoner and the royal students.
These people were used to being collateral in other people’s games.
In contrast, John twirled his fork like he was bored, and the demons weren’t even paying attention. I was pretty sure Horace was taking a nap.
The assassins were used to angry power.
Ms. Gola gulped. “This is not appropriate. If you don’t sit down right now, I’ll be alerting Lothaire that the assassin recruits require extra punishment. Perhaps another run?”
Chairs squeaked around me. We were all paying attention.
That cunt.
Ms. Gola’s expression was ugly as her hair crackled. “Sit. Down. Now. Or I’ll make sure Lothaire throws you all into the Black Ocean for hours.”
My stomach fell to my knees.
“Can she do that?” I whispered with horror to no one in particular.
Golden fingers brushed gently across my shoulder. Sweet raspberries filled my nose as silky white-blond hair parted.
Orion nodded softly.
“Fuck.” I buried my face in my hands.
I was so tired. All I wanted was sleep and warmth. I couldn’t do another round in the black sea.
There was nothing left for me to give.
If I had the capacity to cry, tears would have streaked down my face from pure exhaustion.
“Don’t worry. Corvus won’t let her.” A lyrical voice tinkled so softly that it seemed like a trick of my imagination.
Holy sun god.
Orion looked like a god of sex and smelled delicious, but his voice was the whipped cream on top of my favorite dessert.
It was hypnotizing.
“You can speak,” I whispered with surprise. So far, he’d only mouthed silently or not spoken at all.
Orion’s bee-stung lips pulled up into a breathtaking smile. Golden skin shimmered like dual suns on a fae beach.
Malum and Scorpius were arguing with Ms. Gola, but I couldn’t tell you what they were saying if my life depended on it.
Orion winked, and he mouthed, “Sometimes. If you’re lucky.”
I swooned.
“Say something else. If you want to, that is. No pressure,” I whispered and flushed.
Orion leaned closer, and I inhaled his rich scent. He was intoxicating.
I understood why Malum and Scorpius were so protective of the stunning fae. He was so out of their league. Sun god, he was out of everyone’s league. If he were mine, I’d never let him out of my sight.
A whispered melody stroked my ears. “My name’s Orion. I believe we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot.”
Long lashes fluttered, and bee-stung lips were inches away from mine.
I forgot how to breathe.
“I’m Aran. It’s nice to meet you,” I whispered back just as quietly, afraid to break the enchantment that had wrapped around us.
Orion’s lyrical voice was heavy with melancholy. “What happened in the bathhouse was wrong. Please forgive me. It’s hard for me to…go against my men.”
“I totally understand,” I quickly assured him. “Seriously, don’t worry about it. I don’t hold you responsible for their actions.”
I was rewarded with another smile.
Pure bliss.
What the actual fuck are you saying? He held your legs as they drowned you! my rational inner voice pointed out.
But he’s so perfect, and he apologized, my dumb bitch side argued back.
“I’m glad we’re sitting next to each other. I’d like to get to know you.” Orion’s voice washed over me like music from the strings of a harp. “Just ignore my men. They mean well.”
Do they?
Who was going to tell him that they sucked and he deserved to be my lover for all of eternity?
As if to punctuate my thoughts, Malum stalked forward down the class aisle with Scorpius’s arm on his shoulder, the fae man trailing behind him.
Seven feet of rage crowded our teacher until her back was pressed against the board.
“Did you just threaten all the assassins for your own insolence and inability to show respect to those better than you?” Malum took another step toward her.
Ms. Gola’s knuckles turned white as she clenched her chalk.
Scorpius chuckled cruelly. “Don’t you remember? The cunt said she was going to snitch to Lothaire.”
“Is that true?” Malum leaned close so his face hovered inches above hers.
Ms. Gola straightened her shoulders and glared up. Her voice was steady and strong. “No, I didn’t threaten. I said I was going to do it.”
The silence was deafening.
If she weren’t threatening to have us thrown into the freezing ocean, I would have been impressed by her lady balls.
I wasn’t.
Shivering from my dried sweat, I slumped lower in my seat.
Lothaire was going to kill us.
The vampyre might defer to Malum as our leader, but he was top dog. All the “sirs” and frequent beatings made that clear.
Fingers gently rubbed my back.
My stomach clenched, and the wound on by back burned with an unholy pain.
“It will be fine. Don’t panic, Aran.” Orion’s fingers traced a small pattern.
I liked my name on his lips.
But I wanted him to say Arabella. Reverently and softly. As bee-stung lips trailed gently across my boobs.
It was official.
Being a twenty-four-year-old virgin was ruining me.
Why else would I be lusting over the freakishly gorgeous fae who’d stood silent as his lovers tortured me?
Jinx drawled in my mind, “Because you have the brain capacity of a dead ant.”
I rubbed at my eyes tiredly. “I can’t go back into the sea.”
Orion’s gentle lyrics had a harsh edge. “You won’t. I promise you.”
Stunning boy and disguised girl sat shoulder to shoulder and watched.
Malum reached his hand toward Ms. Gola—but instead of choking her out and throwing her onto the floor like he did to me—he slowly traced a finger across her lips.
The rough man disappeared into something softer and more cunning, something much more dangerous than the jerk I always encountered.
Ms. Gola trembled.
“Who am I to you?” Malum asked suggestively.
Every woman in the room and a few men sighed.
Ms. Gola shuddered. “A king, Your Highness.”
Malum slowly pushed his thumb into her mouth. Smoke sizzled.
She arched into him.
“And did you not demand that Scorpius and I fuck your cunt last year? Did we not comply?”
Ms. Gola’s eyes glazed over. “Yes, sir.”
All feelings aside, they were stunning together. A masculine god worshipping a gorgeous woman.
Orion shifted beside me, and I wondered how he was taking it. To see the man he loved touching a woman like that?
I’d be pissed.
I nudged him with my elbow to distract him. “I’ll bet you he lights her on fire.”
Orion held my gaze. “He better.”
Flames sparked in the front of the classroom, but in the back of the room, something softer blossomed.
In my peripheral vision, Scorpius joined Malum and trailed pale fingers across Ms. Gola’s arm.
She gasped as both of them touched her.
They touched her gross ass while a priceless treasure sat a few feet away.
They were dumber than I’d thought.
I held Orion’s gaze. “Men are idiots.”
Pop.
Ms. Gola screamed as Scorpius broke her humerus.
A sickening crunch.
She shrieked.
Malum created compound fracture after compound fracture. “If you say a word to Lothaire, we will kill you. No questions asked. You will be dead.”
Scorpius laughed like he was enjoying her screams. “This is not a threat.”
“It’s a promise,” Malum finished his sentence.
I stared at Orion’s knowing smirk as a sense of betrayal burned my chest. “You knew they would do that.”
Leaning back in his chair, Orion didn’t bother to say anything more. He just crossed his arms and gloated.
I felt ill.
Logically, I knew the kings were bad guys. Villains. Tormentors. Horrible people like Mother who didn’t care about the suffering of others.
But for some reason, it always shocked me.
The endless capacity for violence.
It made me sick.
Cobra, Sadie’s mate, had once told me that the most dangerous predators were the pretty ones because your mind tricked you into seeing them as less ugly. It allowed them to be the most hideous of us all.
Now I understood what he’d meant.
I had a sinking suspicion that the breathtaking, quiet man sitting beside me was one of those creatures.
He was so fucking dangerous.
I shuffled my chair to the side and tried to put distance between us at the small table.
Orion smirked and arched his brow like he knew what I was doing. Rich brown eyes taunted me. Told me it wasn’t going to work.
He had me in his web.
“Actually, I’ve decided I’m not going to forgive you,” I said haughtily with my chin tipped up.
“Good,” he mouthed. Then the bastard winked. Like he was playing with his kill.
I inhaled enchanted smoke like it was my lifeline.
Sun god.
I really needed to find stronger drugs if I was going to survive this place.
“Why are you looking at Orion?” Malum growled from above me. Ms. Gola was still crying at the front of the classroom with her arm at an awful angle, and the two kings had come back to their seats.
“I’m not,” I snapped, disgusted with myself.
Scorpius took my old seat next to John, and Malum made a point of repositioning his chair between the two of us so he blocked Orion.
I was glad.
Ms. Gola had tears streaming down her cheeks, but she faced the class like she was determined not to break. “You have two hours and thirty minutes to write your essays on the best weapon to use against an opponent fighting with a triple-blade sword. Begin now.”
She didn’t say anything about Lothaire, and I prayed the threat had worked.
“Throwing knife. Write it down, partner.” Malum snapped his fingers like I was a dog.
It took me a second to process he was speaking to me. “First of all, don’t speak to me like that. Second, the best weapon is clearly a throwing ax. A knife can be deflected by a blade, but an ax gives you the range and the power to dodge or even break the triple blade.”
Malum laughed. “Good joke.”
“Coming from the dude who said throwing knife like a ten-year-old boy in a street fight. You write down ‘ax.’” I shoved the paper at him.
“I’m not writing; you write. I’m the king.”
“I’m the smart one. You write.”
“You actually think you’re smarter than me? Do you have any idea who I am?”
I rolled my eyes so hard I was worried they would get stuck in the back of my head. “Yeah, you’re the dude who just assaulted the teacher. A sexist pig who uses his power to hurt others.”
Silver eyes sharpened. “Did I not just get all our asses out of having to take a plunge in the ocean? Since you’re sitting here shivering, I’d thought you’d be fucking grateful, Egan.”
“Your temper tantrum is the only reason we would have had to swim in the first place, Malum.”
He shoved his pen into my hand. “Write down ‘throwing knife.’”
I pushed it back into his. “Write down ‘I’m a petulant bully on a power trip, and the answer is an ax.’”
“You know, you’ve got a lot of hubris for a pampered, scrawny boy who doesn’t seem to have any discernible abilities except sucking, then losing your mind.” He pushed the pen back at me.
“That’s because you know nothing about me.”
“Then tell me. Just what the fuck are you, if you’re not a fae? I will not have secrets in my program.”
“I’m a fae.” I started writing our essay.
“No, you’re not. And don’t you dare write down an ax; they’re too heavy and move slow enough an opponent can easily dodge them, especially one agile enough to wield a triple blade.”
I paused because he actually made a good point. “But we need distance from our opponent’s blade.”
Malum nodded. “And enough force to disarm him.”
We both paused as we pondered the problem.
Our eyes widened at the same time. “A whip.”
There was a loud squeak. Sari turned around in her chair in front of us and said seductively, “Kinky.”
“Really?” I asked with despair.
The corner of Malum’s lips turned up like he was trying not to smile.
Sari smiled at me softly. “I saw how you stood up for Tara in the bathhouse. That was really hot.”
I choked on my spit.
“Um, okay…” I trailed off awkwardly, unsure what I was supposed to do.
I wasn’t interested in girls, and Sari was looking at me like she was ready to climb over the table and jump my bones.
Why do women have such a thing for assassins?
Living with the recruits was making me question my sexuality because as far as I could tell, men served no purpose in society.
I’d rather have intimate relations with a rock. At least a rock wouldn’t insult me.
I started debating whether a metamorphous or igneous rock was cuter, then took a deep breath to stop myself.
Great, I was officially a lunatic.
Sari was still smiling and staring at me, so I ducked my head and focused on writing the essay.
The problem was that no one had ever made a book on “what to do when you’re a secret queen disguised as a dude training at a supernatural academy to be an assassin and women come onto you.”
“Aw, you’re shy. Just like Orion,” Sari cooed. “Just how I like ’em.”
I grimaced. In my peripheral vision, pink tinted Orion’s golden cheekbones. But I refused to find it adorable and endearing.
We both avoided looking at Sari.
Malum grunted. “Turn around and work on your paper. Stop bothering them, and don’t talk to us. It’s pathetic.”
Sari’s expression fell, and her shoulders slumped.
“Don’t talk to her that way,” I said automatically.
Malum arched his eyebrow at me.
Sari looked back and forth between us with wide eyes. “Thanks, Aran.” She flashed a quick smile and turned around.
I relaxed into my seat.
She turned back around and winked at me aggressively with a sharp giggle before she righted herself.
I grimaced.
Malum shook his head. “Just ignore her.”
I blurted out the question that had been eating me alive. “Why do you think all women are weak?”
“Because they are,” Malum responded immediately.
Sometimes I forgot that men had no depth.
I tried a different angle. “Why did you drown me? Why do you hate me?”
Malum cracked his neck, dagger tattoo rippling on his throat. “I was making a point with Tara, and you interrupted me. I’m the leader of this group. I won’t be questioned by a scrawny, pretty boy.”
I looked away with disgust.
He couldn’t even give a good reason for why he’d tortured me. “You’re a prick.”
The almost friendly expression on Malum’s face dissipated like smoke. “I haven’t forgotten that you’re keeping secrets. I haven’t forgotten about your little anger episode. My job here is to break you to keep us all safe, so don’t fucking forget it. And I will do whatever I need to do to protect my men.”
He reached over and ran his fingers through Orion’s silky hair.
My pen jabbed a hole in the paper. “Whatever.” At least we were pretending my complete psychiatric meltdown was just a ‘little anger episode.’
I snorted.
“Add a comma.” Malum pointed to my sentence. “Your grammar sucks.”
I poked another hole in the paper and whispered, “Your face sucks.”
“Oh, and Egan. I don’t hate you.”
I didn’t look up. Instead, I stuck out my front teeth like I had buckteeth and mocked him.
Was there anything wrong with his teeth? No.
Did I feel better? Yes.
Apparently bullying others was my therapy. I loved that journey for myself.
“I absolutely loathe you, and I’m disgusted that I have to train and fight alongside such a pathetic man.”
If I hadn’t lived with Jinx, I might have been offended by his cruel words.
Good thing the twelve-year-old had already shredded my self-esteem. Her nickname for me was literally “the cannibal.”
I didn’t look up as I wrote. “The thing is, Malum, I don’t care what you think about me. Because no matter how many times you try to assert yourself, we both know the truth.”
He took the bait. “What truth?”
“That I’m better than you.”
A red flame jumped off Malum’s arm and burned my hand.
My skin sizzled.
We both watched as the small fire turned my pale flesh black. The burning sensation was nothing compared to the pain mother had doled out every night of my fucking life.
I didn’t flinch.
“People like you are always the same,” I said quietly. Blue fire or red. Queen or king. “You’ll always just be a pathetic bully.”
Malum glowered at me but didn’t say another word for the next few hours.
Neither of us did.
We didn’t need to.
The hate between us said it all.
