Page 11 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
“What?” Mel asked in mock offense. “It’s an excellent idea.” She grinned. “Now, what do you say we skip class and go get pedicures?”
Nina shot her friend a dubious look. “This isn’t high school. I’m pretty sure skipping class here without being on our death beds will get us kicked out.”
Mel’s response was a long, drawn-out sigh. “Fine.” Her finger lifted to wag in Nina’s face. “But Operation Super Sneak begins once classes are over for the night.”
∞∞∞
“So how come your bird flew the coop?”
Rafe sighed and raked a hand through his hair. “Not a clue.” Though he was beginning to have an inkling of suspicion. Mel had informed him rather pointedly earlier that she wasn’t afraid of his father and Nina had bolted after he’d mentioned approaching his father on her behalf. It wasn’t a stretch to put two and two together. While he didn’t know the particulars yet, Rafe was willing to bet that Vincent DeMarco was at the crux of this disaster. The thought that his father had somehow managed to sully the one good thing in Rafe’s life had his vision flashing with red. He should have known, should have figured it out, but he’d been sunk too deeply into his depression to see the obvious. Ninaneverwould have abandoned him without a word unless she was under duress. Here he’d been blaming himself, racking his brain, trying to figure out what horrible thing he’d done to cause this when it had been his father all along.
Feeling his gums tingle as his fangs made an appearance, Rafe closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He needed to remain calm. Calling his father and accusing him while Rafe was boiling over with rage would be a mistake. Cold, calm clarity was what he required. But to get there, he needed a change in subject.
Standing to take care of his lunch tray and grabbing Nina’s as well, he glanced at Logan. “You and Melanie, huh?”
Logan’s grunt and look of annoyance was just what Rafe needed to restore his equilibrium. He almost smirked. “You make a cute couple.”
The glare coming his way promised retribution and a chuckle of amusement was bubbling up when someone called his name. Looking toward the entrance of the dining hall, Rafe saw Morgan Rhys standing there, and just behind her, Kane Fletcher.
“My office in fifteen?” she asked with a raised brow.
Rafe nodded and watched as the two of them left, his amusement curdling. Hopefully, this was simply the meeting with Fletcher the woman had promised to set up and not them deciding to hand him his walking papers. Not that he’d leave the area even if they’d decided to kick him out of the training program – not when there was a possibility of making things right with Nina.
Striding over to the trash bin to dump the leftovers from Nina’s abandoned lunch, Rafe’s way was suddenly blocked by a rather belligerent looking man, his stance aggressive, his tone hard as he snarled, “Born.”
Rafe looked the man over and practically rolled his eyes as he sighed. “Do you really want to do this here?” he asked dryly.
It certainly wasn’t the first time he’d been confronted thusly. His father wasn’t well-liked, and many were of the notion that they could take out their frustrations regarding Vincent DeMarco on the man’s son, but honestly, he hadn’t expected it to happen here, so far from home.
“You Born think you’re so high and mighty.”
A witty riposte was on the tip of Rafe’s tongue when Logan suddenly thrust himself in the middle, his chest bumping hard against the other man’s, shoving him back with a snarled warning of, “Back off.”
A sudden hush fell over the dining hall except for the scraping of a few chairs as people stood, ready to intervene or possibly scatter if things escalated.
Mister Belligerence turned red in the face and slammed his hands into Logan’s chest. Rafe took a step forward to intercede, not that he needed to bother, Logan wasn’t even slightly budged despite the other man’s obvious efforts. Not so easy to move a tank, was it?
As another man pushed into the altercation, Rafe felt an odd tingling of aggression, a feeling like sandpaper under his skin as his adrenal gland went haywire, but he put it down to the rush of a possible fight and forcefully shook it off. The new arrival was the athletics instructor, Travis St. John, a former cop, if Rafe recalled correctly, and currently, the voice of reason. “Hey, hey, now. Let’s break it up. No fighting.”
Logan took a step back, his arms crossed over that massive chest of his. Mister Belligerence should have done the same. Instead, he foolishly lunged and was quickly dropped to the floor by St. John.
The former cop’s eyes narrowed as he looked down on the man he’d so easily bested, and Rafe thought he saw a glimpse of what looked like a reptilian pupil in those eyes before it was abruptly gone making him doubt he’d seen it at all. Dragon shifters were thought to be extinct, but maybe…
He didn’t have time to dwell on that intriguing thought as St. John was looking to both him and Logan for an explanation. “What’s this all about?”
As Logan’s jaw was clamped tight enough to have the muscles twitching, Rafe spoke up. “This fellow,” he said dryly, motioning to the downed man, “apparently is not a fan of Born vampires and decided I should be made aware of his dislike.”
St. John’s jaw clenched just as tightly as Logan’s, and he glared down at Mister Belligerence. “Considering this facility is run by a Born who happens to be mymate,” the man snarled, “you can either get over it or leave.”
Rafe picked up a hint of sulfur in the air, once more leading him to think that the dragons weren’t as extinct as people believed. That would also explain the odd reaction Rafe had experienced when St. John had arrived. He’d heard stories that Born could sense dragon shifters and vice versa, and apparently, Morgan Rhys was married – mated, whatever – to one. Interesting. And on that note…
“Gentleman, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting.”
Travis St. John didn’t bother to look in his direction, simply nodded to signal he’d heard, while Logan finally unbent enough to clap his hand to Rafe’s and say, “I’ll catch up with you later, man. We’ll talk strategy, get your bird back.”
Rafe dipped his chin in acknowledgment, a small smile quirking his lips. “Looking forward to it.”
He began to stride away when a sudden hunch had him turning to look back at his roommate. “Bear?”
