The warning bell rang, loud and clear, making my jaw tighten in frustration. Goddamn infernal human institution. Why was she here? Something about not wanting to go back on her word to her guardians. I guess I couldn’t argue with that.
I would never admit it, because she already had so much power over me, but the loyalty that she showed those around her only served to make me crazier about her. The woman was so complex, and those shattered pieces of Lorcan were like an intricate puzzle I wanted to spend days on. I wanted to know her from the inside out, something that would probably terrify her if she knew. So I kept my mouth shut.
Maybe I should tell her the power she held over me… but it may scare her. Make her realize what a goddamn nutjob I was. And I knew this was only the start.
“Why the fuck not?” I asked, my voice sounding pissed even to myself. “If we were anywhere but Earth, I could. I’ll even take him to a different realm if you would rather.”
Lorcan shook her head, smiling as if I wasn’t serious. I was. She intertwined her fingers with mine as we leaned against the lockers, and with that simple touch, the kid no longer seemed very important. Every time that she initiated any type of physical contact, I felt like I was fucking high. It was probably pretty fucking unhealthy and dangerous, but Lorcan was dangerous, so that made sense.
Her tongue darted out before she spoke, making my cock grow harder as I let out a low rumble. “We need to go to class, but I can’t bring you if you’re going to start slaughtering people for looking at me.”
“They are looking at you right now and they are alive… unfortunately,” I muttered, making her laugh. It was true, though. Everyone was staring at us, and while it didn’t surprise me, it did piss me off.
Couldn’t I wrap her up and keep her to myself? To ourselves? Why should anyone else get to look at how beautiful she was?
Alright, it was possible I needed more coffee to get through today. Then I scowled, remembering she’d gotten out of bed without me noticing. Again. I needed to stop sleeping, or maybe handcuff her to me. My smile grew because that sounded like a fantastic idea.
My eyes moved over Lorcan’s shoulder to watch Desmond walk towards us, his brow furrowed in thought. A tug on my hand had me looking down as I realized Lorcan was absolutely frozen to the spot. Her eyes were on my chest but not really looking there, and her body swayed slightly.
Realization hit me as her siren’s magic tightened around us like a cobra. Fuck, she was experiencing a star call. My temple pounded with pain as aftershocks of energy radiated around us, even making Desmond wince.
The final bell rang as I cupped her jaw, and Desmond offered a deeply concerned look. The three of us were now alone as everyone else went to their classes, the deafening silence of her mental absence seemingly stretching on and on.
Not only were these getting worse, but they were getting longer in duration. I didn’t like that shit.
“Fuck,” she mumbled after what felt like eternity, her sharp inhale of breath making me relax in relief. Her eyes watered slightly as Desmond handed her a cloth handkerchief he kept on him, probably for this very reason. I helped her get all of the pastel blood wiped from her nose as I examined the exhaustion radiating from her expression.
“They are getting worse,” I pointed out. Instead of arguing, she just nodded in agreement, letting me know that she wasn’t quite back to normal yet. She’d never agree with me if she were feeling well.
I was glad that I could help her sleep better at night, but I knew it wasn’t a quick fix for her exhaustion. It was going to take a few weeks until she was truly comfortable with sleeping and not worried about reliving every moment of her trauma like a goddamn slideshow.
Before either of us could say anything else, a nasally voice had me feeling a surge of real anger. This asshole. Lorcan’s jaw clenched as the sound of cheap dress shoes on tile echoed around us.
“Ms. Louvre, why aren’t you in class?” His voice was snide but thick with apparent lust that had me tightening my hold on her waist. Now, him? She may let me kill him.
Dean and Desmond had told me of his attempt to get her alone, and it didn’t surprise me in the least. I’d seen the man around, watched him leer at students that he was supposedly hired to protect.
Elves were horrible—well, most of them—but at least they were honest about their intentions. This piece of shit hid behind his authority and abused his power when it came to vulnerable human women. I’d seen his type a million times before. Unfortunately, they existed in the goddamn hundreds of thousands. It furthered my belief that a not-so-slight population reduction of humans would be a good idea.
“She’s not feeling well, we may be taking her home,” Desmond answered, his tone seeping frustration and anger. I knew he hated the bastard also.
Principal Washington walked around me as he narrowed his eyes at Lorcan, her nose twitching at the scent of his overpowering cheap cologne and body odor. Rhett was right, she sort of did look like an adorable little bunny when she did that.
“I see.” His beady eyes ran over her as if checking her overall ‘health.’ “Well, there is always the nurse’s office…”
“I’m perfectly fine,” she bit out harshly, her golden skin paling and a small tremble working its way through her body. “I’m going to class now.”
She walked around me, as if to get as far away from the creepy bastard as possible, and I turned to follow. Desmond’s voice reached my ears, and I could literally feel his fury as he addressed the simpleton in a soft, dark voice.
“Stay away from her.”
“Excuse me?” the principal demanded.
“I said. Stay. The. Fuck. Away. From. Her. It’s that simple.”
“Who the hell—”
“The man that protects her from creepy bastards like you,” Desmond growled. “You get one warning.”
“I’ll call the police!”
Desmond caught up to us as I fought a smile, wondering if Lorcan had heard him. I didn’t think so, because as we reached the door of her classroom, the only expression on her face was sad and somewhat sick. I didn’t like that at all. I almost wanted to threaten to hurt one of these stupid humans so she’d smile again or even scowl at me.
I had the overwhelming urge to take her out of school, right this moment, but she walked through the door before I had the chance. Draven snapped his head up, the relief of seeing her filling his expression momentarily before he continued his lesson. We walked towards the back of the classroom, and as she slid into the seat between us, I noticed a shift in her body language.
She was getting paler, and her body was tense as her fingers curled and uncurled on the desk seat, as if the action was the only thing keeping her grounded here.
“What is going on?” I asked softly. Lorcan jumped slightly as Desmond made a concerned sound that I understood well.
“Hm?” She clearly was trying to shake herself from whatever the fuck she was thinking about. “Oh. Nothing. Some people’s thoughts just fuck with me more than others.”
“What the hell was he thinking about?” I demanded as a few kids looked back, but she just pressed her lips together, shaking her head. As she placed her head down on the cool desk surface, my concern grew. Not only did she look like she was about to pass out, but the horrified shadow in her gaze had me wanting to know just how goddamn revolting the man’s thoughts were.