Page 24 of Wicked Dove (Institute Thirteen #1)

EIGHTEEN

ELODIE

My skin prickles with every step I take toward The Vale.

Ocean’s arm is linked through mine, holding me up like a safety float out at sea, while Rion is pressed against my right side.

The blood running through my veins feels electric at his proximity, but even though he’s so close, he doesn’t utter a word to me.

His focus is on Kael, who is on the other side of him.

What they’re saying, I don’t know, my brain can’t compute.

They’re acting like this is normal, but it feels far from it. Especially with Thorne a step behind me, his gaze unfocused as he drifts off to somewhere else while his body remains physically present with us.

My teeth sink into my bottom lip as nerves get the better of me.

Is this because of yesterday? Because of what he saw?

The energy in my body threatens to turn to ice at the idea of them gossiping about it, but I don’t dare ask, just in case he didn’t.

My mind is already shot from my trauma-induced wake-up call.

I’d rather go about my day pretending like it never happened.

Compartmentalization feels like a specialty at this stage.

Ocean squeezes my arm, gaining my attention, and she raises her eyebrows at me in silent question, which makes me gulp. She smirks as if this is all amusing to her, and I give her a withering look, which only makes her cackle like the evil witch she is.

It feels like we’ve been walking for an eternity, but the second the dining hall doors loom ahead, I want to backtrack and make it take longer, or we could just go somewhere else altogether. Leaving would solve all of this.

Despite my silent protest, we enter the dining hall as a unit, instantly feeling the stares from Institute One. Flashes of red fabric seem to be everywhere, but it’s the sneer from the redheaded handful that is Willow that my gaze settles upon.

With her lips pursed and eyes narrowed, I brace for impact, but in reality, that’s all she does. Tiran sits beside her, nostrils flared as we pass, but there’s no mention of yesterday, not even an inkling of it.

Relief floods me, but I don’t let my guard down completely; that would be silly. Approaching the line for food, my stomach grumbles, reminding me that I’m doing a poor job of feeding it, but as I reach for a tray, an arm slinks around my shoulders, pulling me away.

“Ocean, you too,” Rion grunts as I tilt my head to look up at him, but his gaze is set dead ahead.

He pulls out a chair, nodding for me to take a seat, and I blink at him in confusion.

Chairs scrape across the floor from across the table, and I watch Kael and Thorne take a seat.

Looking to Ocean for guidance, she shrugs, slipping into the seat on my left without question.

Uncertain, I follow suit, and the moment my butt hits the seat, Rion falls into the one on my right.

My lips part, but before I can speak, plates are placed in front of us, each one piled high with pancakes, eggs, and layers of bacon. My mouth waters with excitement as I inhale the godly scent. Ocean digs in without a word, Thorne and Kael too, but Rion is hanging off of my every move.

Turning to him, he cocks a brow in question, and I shake my head. “You’re putting a target on my head,” I mutter, and he smirks, his hazel eyes lighting up with amusement.

“You do that all by yourself.”

I narrow my stare at him, but the sound of Ocean groaning over her next bite cuts through the rising tension.

“I knew I made the right decision by being your friend,” she declares, eyes closed as she wags her fork at me.

Rubbing my lips together nervously, I consider my options, and quickly fall short.

I need to pick my battles, and arguing over actual food instead of slop feels dumb.

Tamping down my unnecessary frustration, I grab my fork and scoop up some of the scrambled eggs.

It takes everything in me to bite back the hum of delight that ripples through me, but when I quickly take another forkful, Rion nods with a grin as though his job here is done.

Asshole.

“Fuck, Elodie. This is so good,” Ocean groans, making my eyes widen. She sounds close to climax, earning a few glances from farther down the table, but it’s the intensifying sneer from across the hall that holds my attention.

Willow.

I really don’t want to have to deal with her crap today, not when I’m already drowning in my own. So I do what I definitely shouldn’t and wave my fork at her with a smile, going against my own thoughts, but she seems to bring out the worst in me.

Ocean must catch the slight interaction and snickers beside me.

“You’re insane,” she mutters under her breath as she nudges her shoulder against mine, and I snicker.

“No, I think you’re rubbing off on me. I’d say I’m more… psychotic.”

“Potions? Why do I need to learn potions? I’m not a witch,” I grumble, eyebrows pinched as I stare pleadingly at Ocean in hopes that she’ll miraculously declare that this class isn’t for me, but the tight smile she offers is far from the response I want.

“I mean, potions is a bit of a dramatic word. The class is more about creating offensive or defensive items in case someone tries to attack us,” she explains, and my eyebrows somehow manage to rise higher.

“I think that’s more dramatic than the word potions,” I mumble, and she shrugs.

“Maybe.”

Following Ocean to the first class of the day, I gape in surprise as we step inside.

There are rows and rows of white science workbenches that fill the entire room, with the Professor’s desk sitting in the center of it all, offering a vantage point over everyone, unlike Professor Grimm’s class, where the seating is tiered.

The color segregation continues in here, though, with each desk sitting beneath a colored flag that represents the correlating institute.

My steps slow as I try to find the aubergine purple among the madness, putting a few feet between Ocean and me as she takes off in the right direction.

Hurrying to catch up, I don’t make it far before a hand lands on my shoulder.

I steel my back as my hands curl into fists at the contact, only to turn around to find Kael looming over me.

“You’re with me,” he states, leaving no room for question as he encourages me in the same direction as Ocean, but as she claims the fourth purple workbench, he pushes me past to take the fifth.

“You’re being ridiculous.” I glare at him, but he doesn’t seem to care. “What about Ocean?” I ask, waving to my friend at the workbench in front of me, and he shrugs.

“Rion will pair with her.” He says it as though it’s already been decided at the exact same time the guy in question saddles up beside Ocean, glancing over his shoulder with a wink when he catches me staring.

Running short of excuses, I peer around the room in time to spot Thorne storming down the aisle.

He carries himself with an air of superiority, despite the fact that he’s in Thirteen, but everyone seems to respect it, giving him the wide berth his aura demands.

Without a single word or a glimpse of eye contact, he bypasses our workbench to take the one behind us.

“Don’t worry about him. He’s only here because it’s mandatory,” Kael murmurs, and I peer at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” I ask, tearing my eyes from the dark-haired angry guy to lock eyes with a light-haired angry guy.

“He’s a shadow fae; he can do whatever his mind wants.”

I gulp at his explanation, but before I consider whether I want to know more or not, a loud thud draws everyone’s attention to the center of the room.

“Good morning. We won’t waste time with your gossiping nonsense.

I’m going to come through with a worksheet that will prove essential for today’s lesson.

” The woman stands with her spine stiff, her frame almost gaunt, and her gaze laser-focused as she glances around the room.

Her hair is pulled back into a ponytail, but it does little to control the frizzy ends dancing around her face.

Her nose is crooked and her thin-framed glasses are perched precariously on the edge of it.

She makes her way through the room, offering nothing more than a withering look and a sheet of paper to each table as she goes, until she stops at my side.

“I’m Professor Viridian, you must be Elodie Blackwood,” she states, and I nod.

“I am,” I mutter as she glances past me to Kael.

Her thin lips twist for a moment before she looks back at me. “Are you happy with your partner? I can choose someone who would be a patient mentor instead if you would prefer,” she offers, a level of kindness and comfort I didn’t anticipate.

“She’s good,” Kael grunts, not giving me a chance to answer, and her withering stare returns as she aims it at him.

“I was asking Elodie,” she insists, a softness crinkling the corners of her eyes as she gives me her attention again.

A hand lands on my thigh, squeezing in silent order, and I clear my throat. “I’m good where I am, but thank you.”

She sighs, the disappointment in my decision clear as she offers me the slip of paper. “If you change your mind, the offer always stands.” I nod, unsure what else to say, but she drops the topic in the next breath. “We’re looking at poppy seeds today. Are you good with that, Mr. Forrester?”

“Perfect,” Kael grunts, but she barely waits for his response, moving on to the following row.

“Poppy seeds?” I ask, noticing the small pouch attached to the sheet she gave.

Kael takes them out, holding them in his palm between us. “Alone, their job is to grow a pretty flower, but combined with the right ingredients things can get… heated,” he murmurs, as vague as ever.

“How?” I push, and he lifts a brow at me.

“How about we take the class, and you’ll find out,” he smarts, and I roll my eyes at him.

“How about you sit here with your sass and I’ll take the sheet and grab the ingredients we need,” I retort, snatching the paper up and scurrying to the back of the room before he has a chance to stop me.

I spy Ocean already there and hurry to her side. A knowing smirk crosses her lips, but she doesn’t say a word. I hate it. I don’t, but I should.

“Are my eyes deceiving me, or is Kael being nice?” she asks, amusement lilting every word from her lips, and no matter how much I try to glower at her, I fail terribly.

“He wouldn’t know how to be nice if his life depended on it,” I grumble, and she laughs.

Refusing to see the funny side of the madness that is my life, I gather the ingredients as they’re labeled on the sheet and scurry back to my table, feeling no relief from being out of his presence for a moment.

I flop in my seat, spreading the jars out in front of me, all while ignoring Kael’s presence, only to lock eyes with Rion in front of me. Shaking my head, I narrow my gaze on the instructions as if they’re a step-by-step guide to surviving this damn place.

Silently, Kael and I combine the first three ingredients, working in sync, before he holds the fourth ingredient out toward me.

“I’m good, you do it,” I murmur, but when he doesn’t move an inch, I’m forced to look at him.

“You’ll like it,” he states as I eye him nervously. “Do you not trust me?” His green eyes swirl as he eats me up with his stare. I raise my eyebrows at him, and he rolls his eyes in return. “Just do it,” he grunts, placing the vial with pale blue liquid inside in front of me.

Gulping, I eye it for a moment before peering at the soft pink liquid in the main glass pot between us. Taking the four drops of the blue concoction, which I can’t even pronounce the name of, I add them to the pink mixture.

I watch in amazement as the colors swirl together, dancing in an array of purples as they combine. Mesmerized, I don’t look away until it’s all one. When I lift my gaze, it’s to find Kael looking at me.

I blush, waving him off quickly. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” he challenges, and I scoff, shaking my head as I look anywhere but at him.

“Like there’s a decent human being underneath all that.”

His hand lands on my shoulder as he leans in close, his lips brushing against the shell of my ear as he whispers. “I’m not a human being.” He leans back with a wink like he hasn’t just stolen my breath and I swat at his chest.

“You’re an ass.”

“There’s only one reason someone would be interested in a skank with purple fucking hair, and it has to be because of how easy she is.

” The snide remark is loud enough for the entire class to hear, and it’s no surprise when I follow the sound and find that it’s Willow standing proud and sneering at me.

Instead of biting back with a pointless remark, I disregard her attempt to bring me down. It will only piss her off more when she doesn’t get a rise out of me.

Turning my attention back to the sheet in front of me, Kael’s hand drops from my shoulder to my thigh. “I’ll protect you, you know,” he whispers, as though it’s the secret to getting out of here.

“Of course,” I murmur, refusing to look at him, but he gets the hint all the same.

“You don’t believe me.”

My gaze latches onto his before I can think better of it. “When have you ever given me a reason to?”

The truth hangs in the air between us, leaving him speechless and me defenseless, so I do the only thing I can do, and that’s carry on with the experiment.

Kael watches as I take control of the concoction, until all that remains are the poppy seeds. Both of our hands touch the pouch at the same time and the soft, warm contact startles me. My gaze latches onto his, a warmth brightening his green eyes, and it leaves me breathless.

Slowly, he pulls his hand back, letting me take the final ingredient, but not before he runs his fingertips over mine, making me shiver as I remember his touch in the bathroom back at The Sanctum headquarters.

I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as I sprinkle the poppy seeds in, watching the liquid bubble immediately before Kael tugs me back a step, just in time for the crackles and bright lights to stream from the jar.

I gape in disbelief at the bursts of color that fill the air before me like fireworks.

“They’re distress signals,” Kael murmurs as I watch in wonder, yet all I can think about is the fact that distress signals are far too fitting now, because I’m definitely in need of rescuing.