Page 197 of Psycho Gods

There was an extreme vulnerability about him. He hid it behind bluster because he was afraid of getting hurt.

We were both emotionally damaged and afraid.

“Okay, let’s keep working.” Jinx clicked a pen and opened her notebook, and I jerked because I’d forgotten she was here.

Warm, callused bronze fingers laid across mine.

His touch was tender.

Pain zipped down my spine. In the back of the room, John made a noise in his sleep.

“Thanks for listening to me, Aran,” Malum whispered.

I forgot how to breathe.

My proper name on his lips felt more intimate than a kiss.

Something shifted between us.

“Thanks for sharing.” I gave him a small smile.

His eyes crinkled as he grinned.

We beamed at each other.

His warm thumb traced back and forth over the top of my hand. Ice melted off my skin.

“You’re so screwed.” Jinx’s voice echoed inside my head, and it was my turn to flush as I pretended not to hear her.

We worked together for another fourteen hours.

And the entire time, his hand never left mine.

Chapter 36

Aran

FLAGELLATION

Eccedentesiast (noun): someone who hides their pain behind a smile.

DAY 25, HOUR 22

“Pretend to kiss me,” Sadie shouted up at me as we swayed on the dance floor at Elite Academy. Her breath stank of demon brew, and she’d spent the last hour alternating between drunkenly laughing and sobbing.

Her outburst wasn’t surprising. Frankly, I’d be worried if she weren’t crying.

She kissed me sloppily on the cheek, and I grimaced.

Not because it was gross.

I grimaced because I couldn’t feel where her lips touched my skin because my face was numb from excessive substance abuse.

Students, and a noticeably smaller number of soldiers, crushed around us in our old bedroom as speakers boomed. A gothic beat strummed eerily through the air, and the floor vibrated beneath us.

Vibrant red light filtered through the windows and made everything glow scarlet.

Once again, I shivered because I’d always thought the light at Elite Academy was a much darker shade.