Page 97 of Dark Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 10)

CALLI

Iwatch Daemon walk away with a heavy heart.

There’s something different about him today.

And while I might have turned up to school with the intention of ripping him a new one for the way he left me standing in the shower last night, the second he dropped beside me and I saw the defeat in his eyes, everything changed.

It shouldn’t have. Deep down, I still want to be mad. But there’s something about his aura today that stops it.

No one else seems to notice, and as he gets farther away from our group, their conversations start up again as if he was never here.

I sit there for as long as I can, but in the end, my concern gets the better of me.

I make my excuses about going to study in the library for a bit and head off without anyone batting an eyelid.

I have no idea where he might have gone. Probably got in his car and left, from the look on his face and the tension pulling at his shoulders as he walked away from our table, but that’s not going to stop me from searching.

I head toward the library like I said I was, but I take the long way around, looking into every classroom as I go, hoping he might be hiding in one of them.

But there’s no such luck.

That all changes when I give up and push through into the library and head toward my favourite quiet corner.

Most people don’t usually venture down here unless they’re having private tutoring sessions on the other side of the tall bookcase I tuck myself out of sight behind.

My steps falter the second his deep, frustrated voice hits my ears.

“This isn’t going to make a difference,” he snaps, his tone lethal. I can’t help but feel a little sorry for whoever is on the other end of his irritation. I hope to hell it’s a teacher who can hold their own and not a kid who’s offered to help. Not that I really think Daemon would accept anything from another student.

He keeps his… issues as quiet as possible, preferring to ignore their existence in the hope that everyone else does the same—or better, doesn’t notice.

I guess this explains the attitude when he left the table.

“You keep putting too much pressure on yourself to get it right. Take it slower. Trust the process,” a deep voice replies, and I breathe a sigh of relief that it sounds like a teacher. Any kid probably would have already run screaming by now. Daemon can make even grown men question their life choices with just one look, let alone teenagers.

“I have taken it slow. I’ve been at this for damn near two fucking years.”

Someone lets out a heavy sigh. The teacher, I guess.

“Let’s try this a different way.”

I make myself comfortable, not because I want to listen, but because this is my little slice of heaven in a place that’s filled with white noise and bullshit.

I pull my phone and my AirPods from my bag, but before I put them in, I check my messages. There’s nothing from Ant. I know us cutting ties is how it needs to be. It’s the right thing to do. But it still hurts. Pushing thoughts of him aside, I grab some homework I was given this morning that I need to make a start on.

I keep one eye on the end of the aisle, waiting for Daemon to leave in the hope that I can catch up with him.

Five minutes before the bell, I pack up and kill my music. The sound of Daemon’s irritated grunts quickly replace it.

“You can fight this as much as you like, but we will make it happen.”

“Doesn’t sound like I have a lot of choice,” he snaps. “Because if I don’t…” His words trail off as my heart jumps into my throat.

If he doesn’t what?

I quickly shove everything in my bag and make my way to the end of the bookcase, ready to intercept him.

Mr. Perkins appears first, looking thoroughly exasperated, and I can’t help but feel for him. Dealing with Daemon must be draining. Hell knows I’m still feeling the effects of our rendezvous.