She’s Put A Spell On Me
Nothing like a bunch of teens blowing chunks all over themselves to ruin a decent buzz.
Aubrey’s snarly commands were impossible to ignore, especially since he put a little of that ‘alpha shifter’ shit behind them. Dragons aren’t called that—as he loves to remind me—but as the second-in-command to my Raj, the push of a true royal still affects me. My laced nip was wearing off, thank Bast, so I understood my friend’s implication that they could blame us for this crap because they forced us to be chaperones.
Listen to a bunch of rich fuckwits whine about their precious heirs’ safety in some dumbass tribunal? No fucking thank you.
I shifted and hauled ass to the infirmary as instructed, even letting the damn prey animals hitch a ride back so it’d be faster. Knowing I was that close to food without eating it is making my skin itch, but I have better control over my cat than that.
Luckily, the grumpy librarian didn’t seem set on me staying behind to help him coordinate the clean-up. I suppose I might have if asked, but since he didn’t, I grabbed my shit and headed out into air that doesn’t reek of vomit. If Felix had been with us, he would have ordered me to help and since he’s the only being on the planet I answer to, I wouldn’t be strolling along the grass untouched by sick high school kids.
Nice.
My ears flick when I pick up a faint noise coming from the direction of the library. Frowning, I alter my course, hoping I won’t find a sick kid I have to escort back to the puke palace. When I approach the building, I realize the sound is coming from the courtyard where I saw the gorgeous girl last week. My heartbeat speeds up—I couldn’t be this lucky twice, could I?
Creeping up to the dark alcove, I use my tiger’s eyes to see better. It wouldn’t do to get lured here for a beat down from a salty ex or some choad who lost to me in the ring. You can’t trust anyone in a snake pit like Apex and the sooner new arrivals figure that out, the longer they last—students and staff included.
When I get a few feet from the sound, I realize I should leave an offering somewhere because the gods are smiling on me for the first time in a while. The hot blond who sat here and pretended not to watch Chess and me explode is curled up on the stone altar like a fucking sacrifice.
Forgive me, Ra, for I have sinned…
I grin to myself at my dirty joke, then approach the edge of the grass quietly. If my luck holds, she won’t be heaving like her classmates. That would force me to do something adult-ish like take her to the nurses, and the last thing my dick wants me to be is responsible right now. My vision narrows as I notice she seems to be ragged and I can’t figure out if that’s some stupid fashion designer’s idea of edgy or not.
Like I keep up with that shit. That’s Chess’ job.
“Are you okay?” I ask softly. I don’t want to scare her, but that’s exactly what happens. She shoots up like someone bit her, clutching the weird dress to her chest and scrambling backwards. I hold my hands up in surrender, then add, “If you need them, the nurses are giving out medicine for the stomach thing in the arts center… I can take you?”
Her expression fills with terror and she shakes her head. “No, no, no! Don’t make me go back there!”
A flashback of something that happened when we were cubs hits me, and I recognize her behavior immediately.
Someone hurt this girl and when I find them, I’m going to peel their hides from their body.
The realization that I’m dangerously angry over a girl I don’t even have a name for makes me confused. Sure, I’m a decent dude, but I stay out of people’s shit unless it affects the people I care about. It’s not that I don’t care as much as I’ve learned that trusting anyone not in my personal ambush leads to pain and trouble. Everyone else can get fucked is almost my life motto.
As much as I wouldn’t give a damn if this rich chick got dumped normally, something about this doesn’t feel right. Her scared tears are making something writhe in my gut and I can’t put my finger on it. The threat tumbled from my lips without pause, though, and despite my love of violence, I don’t offer to kill preds for merely upsetting someone.
Unless it’s Chess.
That thought disturbs the hell out of me, so I go back to focusing on the weeping blond on the altar. I step closer and she rears back so quickly she almost falls off the stone. Her reaction puzzles me; I wasn’t being threatening at all. Why would she be acting like I’m going to hurt her unless…
My eyes narrow as I tilt my head and scent the air. The jasmine from the tree fills my nostrils first, but then I catch it. A slight tang of blood and the scent of…
Holy feathered eagle balls. It can’t be.
This Council heir must smell like prey because of all the scurrying animals in the ballroom. There’s no way one of them is hiding a kid set to inherit their throne who isn’t at the very top of our food chain. The scandal would rock the foundations hard enough that even I’d hear about it.
Besides, I know I couldn’t smell her animal when I saw her in the gym, and that means she was a virgin. Though with blood in the air now… perhaps that’s changed. Is that why she’s acting like I’m going to rip her throat out?
Motherfucker, I’ll kill…
I take a deep breath and shake my head to clear it. Calm down, Fitz, you’re going to scare her more. If one of those idiot boys hurt her, she’s not going to trust a male simply because he’s a professor. We had some weird seminar about this last year and though I slept through most of it, I vaguely remember how they described victim behavior.
“Hey. Listen,” I try saying again. “I won’t make you go anywhere you don’t want to. But I feel you’re not okay, and I can’t just leave you like this.”
“The puking is because Todd and his idiot friends spiked the punch,” she spits out. Her face changes when she says the name like it’s distasteful, which sets off alarm bells in my head. She swipes at the tears, then wipes her nose on her tattered dress with a huff.
I don’t know what the hell they spiked my party favors with, but suddenly, I want nothing more than to hold this girl in my arms and tell her everything will be okay.
That’s ridiculous, of course, because it’s almost never true.
“Is Todd why you’re so upset?” I observe her face because her response is going to sentence that asswipe to a painful death if it’s affirmative.
Her eyes widen and more tears spill out as she lifts her hand to cover the whimper that comes out of her mouth. “He… We… I’m…”
Fury flares in my soul and my fangs drop as I snarl, “Did he force you? Did that motherfucker rape you, baby girl?”
She shrinks away, obviously terrified of my response, and I have a stern conversation with my tiger until he pulls the pointies back. Once I do, she’s able to meet my gaze again. I give her a sheepish look, rubbing the back of my neck as I search for the right words.
It’s not like she knows I saw the bruises and smelled sex on her.
“I won’t hurt you; I promise. But I need you to tell me what happened because it’s very hard to control a tiger when it’s angry.”
Her lips curve a little, but I consider it a win. Her voice is barely a whisper when she replies, “I know you won’t hurt me. And… he didn’t… rape me. Todd was supposed to be my fiancé but… now… Things didn’t go as planned and I’m sure that’s off because my whole life has been a lie.”
Shifting from foot to foot, I argue with myself for a moment before I gesture to the other side of the flat stone. “Can I sit?”
The girl chews her bottom lip for a moment and I have to talk the other monster down before I do something stupid as hell. By the time she nods, I’m pretty sure I won’t embarrass myself when I sit that close, so I join her. I say nothing at first because I’m not sure how much I want to share, but I want her to feel better.
“I can relate to life not turning out how you expected. You may not realize it, but no matter what they spin to the students, most of the professors here are not here by choice. Something in our lives happened, and we got sent here as punishment.”
“Really?” she looks up at me wide eyed and I have to swallow a groan.
“Really. When new professors get here, they take a while to adjust because most of us are fucking furious that we’re stuck here teaching rich brats. Even if we’re former rich brats ourselves.” I smirk a little and she ducks her head, so that I don’t see her trying not to laugh.
“Why do you stay? You’re adults, right?”
Oh, to be young and this na?ve again.
“We are, but that doesn’t mean our choices aren’t limited. They would kill some of us if we left, but all the exiles have nowhere else to go where they can be around their people. And maybe some of them are punishing themselves for getting sent here.”
Felix is one of those. I suggested we make a break for it after the first year, but he refused. My stubborn twin doesn’t even like me doing research to overturn my father’s decision. He spends most of his time denying himself everything possible in penance: touch, his hair, friends, sex… you name it.
But it’s not in a Khan’s nature to submit and I won’t unless he directly orders me to—which I know Felix realizes.
“What if you could go back but everyone is going to treat you like shit over something you had no control over? Would you do it?”
“That’s a very specific hypothetical, baby girl.” I smile crookedly and shrug. “I guess it would depend on if I thought I was strong enough to look them in the eye and say ‘get fucked’. If I knew I could do it, I would make sure they knew they can’t break me.”
Lifting her head, she looks me straight in the eye. I see a spark of sass there, almost like a pre-cursor to anger. “I haven’t let them break me yet.”
“Don’t start now,” I counter. She straightens, pulling the remains of her dress over her with a determined look, and I grimace. No fucking way can I let her wander around like this. I reach down and pull my shirt off, holding it out to her before I continue. “They can knock you down, but they only win if you don’t get up.”
My dick damn near does backflips when she pulls the shirt over her head and it covers her perky tits. I really should get an award for this shit. The guys will never believe I haven’t hit on her even once. Even Chessie will be impressed.
“Be patient and play the long game,” I tell her. “Let them think they’ve won, but gather your resources and your people. You need people who you know would fight to the death for you and will never be turned. When you have that, you can make a plan to make them all pay for fucking you over… but not before. You know only the vicious survive in this world, baby girl.”
The blond watches me with big eyes and a little awe as I rant. She’s chewing on a stupidly long fake fingernail as I talk, and I can’t tell if she’s inspired or trying to get the nails off. I thought I gave a hell of ‘rah-rah’ speech, but who knows what girls need to go all ‘boss bitch’ anymore? Maybe I should have looked for fucking Zhenga or something…
“That’s really helpful, Professor…”
Oh, hell no. That’s not happening now.
“Fitz. You should call me Fitz. None of that formal bullshit, eh?” I give her an amiable smile, hoping I don’t look as dopey as I sound. “Do you need to use my phone? You seem to have lost…”
“Everything?” she trills a soft laugh and delight fills me from head to toe. “Yes, that would be very kind of you… Fitz.”
I’m going to hear her say my name in that husky voice every time I fall asleep from now on, for fuck’s sake.
I hand it to her, unlocking it and staring out into the night as she calls someone she refers to as Mattie and arranges a ride. Clearly, she doesn’t want to go anywhere near the people she came with and given her current state; I prefer it. Hell, if she hadn’t gotten a ride with this call, I might have offered to take her my damn self.
Chess is never letting me live this shit down when he hears about it.
“Should I stay with you? I don’t want you to feel unsafe, baby girl.”
She tilts her head, then shakes it. “No, I think I’m okay. Mattie is picking me up here at the library and we have a code where she honks, so I know it’s her. Plus, you’ve been far too kind already. I can’t thank you enough for talking with me.”
I’m not sure I can leave her here without making certain she’s not in danger, but I’m great at hiding behind things to stalk prey. She doesn’t have to know I’m watching and then she won’t feel bad. “Okay. Just remember what I said, baby girl.”
I rise, winking as I move to leave, but then she calls out, “Why are you calling me baby girl? You just said I’m an adult.”
My lips twist and I arch a brow at her. “Because you were in this courtyard last week, dolled up like an e-girl, while you watched me and my consort fuck against that window. All you needed to be hotter was a tiny baby doll tee.”
Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush bright pink at my words. “Oh.”
I shrug and wink at her. “Maybe when you come here in the Fall, you can see another performance.”
“Mmmm, I don’t know if that will work,” she says with a mischievous grin. “Your… friend… got really aggressive and skittish when he gave me that tour of the art building. I’m not sure if he likes me.”
My brow furrows. What tour? Chess didn’t even mention that to me.
I don’t have time to respond when she talks again. “Plus, I don’t know if I’ll be coming here after all. Something happened and well… even if I do, I won’t last long.”
“No one at this school will lay a finger on you or I’ll cut it off, followed by less pleasant appendages. Count on it,” I snarl, flashing a fang again.
She shrugs, unperturbed by my tiger now. “We’ll see, Fitz. Good night.”
Frowning, I wave at her, then turn to head out of the alcove towards the staff housing area. I don’t enjoy leaving her, but I’m also weirded out by Chess not telling me about their encounter. Plus, I just acted like a psycho older dude stalker and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Everything about tonight has been clown shoes and I’m not ready for the damn circus..
Or maybe I am, because I didn’t even ask her fucking name.
That’s okay. I know a pretty good hacker.
Me—I’m talking about me.