Page 31 of Pretty Secrets

I squirm in my seat on that one. I don’t want to do any of these assholes a favor. Who knows what kind of atrocious things they could dream up.

Alaric leans in and lowers his voice. “Listen, I have a sneaking suspicion about something.” He licks his lips, and I have to kick myself to listen to him instead of drooling over the smooth, plump lines of his mouth. “When you progress through the ranks, you usually buddy off with a Knight who’s similar to you. Loyalty like that is tested all the time, and I’m wondering if they’re going to do the same with this…unit,” he finishes. “I said it before, but we really need to work as a team. If anyone here is unwilling to do that, speak up now so the Elders can be made aware.”

All of our gazes land on Leonardo Jarvis. The dark shadows I find there don’t help convince me that he’ll be on my side. He seems more intent on his own needs and wants, like when he strolled off with that other girl this morning.

He smirks, but it’s more menacing than anything else. “I don’t like you guys, but I’m in this for the long haul. Don’t expect birthday cards in the mail, but I’m here. That’s all the reassurance you’ll get from me.”

“For the record, I don’t like you guys either,” Oliver grunts. “Except Eden, of course.”

Well, this is some alliance. I don’t trust any of them except Oliver. And the other two absolutely cannot know the real reason I’m here. Barclay would run to the Elders for sure, and the jury is out on Jarvis. I think I’m more like him than the others—a comparison I’m sure he’d hate.

“Wonderful,” Barclay muses in his unamused tone. “Just the show of unity I wanted.”

He seems slippery, this one. Like insults and grievances don’t stick to him. It’s intoxicating but also unnerving. I don’t think I’m seeing the real Alaric Barclay. I’m not sure anyone actually has.

When none of us answer like petulant little kids, he calls us out on it. “Well, children, I have a class to teach.” He stands, his half-finished drink still on the table in front of us. “I assume we’re all staying at Jarvis Hall?” He peers at the only Jarvis at the table for the answer, who simply shrugs.

“Just remember: my hall, my rules.”

“I’ll be needing that key,” I growl, remembering the complete embarrassment of last night.

“Not a fucking chance.”

“Just don’t kill each other until I get back,” Barclay grinds out before leaving. The entire female student body—and some of the males—watches as he picks his way through the crowd toward the front entrance.

Without a word, Leo stands too. He strides through the room, and people practically jump out of his way.

“Come on,” Oliver says. “Since you’re making me go to college, I have homework to finish. Can’t have the headlines also say how stupid I am.” He takes out his wallet and throws down a few bills.

People stare at me, too, as I follow after him, but not because I’m a gorgeous professor like Barclay or a scary motherfucker like Jarvis. It’s because I look like a dead girl.

There’s a hint of chill in the air as we turn the corner toward Jarvis Hall. We step off the sidewalk to cut through the quad at the corner of the café when a hand shoots out to grab me.

It never makes it.

I hear a thump, and when I whirl, Leo Jarvis has the barista pushed against the brick building, an arm over his throat. He snarls in his face. “Didn’t we tell you to get lost? She’s not a sideshow.”

My eyes nearly bug out of my head, but the clueless barista snaps back. “Go ahead. Hurt me, asshole. You’re all the same.” Leo leans in further, and the barista’s face pales. He peers over at me. “You shouldn’t be here. They’ll get to you too.”

My heart skips a beat, landing like a thud in my chest. Before I can say anything, Leo yanks him off the wall and throws him to the ground. The guy’s too stunned to move as Leo unbuttons his pants. He pulls his cock out right there for the growing crowd to see.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I hiss, my mind reverting back to last night. Just what the fuck is he going to do?

“Putting this guy in his place.”

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath like he’s about to piss…on the guy.

The barista tries to scramble away, but Leo places a boot-clad foot on his shoulder. “Don’t move. It’ll be over in a second.”

A few cheers erupt from the crowd, as if this is how we’re supposed to act in the everyday world. No, I didn’t particularly like getting gawked at by this guy, but he doesn’t deserve to be pissed on.

“The fuck is wrong with you?” I aim for his hip but end up slapping Leo’s dick out of the way as I reach for the other guy to help him up.

“Not a smart move,” a voice growls in my ear. Before I know it, I’m thrown over the big guy’s shoulder again.

Humiliation thrums through me. I grip his hair and pull, kicking wildly. I can’t have the entire student body see Leo manhandle me like this. I bite down on his curved shoulder blade, and his grip loosens enough for me to push off him and land ungraciously on my feet. A stunned silence follows as Leo glares a hole into me. His pants are still undone, his impressive cock still out…becoming more and more prominent by the moment. “If you wanted to touch my dick, you just had to ask.”

The smirk tells me all I need to know. Leo Jarvis gets off on this shit. He also apparently has no qualms about standing around with his dick on full display.

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