Chapter 29 Jack
Chapter twenty-nine
Jack
My phone was suspiciously quiet outside of messages from Tate and Xinyi. Kyren didn’t bother texting me, he just showed up randomly wherever I was, whether it be in the library or coming out of class, there he’d be.
His fixations on me had only increased since the time in the stairwell. A subtle kind of possessiveness mixed with old school chivalry that only had me grinning every time he took my bag or opened a door. Then there were his dark looks at anyone other than Tate who got too close to me.
Tate wasn’t much better and, between the two of them, all my time was taken up by them and classes. I barely had a moment to think of anything else… until it was Wednesday, and an alarm went off on my phone.
While Kyren pressed hot, open-mouth kisses along my neck and chest, his shadows wrapped around me, grabbing and caressing anything they could get their hands on, Tate watched from the side, his hand stroking up and down his length.
When my phone went off, Tate grabbed it, his brows furrowing as he looked at the alarm. “What meeting are you supposed to be at in an hour?”
My body ached as my eyes widened, and I struggled against Kyren’s shadows. “I forgot. I have… uh… a meeting with my advisor to change a class.”
Kyren’s eyes narrowed on me. “Which class?”
“Econ,” I spat out. I hoped they took my racing heart as left over from their touches and not the panic I was feeling. “I really just don’t see the point in taking it and was going to swap it out with something else.”
“Like what?” Tate asked, shifting closer, his hand sliding between my legs.
I choked on a breath, hips lifting to meet his touch. “Umm…. I’m not… I’m not sure yet. That’s what the meeting is for.”
“Hmmm.” Kyren’s tongue flicked over my nipple.
“That’s what I was thinking,” Tate commented, his fingers pulsating in and out of me.
“Wha—what?” I stuttered, my mind becoming mush under their touch.
With the help of Kyren’s shadows, Tate lifted me and placed me over Kyren’s face, his body pressed close behind me, his voice in my ear. “That we have an hour to see how many times we can make you scream.”
Before I could find a reason to protest, they proceeded to do just that. By the time I finally told them no more, I could barely breathe, let alone move.
Except I had to. With a groan, I rolled out from between the two of them, who seemed perfectly capable of going another ten rounds with the way their hungry eyes watched my every move.
I searched the room for my clothes, dragging each item on like I had weights pushing down my arms and legs.
“Where are you going?” Tate asked, his hands behind his head a smirk on his lips.
Hopping on one foot, I shoved on one shoe and then searched for the other. “I have that meeting, I told you.”
“Oh… uh.” Tate and Kyren exchanged a look.
My other shoe in hand, my eyes narrowed. “What?”
“It’s already five.”
“No.” I gaped at him, horror filling me. “No. No. No. No. This can’t be happening.” I shoved my other shoe on and tied them faster than I’d ever done before.
Tate crawled over to me with a sheepish grin. “We’re sorry, princess. We thought you had decided not to go since the alarm went off again, and then you didn’t say anything…. So…” Tate brushed my hair away from my face.
I jerked away from him, standing.
“Jack?” A hurt look passed over his face.
I blew out a breath and shook my head. “It’s fine. I just — I have to go. I’ll…” I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and stalked toward the door, my anxiety skyrocketing with each step. “I’ll talk to you later.”
Then I left the two of them there, naked and confused, while I raced through the dorm toward the main campus building.
Students shot me curious looks as I ran through the halls and up the stairs, hoping against hope that I hadn’t fucked this up.
That I hadn’t let my one lead get lost because I was distracted.
I could just hear the lecture Julian would give me once he found out. He would never let me hear the end of it. In fact, he might even report this to the Hunter’s guild president, and I’d be pulled from the assignment. Then they’d never trust me to go solo ever again.
No, I wouldn’t let that happen. It’s only been an hour. Surely their meeting went longer than that. Even if I only caught the back half, I could get faces, maybe even names to pass on to the guild.
I could still fix this. I had to.
When I reached the third floor, I realized I didn’t know which room was the chemistry room.
I walked down the corridor, peeking through the small window of each classroom door, seeing empty classrooms and full-on lectures and labs happening.
It wasn’t until I reached the end of the hall and no meeting to be had that I really let it sink it.
Frozen in the middle of the hallway, I dragged my hands through my already messy hair. I’d fucked up. This was my one chance to prove that I could do this, and I’d screwed it up.
And Julian knew I would. That’s why he told me not to get distracted. To focus on the mission and not fall…
My eyes blinked, heart stuttering at the unfinished thought.
Was I in love?
No, it wasn’t possible. I barely knew them.
I was just consumed by their attention and unlimited amount of orgasms. I certainly wasn’t in love with them.
I was a hunter, not to forget that I was lying to them.
The idea of me being in love with them only added to my distress as I sank down against the stone wall of the hallway.
I didn’t know how long I sat there before my phone beeped. Weariness crashed down on me as I drew it out.
Julian: Report.
Fuck. What was I going to tell him? That I’d missed the meeting because I was too busy getting fucked within an inch of my life? I could see that going over well. Not.
There was always the option of lying. I could tell Julian the meeting never happened. That I was wrong. Or they’d changed their mind. Then that would bring more questions of why I hadn’t report in sooner.
No. My parents had taught me to own up to my mistakes. Even big, world-ending ones like this. I had to face the music.
Standing, I took a deep breath and made my way to Julian’s office. Each step sounded like the funeral march to the death of my hunter career. I had to stop several times to breathe because my panic got so large, I began to hyperventilate.
When I finally reached his office, I froze unable to make myself knock on his door.
You can do this. You’re a big bad hunter. Others had made mistakes before. You’re no different from them. You admit your mistake. You promise to find a new lead and everything will be fine. Great. You’ve got this.
My little pep talk didn’t do much to ease my anxiety, but I finally lifted my hand to knock. I barely knocked before he told me to come in.
Julian sat behind his desk, glasses on as he stared at his computer.
When he saw it was me, he shifted his attention away from whatever he was working on.
I couldn’t read his expression as he gestured for me to have a seat.
Julian always had an annoyed or exasperated look on his face whenever he saw me, so this blank slate only made my nerves twist into knots.
Sitting down, I took a minute to make myself comfortable as I waited for the inevitable question.
There was a long silence before Julian finally broke it.
“No sarcastic remarks? No poking at me just for the fun of it?” Julian arched a brow, leaning back in his chair. “I dare say, I’m concerned.”
I shrugged. “Maybe I just don’t feel like it.”
Julian gave me a pointed look. “I highly doubt that, but if you don’t wish to explain yourself, then you can at least report in on the rebel meeting.
How did it go? Did you recognize any face?
Were any names mentioned? Do they have a plan in place?
” He lifted his pen poised to take down any intel I had to give him.
“The meeting…” I drew out, my lips twisting to one side. How was I going to tell him that I blew it? I missed the meeting. I’d set back our entire operation.
“Yes?”
The anticipation and patience on his face broke me. I couldn’t hold it back. I had to let him know and suffer the consequences.
“I didn’t go.”
There was a long pause. A tense silence filled the office. Then Julian slowly places his pen down with such precision that I knew it was going to be bad.
“Explain.”
The single word was enough to show the tension in his form even without the pinch of his gaze, the tightening of his jaw and the hard grip he had on his hands in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, I chose my words carefully. “I had an alarm set to go to the meeting. I had every intention of going. I swear. Then… I got…” I winced. “Distracted and missed the finally alarm.”
Julian stared hard me down. “You got distracted?”
I nodded.
“You got distracted?” He let out a humorless laugh as if not quite believing his own words as he rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. “What the fuck were you thinking, Jack? Do you know how important this mission is? How important that meeting was? And you just got… distracted?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Julian kept going.
“What am I supposed to tell the president? What am I supposed to tell Antoine?”
I winced at the sound of my dad’s name.
“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Julian shoved up from his chair, pacing back and forth in front of me. “We were this close to having the information we needed. And you,” he placed his hands on either arm of my chair, “got distracted.”
“I know, I’m sorry, I—”
He shoved off and threw his head back a hard laugh. “Oh, you’re sorry.” He pressed his hand to his face and sucked in a breath. “You’re sorry.”
“I am.” I leaned forward hoping to show him how much I regret my mistake.
“When you found out about this meeting, you were lucky,” Julian continued, his eyes anywhere but on me.
“Most hunters would have to interrogate someone to get that kind of intel, but you just wandered upon it in the library.” He shook his head and then finally looked at me.
“How likely do you think that’s going to happen again? ”
I shrank back into my chair. “Not likely.”
“Exactly,” Julian scoffed. “You fucked us, Jack. Really and truly fucked us.”
“But I have contacts,” I countered, shifting forward in my seat. “Xinyi told me about vampires who didn’t like the council. I could prod her more for names. I can still do this mission. I can do this.” My words were more of a reassurance for myself than for him.
Julian’s eyes landed hard on me. “You think so?”
I nodded eagerly.
“Then tell me it wasn’t that vampire and his wolf that distracted you,” he spat out, almost disgusted by the very mention of them.
He came in close, his hands on the arms of my chair, forcing me to lean back.
“You want to be a hunter so badly, and yet you let them touch you, let them fuck you—” He cut his words off, his jaw tightening.
“You let them distract you for the whole reason you are here.”
“I… just…”
Julian let out a low growl. “You’re not a hunter. You’re just a lost little girl pretending to be one.”
My eyes burned at his words as he stepped away. Julian turned his back on me, his hand on his hip while he rubbed his temple.
“You’re dismissed.”
I didn’t stay a moment longer than I had to. I shoved out of my seat and stalked out of the room. My eyes burned with unshed tears that I wouldn’t let him or anyone else see.
Thankfully, I didn’t run into anyone I knew on the way to my dorm room. I found my helmet and bike keys before bending down beneath my bed and pulling out my bag of hunting gear. I hadn’t needed to use it until now, but that didn’t mean I had forgotten about it or who I was.
Julian thought I wasn’t a hunter? Well, I’d remind him how fucking wrong he was.