“No more bodyguards?”
Dracus rolled his shoulders an inch and didn’t look up from his newspaper. Today’s language was Arabic. Maybe? I wasn’t the best with languages.
“No,” he said. “You’re off the hook for now.”
The whole house was together at breakfast, save for Ren. I’d grown more and more comfortable with saying things in front of the Council boys.
“Did you make that decision?” I asked. It seemed odd that Dracus was feeling awfully lenient suddenly. The dragon-shifter regarded me briefly with fatigue written on his face. I stared defiantly back at his handsome face.
“Fiona. You can’t ask questions like that.”
I sighed and collapsed back in my chair.
Theo chuckled from across the table. He’d built a tower of biscuits and was slowly deconstructing it by eating them, one by one. Enrique flicked a jelly packet into the tower and a biscuit at the top rolled off and into Theo’s lap.
“Joke’s on you,” Theo said with a gloating grin at Enrique. “I was about to grab that one.”
I don’t think Theo knew about the kiss with Enrique. He’d said nothing. He caught my gaze and smiled.
“Do you like my tower?” he asked proudly.
“Very cool.” I ate the last bite of my sausage.
Training this morning had been tough, but I’d been escorted by Dracus himself for Dragon Fist drills. I was eating more and more lately. It was strange to look in the mirror and see my soft curves sharpening into muscles. It looked nice. In high school, I’d been jealous of the girls who ran around doing team sports and never thought I might end up like them. Seeing results made me want to work harder.
Theo and Enrique left first. Jasper and Dracus followed shortly after, heading in opposite directions. I collected my plate and headed into the kitchen. It was oddly lonely today after being around someone by force for the last few days. Moony was nowhere to be found. I left him a note saying hello and grabbed my protein shake from the fridge. Dracus said we were increasing the amount of protein for me, given our recent training. I shook up the bottle as I walked down the hall.
There was enough time before class to see if there was another book from the trashy romance section that I could grab. This hall was abandoned, only taken up by forgotten studies and offices that were oddly spotless. Theo mentioned that the servants used magic to clean them. I wondered how as I opened the door to the study I was looking for. The bookshelf in question was across the room next to the window.
I dropped my backpack in a polished leather armchair and strolled over to the briefcase. My brain was arguing over the finer points of using magic for cleaning when someone shoved me to the ground. I gasped and a hand flew over my mouth. For a moment, my vision went dark as I collided against the ground.
Oh, come on. I’m on my own for one day, and I get attacked in the first few hours? This wasn’t going to look good for Dracus. I groaned and opened my eyes, peering through my blurry vision.
Ren’s face swam into view. Rage and fear had sharpened his eyes. I stuttered something incomprehensible as he pulled his face away from me. It was as if a wolf had just been staring me down in the flesh.
“What are you doing?” I whispered hoarsely, too frightened to bring it above that volume.
His expression softened. The peril seemed to fade. “I thought you were someone else,” he muttered. I glanced down. He was straddling me, hovering above me with his hands on my arms. A droplet of red fell onto my arm. He was bleeding from his arm!
“What happened to you?”
He hurried off of me and hid his arm. I scrambled upward but remained on the ground. My head was spinning.
He said, “None of your business.”
I rolled my eyes and promptly regretted it. It made the nausea much worse.
“Do you want to go to Nurse Greta, tough guy?”
“Hn.” It wasn’t even a word. I rubbed my forehead. Odd. He wasn’t dressed for school. I studied his black pants and his black tank top, pulled tight to showcase his muscles. His hidden arm had a gash that was running up to the top of his shoulder. Bruised at the top, but not blood.
“You should get it looked at.”
He grunted. “This is nothing. Go to class, Fiona.”
Bossing me around? I glared at him and stood. “Whatever, Ren. You’re the one who attacked me,” I reminded him. He said nothing. His lips tightened together. I snatched up my bag and stormed down the hallway. The others had left earlier, and nobody caught me with the dark storm cloud above me head on the way to school. It was only when I saw Priscilla’s face that I realized maybe I needed to cool it.
“You look pissed,” she said as I caught up to her in the hall. We fell into stride on our way to our first class. “What the hell happened?”
I shook my head. “I’m so tired of living with these boys. They don’t tell me anything. They’re always running around doing secret shit. Do they tell me anything? Nooooooope.” I huffed and hitched my backpack up higher on my back. Gods, my anger was coming off me in waves. A nearby student shot me a look and scampered off. My heart fell. That was the exact reaction the Council boys had, especially Ren. I softened. “Sorry. I’m venting.”
“It’s okay to vent,” she said with a half-smile. “You’re not the first person to be angered by the Council boys walking around like they own the place.”
I nodded. She’d told me herself that she was frustrated by coming in behind Ren and Dracus, even when they missed class due to special “Council” activities.
“I seriously have zero ideas about what they do,” I said. “They miss class or go off doing something.”
She frowned and bit her bottom lip. It was an odd expression on Priscilla. Worry. Hesitation. The danger of not knowing? I paused in the hall and she stopped with me. I realized that it reminded me of Dracus. He and Priscilla were both dragon-shifters. Our classmates passed us without a word, not bothering to spare a glance. I suppose the cloud above my head had dissipated.
“Many people wonder that, Fiona,” she said gently. “There’s a very strict rule to not ask questions about it at the Academy.”
“From who?” I asked, throwing my hands up. She tucked them down as a girl shot us an odd look. We kept close to the wall. “It feels like this school is run by a secret cult or something.”
She shrugged and said, “It’s not out of the question. The Academy has been running for years. The Dean is the public face, but he might answer to other people.” My thoughts churned with this hypothesis. She admitted, “I’ve often wondered about it before. Many people probably do.”
“I see them injured sometimes,” I confessed in a low whisper. The halls were beginning to thin out now. We’d have to hurry to class. Her eyes widened. “Why would they be injured, Priscilla? What could they possibly be doing that would hurt them?”
“I don’t know,” she replied with a little shiver. Odd as dragon-shifters ran hot constantly thanks to their fiery nature. “Part of me doesn’t want to find out. The rational side of my brain says that there is a reason that nobody knows.”
“I wonder.”
“Fiona,” she said and leaned towards me. “Sometimes, I think that the Council boys are annoying…but sometimes, I feel that they carry a heavy weight on their shoulders. I can’t explain it, but they look like soldiers at school. It’s as if they’re fighting against something that we can’t see.”
My mouth opened. She’d managed to sum up some of my feelings without even realized. I was about to add something, but a small chime ran out. She grabbed my hand. Top students like Priscilla are never late to class. We hurried inside and settled in empty seats towards the back, not to disturb the class. Theo glanced back at me from his seat in the middle, making a puzzled face. I shot him an expression that I hope was apologetic and not I’ve been gossiping about the whole lot of you.
But, I’d made a decision.
I was going to ask for more answers tonight.
This game was growing tired.
Class began.