I bounced my gaze to her, then to my phone, and back to her. Why was she just standing there? She wasn’t one to hang out for small talk, so my guard was immediately up. “Did you need something else?”
There went that hip again, this time accompanied by a pouty lip sticking out so far, I expected a bird to land and shit on it, as my dad used to say. “Just because you’re the prophecy doesn’t give you the right to be rude.”
She thought I was the rude one? Wow. Hello, pot? This is the kettle. You’re black. Out of the kindness of my heart, I put my phone away. Jesus, it was cold. The sooner I got some deliciously hot coffee in me, the sooner I’d thaw out. I fidgeted in place to get my blood moving faster. “What else did you need, Ness? You better go before you catch some of my weirdness. It’s contagious, you know.”
Her shoulders squared, she thrusted out her chin, spun on the heel of her cute little buckle shoes, and stormed off. I shook my head as she walked away, the steady downpour somehow avoiding her. God, how I hated her control.
“What’s up her skirt?” Clay appeared behind me and moved in, wrapping his arms around my midsection. Ah, warmth. “Whoa, I could have gone the rest of my days without seeing that. Is she seriously wearing a thong?”
I tilted my head. We both did. The short, short gray uniform skirts left nothing to the imagination. The curve of Vanessa’s ridiculously perfect ass flashed with every swing of her hip. “She seriously is. Some girls will do anything for attention.”
“Not my girl.” He turned me in his arms and planted a solid kiss to my lips, tickling me with his beard. Although he still sported the yellow blazer to support his house colors, he was no longer a student, having accepted the position as the headmistress’s assistant in lieu of his final tribunal.
“Are you allowed to kiss the students?”
He nipped at my lower lip. “Let them fire me. What’s the worst they could do?”
“Uh, fire you,” I pointed out. “You can’t afford to lose this job. The only reason they let you stay in the dorms is because of this job.”
“Whatever.” He shrugged easily and did a Bieber flip to send his wild brown hair out of his eyes. “I could just move in with Rob and Leo. Join them on patrol. Being a hunter is cool.”
“Maybe you should ask Rob and Leo first. It’s not that big a cabin.”
He shrugged again. “I think they’d be fine with it.”
“Think again.” Rob popped in, and next to him, Leo. They both had on the classic Council uniform of a fancy black suit. Rob’s five-o’clock shadow covering his square jaw always made him look so ruggedly handsome. Leo’s crazy blond curls weren’t any less crazy with the drizzle clinging to them. I couldn’t stop smiling. It’d been too long since we’d all been together. The only one missing was Bryan.
And then in popped my mountain of a man, looking amazing in his school uniform, the green blazer pulling out the brilliance in his eyes. He’d cut his brown hair even shorter, almost a buzz cut, since the last time I’d seen him. I didn’t like the fact I hadn’t seen him enough to know he’d done that.
“I told you it wouldn’t work.” He handed a lump of what looked like cooled lava over to Rob. “You can’t turn iron into gold.”
“You can’t,” Rob fired back and held the lump of—whatever—in his hand. “Maybe Merle can.” He paused before regarding Clay. “And dude, you have to stop blowing off your responsibilities. Grow up. This is a job. Start treating it like one.”
Clay waved his hand, doing exactly the opposite of Rob’s instructions by blowing it off. “I didn’t ask for this gig. I was just fine as an intern until Lulu had to go and…go.”
“I’m sorry if her being traumatized over learning of Dean Carter’s death is an inconvenience for you.” I was this close to slapping the current and every future smile from his handsomely arrogant face. Poor Lulu had gone through hell. “She was sent to prison for standing up to the Council. She deserves a medal, not ridicule.”
“You know that’s not what I meant. Sheesh, Montana. Lighten up.”
I did exactly as he requested, calling my light element and setting my hands aglow. The soft white luminescence pulled his attention. He widened his eyes when he caught on to what I was about to do and didn’t get the chance to protest before I hit him with a stream of light, shorting out his powers. I’d gotten very good with my control, keeping my light focused on a single elemental instead of shorting out everyone within range.
The guys laughed as Clay slumped his shoulders. “Ah, man. Now I have to walk back to the main hall. Thanks a lot.”
“We’re actually here to see Stace.” Rob grabbed Clay’s elbow. “I’ll teleport us over there.”
“Can’t we just walk?” Leo cut in. It was no secret he hated to teleport and usually found alternatives to popping in and out, like using his own two feet.
Rob rolled his eyes. “You are such a baby.”
Leo colored to his ears and said nothing. He didn’t like to create waves and rarely went toe-to-toe with the group’s leader.
“Pop us both over,” Clay insisted. When Rob shook his head, Clay groaned as if walking across campus was the worst thing to possibly happen on a Monday morning.
No. Mornings were the worst thing to happen on a Monday.
“I’ll see you guys later. I’m grabbing coffee before 3C.” I thumbed toward the smaller dining hall across campus we all favored.
“It’s closed on account of unfortunate bomb damage,” Clay pointed out. “One of the magically enhanced air elementals blew it up when they ran out of creamer. I told Stace we needed to switch the MEs to decaf. This is
