Chapter 16 Jack
Chapter sixteen
Jack
The words on the page of my book began to blur. I rubbed at my eyes, forcing myself to focus on the book in front of me.
I might be undercover at the academy, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still take pride in my schoolwork. My parents would never let me live it down if I failed basic courses I knew frontwards and backwards from a young age.
The library was relatively empty. Most folks had already went to bed for the day. After dealing with everything that happened earlier today, I found myself wired and unable to sleep. I tossed and turned until I finally gave up and ended up at the library.
I had been racking my brain over what Kyren had said to me. Sure, he hadn’t come right out and said it, but it was clear he’d been implying that he’d hurt, if not killed, those two idiots from the bar.
I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about that.
My phone dinged. Picking it up, I blinked through blurry eyes at the message.
Mom: don’t overdo it.
How did she know that I was up late working? She always knew when I was going too far. Doing too much. It was like she had some kind of sixth sense.
Peering down at her message, I contemplated asking about Kyren. She had seven lovers. Surely, she had to deal with jealousy, and they’re vampires, except Darren. Surely one of them had killed someone for her at one point or another.
Me: I won’t.
Me: can I ask you a question?
Mom: Always.
Me: has any of my dads killed someone for you?
Mom:… like in protection of me?
Me: more like cause they were jealous or mad someone else hit on you.
Mom: XD you realized that’s basically a declaration of love for these testosterone-filled men.
Me: Not a human man.
Mom: Oh believe me, Darren did plenty of marking his territory in his own way. But for a supernatural? A vampire specifically. Violence is their way of dealing with big emotions.
I sighed, staring down at the phone. I was afraid of that. Not that I had much room to judge. I wasn’t exactly the picture of pacifism.
When I was upset or frustrated, I hunted. Violence was in my nature. It was my go-to option for dealing with emotions. It only made sense that Kyren and even Tate would feel the same way… even more so when it came to me.
Figuring the conversation was over, I turned back to my book. Then my phone dinged again.
Mom: Just remember. If they’re not trying to bleed for you or someone else, then they don’t care.
I laughed at that.
As if that didn’t completely encompass every male that I had fallen for.
Before now, Julian was always getting in the way, ending up beaten and bloody more times than I could count.
Tate had yet to bleed for me, but had gotten between me and plenty of wolves since I’d known him and almost came to blows with Julian, had I not stopped him both times.
Now Kyren, of course, would be the one who had already gone to the extreme, bleeding someone for my sake.
Sighing, I closed my book and put it in my bag. I wasn’t going to get anymore studying done. I might as well try to go to bed.
The sun was high in the sky when I finally left the library. There were a few students milling about. Most of them dragging ass from one party or another. Others, like me, were unable to sleep.
When I reached my bedroom door, it was cracked open.
I froze. My hand dipped into my bag, fingers curling around the butt of my gun. I inched toward the door, sniffing the air. A lingering scent I didn’t recognize trailed into my room.
Pulling my gun out, I lifted it with one hand while pushing the door open with the other. I swept the room and frowned when I found it completely empty. Only the faint smell of the intruder invaded my space.
I walked into the bathroom, checking around once more before also checking the closet and under the bed.
All my things were accounted for. They hadn’t stolen anything at least. Still, it made me feel icky to know someone had been in my room while I wasn’t there.
Dropping my bag on the ground by the bed, I moved over to my dresser and searched for something to wear to bed. My eyes caught on a cream-colored envelope tucked into the edge of one of my textbooks. Glancing around once more, I picked up the envelope.
The back had been sealed with a wax seal. Definitely old school or someone who wanted me to think they were.
Grabbing my phone, I took a picture of the seal, a cauldron with a quill and some kind of leaf. Maybe Julian or my parents will know who it belongs to. Using my nail, I pried the envelope open and pulled out a card, the size of an invitation.
Written around it in scraggly red letters, it said: We know what you did.
My brows pinched together at the words. What I did? That could mean any number of things. The supernaturals I hunted on the regular. The werewolf I beat up in the gym. They had to be a little more specific if they wanted me to worry about what I did.
Musing over the note, I turned around and jumped in place, my hand to my heart. Xinyi stood in the doorway.
“Jeez, Xinyi, wear a bell, would you?” I laughed, shaking my head as I walked toward her, the note forgotten on my dresser.
“Sorry,” she grimaced. “Didn’t figure I could sneak up on you.” She paused and studied me. “You look tired. Not sleeping?”
I ushered her into the room and closed the door behind her. “Well, I didn’t get much sleep last night because of someone.” I gave her a pointed look which she returned with a shameless grin. “And tonight… just guy drama.”
“Oooh, do tell.” Xinyi climbed up on my bed and waited patiently.
“Shouldn’t you be in bed? Why doesn’t Iris have you locked down?”
Xinyi puffed up her cheeks. “She’s not my keeper. I can do what I want, you know. And… she had a meeting.” She waved her hand like it was some boring topic. “I went out and then got bored, so I thought I’d look for you. Stop trying to change the subject. Dish.”
I sighed and sat on the bed next to her.
“Well, first, Tate flipped out because of… reasons. Which led to some… stuff happening.” My cheeks burned while she squealed and bounced on the bed.
“Next thing I know, Kyren shows up and practically admits to killing those two guys from last night, and then he threatened me!” I was irritated all over again.
“We’ll come back to that first part because I want to hear all about what’s making you blush, but first, what do you mean he threatened you?”
“Did some caveman you’re-mine-bullshit, then implied if anyone was going to kill me, it would be him.” I collapsed back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. “My mom says he’s being romantic.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Xinyi giggled.
I arched a brow, leaning up on my elbows to look at her. “Did Iris do something similar?”
This time, it was Xinyi who blushed. “Kind of.”
When she didn’t elaborate, I didn’t make her, knowing that if it had the usually open woman blushing, it had to be something I didn’t want to hear.
“Anyway…” she began after a few minutes, slipping off the edge of the bed.
“I should see if Iris is back yet. Oh, yeah, I wanted to tell you. The witches are throwing a party this weekend out in the woods. Something about the harvest moon. I think they just love an excuse to party. You should come. Get your mind off overbearing vampires.” She winked. “Or maybe make one jealous.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “I’ll think about it. I have loads of homework to do, and I’m not sure I’m ready for more boy drama.”
“That’s why I prefer women.” Xinyi grinned as she skipped to the bedroom door. “We might fight, but then we have a little cry and cuddle afterward.”
I shook my head, laughing as she shut the door behind her.
The silence in the room was quieter than usual. My eyes shifted back to the note on my dresser. Someone had been in my room. They had come in here to put that note here. Either they wanted to scare me or warn me.
Either way, all they’d done was piss me off.
Determined to figure out who sent it, I locked my bedroom door and put a chair beneath it for good measure. Then I changed my clothes for bed.
Against my better judgement, I dragged Kyren’s shirt over my head, holding the neck of it up to my nose as I curled into bed and drifted to sleep.
My dreams were full of blood and screams. Those of the two guys at the bar, the werewolf in the gym, and then mine. I jolted out of bed, Kleon’s dead eyes still visible in my mind’s eye.
Breathing heavily, I wiped my hand over my face and glanced at the clock.
I groaned and fell back into bed. It was barely five, meaning I’d maybe gotten four hours of sleep.
Knowing I wasn’t going to be able to sleep any longer, I crawled out of bed and took a cold shower.
I made sure to scrub myself well to clean any blood from my period, as well as any lingering scents of Tate on me.
I was determined to have a drama-free day. That was until I opened my bedroom door an hour later and found Julian standing there, a cup of coffee in hand.
“Thank God.” I took the cup from him and downed half of it before I even made it three feet out of the door. “Not that I’m complaining because I needed this, but what are you doing here?”
Julian kept stride with me as we walked down the hallway. “I wanted to apologize about yesterday.”
“Oh?” I arched a brow, never expecting him to be the first to apologize.
Nodding, Julian peered down at me as we walked. “I admit, I was… jealous.”
“Jealous?” I jerked to a stop. “You? Since when?”
Julian turned to me, rubbing the hair on his jawline. “Since always.”
I gaped at him and then shook my head. “No, no way. For you to be jealous, that means you’d actually have to admit to having feelings for me, and you wouldn’t do that.” I shoved a finger into his chest. “Who are you and what have you done with Julian?”
“I never said I didn’t have feelings for you Jack.” He smiled slightly.
“Could have fooled me.” I snorted, sipping from the cup. “But sure, tell me all about these feelings that made you ignore me for a year, but now that I actually have other guys interested, you’re jealous of all a sudden.”
His smile wilted, his face turning serious.
“It was never about my feelings for you. Or anything you did. I didn’t regret that night.
” He stepped closer until there was barely an inch between us.
“When President Fleming promoted me, it… killed me to push you away. But I also couldn’t very well turn it down without telling him a reason why.
And we weren’t exactly telling people about us.
I didn’t even know what we were. So… I made the decision for us. ”
I nodded, understanding his reasoning. “And now?”
“And now…” He sighed, pulling his glasses off his face. “I’m jealous. Seeing you with them and them getting to freely be with you.” He shook his head. “Those feelings didn’t go away. I just shoved them down until I could bear to be in the same room as you and not want to touch you.”
“Well, you’ve done a pretty good job of it so far.” I took a long drink of the coffee. “Why break your record now?”
Without waiting for his reply, I started walking again.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say that part of me was overjoyed to hear Julian admit that he did and still had feelings for me. However, the other part was pissed that it took someone else coming into the picture for him to stop pretending nothing happened between us.
If Julian wanted me, then he would have to work for me. He could chase and grovel after me for a year and see how he liked it. And then, maybe, just maybe, I’d think about forgiving him.
“I’m actually glad you stopped by,” I commented, once he got over his shock and caught up to me. “I found this in my room.” I handed him the note.
“We know what you did,” Julian read out loud. “What did you do?”
I shrugged. “Hell if I know. But look at this.” I held out the picture I took of the seal before I broke it. “Do you recognize this seal from somewhere?”
Julian took my phone and put his glasses back on his face. “A cauldron and bones? I don’t know the specific house that this belongs to, but clearly it’s some witch coven.”
“There’s a party in the woods this weekend. Xinyi told me about it.” I hummed. “Apparently, it’s the harvest moon and all the witches celebrate it. This time, they’re letting the other students come. Might be a good place to ask around about this.”
“I don’t want you going alone,” Julian started. I opened my mouth to protest, but he kept going. “I’ll wear a charm to hide my scent and back you up. We don’t need another incident like the other night.”
Scowling at his reasoning, I relented. “Fine.”
My phone dinged in his hand, and his eyes dipped to the screen.
“I can still taste you?” he read.
I grabbed my phone from his hands and shoved it in my pocket. “Ignore that. Anyway, thanks for the coffee.”
“Jack.” Julian caught my arm, drawing me close. “I’m not dating Abigail. Nothing happened between us, I swear.”
Eyes locked with his, I offered him a small smile. “Even if it did, it’s not my business. You’re just my team lead, right?”
Before he could protest further, I withdrew my arm from his grasp and hurried down the hallway. If this was the way my day was going, I should have just stayed in bed.