Page 35

Ten Thrones, One Princess

The next morning, Theodore was gone, so he must have felt good enough to leave her side.

She dragged herself out of bed and joined Niko on his run instead of going to the training room.

They jogged in silence to the chapel, and he pulled Maya aside to fill her in on their conversation with Bellamy while Isobel sat with Sophia and Luis.

Sophia had the mask on again. She wrote something on her phone before sliding it to Isobel.

Bellamy messaged me last night. He told me everything.

Isobel eyed the other girl warily. “How do you feel about that?”

She pulled the phone back, writing her answer.

I think I knew. Sophia tapped out another message. Why did it have to be a prissy, stuffy, annoying, Icon spawn ?

Isobel snorted. “Who are you fooling? You want to have his prissy, stuffy, annoying, Icon-spawn babies.”

Sophia clapped her hands over Luis’ ears, giving Isobel a “how dare you” glare.

Luis pulled her hands down, whispering, “What do you mean?” to Isobel like he was part of a big secret.

“Your sister has a crush on Adam Bellamy,” Isobel told him, earning her a kick under the table.

Luis giggled, his eyes lighting up, flicking between them in an almost manic sort of way, desperate to cling onto something light-hearted. “I knew that!”

“Did you?” Isobel gasped. “You’re not supposed to know about those kinds of things!”

“But I saw them,” Luis whispered, clutching the table and leaning toward Isobel conspiratorially. “I saw them get married on TV!”

Sophia and Isobel both blinked at him.

“What do you mean, little troublemaker?” Isobel asked, forcing her tone to sound teasing as she poked his sides, not wanting him to clam up with the seriousness of what he had just said. “Are you just teasing your sister?”

“Noo!” he wailed and laughed, his glasses slipping down his nose and threatening to fall off as he wriggled to escape her pokes. “I saw them! I saw them in my dreams!”

“Was she wearing a wedding dress?”

“Yes! ”

“Was one of her eyes different?”

He nodded vigorously but then cast a nervous glance to Sophia before whispering, “They were fated mates.” He quickly added, “Are you mad at me?” to Sophia, imploring her with wide eyes. “I d-didn’t mean to dream about you and your b-boyfriend.”

Sophia quickly bundled him into her arms, capturing his hand and squeezing it twice.

Isobel pulled out her own phone, looking up how to sign “no” in sign language. She copied the motion on her screen, pinching her thumb to her first two fingers.

“That’s ‘no,’” she said as Sophia copied the gesture.

Sophia’s eyes immediately began to tear up, but she willed the moisture away, waving her hand like she wanted more. So Isobel set her phone on the table, and they went through some of the basic words, all three of them practising until Niko knocked on the door, poking his head inside.

“We need to head back.”

Isobel gave Sophia and Luis hugs and then jogged with Niko straight to the dining hall to meet the others for breakfast.

There was a strange tension during their small group session with Kalen and Mikel, but she was forced to put it from her mind when she arrived at the family centre, finding Sloan already waiting for her.

“Just on time,” the dorm manager noted, checking her phone, before striding into the building.

They passed the booths of computers and phones, and Sloan rapped sharply against the door to the room Isobel used to meet Teak in.

The door opened, revealing a tall man in a pristine suit.

He seemed to be in his forties, with pale skin, black hair, and polished glasses. There was nothing friendly about him.

“Susan Sloan,” he said, eyeing the dorm manager. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Yes, well—” Sloan ushered Isobel into the room, pushing her into a waiting armchair.

“—if the girl hadn’t gone behind my back to request psychological help, then I wouldn’t be forced to intervene, would I?

She’s one of Ironside’s top assets and it’s entirely my responsibility to ensure that she’s performing as desired, so if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit in on these sessions. ”

She sat without waiting for a response, giving a sharp, angry glare to Isobel.

Desmarais smirked. “Of course, be my guest.” He sat in Teak’s chair, crossing his legs and folding his long-fingered hands together over his knee as he turned his attention to Isobel.

“A pleasure to meet you, Miss Carter.” His voice was slightly accented.

Possibly French. “My name is Julian Desmarais. I’m the head doctor here at Ironside, and I’ve been the head of talent acquisition and behavioural analysis with the academy for over ten years now. ”

“I’m Isobel Carter,” she said.

“Yes.” His smile was condescending. “It would appear that you hold a critical role within the circle of your Dorm A friends, wouldn’t you say?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He shifted in his seat, peering at her over the rim of his glasses.

“This is what we know, Miss Carter. We know you lied to us. We know you’re bonded to all ten Alphas, and we know that you’ve managed to keep your relationships with the Alpha students platonic and your relationships with the Alpha professors professional despite being mates. How am I doing so far?”

Isobel swallowed, her breath rasping in her throat. The officials were revealing their cards, and she had no idea why.

It definitely didn’t seem like a good sign.

“If you already know, then why are you asking me?” She squeezed the words out, aware of Sloan stiffening in her chair. Interesting. Sloan didn’t know.

“Are you using your Sigma ability to dampen the romantic urges within the bond?” Desmarais asked sharply, cutting to the chase.

“Is that how you’ve kept them all in line?

Because I have it under good authority that they lost their tempers in quite a spectacular way when you were separated from them on Friday night in the Dahlia. ”

She stared at her knees. The officials thought she was keeping the Alphas contained? They truly didn’t seem to understand how Sigma powers worked.

The doctor’s eyes were cutting too sharply into her, seeming to measure every single breath she took, so she kept as close to the truth as possible, feeling like he might be able to tell if she was lying.

“I try to keep them regulated.”

He nodded like she was confirming what he already knew.

“Their behaviour has been typical of Alphas,” he said.

“The Alpha rank are an unruly bunch of animals. They have big emotions. They’re rough and unpolished—often powerful and talented in many fields, yes, but they lack impulse control and get distracted easily.

They’re great for entertainment value and extremely popular with the humans, and we always consider ourselves very fortunate to have one on campus, let alone ten. ”

“Okay.” She had no idea what he was trying to say.

“I considered pulling all of you into my office,” he said, eyes crawling down her body before flicking back to her face. “But it seems more efficient to find their centre and pluck it out. To tune you directly in order for the greater instrument to play correctly.”

Isobel gulped nervously, the sound embarrassingly audible inside the small room.

Desmarais smirked, watching her throat work.

She was beginning to feel like a bug pinned beneath a magnifying glass.

Hit with a sudden idea, she kept her attention locked to her knees just in case he could read the thoughts behind her eyes.

“If you know about what happened … the other night,” Isobel ventured carefully, “am I allowed to speak freely on it?”

“Freely, no,” Desmarais crooned. “But tell me what you need to tell me.”

What the hell did that mean?

“I think what they … organised … was the wrong move.” She tried to dance around the specifics.

“The bond is precious about some things, and even if the Alphas aren’t watching, they’ll be able to scent other people who have touched me.

If you want to keep them non-volatile, you’ll need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

” She paused, wondering if they were having this conversation because Mikel and Kalen hadn’t performed properly on their private dates, and they no longer had Teak around to explain bond dynamics to them.

“Extrapolate, Miss Carter,” Desmarais said silkily.

“If they think anything could happen to me, they won’t focus or perform. But …” She pretended to pause, to think deeply.

“Yes?” Desmarais pressed.

“Well—” She chewed her lip. “—if it were a ‘look but don’t touch’ scenario, it would fill them with just enough aggression. All puffed up and growly, just how the fans like them, but without all the violent outbursts. ”

“The Dahlia clientele have already been instructed not to touch the Icons-in-training,” Desmarais said dismissively.

Liar.

“Put me in a glass box or something,” she spluttered, grappling for purchase. “Like I said, if there’s even a possibility someone could touch me, they won’t be able to focus. And you want them to do other things, right? Not just stand around watching me?”

The man regarded her closely. “You’re a clever little one. Yes, there has been talk of sending eight of them down to fight, but we need to make sure they won’t be so violent that there are … complaints. People love a good fight. They don’t like to see Gifted getting away with murder.”

Isobel dipped her chin in agreement, like he made complete sense, like he was a totally reasonable businessman. “Make touching impossible,” she pressed. “That will get you what you want.”

“A ballerina in a box,” he said, smirking. “Very well. Thank you, Miss Carter. This session has been surprisingly insightful.”

He stood, shocking Isobel to her feet as well. “That’s all?”

“Yes. You are dismissed. Good day, Mrs Sloan.”