Almost out of breath, I dashed down the corridor. Just ahead, the last of the students hiked it into class. Phew. Made it.
Faith pushed off the wall next to the lockers in loose tan cargo pants and a slim white t-shirt. She tossed me my school bag. “You know how to cut it fine. I went and fetched this from the station this morning.”
“Thank you.” I squeezed her hard. “You’re a life-saver.”
“No problem. Mr. Houghton’s almost here.” She snatched my wrist and dragged me into class behind her. Next to the windows, we took the last two spare desks.
“I’m just making sure you’re okay.” Guy’s voice held longing as it bounced inside my head.
“Yep. I got to class in the nick of time.”
“I’ll be there to pick you up after school.”
“Sure, you do that, just in case I’ve forgotten the way home and all.”
“Don’t be cheeky.”
“You’ve barely seen cheeky. I’ll talk to you later.” Someone bumped the leg of my chair from behind as I closed the link.
“Hey, how’s the firecracker?”
I scraped the chair around, and with a grin, grabbed Belle’s hand. “You missed my rising.”
“I know, but I heard all about it this morning from Davio and Silas at breakfast. Congratulations.” She inclined her head toward Zayn, who sat alertly next to her. “You’ve got two additional sets of eyes today. Silas wanted the extra support after all that happened yesterday.”
“Thanks.” I nudged my foot against Zayn’s. “You need to slump a little if you want to blend in.”
He scooted down in his chair and kicked his feet out to the side. “That better?”
“A bit. You didn’t bring your dagger with you?” It was hard for our protectors to go anywhere without a weapon.
“No, and I feel naked without it. I always have one concealed on my wrist.” He adjusted the long sleeves of his black-and-white-paneled shirt.
“I have something that you don’t need to conceal, and it’s pointy.” Rummaging through my bag, I found a pen.
“Hah, that is not a dagger.”
“It’ll still keep your hands busy.” I tossed him a pad too. “Did you hear my mate is here to stay?”
“Yeah, I got the update. I guess now I’ll have to get used to him.”
Belle slid her elbows onto her desk, rested her chin in her open palms. “I want to hear exactly what made you change your mind, and don’t miss a detail.”
A wave of satisfaction rolled through me. As an empath, she would have liked that. “We worked it out.”
“Argh, give me more. That emotion was not enough. I like hearing all the good, gooey stuff.”
Faith tugged one of my curls and it bounced up and hooked over the end of my nose. “I’ll give you the goopy scoop later, Belle.”
I flipped the lock away as the door whooshed open. Mr. Houghton walked in. With a quick survey of the class, he lowered his pile of papers to his desk. “Open your textbooks everyone. We’ll begin at page one-hundred and twenty. Paragraph three.” He headed to his treasured whiteboard with his black marker in hand and scribbled across the board’s surface.
“Hey,” I whispered to Faith. “Any word from Nicolas?”
She opened her textbook and flipped to the right page then set the book between us. “No, and look busy. We don’t need detention slips for nattering.”
I picked up my pen and tapped her nose. “Righto, busy. We’ll chat later. I haven’t forgotten your problem.”
I read from the text.
Yuck, calculus. How boring.
The rest of the day was just as tedious. Mrs. Gray requested I join her special English lunchtime tutorial.
Nice of her.
Then after last period’s PE, I left the girls’ changing rooms with Faith and Belle, completely exhausted.
Zayn waited ahead for us under the shade of an umbrella tree in the small cobbled quad next to the fenced school pool. “Girls.” He tilted his head toward us. “What’s on the agenda now?”
“Homework, and I’ve already had enough of school work today.” I wriggled my fingers in front of his nose. “Look, no unexpected fire either. You can report to Silas and Davio I was a model student.”
He chuckled then stopped as his gaze bolted over my head. “Ah, your warrior is here, and it appears he’s brought company.”
I swiveled around. Shoot. Nicolas was here, and in full battle leathers.
Belle swayed into me. “Oh my goodness, that other warrior…wow.”
“Wow?” She did not just say wow.
“I— I—” She fluttered her hand over her chest. Her gaze danced over Nicolas as he approached.
Why was Belle reacting this way? I studied Nicolas. He skidded to a stop and thumped his chest. His gaze jerked toward Belle then zeroed in on her.
Faith gripped Zayn’s arm. “Forewarning. Get Belle out of here. Now.”
“I’m on it.” He snagged Belle around the waist and flashed away. So fast.
“What’s going on?”
“I’ll tell you later.” She tugged me toward the men. “Let’s deal with one forewarning at a time.”
Nicolas eyed Faith as he stepped up to her. “Who was that?”