Page 25 of Stalked By Monsters
“When should we meet?” I ask simply, not wanting to give her the argument she’s clearly aiming for.
“Meet me after dinner on the last Monday of the month and we’ll start our first lesson,” she concludes, her lips quirking in disappointment.
“Sounds fabulous,” I say, infusing a hint of sarcasm into my tone.
“Well then, I guess that’s really all we need to discuss,” Graves says, frowning as she fiddles with a silver pen on her desk. “You can see yourself out.”
“Very well,” I sigh as if I too am merely bored of the conversation. I stand from my seat and casually stroll through the room, my heels echoing off the hardwood floor with each step until I reach the door and glance back at her over my shoulder. “I’ll be seeing you.”
I let a hint of my bite sink into my words—not a threat but a promise. She may be the one in charge right now, but once I’m finished here she’ll have to answer for her actions.
“Yes, you will,” she says, feigning a calm that her eyes clearly betray as malice gleams in their hazel depths.
With that, I turn back to the door, my palm already twisting the wrought iron knob. As I step out and close it behind me, I don’t miss a beat and continue towards the stairs, keenly aware of the offices as I pass them.
There’s no way of knowing, and I bet Glenda knew that when she asked Graves to speak with me. Glenda wants me on my best behavior, and as I suspected she has more than one spy watching me. I need to be more careful and that means no more lingering looks with Landon, no more time alone with Greyson, and most importantly, no more hookups with Denver.
As I descend the stairs, I make sure to glance around and verify that no one is behind me, keenly aware of the breeze chilling places that really shouldn’t be chilled. Staying away from Denver might be the hardest of them all, especially since lust courses through my veins at the reminder of what he did to me in the library.
I’m fucking addicted to that bastard, and staying away from him might just be the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Because if I know one thing, it’s that Denver won’t let this go so easily, not if today is anything to go by. He’s just as powerless as I am to that magnetic pull between us, otherwise he would’ve kept his promise and held out until I came begging him for more.
Chapter Eleven
Aria
“We’vespentthelastweek getting you all introduced to your role in a team and the function of what that team will do,” Landon says, his voice projecting throughout the classroom. He strolls over to his desk, rifling through a stack of papers until he finds the one he’s looking for. “As you know the test scored your raw magical ability and not your knowledge, so that is what the results are based on.”
I suck in a deep breath and tap my finger against the open page of my notebook as my nerves ratchet. This is the moment I’ve been dreading since we took that stupid test last Friday. We each had to place a drop of our blood on a stone of reckoning to test the level of magic flowing through our veins. I’ve never used one of the stones before and despite my research over the weekend, I haven’t been able to find how the results are presented. Will it just show my position at the top, or will it tell him just how powerful I truly am?
Harper glances at me sideways, flashing a warning. Am I being that obvious? I refocus my anxious energy and chew on the inside of my cheek, hoping that will be a bit more inconspicuous.
“Can you read them in order, Professor Pierce?” Jakob asks as Landon takes his place in front of the board and faces us. “I want to see how I placed in the class.”
He glances at Harper with a triumphant smirk and she glares back at him, her lip curling in a sneer. She cracks her knuckles ominously and continues to stare at him the entire time. His Adam’s apple bobs in his throat, but he attempts to hide the hint of fear shining in his green eyes.
“Uh, yes, the pairing will be in order,” Landon says, awkwardly clearing his throat as he looks away from the strange tension building between Harper and Jakob.
Luke grumbles something unintelligible under his breath behind me, but I don’t bother wasting my own breath to ask him what he said. I’ve been keeping a low profile ever since my meeting with the headmistress last week, and speaking to Denver’s friend would definitely open up a can of worms I’m desperately trying to keep shut. Of course Denver has been trying to rile me up as usual, but despite exchanging a few insults here and there, I haven’t let myself be alone with him, much to his chagrin.
I have been taking his advice though and avoiding eye contact with Professor Pierce as much as possible. Sometimes I swear I can feel the heat of his gaze searing into my soul, but I have to ignore it. Graves most likely has at least a few spies in this class, and even an innocent amount of flirting with a professor would not bode well for me.
Harper and Carter seem to be getting along better since our conversation on the first day of class, and we’ve been eating most of our meals with him and Greyson ever since. It’s been great to spend time with all of them, except things have gotten awkward again with Greyson. We haven’t spoken about that near-kiss, and I honestly don’t know if I can trust myself to be alone with him to even talk about it.
I’ve glanced at the book on the realms that I got from the library, but I haven’t wanted to really dive into it out of fear of what I’ll discover. My dreams have stayed exactly that, just dreams, something I’m both relieved and disappointed about. Damon’s presence has called to me, seduced me, but despite how badly my body wants to finish what was about to happen between us and experience the pleasure he promised me, I make sure each night to focus on something else entirely so that I don’t slip back into the dark abyss. I just hope learning these new entrapment spells will help drain off some of my energy so that I don’t unwillingly transport myself there again.
So basically, this past week has sucked. Now with this magical ability test I might have just given away how much power I truly have to a man who’s as mysterious as he is enticing. I have no idea where his allegiances lie, and if that stone revealed more than just an order, he could sell that information to the highest bidder. If he did that, he’d have Glenda breathing down his neck though, which is not a situation many would willingly put themselves in.
My stomach twists as Landon gathers himself and looks down at the list in his hand.Please be Harper, I silently send the thought up to the goddess.
“The first pairing is, Aria, and Denver,” Landon says, wasting no time in ripping off that band-aid. My heart leaps in my throat and I work to keep any trace of emotion off of my face, not wanting to betray the fear that courses through me, turning my veins to ice.
“I’m sure there’s a mistake,” Harper says, her tone taking on a note of outrage despite how hard I know that must be for her. She respects and admires the professor, especially after she stayed the first day to pick his brain on the proper method of enunciation with spells.
“It was very close,” Landon admits, giving her a sympathetic smile. “But you’re next, followed by Jakob.”
Harper’s eyes widen in shock, her gaze flashing between me, Landon, and Jakob as if her brain is still trying to piece together all the bombshells that were just dropped on us.
“We can speak about any issues you have with these pairings after class,” Landon says, looking first to Harper and then to me. I swallow thickly but give him a non-committal look, unable to decide what would be worse—having a private conversation with Landon or having to work with Denver. “Next is Samuel, and Luke.”