Chapter 13
THE EVOLUTION OF THE SUPERNAL
“Oh dear. Well now, this is nasty, isn’t it? Hmm?” Darla examined my hand. “Luckily for you, there won’t be any stitches required, and I have just the ticket to speed up the healing.”
She bustled across the small medical room to a cabinet filled with jars of gunk in various colors.
Her braid swayed to-and-fro as she moved about, so long it passed her bottom.
She was adorable with her trouser cuffs rolled up to account for her small stature, and a tunic that fell to her knees, topped with a green apron, its pockets bulging with items.
The room was down the corridor from our quarters, empty unless she was summoned by a student, which Clary had done by pressing her palm to the crystal on the desk.
Clary stood close by, wringing her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I wish I could heal you.”
I waved her off with my good hand. “It’s okay. I’m fine.”
“Yes, she’ll be right as rain,” Darla said.
“This will numb the pain and heal.” She scooped some green ointment from a jar and lathered it onto my hand before wrapping a bandage around it.
“Palm injuries are the worst. So many nerves and things. But this will set you right in a couple of days.” She handed me the jar.
“Take this and make sure to reapply it morning and night. Clary, dear, grab some bandages, would you?” She gently gripped my chin and peeled off the bandage on my head. “Let’s get this one cleaned up, too.”
She was finishing up when Vitra walked into the room. The space seemed to shrink around him. He stood by the door, his golden gaze tracking Darla’s movements as she taped gauze over my head wound.
“You want to speak with Miss Onyx, I assume?” Darla said once she was done.
“I do.”
Trinity save me. His voice did strange things to my insides, and when his gaze landed on me, trapping me in warm honey, breaking contact became an exercise in will.
Fortunately, will was something I had in abundance.
I dropped my gaze to his mouth, to the knowing smile that played there, then away, anywhere else to give my pulse a moment to settle.
Darla grabbed a couple of jars and popped them into her apron pockets. “Come on, Clary. You can help me back at Border House. I have some tinctures to finish.”
Clary chewed her cheeks, gaze flicking from me to Vitra and back again. “Ana?”
“She’ll be fine,” Vitra said. “I’ll escort her to her room personally.”
Did I want to be alone with him?
Darla took Clary’s hand, and they both vanished into thin air with a soft pop, leaving me with no choice in the matter.
Vitra dragged a stool over, parking it so close that when he sat, his knee brushed mine.
I resisted the urge to pull away and instead looked him dead in the eyes. “What? Have I done something wrong? Broken a rule? Or is this a check-in visit?”
The corner of his luscious mouth lifted. “So abrasive,” he drawled.
No, abrasive was the way his voice teased my senses.
“I heard what happened in the dining hall,” he continued.
“And?”
“It’s a bad idea.”
“You know what’s a bad idea? Letting someone like Tamina into this Academy. The fact that you’d train Phages like her to be Hunters says a lot about this place.”
His expression pinched. “I don’t disagree. But all establishments require funds to operate.”
“Oh, I get it. Say no more. That makes the abuse of innocent creatures okay, then.”
“You have every right to feel that way. And you’re not the only one. But rules and covenants exist for a reason, and blood debts are never paid lightly. We have no idea what Ruspin did to be bound to Tamina like that.”
“Whatever it was, it can’t possibly warrant being humiliated and beaten daily. No one has the right to own someone else.”
“Are you sure your personal experiences aren’t coloring your judgment?”
Heat rushed to my cheeks, stinging as if he’d slapped me. “You don’t know me, Master Vitra, so please keep your assumptions to yourself.”
“I see I’ve touched a nerve.”
“No, you’re simply getting on my nerves.”
He tipped his head to the side, that enigmatic smile back on his luscious lips. “Are you always this argumentative?”
“Are you always this attentive to new students?”
His eyes narrowed. “As your mentor, it’s my job to make sure you’re safe.”
The mentor I was supposed to be cultivating a relationship with, the one that I needed to use at some point, and dammit, I was blowing it. I ducked my head and exhaled. “I’m sorry. It’s been a long day.”
He sat up straight and looked down his nose at me, as if he was trying to decide what to do with me, as if I were a problem. I’d seen that look too many times for it to bother me, but for some reason, right now it did. And I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying something I’d regret.
He sucked in his cheeks, his eyes lighting up. “So you do have some self-control.”
“What?”
“I can speak to Tamina and dissolve your deal.”
The sudden twist in topic threw me for a moment, but I recovered fast. “No! I’m not backing down on this.
And if that’s the only reason you wanted to see me, then we’re done.
” I made to stand, but he placed his hand on my thigh, holding me in place.
Heat spread beneath my skin, and I bit back a gasp.
There was no more denying that this man was somehow bypassing my curse. No denying that I liked it either.
“I don’t recall dismissing you, Miss Onyx.”
The command in his tone both repelled and excited me, leaving me momentarily flustered. And he was still touching me. Surely that was inappropriate. I should point that out, right?
Yeah. I should definitely point it out.
I arched a brow, gaze dipping to his hand on my thigh, then rising to his face.
He slow-blinked and withdrew his hand, leaving me hollow.
“You should reconsider your deal with Miss Vayne. Once you step onto Coral Isle, you are no longer under Nightsbridge protection. I will not be able to help you.”
“The arena is on Coral Isle?”
I’d been so caught up in playing the part of someone in pain that I’d neglected to ask for details about my upcoming rendezvous with psycho bitch.
“Yes. Coral Isle is free land. A place where the students can…be themselves, without academic repercussions.”
It made sense. Thropes and Phages were both bloodthirsty in different ways.
Working together wasn’t a natural state for them, and they needed some place where they could expel their rage.
Clary and Dori had explained as much on the lift ride up to the Main Building.
I should have realized that the fight would take place there.
Outside the confines of the no-aggression rules.
Vitra crossed his arms, distracting me with the inked patterns on his skin. Gorgeous whorls and unfamiliar writing in a language that I didn’t recognize.
“Miss Onyx?”
Shit. “I’ll be fine. I can handle my…” I trailed off, recalling the last time I’d said those words to him—how it had felt to be pressed to the wall, his thigh between mine. An air bubble formed in my throat, and I swallowed it down. “I’ll be fine.”
A ghost of a smile played on his luscious lips. “Good girl.” He stood in one fluid motion and headed for the door. “Come now. I’ll walk you back.”
I didn’t want to walk back with him. I wanted to put distance between us so I could figure out why he affected me in such a strange way. What was so special about him that he could bypass my curse?
“I don’t have all night, Miss Onyx.”
“Why, Master Vitra? You got a date?” Why had I said that?
His brows lifted. “As a matter of fact, I do.”
Selethis, the lucky bitch. “In that case, we’d better not keep her waiting.” I hopped off the stool. “Lead the way.” So that I can ogle your butt.
He glanced over his shoulder. “What did you say?”
“I said, lead the way.”
“No, after that.”
Wait… Had I said the last part out loud? No. No, I hadn’t. I was sure of it. “I didn’t say anything else.”
“Hmm…” He continued down the corridor, and I followed, leaving enough room for a good view of his ass.