“No worries.” He smiled before biting off a chunk of his sandwich.
Cassandra leaned in toward me. “So, there’s this tall, dark, and handsome guy wandering around campus.”
I looked at Bryce and raised my eyebrows.
“No, no, no.” She shook her head, and her black ponytail whipped from side to side. “He looks like one of yours.” She waved her hand toward the Nephilim and the dragons.
The dragons tilted their heads ever so slightly but showed no other sign that they were paying attention to the conversation at our table.
My stomach plummeted. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d guess Mavros, but—” closing my eyes, I rubbed the back of my neck “—it couldn’t be him. He can’t be back. Can he?”
Cody shook his head. “Hope not.”
“So, who’s he?” Cassandra tilted her head.
“Demon.” Cody dropped his fork on his tray and donned his impenetrable mask. “Stay away.”
She narrowed her ice-blue eyes at him. “I haven’t seen you look that way since Damon was here. So, what gives?”
“Butt out.” Dan didn’t look up from his food.
Bryce straightened. A muscle in his jaw ticked.
“It’s a long story.” Samantha sighed. “This isn’t the place for it. And, it’s Dacia’s to tell.”
I rested my hand on Cody’s leg. Samantha was right that this wasn’t the place for it, but if I didn’t say something, the questions would keep coming. It would be better to just get the conversation over with so that Cassandra and Bryce wouldn’t keep bringing it up. “Mavros is Damon.”
“What?” Cassandra’s mouth hung open.
Bryce rubbed his chin. “I thought you got rid of him.”
“I did.” A weight settled over me, making me feel like Atlas. “If it’s really him, then somebody summoned him here.”
Samantha’s eyes were filled with sorrow. “At least if he’s back, he probably won’t be after your heart this time.”
“Nah.” I pulled my hand through my hair. “If he’s here, he’s here to kill me.”
“You don’t know that.” Cody dragged his hand down his face.
I opened my mouth, and he held his hand out. “Don’t. Just don’t. I’ve seen what he can do to you.”
“Well”—Cassandra stood and grabbed Bryce’s hand—“it’s obvious there are a lot of things we don’t know. If you wanna talk, we’ll listen.”
Samantha held her sandwich in front of her and watched Cassandra sashay away. “What exactly is going on with them anyway?”
“Yeah.” Dan nodded. His auburn hair brushed his eyebrows and curled at the nape of his neck. “I’ve seen a lot of weird things since meeting you all, but that”—he hooked his thumb over his shoulder—“beats them all.”
I pushed my food around with my fork. “I need to read their auras. Figure out what to do.” And pray that Mavros isn’t back.
After lunch, my entourage, minus Russ and Arianna, followed me to Shakespeare. Malcolm walked beside me and put his hand on my shoulder. “We need to talk.”
Pressing my eyes shut, I lowered my head. I didn’t want to talk to Malcolm about Mavros. Even though Aurelia trusted him implicitly, I wasn’t sure what to think of him. He’d tasted my blood and enjoyed it. He’d wanted to kill me and my friends. He was with me or watching me constantly. I wanted to trust him, but I wasn’t there yet. “Okay, shoot.”
“Is he back?” He stared down into my eyes, and I wondered if he could somehow sense the truth.
I shook my head. “I hope not.” I thought about Cody’s mask and what Mavros’ return would do to him.
“You’ll let us know.” He squeezed my shoulder harder than was necessary. “Won’t you?”
I tried to pull away from his grip, but he held on. “If I see him, you’ll be the first to know.” Narrowing my eyes at him, I said, “Now, let go of me.”
He smirked at me, letting his fangs show, reminding me who he was, and dropped his hand.
I walked to my desk wondering how much longer I could hide the truth from Malcolm, but before I said anything to him, I wanted to either be positive Mavros had returned or talk to Aurelia.
Val and Cash sat to either side of me. Cash angled himself away, clearly not wanting to be near me, but I didn’t think he trusted me enough to sit in front of me with his back exposed. Val sat so close to me that his arm brushed against mine. Malcolm and Tye took the chairs in front of me. Their broad shoulders formed an impenetrable wall.
Val leaned closer and sniffed me. I pushed him back while pulling my head away from him. He was nice enough, but he made me uncomfortable.
“Sorry.” He was still too close. “You just smell so good. Is it your perfume?”
My nose scrunched up. “I don’t wear perfume.”
“It’s her power, you imbecile.” Cash shook his head and huffed.
I turned away from Val and stared at Cash. “You can smell my power?”
“A few of the lucky ones have even tasted it.” He leaned in and breathed deeply like he was smelling a juicy steak. “I wouldn’t have wasted a drop.” Menace radiated off of him.
My eyes widened, and I pulled away from him, crashing into Val. The room seemed to shrink in on me.
Cash’s mouth turned up in a sneer. “I don’t know how Malcolm resists taking more.” He licked his lips, and his pupils elongated.
“Cash.” Malcolm’s voice was the rumbling of distant thunder, low, menacing. He didn’t turn around, but the single word was enough to make Cash pull back and look away from me.
I shivered and stared at Malcolm’s back, wondering if he thirsted for my blood.
“I made a promise to protect you.” Malcolm turned around and looked at me, and I wondered if he could read my thoughts. “I don’t break my vows. Now, quit worrying. You reek of fear, and it makes you smell even better.” He faced forward.
Val slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him. “You
