“Yeah, well, maybe something is happening that we don’t know about yet and they’re coming to tell us.”
“Something they couldn’t share over the phone?” Creed ponders, but his eyes remain on mine.
Since yesterday at the diner, he’s been all over my shit like a fucking Bengal at an airport. Creed is naturally standoffish and moody, so it’s not like it’s uncommon for him to be this way. I just wish he’d finally fucking mate and put us all out of our misery.
“Obviously not.” The fact that our parents are going out of their way to rise from the comfort of hell rings alarm bells. They don’t shift weight for anything.
Creed still hasn’t taken his eyes off mine, and I slide the can of O neg. across the table, dragging my finger over my upper lip. The last time Creed and I went head-to-head, it was a bloodbath. Literally. The fact that Creed is the oldest brother doesn’t mean shit here. If you’re weak, you get weeded. Creed isn’t weak. I’m just hoping he mates first so he can take the fucking throne he’s so thirsty for. Aside from the obvious, it makes sense he takes it. He’s smarter. Levelheaded and makes decisions that are right, but right now, he’s balancing on my last nerve. I can’t decide whether I’m pissed because he’s obviously picking through my emotions like a fucking all-you-can-eat buffet, or because that last fight I just mentioned only happened a couple weeks ago.
I don’t want the crown and I sure as fuck don’t want a mate. I’m too impulsive for that too… obsessive. I’d likely kill her in a fit of jealous rage, and then my soul would eat me from the inside out. And nobody wants a dead royal.
Our family wouldn’t survive that a second time.
“Stop.”
My head pops up to find Creed glaring at me from across the table and I shrug my shoulders, sitting back.
“No one said you had to tune in.” If he did find his mate, or at least a solid toy, he could spend his time obsessing about her instead of what the fuck is going on inside my head.
His eyes only narrow farther, so I flip him off, but then my attention is pulled to the right when Justice fucking “crystal boy” walks in.
He gets one look this way and tries to beeline it in the opposite direction, but I jump from my chair quicker than his steps can carry him, catching him by the collar right as he slips out the double door.
I yank him back, and then Sin is there, throwing his arm over Justice’s shoulder. He tugs him in close, his arm locked more around his neck than anything else, and Justice’s shoulders draw up as he fights to keep the frown from his face.
“How’s it hanging, Jus my man?” Sinner grins, but it’s one that promises foul play. “Your little Giftless shop treating you well?”
Justice frowns but doesn’t fight Sin’s hold. “It’s not a Giftless shop. Plenty of Gifted believe in the way of the crystal, and it’s not mine. I just work there to help my parents.”
“If it’s not a Giftless shop, then why are Giftless working there?”
His eyes dart my way, narrowing. “That was you guys, today at the diner?” His eyes bounce between us, trying to figure out what everyone does when around us, and failing. “I smelled the use of power. The place reeked of lead,” he accuses.
Sin chuckles, patting his chest as he steps away, both of us standing before him.
“Who’s the girl, and why is she working at your store?” I need to fucking chill. Not with this particular piece of shit, more with my brothers. They can taste my bullshit before it even leaves my mouth.
He grows uneasy, his gaze snapping all around before settling on me. He shrugs. “She’s no one. Some chick who goes to Daragan State. She applied, and my moms hired her.”
“Do you tell every girl who applies at your moms’ shop that you’ll fuck her?” The words leave acid on my tongue. I hate the way it tastes going down. Like fucking Giftless blood. Bitter, desperate, and fucking vanilla.
“I was…” he trails off, swallowing.
Yeah, sit on it before you fucking lie.
Before I can think twice, the words fly out of my mouth as fast as they enter my mind. “Fire her.”
His head tugs back. “I can’t.”
I step into his space, raising a brow. “Excuse me?”
Unease grows within him, his heart rate spiking. All it does is fuel mine. Like being left on a crescent moon, hungry for blood. For murder. For chaos. My gift thunders within me, pressing against my flesh in a tingling wave.
“She’s …” He pauses to think. Finally, a defeated sigh leaves him. “She won’t care if I tell her she’s fired. She’ll just keep coming back until we hire her all over again. She’s—” He chuckles lightly, and I don’t particularly like the way it fucking sounds. My hand comes to his throat and I watch the contrast of my skin against his. Justice is an Ordinary. He’s no one fucking special. His powers start at healing, and pretty much end at shielding. I mean, they aren’t completely useless, but if you have a Mage, their powers are replicable. And I do…have a Mage. She’s about five foot six and has legs that I’ve only ever really seen pressed behind her shoulders. “—persistent like that.”
Fury drags its fingers down the apex of my spine, turning it to steel on its way down. He knows her. Not just her name, but her. Fuck. I could just kill him. Fuck the law. Neither my brothers nor I wanted to be here in the first fucking place.
This—school—was for the civilians of magic. The ones who didn’t yield the power we have, or the bloodline. This school is for kids to be put into their respective power houses and to manipulate their gifts in hopes of being a quarter as powerful as us.
Fuck it. I could kill him and people wouldn’t bat an eye because I am Knight fucking Deveraux, and everyone knows exactly who the fuck I am, and if they don’t? They are about to.
But I fucking can’t.
Because I am Knight Deveraux, and there is someone worse than me. We call him Dad. And Mom. Actually, they’re both fucking terrifying.
But I knew this already, knew he was, at the very least, her ‘friend’。
Why the fuck else would I be standing here, seconds away from losing control and frying his Fae dust-infused brain?
My mind doesn’t seem to care. Apparently, knowing and hearing are two very different things ’cause I’m feeling fucking triggered.
I’m going to fuck with him. Hard. I’ll humiliate him, make him hate me the way I hate her. I’m going to enjoy every second of it. It will be all her fault.
She’s nothing. No one.
Nothing but a toy to be played with and we will play. The sooner it happens, the sooner this shit can end and I’ll have one less thing to worry about, going back to the moody motherfucker I’ve been since the term began, instead of this moody motherfucker with a hard cock. This past week has been fucking rough.
I’m yanked from my thoughts, realizing I’m still standing here glaring down at this Ordinary fuck when another low laugh leaves him. It’s as if he’s thinking of what he said, picturing her and what she’d do.
I push forward, my chest smashing to his and knocking him back two steps.