Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Van
At lunch, Mr. Time sits at the head of the table, as if he’s the dad and we’re all part of one big fucked-up family.
He starts out by introducing us to the godslayers, one by one, and then he introduces the godslayers to us.
Jessica, the only female among them, greets us with a smile.
Tuck is a tall, massive godslayer with a scruffy beard, and an arm behind Jessica’s chair at all times.
Clancy sits on her other side. He’s the only one that doesn’t look like a football player, and his glasses and soft smile makes it a little hard to believe that he might one day kill us.
And then there’s dark-haired Finn, with the bright green eyes and a glare every time one of us even moves. He’s got asshole written all over him.
At the end of the table, the four other godslayers say little, but they seem to stay close together.
Lucus is huge, with black hair and an attitude.
He mumbles under his breath every so often, and I get the impression there’s something back home he plans to return to soon.
Even if he has to kill us to do it. The twins, Brian and Josh, have light brown hair and sit beside Lucus.
Trevor is a massive blond hulk. They say nothing, even when Mr. Time asks them questions.
I’m not sure if we can trust any of them. Hell, I’m not sure if they actually want to kill us to keep the world safer, or if they’re serial killers given a reason to exercise their favorite hobby. Either way, I keep my eyes glued to them throughout the meal.
Conversation is more than a wee bit strained, for some reason.
Except between Jessica and Izzy. They carry on like they’re old friends, pointedly ignoring the rest of us. I love how Izzy makes friends everywhere she goes.
It also gives me a heart attack, because everywhere we go is miserable and dangerous and she’d be safer if she just stayed close and quiet.
As if she knows what I’m thinking, she puts her hand on my arm and tells Jessica, “Wilder and Van were both superstar athletes in our school. I was normal. They actually seemed to enjoy high school.”
I snort. “I think that’s an overstatement.”
Izzy flashes me a teasing smile. “They were popular. I can’t imagine what that’s like.”
“It’s getting harder and harder to remember what being popular was like,” I say dryly.
“Imagine that,” one of the guys says, a tall guy with broad shoulders and a scuff of a beard. “No one rolled out the red carpet for the evil gods. Weird.”
“Imagine being this dedicated to murdering people you don’t even know,” Wilder retorts. “Seems very heroic.”
The guy regards him steadily for a minute, then holds out his hand. “Wilder, right? Sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Tuck.”
Wilder gives him a considering look, then reaches out and shakes his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.” Tuck flashes a grin at him. “Now we know each other. Now it’s legit I want to murder you, right?”
“No one will be murdering anyone.” Mr. Time rises to his feet impatiently. “I thought you all would at least be on your best behavior while I was present.”
“I’m not sure Tuck has a best behavior setting,” Jessica says, stealing a glance at Tuck. He props his chin on his hand and smiles at her innocently.
As soon as lunch is over, I pull Wilder aside. “Hey, I had plans before the jackass invasion. Can you stay close to Izzy? Make sure she’s safe?”
I’ve got promises to keep.
Bloody promises.
“Yeah,” Wilder promises. Some promise. As if a mission to stay close to Izzy isn’t right up his alley.
I hesitate, then add, “Look out for Reid too, okay? None of us should be alone. Not until we know…”
Not until we know the godslayers won’t try to kill us in our sleep just to see if they can.
“I always try to look out for all of you,” Wilder says, clapping my shoulder.
It’s his usual good quarterback routine, except it’s true. Wilder’s always trying to protect us all.
For some reason, that makes me think of one of the last times we were all trying to protect ourselves, years before, when it wasn’t a grisly end at risk.
We’d thought our friendship would be destroyed because we were all falling for Izzy.
But now, for some reason, I can’t imagine a world where we aren’t all together.
I’ve never considering sharing a woman before, but Izzy isn’t just any woman.
“Hey,” I say, before he can leave. “I wanted to ask you about something.”
“What’s that?”
“Remember when we promised none of us would date Izzy?”
Lines of tension etch across his face instantly. Yep, he remembers. None of us would forget.
“Yeah,” he says.
I shake my head, making light of it. “We were such a stupid bunch of kids. She’s smart enough, I don’t think she’d sign on for this four-car wreck.”
His lips twist into a smile. “Smart’s got nothing to do with being crazy enough to love us.”
“Maybe.” Everything in me resists the idea of hoping for a happy ending.
Guys like me don’t get happy endings.
“You going back on your promise?” I ask.
“You just said we were stupid.”
“Yeah, stupid. Not wrong.”
He glances down the hall. “We should all talk about this.”
“Great.”
“All five of us.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, I’m sure Izzy would love that.”
“It involves her.”
“Whatever, Wilder. I’ll be back in a few hours.”
Even though right now, the last thing I want is to leave Wilder with Izzy. I hate the thought of him kissing her when I can’t.
None of us should let ourselves get distracted right now.
Aiden’s waiting for me when I get outside.
My dad might’ve dropped me off here with nothing, but I’m still Van fucking Wellington. I called in a favor. There’s a car waiting for us outside the academy gates, and today’s our day off from classes.
Time to start tracking down some vamps.
Because I keep my promises.