Page 67 of Exordium

“It probably is. I’m sure I won’t be allowed any other members until I return, either.” I sighed, exhausted by everything.

Chloe and I gathered our things, but before we could leave, I heard Storm call out, “Don’t forget our meeting. I’ll be waiting in my office before workouts start.”

I nodded my head but just kept walking with Chloe at my side. Zane was waiting outside the classroom for us.

“What the hell happened in there? Everyone coming out was hysterical. Even stone-faced Jet looked upset,” he leaned down to kiss me and then grabbed my hand heading in the direction of my biology class.

Chloe hooked her arm with mine, “First off, Professor Austin was replaced today by Storm, and boy, did his lecture give us a good kick in the nuts.”

Zane smirked, “Do we need to have a talk with you about boys and girls and how they differ?”

“It’s just a figure of speech, dick.” Chloe glared at him.

God, I loved this family. No matter how upset I was, they could always make me laugh.

“Anyway, he just casually put out there that D’s wine was running short because the main ingredient is Dionysus’s blood, and since he’s been dead for several hundred years, there won’t be anymore.” Chloe took a deep breath and then blew it out.

“What the fuck? How can that be the first any of us heard of this?” Zane looked stunned.

“He also told us that in the scrolls his family possesses, before D’s wine, there hadn’t been any Faction formed for several hundred years. Leading them to conclude that Dionysus formed his Faction with only a blood exchange. The only hope for Passives seems to be finding someone with that same ability.” I gave Zane a wide-eyed stare.

“Well, good luck with that. I didn’t even know that was possible until today. The chances of that are about as slim as memeeting Liam Hemsworth in a bar, falling on his dick, finding out he’s Aurathion, and his ability is to give orgasms by pointing his finger at me.” Chloe laughed, realizing no one was laughing with her; she made a face at me. “What, like you’ve never had that same exact fantasy.”

“I can’t give you orgasms by just pointing my finger, but I can give them in sixty seconds or less using my finger.” Zane winked at me. Pulling me close, he whispered, “No need to fantasize about anybody not in your Faction. At least two stone-cold studs surround you.”

Once again, I was laughing when I should have been panicking; how in the fuck was it possible to be turned on and amused all at the same time. Hearing Chloe gagging just made me laugh harder.

Zane walked us to our classroom door, “I’m going to talk to Zeke and let him know what’s going on.”

“There’s one more tiny detail I forgot to tell you.” I ducked my head and then looked up at Zane through my lashes.

“I’ll see you inside, sister,” Chloe smirked.

What an ass. She could have hung around until I broke the news that Jet was tagging along.

“What’s up, and why am I getting flirty eyes?” Zane asked suspiciously.

“Well Jet’s-”

“I’m going with you to Reverie’s parents.” Jet walked by and entered the classroom like he didn’t just drop a bomb.

“Why in the fuck is he going with us, and how did he know we were going in the first place?” Zane asked between gritted teeth.

“I may have accidentally mentioned it in front of him. You can’t blame me because I was a little distracted by the crap that ShitStorm had just told us!” I whisper yelled.

“Calm down, I’m not blaming you.” He ran his fingers through his scarlet curls, “There are things we need to discuss that hedoesn’t need to hear.” He paused and then pulled me into his arms, “Is there a possibility he does need to hear it?”

I pulled back to see his face, “Why would he need to hear it?”

“I know we haven’t known each other long, but I pay much closer attention than you think I do. You look at Jet the same way you look at me, Zeke, and Nathan.” He smiled and leaned down to steal a kiss, letting me know he was fine with it. I didn’t know what to say. I guess when in doubt the truth was best.

“I’m not sure. I get the same feeling when I’m with him as when I met all of you, but I’ve been trying to ignore it. Plus, he’s so aloof most of the time I’m not sure he feels what I do.”

“Believe me, he feels it. He’s always watching you and even sitting in the middle of his fan club, his eyes follow you everywhere you go. You have to remember that he’s new to all of this and may not realize what his feelings mean.” Zane kissed the tip of my nose.

“Well, it’ll have to go on the back burner. We need to figure out what the hell is going on and how we’re going to deal with it all. Maybe I need to let the Council know what happened with Nathan because if my blood can help my people, then I have to do it.” I looked up at Zane and tried to smile.

“Let’s talk to your parents before we make any decisions. They know the Council a lot better than we do.” He smiled at me reassuringly. “Now get to class, and don’t worry about it. That’s what we’re for.” Zane leaned down and gave me one more soft kiss.

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