Page 24

“The only thing wrong with me is the fact that you’re threatening what’s mine,” Saint growled. “I think I showed you the other day in the gymnasium what will happen if you touch Avery. You know what my Drake is capable of.”

As he spoke, he let just a bit of his Drake’s menace leak into his voice and I bet myself that if I looked at him again, his eyes would have turned from obsidian black to open flames.

Juan took a step back but kept glaring at Saint.

“Yeah, but I heard if you let your Drake out again you’re permanently expelled.”

Saint’s voice went soft and dangerous.

“If I let my Drake out, it will be to kill you and anyone else who dares to touch Avery,” he told Juan. “He is MINE.”

The last word was spoken fully in his Drake’s voice.

It sent a shiver down my spine and it seemed to shake Juan too.

As angry as he was with me, he had to know there was nothing he could do about it.

I was under the protection of a cursed Blood Drake who was completely obsessed with me—I might as well have a loaded gun pointed at his face.

Not that I would do that, but you get the picture.

“Fine, I won’t touch the little mariposa but this isn’t over.” Juan stabbed a stubby finger the size of a sausage at me. “Someday, some way I’m gonna get you, Connor. And when I do, you’re gonna be sorry your little faggoty ass was ever born!”

“You can try,” I said coolly. “But I’ll be ready for you, Gonzales.

Just because I don’t have a Drake inside me, doesn’t mean I’m helpless, you know.

” I cocked my head to one side as though considering my options.

“How would you like it if my magic needle sewed your tiny dick to your stomach one night? Might make taking a morning piss a bit more interesting, don’t you think? Hmm?”

There were other spells I could work, of course, but they would take time and effort and the right materials. I was a pretty powerful witch in my own right—something people seemed to forget, probably because Saint’s cursed Blood Drake was so much more impressive than my magic needle.

Juan Gonzales didn’t say anything to that. He just gave me one last hard stare before turning on his heel and storming off, the tense set of his broad shoulders letting me know that he was angrier than ever.

“I fear we haven’t heard the last of him,” Saint murmured, watching him go. “And the rest of the Drakes need to learn their lesson as well. It’s a good thing I’ll be coming with you to all your classes today.”

“What?” I exclaimed, frowning up at him. “We didn’t discuss that! What about your classes?”

He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under his school blazer.

“I’ll make up the work later. Today, you are my priority.”

“Okay, well then maybe you could come and, I don’t know, sit with me?” I asked, as I carried my cooling breakfast and coffee back towards our table.

Saint gave me an unreadable look.

“I won’t force you to endure that. But I will go to all your classes with you until all the other Drakes get the message that you are off limits.”

“What do you mean by that?” I demanded, but he only shook his head.

“Enjoy your breakfast, mi Corazon, and then we’ll go. ” He turned to face me and cupped my cheek in his hand briefly. He stared into my eyes and growled, “I protect what’s mine.”

Then he glided away to who-knows-where while I went back to sit at our table where—I couldn’t help noticing—everyone was watching me, though they were trying to pretend they weren’t.

I sat down across from Megan and Griffin, and beside Kaitlyn and Ari.

Emma and Bran and Lachlan were beside them.

All of them had obviously been whispering about me and Saint because they went absolutely silent the moment I plunked my tray down.

Only Jalli, who was busy feeding her chimelings tiny bits of scrambled egg, didn’t seem hyper-focused on me.

“Well, don’t all stop talking just for me,” I said, frowning around the table. “And you might as well get a good look at this…” I pointed at my forehead. “And this.” I pointed to the left side of my neck. “Did everybody see? Good. Now we can eat breakfast.”

I sat down and began savagely buttering a piece of toast, not making eye contact with anyone.

“Er, Avery? Are you okay?” Emma asked softly.

“Just fine, Emmers. Never better,” I said briskly. I raised an eyebrow at her. “And yourself?”

Emma didn’t seem to know what to say to that. She and Bran and Lachlan gave each other a look and then she shoveled in a mouthful of eggs and started to chew.

“Um, Avery?” Kaitlyn said in my ear. “Ari and I just want you to know how really, really sorry we are about what, uh, happened yesterday.”

“You mean when the two of you were humping my legs and wouldn’t let me go?” I raised my eyebrows at her.

“We felt compelled to do so by Megan’s spell,” Ari said, looking around Kaitlyn, who was sitting on my left, to talk to me.

His cheeks were dull red with embarrassment.

“And I promise you it will never happen again. After all, the spell is broken and you…” He cleared his throat. “You wear the Mark of another.”

“I certainly do,” I said, lifting my chin to let him get a better look at my forehead. “Good for you for noticing. That Drake eyesight of yours is certainly sharp this morning,”

“Avery, there’s no need to be so snippy,” Megan said quietly.

I opened my mouth to snipe at her too—possibly to point out that her silly spell had been the start of all this. But then I saw the love and worry in her face and I saw that same look reflected back at me from all around the table—but most especially from my original Coven mates.

It wasn’t fair to be sarcastic and mean to the people I loved just because I was miserable, I told myself. It wasn’t right to take out the angry feelings I had at Saint for being so hard-headed and stubborn on the ones I cared about the most.

“I’m sorry, Ari—sorry everyone,” I said and sighed. “It’s just…I’m anticipating kind of a hard day today. You can probably guess why.”

“We can guess. Almost every Drake in the school hates you now.” Megan looked miserable. “And it’s all my fault. Avery, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand briefly.

“Anyway, I’m not too worried about angry Drakes since Saint has announced his intention to accompany me to every single class—though I doubt he can be bothered to actually sit with me or acknowledge my living, breathing presence even though he Marked me last night. ”

There—I had gotten it off my chest, I realized. What bothered me the most about this whole situation was the way Saint kept blowing hot and cold. I had always dreamed of one day being claimed by a tall, handsome guy, but now that I finally had been, he wasn’t acting properly at all.

If he really wanted me, he would sit with me…

hold my hand…not leave me to face the public ridicule of being Marked by another male alone, I thought resentfully.

In other words, he would act like a proper boyfriend instead of ghosting me and only showing up for a few brief moments to threaten anyone he thought might stand in the way of his crazy Drake having me all to himself.

But he doesn’t want me—only his Drake does, I thought, feeling my stomach twist with unhappiness.

That’s the only reason he Marked me. Kaitlyn can talk all she wants about how a man with a Drake inside him can’t separate his emotions from his Drake’s.

But clearly, she was wrong. Because the only reason Saint wants me is for his Drake.

I tried to perk up—I really did. But I’m afraid I sat mostly silent the rest of the meal and barely picked at my eggs.

I found I had lost my appetite.