Chapter Forty
Bechora
By some miracle, we managed to avoid Thrackborne.
When lunch rolled around, none of us wanted to risk having Miles out in the open.
We grabbed food from the dining hall—or rather, Zypher insisted he and Gabriel grab it and bring it to his dorm in Daemonium House after assuring me it was the safest place on campus to hide from a dragon shifter.
While we ate, he and Gabriel told me they’d gone straight to the library when Miles and I headed to class that morning, but the professor and papers Miles mentioned were gone.
We answered Gabriel’s lingering questions about my status as a Starcaller—the ones we could.
He offered thoughts on connecting with my abilities, walking me through techniques vampires learned as children to test their limits.
One exercise required me to push against him with everything I had, pulling magic from my well and guiding it to infuse my muscles.
I thought he was playing a trick on me, but my palm shoved him back several feet.
His boots skidded across the floor with a startled grunt.
“Fuck, I think you broke one of my ribs,” he hissed, an arm wrapping around his side.
“That doesn’t make sense. All I did was push you. I didn’t even have momentum behind it.” I frowned.
“Vampires have enhanced strength,” Gabriel grunted, stepping toward me. “We don’t need momentum to break bones.” He paused, eyes narrowing at nothing. “Fuck, that’s it! When I bit you, you threw me into the side of the other building—remember?”
My mind slipped back to the day he’d cornered me between buildings, threatening me before accidentally initiating our mate bond. “Yes,” I clipped, not wanting to think about that day.
“It makes so much sense,” he continued. “After I bit you, you were suddenly strong enough to fight me off. And then just now…”
“Your strength,” Zypher picked up as Gabriel trailed off. “That’s the ability she has from your mating.”
Miles scribbled notes as Shadrie’s gaze flitted between me and my mates with glee.
“Let’s go again. We have to test it to be sure. Try to pull more magic into your muscles this time,” Gabriel demanded.
“But your rib.”
“It will be fine. I’m a vampire; we heal fast.” He shrugged.
My eyes sought Zypher, hoping for a way out of potentially harming Gabriel again. Shadrie offered a reprieve instead.
“As excited as I am to see B absolutely kick your ass for being such a dick, she’s going to be late for class if she doesn’t get moving.”
I gave her a grateful look, then followed her gaze to the clock on Zypher’s wall. “She’s right. We have class, and I don’t want to find out how Kragmane deals with tardiness.”
“Fine, we’ll continue this in combat class later,” Gabriel replied.
The three of us hurried across campus to Human Studies.
I expected Gabriel to take his usual seat as Zypher, and I claimed ours.
Instead, my vampire stalked behind us and snarled at the female at the desk next to mine to move.
Hushed whispers rolled through our classmates as he claimed the seat, eyes pinned on the front as if he hadn’t done something gossip-worthy.
Professor Kragmane cleared his throat, ending the chatter.
“Today’s lecture will be the last that isn’t focused on the end-of-year trials,” he began, eyes scanning the room.
“We will be discussing human mating rituals—an area in which, I assure you, I am quite the expert. Some of you will want to pay close attention, as you may find yourselves in the human realm seeking your mate.”
The excitement among my classmates was palpable. A male wolf I recognized, thanks to Shadrie, cupped his hands and howled.
“Settle down!” Kragmane snapped, turning to the blackboard and sketching a diagram that looked suspiciously like two potatoes holding hands.
“With the exception of our mage brethren, humans do not use mating as a form of pleasure. In fact, the females of the species are naturally opposed to physical intimacy of any kind. Yes, Mr. Welvern,” Kragmane paused, calling on the wolf who’d howled.
“My brother just came back from his mate hunt in the human realm over the summer. He said that isn’t true and plenty of women in the human realm are employed at strip clubs because they really like getting naked and fucking.”
Kragmane arched a brow. “Language, Mr. Welvern!” He waited for the shifter’s muttered apology before continuing.
“There are outliers in every species, but research tells us the majority of human females in that profession do so because they have been shunned from polite society and are essentially unmateable.”
I stiffened, biting the inside of my cheek until I drew blood. Wherever the professor got his information, he was wrong. The wolf hadn’t been correct either, but at least he wasn’t claiming to be an expert. My gut told me the rest of the lesson would be worse.
“As I was saying,” he continued, unaware of the storm brewing within me.
“It is well documented. Human females will go to great lengths to avoid consummation, citing mysterious headaches, religious calendars, or fleeing into the night. Entire marriages can pass without a single coupling, as the male resigns himself to a life of frustration.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” The words were out before I could stop them.
“I assure you, Ms. Knight, I am the foremost expert on this subject. The facts are irrefutable. Why, only last year I observed a pair of humans at a tavern. The male repeatedly offered to ‘buy her a drink,’ and the female rolled her eyes. This clearly indicates reluctance. The data is flawless.”
My palm slapped my desk, the sharp crack echoing through the room. “You’re wrong. So wrong it’s painful to listen to. I don’t know how the academy allows you to teach this bullshit when you clearly don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Kragmane’s brows shot up, his chalk hovering midair. “Excuse me?”
“No. You’re excused.” I leaned forward, every nerve alight with indignation.
“Human women are not opposed to sex. We don’t go out of our way to avoid it.
We don’t consider it a terrible burden that we reluctantly allow when a man whines long enough.
In fact—” I let my gaze sweep the room as I stood, then back to Kragmane, “—human women enjoy it. We desire it, crave it, and—when it’s with someone we actually want—it’s one of the most pleasurable experiences we can have. Human women love to fuck.”
Zypher let out an amused chuckle, and I felt Gabriel stiffen on my other side.
“I’ve done decades of research, young lady,” Kragmane began, face flushed with anger.
“And I’ve spent decades living in the human realm as a human,” I cut him off.
“Plenty of those years were spent enjoying a man in my bed.” My feet carried me to the front until I was bent, face-to-face, with the ignorant dwarf.
“If he was good enough, we wouldn’t even make it to the bed.
Sometimes a man can make a human woman so desperate to fuck that she has him bend her over and take her right there.
Contrary to the bullshit you’re teaching, if our partner is worth a damn, human women fuck.
And, speaking from personal experience, we fuck a lot. ”
Kragmane’s mouth worked like a fish on land. “This is… this is utterly disgraceful behavior!”
“Disgraceful?” I barked a laugh. “What’s disgraceful is that you’re up here teaching nonsense about a subject you clearly know nothing about.
And do you want to know why you think women hate sex, Professor?
” I leaned closer, my voice dropping into a sharp whisper that carried to the back row.
“Because no woman alive would climb into bed with you.”
The class broke into chaos—howls of laughter, shocked squeals, someone pounding a desk in glee.
I turned back to my classmates. I spotted Zypher first, leaning back, the picture of casual elegance, an amused smirk on his face.
Gabriel, on the other hand, glanced around the room as if looking for someone to murder.
That strange, unwanted pull forced my eyes to Dante and Vallynn next.
Both males looked as murderous as my vampire mate.
Kragmane was nearly the color of boiled beets when my attention returned to him. “I’ll have you disciplined for this disruption, Ms. Knight! You cannot speak to me in such a manner!”
“Oh, but I can,” I cut in, straightening and stepping back, arms crossed.
“While you’re scribbling potatoes on the board and pretending to understand human intimacy, I’ve actually lived it.
From where I’m standing, your decades of research don’t amount to a damn thing if they’re filtered through your failure to attract a woman. ”
The laughter grew louder, rolling like thunder through the lecture hall. A wolf shifter at the back fell out of his chair, howling with delight. I barely noticed Zypher and Gabriel moving from their seats toward me.
“You’re not an expert on mating, Professor Kragmane,” I added coolly, voice sharp enough to cut glass. “You’re just bitter no one’s ever wanted to mate with you.”
Kragmane’s sputtering fury was drowned out by the uproar. His stubby fingers clutched his lecture notes as if they could shield him from the reality crashing down; the room wasn’t laughing with him anymore. It was laughing at him.
“Time to go, Dilectus,” Zypher purred in my ear as he gently took my elbow and guided me toward the door. Gabriel flanked my other side like a wall of simmering violence, his fangs flashing when anyone so much as snickered in my direction.
“That was reckless,” Gabriel muttered, lips turned down in a scowl.
“Reckless?” I shot back. “That man was spreading straight-up lies. Lies that get women in the human realm hurt by human men. Not to mention the damage from him teaching it to supernaturals who visit the human realm.”
“I believe you set the record straight, Dilectus. Word will spread through the academy after your… memorable delivery.” Zypher grinned, eyes twinkling with mischief.
Before I could decide whether to be concerned about how my actions might be twisted as word spread, a deep voice cut through the corridor.
“What are the three of you doing?” Caulder demanded as he moved toward us.
My heart squeezed at the sight of him, and my body threatened to sway forward.
I gritted my teeth and focused on the open book in his hands to keep from lunging at him.
Whatever draw he held wasn’t something I wanted to explore.
It only left me feeling guilty and unworthy of the two males at my side.
Zypher shrugged, grin widening. “Ah. Professor Thrackborne, Bechora has just finished giving an impassioned speech on the sexual desires of the human female.”
Thrackborne’s brows dipped as Zypher’s words sank in. A puff of smoke blew from his nose on a heavy exhale. “What exactly have you done, Ms. Knight?” he grated between clenched teeth.
“Someone had to put that stupid dwarf in his place,” I snapped, the flames of my anger stoking anew. “He seems convinced human women don’t enjoy sex at all, but he’s so fucking wrong.”
“What my Dilectus is neglecting to say is that she made it quite clear she thoroughly enjoys fucking,” Zypher said, humor lacing his words.
Thrackborne’s grip on the book tightened as more smoke poured from his nostrils. Before any of us could comment, he tore the book clean in two. That seemed to amuse even Gabriel, who chuckled alongside my demon mate at the sight of the two halves hanging from the dragon’s hands.
“Detention. All three of you,” Thrackborne snapped. “Report to my office at dusk.”
I stared at his back as he stomped away, not sure what to make of his strange behavior.
“Well, it seems we have successfully distracted him from Miles,” Gabriel said.
Pressing my lips together, I turned to Zypher. He seemed pleased with Professor Thrackborne’s reaction, though I wasn’t sure why. Noticing my attention, he smiled and slipped a hand into mine.
“We should return to my dorm and tell Miles the good news,” he said, tugging me along behind him.