Chapter Eight
Charlotte
I was somewhere soft and warm. Pain couldn’t trouble me in this place, nothing could. Everything felt right and safe as it should be.
“—ghouls are foul, hideous creatures that should be slaughtered on sight—”
I frowned, face scrunching up. Who was saying such horrible things in my perfect place?
Blinking away, my surroundings slowly came into focus.
It was the tapestry of the brutal staking and limb-tearing of a vampire that greeted me first, and shoved reality back into my fuzzy brain.
Talking to Professor Radu... losing my phone... Ronin’s threats... his bleeding nose... and my short-lived escape.
It all came back to me, but what I didn’t know, was how I got to Professor Connard’s class, or why my seat was so lumpy?
I twisted around, and came eye to mouth with Ronin’s smirk. Swallowing a shriek, I scrambled off his lap—bolting upright.
Heat flooded my cheeks to see his clothes all mussed and strands of my hair on his jacket sleeve. Had he spent the whole time holding me? Did he carry me to class so I wouldn’t get another absence on my death record?
I touched my face and nose. All fine. No aches or pains anywhere, and not a mark on Ronin’s sculpted-by-the-gods nose.
More importantly, sitting unharmed by his side was Dora. She put down her pen to wave at me, beaming like she hadn’t seen me for months.
Another glance to the left and right revealed empty seats. Where were the princess gangsters?
The back of my neck prickled. Peering over my shoulder, my heart shot into my throat.
Five lethal, hateful glares stabbed me in the back.
Eris, Ursula, Kama, Sauda, and Raven were sitting in their usual seats in the back, while Ronin, me, and Dora had an entire middle row to ourselves.
There was plenty of room for all of them to sit in our row, so only one thing could’ve happened: Ronin told them to take a hike, and they hated me for it.
“Charlotte Hunter.”
I jerked, spinning around on Connard. Goodness, if the stares the pretty gangster girls were giving me were vicious, then it was because they were taking notes from him.
“First, you sleep through my class, and now you’re interrupting my class,” Connard said, planting his feet and folding his hands behind his back.
“Tell me, did the illness that struck you down yesterday affect your intelligence? Should I expect absences and stupidity from you and your weak mortal constitution going forward?”
My eyes narrowed to slits. Seriously, dude? Like I don’t have enough problems right now? I’m not dealing with your empty-headed bigotry on top of it.
“I—”
“You can expect these absences going forward,” Ronin smoothly sliced in. “As my new bond, her priorities to me are above all the rest. Charlotte was busy yesterday, attending to me all day and all night.”
“Ow, ow, ow,” someone hollered, setting off a wave of hooting and wolf-whistling that set my face on fire.
“Ahh, so that’s the case.” Was it me, or did Professor Jackass Connard sound pleased? “How... fitting.”
My fists balled seeing the knowing smirk on Connard’s face.
The man flapped a hand at me, turning away. “Sit down, girl—”
“No.”
Connard spun back, eyes flashing. “What did you just—?!”
“No, sir,” I continued. “You will not have to deal with these absences in the future. From now on, I will be present, correct, and on time for your and every class—every day.” I spoke to Connard, but smiled mirthlessly at Ronin.
“And if I’m not, please feel free to enact the proper punishment against me.
After all, within the walls of this hallowed institution, my first priority is and must be to learn all that my esteemed professors are here to teach—”
“Oh, sit down, you kiss-ass bitch,” Connard sliced off before going about his work.
I rocked back, choking on my surprise as raucous laughter hit the air again—but none of them as loud as Ronin Belphe.
He howled, clutching his sides and falling flat on my lap when I stumbled into my seat.
“That was incredible,” he wheezed. “You actually thought you were doing something there, only to get humiliated worse than anyone I’ve ever seen.
And I once saw a guy’s used and very unclean underwear fall out through his pant leg. ”
I wanted to die. Right then, right there. If I really served an all-powerful, all-knowing goddess, let her strike me down where I sat. It was the kindest thing to do.
“Don’t worry, Taia.” Dora leaned over and patted my wrist. “It’s not that bad. I’m sure you’ll do something even more humiliating later, and this’ll seem small in comparison.”
“Oh... okay.” I tried for a smile to match her beaming one. Mine twitched around the edges. “Thanks, Dora.”
His head already where it was going to end up anyway, Ronin eventually stopped laughing long enough to close his eyes and drift off to sleep.
Was it a sloth thing that made this dude sleep twenty hours out of the day? Whether it was or it wasn’t, I had to wonder how he made it this far without someone shoving a pillow over his stupid face.
My eyes drifted over to the discarded markers and pens lying about the table. Speaking of stupid faces... I reached for one. Let’s see how he likes being laughed at in public.
“Donesha?”
“What?” I cried, jerking my hand back. I caught my breath. “I mean, yes, Dora. What’s wrong?”
“Ronin said this is for you.” Dora fished in her pocket and then brought out a brand-new hellphone.
I called them hellphones because even though they looked like their earthly counterparts, they were very much made for hell.
The phone could send and receive messages and calls.
It had games. It even had social media in the form of DeadDrop, but that was it.
There was no internet to connect to. No music apps, no streaming, and no maps or location-finding apps.
You couldn’t save contacts. You could take pictures, but you couldn’t record videos.
There wasn’t even a flashlight on this fricking thing.
And, Sabrina even told me that at any and all times, our calls and texts were subject to eavesdropping by the lords of hell.
This was a communication device that was terrible for communication. As to be expected of hell.
“Wait, Ronin?” I spoke up. “How can you remember his name but not mine?”
Adora cocked her head, staring at me curiously like she didn’t understand the question.
“Never mind.” I accepted the phone. “Thanks.”
“He also said you’re not to know the number, because you’ll do something stupid with it,” she plowed on. “He said you do a lot of stupid things. That’s why you were on the floor whimpering and wailing like an infant from a little boo-boo in your nose.”
I snatched up the fucking marker. “Thank you for delivering the message, Dora,” I gritted. “I’ve got it from here.”
BY THE TIME CLASS ENDED, Ronin’s face finally matched his personality.
Two big, black, raccoon eyes sat over a mustache resemblant of a certain genocidal dictator who was kicking around somewhere in this hellish afterlife.
I finished him off with a scraggly beard, stink lines, and the word LOSER dashed across his forehead in big, bold, underlined and uppercase letters.
Ronin stirred at Connard’s barked order for us to get out of his classroom. He sat up...
...and my little art project vanished before he got to his feet.
Shrugging on his jacket, Ronin flipped his hair as he tossed me a wink—smirking his stupid, handsome rock-band-biker-bad-boy ass right out the door with a look as knowing as it gets.
I was steaming as I got up to leave. “I’m now certain of it,” I said to Dora. “I hate that guy more than anyone I’ve ever met. Possibly even more than Lucifer.”
“You hate my daddy?” Dora asked, a little pout stealing over her mouth. “Why?”
“Because you call him that.”
I walked out the door... and right into them.
“Oh no,” I groaned, heaving a sigh.
“Oh no is right.” Raven seized my collar and dragged me out of the doorway, slamming me against the wall.
“Ow.”
“Shut up!” Incensed eyes burned me where I stood.
“Listen up, mortal, because you won’t be told twice.
Don’t you dare get ideals above the shit heap you were born in, the shit heap you lived in, and the shit heap you’ll die in.
It doesn’t matter what services you were providing Ronin all last night.
You’re nothing but a worthless cum bucket in a long line of worthless cum buckets,” she spat.
“Ronin will never choose you to be his queen. He’s choosing me. ”
“No, me,” Ursula barked, crowding on my left side.
“Nope, it’s going to be me,” Eris chimed in on my right.
“Listen to you three dumbasses,” Sauda scoffed. “It’s going to be me.”
“Wrong as usual.” Kama winked at me over Eris’s shoulder. “He’s mine.”
“But what he’ll never be,” Raven pressed, tightening her strangle-grip on my collar. “Is yours.”
If that wasn’t bad enough, their girl gang lackeys were all backing them up, completely blocking all movement in the hallway to keep me penned in. One of Kama’s girls and one of Eris’s girls each had a grip on Dora’s shoulders—making sure she didn’t intervene.
Looking into their violently enraged expressions, I burst out laughing.
“Ronin will never be mine? Do you promise?” I laughed louder, putting a crack in Raven’s tough expression.
“Ladies, get a damn clue, please, and get it today. I have no interest in Ronin Belphe. I just made a deal with him and that’s all.
It’s a”—flashes of me screaming and writhing went through my mind and warmed the back of my neck—“business transaction,” I said firmly.
“We mean nothing to each other, and he’s for damn sure not going to make me his queen.
“My sister and I are going back to the mortal realm. End of.”
Eyes narrowed, Raven leaned back—her grip slightly loosening on my dress. It was clear she didn’t know whether or not she believed me, but she was leaning toward not because the princess of wrath desperately wanted to kick my ass.
I flicked to Adora, who was looking at us with an expression that was quickly growing concerned.