What the fuck? This wasn’t a duel to the death, but it sure sounded like the two of them were meeting at sunrise. I was half-expecting Caleb to demand Kingston choose a second. And with the way Alek was bristling beside me, I was pretty sure I knew who’d volunteer.
I needed to take the focus off the rapidly boiling antagonistic energy between these two. “Okay, so what are we supposed to do? What have you dragged us all here for? Just to yell at us about hellfire and brimstone?”
His eyes narrowed at me once again butting in. I was in for it that evening, but I’d much rather his temper focus on me than anyone else.
And no, that wasn’t because I was selfishly looking forward to his special brand of punishment and missing his attention.
At least, not entirely.
“Today, we will practice. You are all going into the city, armed with nothing but your wits. You’ll encounter foes and innocents and will be forced to make a choice. If you fail, and an innocent dies, you return to face me.”
“Can we use our magic?” a warlock called.
“Did I not just say you will be armed with nothing but your wits? Clearly those have escaped you. In the real world, should you come in contact with a demon, your powers will largely be useless. As those of you who were present for the attack in the library have already learned. Brute strength and deadly force prevailed there.”
“What about weapons?” Chad asked.
Kingston’s gaze snapped to his packmate, and he shook his head. “Fucking idiot.”
Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering an exasperated, “Jesus on the cross, what did I do to deserve this?”
“What? It’s a good question,” Chad continued.
“Do you regularly walk around the city armed to the teeth?”
“Well, no...”
“Then there’s your answer.”
“Who needs to bring weapons? Anything can be deadly in the right hands,” Alek added with a smug smirk.
“That is only true if you can manage to keep yourwitsabout you, which with this lot is proving less and less likely,” Caleb said with an annoyed shake of his head. “Now, if there are no more unnecessarily stupid questions...”
“I thought there was no such thing as a stupid question,” I said, just because I couldn’t help myself.
“Keep talking, Miss Fallon. We’ll make it two weeks, shall we?”
I clenched my thighs together in response to the promise in his words.
Caleb paced the floor and pulled out a small bottle filled with deep purple liquid. He opened a door on the other side to reveal a supply closet and tossed the vial inside, the crack of breaking glass hitting my ears before a cloud of violet smoke filled the space. Then the sounds of a city filtered in through the opening.
“Remember, if an innocent dies due to your negligence, you return... to me.”
He stood by the door, waiting as the class filed through one by one. I found my way to the back of the line, hoping for a moment alone with my confessor.
When we were the last two in the room, disappointment sat heavy in my chest. He wasn’t even looking at me as I approached the threshold between our classroom and the city beyond.
Then he grabbed my wrist, tugging me back and shoving me against the wall, his other hand coming up to roughly grasp my chin.
“God save me from you and your smart mouth, Sunday Fallon.” His voice was tight as he leaned close and stared down at my lips.
My tongue darted out, wetting them as arousal pooled low in my belly.
“What am I going to do with you?” he whispered.
“Excuse me from this assignment, and I can spend some time under your desk showing you.”
His eyes flashed and he grinned, fangs glinting in the light. He looked a hair's breadth away from losing control. “That would be one way to shut you up.”