Down the row of tables he walked, flanked by the other Boys. He walked straight to our table, and he stopped right at the end.
“Looks like you’re lost, Borden,” David said, and it sounded like he was using every ounce of will he had to keep his tone even. “Not sure how the stench of poverty isn’t driving you back to where you belong.”
Borden’s eyes rose up to meet David’s, and I was actually shocked at the strength and lack of intimidation I saw there.
All these years, I’d watched him be the beta to David’s alpha. But right now, I was seeing no beta.
“This is where we part ways, David,” Borden said. His voice was even, but it possessed a power that told every ear that could hear he was serious.
“Excuse me?” David asked, his voice similarly even.
Borden’s eyes flicked off to the side in a dismissive way. “You and me, me and the Society Boys, we’ve come to an end.”
David just stared at Borden, blinking twice, three times. His lips were set in a thin line, and I saw him carefully considering his words. “The Society isn’t something you just end. It’s something you are born into. Something that carries ties for the rest of your life. Get up and come back to the table where you belong.”
“Piss off, David,” Borden said, enunciating each word, just a little bit.
David stood up straight, his brows furrowing together. He was silent for another three seconds, mulling over the swift, public dismissal Borden had just given him.
And I got really worried when a small, controlled smile pulled at the corners of his mouth.
“So, this is what you want?” he asked. He gave just one, small nod. “Good. Because something needed to make this semester more interesting.”
And without another word, he walked further down the aisle before turning, and taking a seat at the Boy’s table. Not knowing what to say, James and Gerald followed, glaring in confusion at Borden as they passed him.
I realized then that I’d been holding my breath. My heart was pounding loudly in my ears.
“Well done,” Nathaniel said, clapping Borden on the shoulder. “Welcome to the target club.”
Borden just glanced over his shoulder, meeting David’s searing glare. “Let him do his worst,” he said. “I’ve never been scared of the name Sinclair.”
And why would he be? Borden was literal royalty, after all. And he was also a mage.
So much for having a nice, quiet semester flying under the radar.
Chapter Three
I had been looking forward to this literature class. But this was a new teacher, and this was his first semester. As I looked over the syllabus, I could tell, this was going to be a horrific couple of months.
The second the time ran out in class and every student started grabbing their things and heading out the door, the girl in front of me let out an audible groan and shook her head in disgust.
“What, you’re not a fan of Edgar Allen Poe or John Steinbeck?” I asked.
She groaned again. “Not exactly. Sorry, I’m not meaning any offense.”
I chuckled and shouldered my bag. “None taken. I kind of died a little inside at the reading list. Life is hard enough. I don’t need to spend it reading the most depressing books in history.”
“Right?” she said as she grabbed her own bag and we headed toward the door. “I barely manage to stay afloat with homework and my parent’s expectations. I don’t need this shit dragging me down into the midnight dreary.”
I laughed, nodding in agreement. “I’m Margot Bell,” I said, extending a hand as we walked out the door.
“Related to Professor Bell?” she asked.
“He’s my dad,” I nodded.
She smiled in a way that told me she’d taken at least one of his classes. “Mary-Beth Foster,” she said, shaking my hand. “You must be a freshman. I don’t recognize you.”
I shrugged. “Guilty. You?”
“Sophomore,” she said, adjusting the strap on her bag. “I, uh, I have to run to my next class. But it was really nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I said with a smile. And as I watched her walk away, I realized I meant it. It felt like it had been forever since I’d made a new friend. All I seemed to make these days were enemies.
Turning on a heel, I headed toward the library.
Unlike the first week of the first semester of school, when the library was empty, it was already packed. This was the semester when everyone realized they needed to buckle down and get things done early instead of waiting until the last minute. We were ready to get serious. So, as I walked through the aisles of study tables, I had to dodge backpacks and dozens of bodies. Instead of the usual silence, there was a low hum of voices.
I smiled as I spotted Nathaniel behind the reference desk. His back was turned to me and he was diligently working on organizing the returned books to the cart. I shamelessly let my eyes run down him, taking everything in, from his shoulders, his shirt pulling over his taut muscles, down to his narrow waist. And his exceptionally shaped rear end.
He looked handsome in his slacks and his button up shirt. It was his usual attire. But I never got tired of admiring him in it.
“Excuse me,” I said, laying my hands one on top of the other on the desktop. “Do you know where I can find the most alluring man in this school?”
The smile was already growing on his face when Nathaniel turned and looked at me. He didn’t say anything in response, simply leaned across the desk and pressed his lips to mine.
“So, this is going to be one of those low productivity days,” he said in a low, teasing voice as he stood back up.
I smiled, loving the feeling his words and lips gave me. “I’m actually headed up to Mom’s office,” I said, fingering the key that was looped over the strap of my bag. “I just wanted to stop by and say hi.”
Nathaniel smiled again, and I loved it when he did. He never smiled for anyone else. “You’re always my preferred hello.”
“Come get some leftovers when you get off tonight?”
Nathaniel nodded, and leaned over the counter once more to kiss me before I walked away.
The library was crowded, but as usual, there was no one in the McCallum Room, which always surprised me. This room was packed with books. Though it was tiny.
I threw a quick glance over my shoulder, making sure no one was within the line of sight. Then I unhooked the key, moved the books that hid the lock, and undid it. I pulled on the shelf and it swung out, revealing the way to the spiral staircase. I closed the bookcase behind me and walked up the beautiful iron staircase.
The problem with Nathaniel and I using Mom’s office regularly, since it was too cold to work in Asteria House or the solarium most days, was that it now smelled like Nathaniel and me. The scent of my mother had long disappeared, leaving my heart aching with emptiness.
It had been nearly four years. Four years since she simply vanished. She didn’t take any of her things. She took no money. She’d made appointments for the days following her disappearance. The police thought maybe Dad had killed her and hid the body. But she had simply vanished.
I knew the reason behind it was magic. Mom knew about magic and her heritage and the mages, though she called herself a witch. Mom was learning and increasing her powers and abilities.