King of Cups (Stormcloud Academy 2)

He grunted yes and looked deep into my eyes. I felt I should tell him how much he meant to me at that moment, but I didn’t have a chance. He fell asleep instantly. I remained awake, just to monitor his breathing—and because there was no way in hell I could sleep.

The whole night, I gazed into Sol’s serene face. He’d trusted me enough to fall asleep by my side. And, it appeared, I’d trusted him enough to let him into this room—just him and me, alone and together.

CHAPTER 16

BIBA

First things first—there had to be a way around Arvo. My concern was whether there were any other levers I could pull to help Sol, any alternatives to stooping before the prince of creepiness.

Unfortunately, I came up blank.

Zephyr was the only alternative, and he was gone. Like, 100 percent off the grid. I didn’t even have a phone number to reach him. Arvo was the only avenue to help Sol, which meant I was in for an unpleasant meeting of the minds.

This also begged the question: did I fully believe Sol? He was a King. He’d thrown in his lot with Zephyr and Arvo, and I knew better than to take either of those guys at their word. I had seen the lengths the Kings would go to get their way. So why should I just believe Sol? Because he carried my bags one time? Because he remembered the kind of tea I liked?

No, it was because he trusted me. In a moment of all-encompassing fear, he’d come to me. I intended to prove worthy of that trust.

Anyway, the person that had beat Sol the night before was determined to break his body and spirit. Sol was lucky to be alive. He couldn’t have faked that to manipulate me, so I had to proceed under the assumption that he was on the wrong side of a killer or group of killers, which made him a natural ally in my investigation.

There was only one surefire way I could contact Arvo. The gym. No one in the history of this school, for maybe all of human existence, worked out more than him.

That particular afternoon, he wasn’t at the weights and cardio machines. I nearly turned around—then I heard a crash, the sound of a hard body hitting the water.

I hung back a bit, enjoying the show. In the pool, Arvo Hurley was a revelation. Those absurdly long, muscular arms flung wide like the wings of an eagle. He rose and submerged with the speed of a racing heart, sending chlorinated spray in all directions. It was like his lithe, sinewy body was created by a higher power only for competitive swimming.

That body looked as gorgeous as ever, though I saw it only when he rose from the water. He wore a swim cap, goggles, and a tiny speedo. That was it. And each time he emerged from the pool, his back arched and his shoulders flexed like he was writhing on top of Tess. Or me. The view brought all sorts of naughty thoughts to mind. . . .

After a minute, I collected myself, walked to the pool's edge, and waited for him to notice me.

He completed a lap and settled at the side of the pool near me. Freeing his short blond hair from his cap and tossing his goggles on the tile, he gave me a look of benign annoyance.

“Biba Quinn,” he said. “Why are you here?”

“Looking for you,” I replied sweetly.

“You know, I spent so much of the last two weeks trying to help you out, and you blew me off. Now you feel the need to interrupt my rare personal time. It’s not considerate.”

God, he became so fatuous in such a short amount of time.

“It couldn’t wait,” I said. “I’m afraid it’s something of an emergency.”

“You’d better come out with it, then.”

I took a deep breath.

“It’s about Sol. He was beaten last night—”

“He should be more careful,” Arvo shot back, cold as ice.

If Arvo was behind the attack, it didn’t seem to be weighing on him. On the contrary, he seemed to relish in his cruel detachment.

“He’s concerned there is a misunderstanding between you and him.”

“Let him come to me, then.”

“He doesn’t feel . . . totally safe doing that.”

“That’s absurd,” he groaned, “and also none of your business.”