“No, we’re not.” Cade stiffens. “Little word of advice, Danforth. You should remember that.”
“I’m not scared of you, Kingsley.” Bexley’s eyes flicker to mine again, but this time, Cade notices.
“Don’t look at her,” he growls. “Don’t you dare fucking look at her.”
“Bex?” Alex Shaw approaches us, concern glittering in his eyes. “What’s going on?”
“You’d better tell your boy to walk away, Shaw, before I make him.”
“Fuck you, asshole.” Bexley looks ready to lunge for Cade, but Alex grabs his arm.
“Come on, man. I’m fucking starving.”
Like me, Alex has lived in Gravestone his entire life. He understands the order of things, the social hierarchy, even if he doesn’t know everything.
Bexley glares at Cade, as if he’s deciding whether to stand and fight or walk away. I want to scream, “Fight for me,” but I don’t.
I can’t.
I belong to Cade now. If I’m going to survive this, I need to play my part and buy myself some time to figure out how I’m going to get out of it in one piece.
“Bex,” Alex hisses, and he finally moves.
“Yeah, let’s go.” His icy gaze lingers on my face a second before he spins on his heel and takes off down the hall.
“Well, that was fun,” Ashton remarks. “Think we need to be worried?”
“About Danforth?” Cade balks. “It’s him who needs to watch his back.”
“Mia, why don’t you come with me?” Sasha says. “I was going to grab a coffee before class.”
I’m about to move, but Cade tightens his hold on me. Our eyes meet, and he smirks. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
“No, I don’t think I am.” The words spill out before I can stop them.
His lips twist with amusement, but I don’t miss the anger simmering in his eyes. Cade Kingsley doesn’t appreciate insubordination.
He leans in, his warm breath caressing my cheek. “Don’t play games with me, Mia. You won’t like what happens when I’m pushed.”
Sliding my trembling hand to his chest, I stuff down the ball of emotion in my throat and muster the best smile I can. “Have a good day, your Highness.” My lips graze the corner of his mouth.
I start to pull away, feeling smug at my little outburst, but Cade snags me around the waist, crushing me against his chest and plunging his tongue into my mouth. Clawing at his t-shirt, I try to push him away, but he has me in a vise-like grip, his fingers digging into my hips enough to leave bruises. Cade doesn’t just kiss me, he devours me. Every lick of his tongue is a dark promise of what will happen if I disobey him again.
I swallow the tears burning my throat.
“Cade, man,” someone says, and I think it might be Channing.
“Just getting some sugar off my girl to get me through the day,” he murmurs against my mouth, tugging my bottom lip between his teeth and biting gently. To anyone watching, we might look like two people unable to keep their hands off each other, but this isn’t that.
Finally, he releases me, and I stagger back, flushed head to toe with anger.
“You—”
“Nah-ah, babe. Play nice.” His eyes narrow in warning.
“Come on, Mia.” A hand lands on my shoulder, and Sasha gently leads me away.
We walk in silence down the hall toward the coffee shop in the building’s entrance. “Are you okay?” she asks me.
“What do you think?”
Her weak smile drops. “I think Cade is an ass.”
Laughter bubbles in my chest. It’s the best thing she could have said to me.
“But I thought you two were—”
“What, friends?” She shrugs. “I mean, we are. I don’t really have any choice in the matter. But it doesn’t mean I approve of everything he does.”
“He’s just so…” I don’t even have words to describe how cocky and arrogant he is. He walks the halls of Gravestone U as if he owns the place, and in some ways, I guess he does. I’ve only been here a week, but I’ve known for years the power and sway Cade Kingsley holds over people.
He’s the head of the Electi. The heir of the Kingsley line. With Mr. Kingsley dead and buried, the entire Kingsley legacy rests on Cade’s shoulders…
And now mine.
God, I can’t even stand kissing him, let alone the prospect of being with him.
“Mia?” Sasha says as we move down the line.
“I just can’t believe this is happening. My name wasn’t supposed to be in the calix. It’s a mistake, it has to be.”
“Q doesn’t make mistakes,” she whispers. “You know that.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” I grumble as Sasha orders two lattes and a granola bar for herself.
“Is that okay?”
“Fine, thank you.”
Sasha lets out a small sigh. “I tend to act without thinking. But everyone likes lattes, don’t they?”
“I do.”
“So tell me about yourself, Mia Thompson.”
Is this really happening? Is Sasha Cargill, daughter of Phillip Cargill, really asking about me?
“What do you want to know?”
“Let’s start with why Bexley Danforth was ready to throw down with Cade over you.” Her brow lifts as she collects our order and guides me over to a table.
“I…” I swallow hard, wondering for a second just how much I can trust her. My gut says I can’t, not when she’s in Cade’s inner circle. But she helped me escape that whole situation; that must count for something.
“Relax,” she adds, sensing my hesitation. “I’m not interested in what or who you were doing before the Eligere.” Suggestion drips from her words.
“It’s not like that. Bexley is in one of my classes.” I decide to glaze over the real truth.
“So, back in the hall? That was about homework?” Her brows pinch.
“Bexley… he saw something at the party.”
Realization dawns in her dark green eyes. “Cade and the guys…”
“Yeah, I heard they taught Vincent Males a lesson down by the lake.”
“Fuck,” she breathes, smoothing a hand over her glossy auburn hair.
“I think Bexley was just surprised to see me with Cade after what happened.”
“You haven’t told him anything?”
“What? No! Of course I
