Page 15 of Villain

Smacking right into a tall blond’s face.

“Light,” Grady righted himself and started to turn, “I’m so sorr—” the apology died on his tongue with a strangled gurgle that had Nix frowning.

The blond still had his head turned away, a red line on his left cheek from where one of the tips of the umbrella had clearly scraped across his skin. He wasn’t carrying anything to protect himself from the light drizzle, the shoulders of his black blazer sprinkled in water droplets.

Behind him, two other guys watched with curiosity, the easy ways in which they held themselves doing nothing to mask the fact they were actually poised and ready to strike at any given moment.

One had a buzz cut, the fuzz of his hair dyed a snow-white shade that didn’t match his dark brown eyebrows. He had on a black bomber jacket with white sleeves, which was worn over his standard-issue uniform. The school’s crest, depicted in a circular pin, was stuck off-center on his leather belt, which hung low on his hips.

The other one had longer hair that looked like spilled ink, especially right now with it slightly damp from the rain, strands sticking to the rise of sharp cheek bones. It wasn’t that long, just long enough for him to pull it back into a small bun at the back of his head, and was probably the least distracting thing about him. Tattoos marked the exposed skin of his hands and his neck, the rest covered by his uniform and leather jacket. He had more facial jewelry in than Nix had the time to count.

They were both eyeing Grady down as if they pitied him, the slight upward curve of their cruel lips the only indicator that was also a lie.

Nix could recognize predators when he saw them. Bullies were nothing new to him, though he himself had never had to deal with that sort of thing at any extreme type of level. It was so obvious looking at these three now that they’d be good at that sort of thing.

Good at tearing others down.

Sure enough, Grady caved in on himself as though trying to make himself smaller and took a deliberate step back toward Nix. His head bowed, gaze set on the wet cobblestones as if making eye contact would cause him to spontaneously combust or something.

“Lake,” Grady stuttered when he spoke to the blond, wringing his hands in front of himself. “I’m so-sorry. It’s my fault. I wasn’t watching where I was going. Please accept my apology.”

The ensuing silence was deafening.

“I…” Grady swallowed and tried again. “Really. I’m sorry. Are you okay? Should we go to the nurses?”

The one with the buzz cut snorted and covered his mouth to hide the smirk. When he noticed Nix had caught him, he tipped his chin. “What are you looking at?”

It was so tempting to call them assholes to their faces, but Nix refrained. He was here for Branwen. If he got off on the wrong foot on day one, it would make things so much more difficult for him than it needed to be. In order to find answers, he needed to be able to talk to people, and something told him if he rubbed these guys the wrong way, most of the student body would react the same way Grady was now.

In fear.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed Grady’s elbow and tried to move them around the three guys.

He should have known it wouldn’t be that simple.

The one with the tattoos stepped in their way and let out a low whistle. “Come on now. Don’t be like that. We’re not the ones in the wrong here, are we?”

“He already said he was sorry,” Nix stated, losing some of his patience. He swallowed the rest of his irritation down and straightened his spine. “It was an accident.”

“Nix,” Grady said his name quietly, pulling his arm free and giving him a small shake of his head.

“You should listen to your friend, Nixie,” the guy with the buzz cut suggested a second before his eyes narrowed. “Wait. I don’t think I’ve seen you before.”

The one with piercings gave him a slow once over. “Nope. He’s new.”

Suddenly, Lake was standing in front of him, hand capturing Nix’s jaw to force his gaze up. There was only a couple of inches difference between them, but when their gazes locked, it felt like he was being peered down upon by a giant.

The sheer intensity of it cut off anything he would have said, and the most he even managed to struggle was to wrap his fingers around Lake’s wrist. And that was it.

For a charged moment, no one spoke and Nix felt himself locked in, caught up in the green of the other man’s eyes. Almost like freshly sprouted grass. Or the leaves of a tree kissed by the sun. Or—

He stopped himself.

What the actual fuck?

Nix yanked Lake’s hand away and took a step back, forcing himself to glare even though all of his instincts were screaming at him to follow Grady’s lead and tuck his tail. He’d never been the type to cower, though, and he didn’t intend to start now.

“What’s your problem?” he asked, voice clipped. He was grateful he’d managed to keep it steady and not give his frayed nerves away. If he focused on it, he could still feel the lingering sensation of those warm fingers at his chin…