“Lex!” someone shouted. I had just enough time to brace myself for impact as a body collided with me. He was five years younger than me but over the break, Charles had managed to edge ahead in the height department.
When he pulled away, I shook my head at him. “Are you eating magic beans or something?” I placed the palm of my hand on the top of my head and measured it against him. Yep. Either he had grown or I had shrunk.
Charles screwed up his face. “Beans suck!”
I couldn’t help laughing. He might have the physique of a teenager but inside, he was still growing. “You brought it with you?”
I gathered by the way he was eyeing the blade in its scabbard strapped to my back that he wanted to see it. “Don’t even think about it,” Nora said. “We’re here on a peaceful mission. The last thing I want is for anyone to get cut up.”
“Aw man!” Charles said.
“Chuck,” Max said. “Now isn’t the time.”
Charles’s chest rumbled. He stood close enough that I could feel the vibration of it. The look Max gave him was pure disapproval. A ring of amber appeared around the corona of Max’s eyes. Charles tried to resist the order of a more dominant shifter, but it wasn’t long before he had to lower his gaze. His nose scrunched up.
“I’ll show you in class,” I told him.
“Promise?”
I nodded. He gave his brother one last glare before bolting off the way he’d come. I almost had a heart attack when he leaped through the window of the building and landed by the tips of his claws on the branch a couple of metres away.
“That’s going to be a bit of an issue in the next few years,” Mani commented.
Max slid his fingers through his hair. “Tell me about it. Especially since he survived that demon attack and somebody gave him the idea that he’s some kind of badass protector.” His gaze slid over me. The back of my neck got really hot. Honestly, if my whole body didn’t turn to mush when I thought of Kai, I would be in very real danger of having a crush on Max.
I coughed and scratched at my cheek.
“I did not put that thought in his head,” I said.
“He has a drawing you did taped to his bedroom wall. It literally has the words “my little protector” written on it!”
I could see Sophie biting her lip to stop from laughing. I’d drawn that picture for Charles while I was recovering from the demon attack in the infirmary. “It was supposed to be a joke!”
“Don’t ever joke about a predatory shifter’s protective instincts,” Mani said.
I threw my hands in the air. “Well, I know that now, don’t I?”
He patted my back. I’d made the mistake of jumping a mile in Zambia when I’d seen my first snake. The wolves in the pack got all growly and wouldn’t let me go out on my own from then on. I pretended it was irritating but secretly, I kind of liked it. To a point anyway.
“You know what? Why don’t I just zip my lip and pretend that I’m not here.”
“First good idea I’ve heard come out of your mouth,” Kai muttered.
My jaw clamped. It took everything in me not to turn around to where he was bringing up the rear with the girl and snap at him. Zen. I thought of a placid lake. Cool, calming waters. It had been easier to pretend while I was away.
Kai’s presence felt like it was rubbing me raw. What was his problem? He literally had a goddess pressed to his side. Surely he wasn’t still pissed that I’d stopped anything from happening between us? Pain shot through my jaw. I had to massage my face to get it to unclamp.
Thankfully, we’d reached the convention room and I was spared from having to answer. My foot had just hit the edge of the balcony when something dark blurred in my periphery. I blinked but the only thing I could see was the rustle of the leaves in the trees around us. Yet, my mind refused to give up the impression of a humanoid silhouette. I frowned. While the others filed through the glass doors to the convention room, I found myself drifting to the edge of the square balcony. There was nothing there to see, but I couldn’t fight the feeling of being watched.
“I didn’t think it was possible for you to be weirder, Blue.” Kai came up beside me. I could see the other girl hanging back in the doorway. I swiped at the air with my left hand and brought it together with my right one. My gaze lifted into the treetops.
Evening was beginning to press in on us. The big, round moon sparkled through the canopy. For some reason, my right arm had reached back to grip the hilt of the demon blade. Not that I would know what to do with it if push came to shove.
“What is it?” A note of caution leeched into Kai’s tone.
“Not sure. I thought I saw something, but obviously there’s nothing here.”
He stepped closer. If I wasn’t already at the edge of the railing, I had a feeling he would have tried to get in front of me. Shifters weren’t the only ones with an overly heightened sense of protectiveness. My grip on the blade grew tight. The last thing I needed right now was for him to remind me of the reason why he’d managed to get past my defences despite being a raging jackass.
“There are lots of smaller shifters here who are
