Chapter 17 Ramsey #2
“Fantastic. Goodbye.” I stand without ceremony, grabbing my backpack and hightailing it out of his sterile office.
His stuttering protests are cut short when the door slams shut behind me.
People jump out of my way as I stalk through the hallways and out of the admin building.
No one tries to stop me, and a few even turn tail in the opposite direction.
In theory, I’m also supposed to have a faculty advisor—another part of the deal to ensure my cooperation—who’s supposed to be teaching me how to control my shifting.
But after observing me shift for the first time, he promptly fucked off and I haven’t seen him since.
He’ll send me emails occasionally with reading assignments for my minimum “self-directed study” hours to leave a paper trail.
Which is how I hijacked a corner of the library, despite that prickly asshole librarian’s many objections. Now so long as I don’t light any more fires, he leaves me alone. So does everyone else, for the most part. Every now and then someone will get curious about the moratus dragon.
The fallen prince.
They are quickly disabused of that notion.
Except last week. When she—Nyx—followed me through the stacks without hesitation, completely guileless. If Killian’s to be believed, she’s as much a novelty as I am around here, except I’m at the top of the hierarchy and she’s barely scraping the bottom of the barrel.
No powers yet, at least.
Left behind by the magical world.
Dumped here by the High Council.
All she needs are some horrifying scars and we’d be peas in a fucking pod.
The dragon rebukes me sharply at the thought of her having scars. She shouldn’t have scars. Scars mean pain. And pain means someone hurt her.
Knock it off. A petulant rumble rolls through my chest as he stifles a response.
I swear I can still taste the remnants of her scent in the air: embarrassment when I refused to let her sit with me.
Anger and frustration when Killian cornered her.
And fuck me sideways, her arousal from Killian’s little performance in the stacks only moments earlier.
I’ve caught traces of her scent around campus in the last week, but by the time I can pinpoint it, it’s stale and fading.
She doesn’t go to the Great Hall. She doesn’t linger in the hallways between classes.
Neither does she hang out in the common room in Mercury.
She’s a fucking ghost, haunting me and making my dragon even more of a pain in the ass to deal with.
For a few, blissful moments, she looked at me like I wasn’t… me.
And then I ruined it.
Fucking hell this is pathetic.
I groan, settling my large body into the worn armchair and my backpack on the table next to it. Tilting my head back, I try to ground myself like Dr. Dickhead always preaches. Despite my efforts, my dragon won’t settle.
Soon, I realize why.
Her scent is tainted, acrid and bitter. It precipitates her harried footsteps through the stacks until I get the full brunt of her roiling emotions: anger, shame.
Fear.
And—magic. Only the barest hint.
I’m up and stalking her scent trail before consciously deciding to follow as it beckons me. I barely get a glimpse of her through the stacks before she finds a secluded spot and collapses into a similarly worn chair as mine, head bent low as she props her elbows on her knees.
The dragon urges me forward, but I hesitate. If it’s Killian, or any of the other Heirs for that matter, she’s trying to get away from, my interference could be seen as a challenge for the throne at the top of the hierarchy.
I can hear her blood as it rushes through her veins, pulse racing, breathing labored. It makes my dragon anxious, his feelings bleeding through our shared bond as he paces in the back of my mind.
Take her to the cave.
We are not kidnapping her.
It’s not kidnapping if you speak to her first. Yet another point of contention between the two of us, considering I’ve had her phone number since our run in last week and haven’t done shit with it.
The sound of footsteps interrupts our mental argument. Soon, three figures appear over the edge of the stairs—two females and a male—beelining to where Nyx is finally starting to calm down.
Shit.
I don’t recognize them, but I can scent them well enough. Two witches—earth and water, and a demon mutt. They strut past my hiding spot without noticing me, intent on their target.
Nyx lifts her head at their approach and straightens in her seat, mouth set in a grim line, eyes defiant.
“What do you want?” she grits out, voice tight as she stares them down, full of piss and vinegar despite being outnumbered.
“What I’d like to know,” the tall, blonde witch starts, “is what the fuck kind of game you’re playing?”
“You heard Brandt same as me, Felicity.”
“Yeah… except he’s old as shit and you’re full of it.”
“How did you channel before your epiphaneia?” the male demands, and I freeze. That’s not possible.
Fuck, is it?
“Pretty sure you were there too, dude. Unless you’ve got some fuck ass twin or something.”
“Cut the shit, bitch,” the demon mutt interjects, stepping forward to interrupt the male before he can respond. “Whatever you’re trying to pull, it won’t work. You want to climb the hierarchy? Get ready to bleed for it.”
“Who even are you? You got a problem with your ears, or are you all just morons?” The mutt snarls and lunges, but her two friends pull her back before I can act.
Nyx doesn’t even flinch, and my dragon rumbles with approval.
“There’s nothing to tell. I don’t know what the fuck happened in there any more than you do. ”
Felicity side-eyes the male as the mutt struggles between them.
“Adrian, can you sense anything?” The male raises his unoccupied hand and that’s when my body propels forward, half a second before I can make the decision myself.
The dragon rises as I stalk towards the trio.
Not a full shift, but enough that light begins to waver from the heat surging through my veins, for the scent of ozone to spread before me, precipitating my arrival.
The mutt senses me first, whirling around and knocking her friends off balance.
They stiffen at the sight of my approach.
My eyes briefly connect with Nyx’s before turning to her antagonizers.
The scent of their fear is a heavy drug for my dragon, teasing him with the promise of violence and victory.
“This is none of your business, prince,” She snarls. Part Wrath demon, most likely. My low, menacing chuckle wipes the glare off her face.
“You’re in my library, which makes it my business,” I state, letting the dragon bleed into my voice.
“The library doesn’t belong to you,” Adrian blusters, swallowing thickly.
Pathetic male.
“Funny. I don’t see anyone here who could prove me wrong. Do you?” I ask, looking around to the empty stacks around us, pausing when my eyes lock with Nyx’s.
“We were just talking,” Felicity rushes to add.
“Sure,” I grumble, wrenching my eyes from hers to face the tall blonde.
“She’s hiding something, and we have a right to know what-”
“I don’t owe you shit,” Nyx interrupts the mutt, standing behind them and crossing her arms over her chest. “And I don’t need you,” she glares daggers at me, which makes my chest tighten, “butting in.”
“Fucking Fate, how stupid can you be?” the mutt laughs, suddenly incredulous. “Bitch, you must have a death wish or something. It’s one thing to get on our bad side right now, but you gotta be a fucking idiot to piss him off, too.”
“Looks like you already have,” she nods towards me. The mutt sneers, but Felicity stops her before she can dig herself even further into a hole.
Or a grave.
“Shut up, Erin.” Felicity hisses.
“What?” she argues, “Everyone knows morata always have a screw loose-”
“Get. Out.” The dragon commands, deep voice sibilant with rage.
“We’re going,” Adrian quickly cuts in, putting his hands on their shoulders and steering them around me with a wide berth.
“Good luck bitch, hope he eats you,” Erin cackles before I lunge and snap my teeth at her, causing all three of them to stumble.
I track them until they’re out of sight as they descend down the marble staircase.
Rustling picks up behind me and I turn to see Nyx gathering her backpack, intent on fleeing.
“Where are you going?” I ask, willing my voice to return to normal.
“Away,” she mutters, avoiding my eyes.
“You can—you can stay. If you want.” I barely resist fidgeting under her scrutiny.
“Listen—thanks for,” she waves her hand, gesturing vaguely to where the trio were standing moment earlier, “that. But I’m, good, really.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry for being a dick. Last week.” She crooks her eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. “I don’t—I’m not uh, good with people.”
“No, really? I’m shocked.” She deadpans, and I scoff, fighting back a small smile while the dragon laughs in my mind.
“They might be waiting to jump you.” I blurt, trying to convince her to stay. That makes her pause.
“God, what is wrong with people here?"
“A lot.”
She scoffs, but I don’t miss the way her soft pink lips curl slightly. She bites the lower one and her eyes flick between me and the stairs in indecision, then her shoulders slump.
“Lead the way then, I guess.” Elation pierces my chest like a fucking arrow. She follows me through the stacks and when we get to my claimed corner, I pull out the chair for her this time.
“So… what was all that about?” I broach as we sit across from one another in awkward silence. She groans and tilts her head back, exposing her neck and fuck me sideways when the dragon sends me images of licking the long column of exposed flesh.