Page 64 of A Curse So Cruel

“She’s right,” Paiton adds quickly. “I’ve heard that a few of the professors will be attending again tonight.”

Satine curses, though I swear her hand is trembling. Then again, my vision is starting to blur, so it could just be my imagination.

A circle of red is around me now, blood swirling with the water on the floor, making pretty patterns. I have the random thought that Blake will be so pissed at me when she hears I died like this, then I remind myself that she’ll probably never find out, and that just makes me sad.

Paiton removes her hand from my shoulder, taking a step away from me, and I sway on my knees.

“I’m really doing you a favor. You never would have survived until graduation anyway,” Satine tells me, though she needs to work on her pep talks, because she doesn’t sound that convinced herself. “It’s better to end your misery now.”

“Gee thanks,” I murmur sarcastically, but Satine isn’t listening. The three of them hastily leave the washroom, eager to get to dinner before the professors.

When they’re gone, I shuffle breathlessly on my knees, getting even closer to the bench.Come on, Shade.Gripping the end of the wooden bench, I try to lift myself up, but my arm buckles, and soon the tiled floor is rushing at me. And then all I see is red.

“Hold on, girl,”Elgen’s voice is the last thing I hear.“Help is coming.”

Chapter Twenty-Eight

~ Thane ~

“You weren’t supposed to touch her,” I grumble, crossing my arms as I stand there, staring down Galen and Raith. They grin broadly as they lounge on the couch across from me in our private living room, and it’s damn irritating.

Knox stands silently at the window, staring out at the forest like the girl remains out there, and we can still hear her cries of pleasure. Damn it, Raith is an idiot. He’s lucky we heard her first and created a sound shield, otherwise the whole academy would know by now. Galen isn’t much better, but at least he had the decency to do it behind closed doors. Not that it’s against the rules to bed a student, but she’s already a target.

“Oh come now, Thane, we hardly deserve your look of disapproval,” Galen drawls, holding a glass of wine. “As I recall, you also played favorites during your class.”

I grind my jaw, remembering the feel of Shade’s ass against my palm... I’m not generally a hypocrite, but that was different.It’s not like I dragged her into the trees like I’d wanted to. I had restraint, unlike these fucks.

Galen rolls his eyes and sighs. “Sticking our heads in the metaphorical sand is not going to help us now. We need to acknowledge what she is. Then perhaps we can deal with it head on.” His eyes sparkle at the last part.

“And have some fuckin’ fun for once,” Raith adds, still grinning like an idiot.

I continue to grind my jaw. I tell myself my agitation isn’t because they’ve tasted her, and I haven’t. That it’s not because I can smell her scent all over them, and it’s driving me mad.

“We’d agreed to keep our distance,” Knox says coldly, finally turning to face the rest of us. “There’s no time for distractions right now.”

“Correction, you agreed to that,” Galen counters. “And I think it’s safe to say the little human is going to be a distraction whether we like it or not. I don’t know about you, but she’s pretty hard to ignore. And if you’d just have a taste you’d see?—”

“She’s not some fucking dish at a buffet,” I growl.

Galen’s eyes narrow like he’s insulted by my accusation. “I never said she was,” he replies, all humor gone from his voice. “I’m merely saying, that if you did, you wouldn’t be able to deny the truth that’s staring us in the face. She’s bloody well our?—”

“Mate?” Knox’s face is a mask of stone as he finishes Galen’s sentence. He turns his heavy gaze on Raith, and the tension in the room rises. “You know that’s impossible.”

Raith matches his brother’s glare, and the easy smile finally falls from his face. “Galen ain’t lyin’. I don’t know how, but Shade is ours.”

The room is silent for a long moment.

Fear flashes in Knox’s eyes before all emotion disappears from his expression. “If that’s true, then we have biggerproblems than her simply being a distraction. If she is our mate, she has to go.”

Raith is on his feet in an instant, and I move in front of Knox a split second before Raith can get to him. “Steady,” I warn him, placing a hand on Raith’s heaving chest.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” Raith growls at Knox. “Solve the problem by gettin’ rid of her. Just like you murdered the last girl.”

Knox doesn’t flinch, but I know his brother’s words must have cut him.

“That’s not fair and you know it,” I rumble.

Raith curses, pivoting away and running a hand through his hair before turning back again. “I don’t know how, but we have a second chance,Knox. You might not believe me yet, but you will. For whatever reason, Lady Fate has sent us another mate.”