Page 14 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
Chapter Eight
Operation Super Sneak wasn’t going as planned. Nina and Mel had come up with the idea to go visit Logan in his room once their classes were done, and while Mel chatted up Logan, Nina would be able to talk to Rafe in the privacy of the guys’ dorm room. It was a good, solid plan. Unfortunately, Rafe hadn’t been there. According to Logan, he’d gone to meet with Morgan Rhys and had yet to return.
Nina hadn’t realized quite how excited she’d been until that moment when her hopes had fallen like a rock. She certainly wasn’t in the mood to sit there twiddling her thumbs while Mel made googly eyes at Logan and the big guy attempted to keep some space between himself and the press of Mel’s body.
Her friend was coming on way too strong, and Nina planned to talk to Mel about that once they had some privacy. She’d have to approach it carefully, couch both her words and tone just right. For someone so forward and seemingly self-confident, Mel was quite sensitive when it came to anything that could be construed as criticism, but for right now, Nina suggested, “Why don’t we take a walk around the school? I’m sure we haven’t seen everything yet.”
Translation: Why don’t we take a walk around the school and see if Nina could find Rafe.
While Logan jumped eagerly on the suggestion, Mel glared daggers at Nina. Shooting her best friend a sheepish look of apology she mouthed the word, ‘sorry’ before hustling out of the room.
Mel’s mood quickly improved seeing as how she had latched onto Logan’s arm and they were able to stroll through the facility side-by-side like a couple. Meanwhile, Nina’s mood was in a rapid decline. They’d checked out the gun range, the weight room, and indoor pool, found the infirmary, and a room full of computers and such that Nina had mentally dubbed the tech room, they’d even run into Morgan Rhys at one point, but no Rafe.
“We should go back to the pool and go swimming,” Mel enthusiastically suggested.
It was on the tip of Nina’s tongue to decline the offer until she saw the pleading look in her friend’s eyes. Logan hadn’t said no, or come with an excuse why he couldn’t, and Nina had already put one damper on her friend’s evening, a second might see her shampoo replaced with swamp mud or something equally nasty when Mel decided to get even for the betrayal.
Pasting a smile she didn’t feel on her face, Nina nodded. She wasn’t looking forward to being the third wheel, and Mel was definitely going to owe her for this, but she’d suck it up and take one for the team so to speak.
As they split off from Logan for them to get their swimsuits, Mel was practically giddy. “So what do you think? Is Logan a speedo guy or the board shorts type?”
Nina tried to picture the big guy in a speedo and shook her head. “Definitely shorts.”
“Thank you for doing this,” Mel suddenly said, turning to grip Nina’s hands. “I know it sucks we didn’t find Rafe, and I promise that if I see him I’ll hogtie him and deliver him to you naked with a big red bow.”
Nina chuckled with amusement, ready to quip that she could skip the bow when Mel released her grip on Nina’s hands and turned a pirouette, a huge smile of delight on her face. “I can’t believe that in a matter of minutes Logan and I are going to be practically naked together. He’s so…” she cut the dreamy words short, her eyes popping open. “Bikini or one-piece?”
“One-piece.”
Mel nodded. “You’re right. Best not to overwhelm him with all of this,” she said, doing a shimmy as she motioned down her body with her hands.
And speaking of overwhelmed, Nina thought as she cleared her throat nervously at what she was about to suggest. “Um, Mel,” she began hesitantly. “I, ah, think Logan might be a little shy.”
Mel nodded as she dug through her dresser drawer for her bathing suit. “You got that impression too?”
“I did, so maybe you might want to tone it down just a touch, you know, give him time to get used to you before you unleash your full-scale awesomeness.”
Nina held her breath. Mel could be unpredictable with this sort of thing. One time, Nina had said something thoughtless – it had just popped out and she’d apologized profusely, but Mel hadn’t spoken to her for a week. While another time, when Nina had gently suggested an outfit change, Mel had burst into tears.
This time, her friend simply looked thoughtful as she held the hot pink, one-piece swimsuit she’d retrieved to her chest. Nodding, she admitted, “I really like him, Nina.” Turning almost pleading eyes in Nina’s direction she added, “I mean,reallylike him.”
Nina’s smile was full of affection. Her thoughts lately may have been consumed with Rafe DeMarco, but the world didn’t revolve around her, and right now, her friend needed her. “Then let’s go see if we can help things along.”
Logan was waiting for them, which earned him massive points in Nina’s book that he hadn’t changed his mind and decided to bail without a word. An act that would have hurt Mel’s feelings and left Nina wanting to clobber the big lug.
The pool room may have been empty when they’d first come across it, but that had changed in the time they’d spent donning their swimsuits. It was now practically a party. Someone had hooked their phone up to some speakers for music, and the large pool was now filled with a boisterous, splashing crowd.
Witches and shifters, Nina realized, looking around. And not a single vampire as far as she could tell. Then it hit her, and she practically wanted to smack her hand against her forehead. The vampires, including Rafe, were on a nocturnal training schedule. Just because her classes had ended for the day didn’t mean Rafe’s had. His were just beginning. If Operation Super Sneak was going to succeed, she needed to be a lot smarter about it.
∞∞∞
Morgan Rhys took them through the first night of weapons training and Rafe spent most of that first class learning about types of handguns, different calibers, and ammunition. He’d never handled a gun before, and while he still hadn’t actually laid hands on one, the class was informative.
Next was comms and tech, taught by a blonde vampire named Jamie Langley who, coincidentally, was mated to Archer Langley, the wolf alpha in this territory. She was a former Hunter and a world-class hacker who had been recruited and Turned by Morgan Rhys. She would be teaching them the basics. She’d also informed them, that should anyone desire to be the designated tech person on a future team, she’d set up a time with them to do a more in-depth training.
Following that was basic first-aid before they broke for lunch. While the classes weren’t bad, Rafe was definitely missing Logan’s presence in the dining hall. As Morgan had pointed out to him, Hunter teams typically recruited Turned vampires that were past their contract and it was clear that most of the vampires here weren’t too keen to associate with a Born like him. They didn’t snub him per se, but they avoided eye contact, some even going so far as to duck their heads in hopes he’d bypass their tables while they sucked down their bags of blood. Not wishing to push his presence on the unwilling, Rafe took up a seat at an empty table, prepared to eat alone.
He didn’t, however, remain alone for long. A tray was tossed down on the tabletop, emitting a loud slapping sound as the plastic hit wood, and a veritable mountain of what looked like grilled ham and cheese sandwiches spilled from the tray. Rafe looked up warily, his muscles tightening in preparation for conflict, but the man who joined him grabbed onto a chair, turned it backward, and straddled the seat.
