“It’s just, this whole fucking situation,” I said, gesturing between us and at the building we were standing in. It was a fucking joke. Someone like me never should have set foot in a school like this, let alone been teaching these elitist little fuckers, but here I was. I’d slogged my guts out to get here and really, none of it had been for me.
Tatum was looking at me like she didn’t understand and of course she didn’t. She may have been less caustic than a lot of the kids here or I might have just wanted to believe she was, but either way, her family could afford the tuition and that in itself proved that we came from entirely different worlds. I doubted she could ever understand what it was like for me to live my life.
Before either of us could add to that dangerous topic of conversation, my phone started ringing again as a FaceTime call came from Kyan.
I clucked my tongue and moved closer to Tatum, holding the phone out to show her who was calling.
Those full lips of hers pouted in a way that drew my gaze to them and I chewed my gum a little harder as I looked back down at the phone. I wasn’t equipped to deal with her here, wearing that little sports bra with her hair all messy and those big eyes hooded in sleep. It was like seeing a lion at the North Pole. The fact that it was out of its natural habitat just made it all the harder to look away from.
“I might as well see what he wants,” I said and she nodded slowly, accepting my decision.
I answered the call without actually saying anything, giving the camera a flat look as it connected and I was gifted a glimpse of The Temple where Kyan was sitting on a grey couch.
“You’ve got something of ours,” he said, not bothering to greet me either.
“What’s that then?” I asked.
Kyan suddenly disappeared from view as Saint snatched his phone. “Can I have a word with Tatum, sir?” he asked in that way that wasn’t really a question at all and more of an order.
“Why?” I asked in return, refusing to give in to his bratty ways. “I’m not your errand boy or hers, if you want to FaceTime your girlfriend then just call her phone.”
Tatum flinched in the corner of my eye as I called her that but I ignored it. I didn’t want Saint to suspect anything at all about my relationship with her. If he thought we were even on friendly terms, he was likely to go to some effort to keep her away from me. The best defence we had against him and his bullshit was making sure he didn’t look at us too closely.
“Because Tatum’s phone seems to have been switched off all night,” he growled and the way his eyes flashed let me know exactly how much that pissed him off. I’d told her to switch it off again after sending the photos and now I was doubly glad of that suggestion.
“Well her battery probably died and I don’t intend to waste mine on talking to you.” I shifted my thumb and was about to hang up when Saint spoke again.
“We’re concerned for her safety, sir,” he hissed. “And if we aren’t reassured that she hasn’t had any crazy ideas about running off again then we’ll just have to break these stupid isolation rules and come down there to make sure she’s alright.”
Tatum sucked in a sharp breath at that and I had to force myself not to snarl at the little shitbag. Instead, I flipped the camera so they could see her, standing by the pool and twisting her fingers through her long hair.
“Satisfied?” I growled at Saint as I flipped the camera back to look at me.
“Barely,” he replied.
“Well that’s good enough for me.” I hung up on him and shared a grin with Tatum.
“He’ll turn on you next,” she warned.
“Let him try,” I replied with a shrug.
“You wanna spend the day plotting his downfall then?” she asked and the excitement I felt at those words burned right through me.
“Hell yes,” I agreed, tossing her a stick of gum before blocking Kyan’s number so he couldn’t call again. I’d unblock it after the quarantine period, but for now, I had a date with my destiny.
“Is he taller than you?” Monroe asked his seventeenth question.
We’d been playing twenty questions for over an hour, lazing on the mat we’d pulled up by the pool. I was in the red dress again and Monroe had on sweatpants and a T-shirt. We’d spent most of the morning playing Marco Polo in the water, followed by our pasta lunch that was delivered last night and then we’d sparred for most of the afternoon while plotting the Night Keepers’ demise.
I knew our time was coming to an end here, and I wanted to cling to my bubble of safety for as long as I could. Two whole days without being told what to do, what to wear, what to eat had been indescribable. And the company wasn’t half bad either. Monroe had turned out to not only be easy on the eyes, but also fun as hell.
“Yes,” I said, flopping back onto the mat and chewing the minty piece of gum he’d given me.
“Is he a douchebag?” he asked and I laughed.
“Can be,” I said.
“And he’s attractive?” he asked for the second time.
I rolled my eyes. “Objectively,” I said airily, fighting a smirk.
“Do you think he’s attractive?” he asked and I fought a blush as I nodded.
“So he’s not a Night Keeper and he’s not on the football team…” Monroe frowned at the pool, his brow creasing.
“He’s not on the team, no,” I gave him a clue with my heart thundering in my chest and he looked to me with his brow lifting. He couldn’t ask me anything else anyway.
“Wait, is he faculty?”
I bit into my lip to stop myself from laughing. “You’re out of questions.”
“Well who was it?” he demanded, moving onto his hands and knees and crawling toward me with a threat in his eyes.
My laughter died away at the intensity of his gaze and I shook my head, my lips firmly sealed.
“It was me, wasn’t it?” he asked in a low growl and I continued my silence.
He reared over me, capturing my wrists and pinning them down to the mat. “I can always force you tell me.”
My breathing became shallow, my cheeks burning as he stared down at me, exuding power. The scent of pine sailed from his flesh and I longed to rear up and see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
Headmaster Brown’s voice burst over the tannoy and Monroe lurched away from me like he’d just been caught leaning over a murder victim.
“The quarantine period is now over. Thank you for your cooperation. You can now return to your daily routines and classes will resume as usual on Monday morning. You will be relieved to hear that no cases of the Hades Virus emerged during this time. So Everlake Prep is a safe haven once again.” The line cut and I drew myself up to sit, my heart sinking in my chest.
Everlake might have been a safe haven to the rest of the school, but my greatest fear lived beyond these walls.
Monroe gathered up his bag and tossed the empty Jack Daniel’s bottle inside before frowning over at me. He opened his mouth to say something when a loud knocking came from the front of the gym.
My blood chilled as I rose to my feet, grabbing my gym bag and hooking it over my shoulder.
“I’d better give you my number,” Monroe said in a serious tone and I took out my cellphone with a nod. He took it, keying it in and forwarding himself a text so he had my number too. He passed it back and I read the name he’d saved it under.