The contradictions made my head spin.
“I’ll text you my address on Friday afternoon, when we’re released from this wretched place,” he said, making a gesture with his free hand to indicate the school around us. The tone of his voice made it sound like we were being temporarily released from prison. “That way you’ll have a whole day to decide if you want to take a risk…or not. Until then, we only ask each other banal, everyday questions. All right?”
I didn’t know what to say—how to respond to the invitation slash threat.
“Griffin…” I began and then didn’t know how to go on.
“Yes?” He grinned at me, flashing his fangs as we turned a corner. “Oh look—here we are at your next class.”
He made an almost theatrical show of raising my hand to his lips and pressing a cool kiss to my knuckles while the other students in my Bio class watched, wide-eyed. I could almost hear their thoughts—what was the troubled bad-boy loner Nocturne who was shunned by the entire school—even his own kind—doing with the new girl who was supposedly nothing but a Null?
“Until the end of class, my lady,” he said to me formally. “Your Blood Knight awaits your every need.” Then he gave me a sarcastic smirk, his lightning eyes flashing, and sauntered away, the other students in the hall parting automatically before him.
I watched him go, still unsure what to do. Should I take him up on his invitation or run far away?
I had no idea—but at least I had several days to decide.
37
But it wasn’t like the next few days were free of drama. Griffin met me at the end of breakfast every day and escorted me to every class. He didn’t leave me until dinner time when he handed me off to Avery like I was a fragile package that had to be taken care of.
I didn’t like being treated like some helpless little girl but when I complained to Avery at the end of the first day, he frowned and pointed his coffee spoon at me.
“Look, Princess Latimer, have you seen the way Sanchez glares at you whenever the two of you are in the same room together?” he demanded. “Word on the street is that the Healer tried to remove your little love-tap from his beefy cheek and failed. Which means the big bad Drake is none too happy with you right now.”
“Word on the street?” I tried to scoff, though what he said sent a chill through me.
Avery waved a hand. “Word in the hallways—however you want to put it. The point is, Sanchez is out to get you and if he gets half a chance, he will.”
“He’s not happy with Kaitlyn either,” Emma said, setting her tray down on the table and joining us. “He kind of thinks she’s the cause of all this in the first place. Which is a load of crap, of course.”
She poked at the food on her tray with a fork, a look of disgust on her face. That night’s dinner was some kind of creamy glop with layers of mashed potatoes, green peas, and some kind of gray mystery meat on the bottom. I would have called it shepherd’s pie except it had been doused in bright red spaghetti sauce and topped off with the ubiquitous layer of melted orange-crayon cheese.
“What do you mean he’s mad at Kaitlyn?” I demanded in a low voice, glad that the fourth member of our little coven hadn’t joined us yet. “Avery, are you protecting her?”
“Oh, so you’re a mighty feminist who can fend for yourself and it’s sexist to suggest that a female might ever need a male’s protection and yet Kaitlyn must now be protected?” Avery raised one sardonic eyebrow at me.
“Cut the crap,” I said, glaring at him. “You know how it is. Kaitlyn is…well, she’s fragile.”
The three of us exchanged glances and I knew we all felt the same. Though I didn’t know the full story behind Kaitlyn’s horrific burns, I had gathered enough to know that there had been a house fire and she had been the only survivor. It was amazing that she was able to function at all after going through such a horrible trauma at all, and I knew we all felt very protective of her—especially Avery, despite his flippant words.
“Of course I want to protect our Katydid and keep her safe,” he said, sounding slightly exasperated. “But you should stop acting like I’m a sexist pig for wanting to help protect you, too, Megan. I’m not watching your back because you’re a frail little girl and I’m a big strong he-man.” He made a cave-man face and grunted which made Emma and me laugh. “I’m just watching out for you until you can access your magic,” he went on, lowering his voice. “After that, you can watch out for me because I do believe you have a powerhouse inside you, if you can ever let it out.”