Page 41 of Spark of Sorcery

“I can see you’re considering that offer, Kitten.” He leans down and whispers in my ear: “I can smell you are too.” He nips at my earlobe. “But good things come to little kittens who wait. I’m going to have you dripping wet by the time I take you home to bed tonight.”

I swallow. Dray Eros has a very dirty mouth and I wish it didn’t have such a potent effect on me. Unfortunately, with that damn nose of his, he knows exactly how potent he is.

He nibbles his teeth down my throat, then back up to my ear and whispers, “Come on. I want to show you off at this party. Every other dude – and every other girl – is going to be fucking sick with envy.”

He’s pulling me along again before I can voice any more objections. His pace is swift and excitable and I have to trot along to keep up, relieved the heels Fly found me were too big and I’m in flats instead.

We weave along the campus pathways, brimming with other students this evening – some already dressed up, others dashing from one tower to another with arms full of dress or bags of makeup. Everyone we pass stops and stares as Dray pulls me along. They’re not even subtle about it andas usual I can hear them whispering, wondering who the girl Dray is with is.

Do I really look that different or are the students here extremely unobservant?

Outside a tall glamorous-looking tower, my heart once again leaps into my throat.

“Do we have to go to this party?” I ask, peering up to the top of the tower. The top floor is made of glass and multi-colored lights flash from within and the pound of music wafts our way. It’s like nothing I’ve seen before.

“Yep,” Dray says. His grip on my arm has loosened but his grin is just as wicked. “I wanna show those other losers how fucking amazing you look. Rub their noses in it.”

“I don’t think that is going to do me any favors,” I mutter.

“What do you mean by that?” he asks, suddenly serious.

“Nothing,” I mutter.

“You did,” he says, eyes boring into me. I glare right back at him but he’s a hell of a lot scarier than I am and in the end I have no choice but to concede.

“Everyone in this academy already hates me.”

“We don’t,” Dray says, grinning. I think of Thorne. I don’t think Dray is right about that.

“You guys are largely responsible for that. They don’t think I should be your thrall.” Because I’m not good enough – not pretty enough, or popular enough, not even that skilled at anything.

“We don’t give a shit what those losers think. And they’re wrong,” Dray says.

“Doesn’t matter. They still hate me.”

“Who cares,” he says, snaking his arm around my waist.

I care because the hate directed at me from the other students has often been physical. Black eyes, broken nosesand strained ankles are all testaments of that. If I mention that now though, there will be a lot of follow-up questions. He’ll want to know who has hurt me. I don’t fancy being dragged down that path again.

“Can’t we just go to the ball?” I try one last time.

“Come on,” Dray says, “it’ll be fun. I promise.”

I let him lead me inside the tower, because, really, what choice do I have? It’s grand – like I imagine the interior of a posh hotel in Onyx Quarter must be like – all mahogany woods and dark velvets. There is no staircase leading up to the top of the tower where I assume the common room and this party is. Instead, there’s an elevator. I’ve never been inside one – not even the ones back in the mines in Slate Quarter. Although, I’m sure the mine elevators don’t have polished mirror walls, gold buttons and twinkly music. The box lifts us up into the air and I gasp as my stomach fails to keep up with the rest of my body.

“All right?” Dray asks.

“Uh huh,” I say, laying my palm over my stomach. “I’ve never been inside one of these before.”

“We’ve got four inside the mansion back home,” he says, matter-of-factly without a trace of a boast.

“Did you go back home for the break?” I ask, suddenly curious. “To your family?”

He examines my face with amusement. “You heard about my brothers, huh?”

I shake my head. “Brothers.”

“Yeah, there’s seven of us.” My eyebrows shoot up my forehead. “But don’t get excited, little Kitten,” he leans in and whispers in my ear. “I’m the most handsome, the strongest and the best.”