Page 81 of Wicked Chains
I shrug. "Mental health day. Figured I deserved one after nearly getting caught by Helena in the woods yesterday."
His eyebrow arches. "The woods? Do tell."
"It's not what you think. I was just walking. Ash was there. Then Helena showed up, and Ash told me to run back to campus." I leave out the part where Ash pinned me to a tree and promised to fuck me if he caught me running again. Some things are better kept to myself.
"Ash was just coincidentally in the woods at the same time as you?" Soren's tone makes it clear he doesn't believe that for a second.
"He was following me through the mark." I tap my arm where the blood mark sits beneath my sleeve. "Or so he claims."
"Our overseer seems quite fixated on you, have you noticed?"
"Yeah, well, he owns my magic. I'm a valuable asset, or whatever."
"Is that all you think it is?" Soren's voice is carefully neutral.
I look away, not wanting to go down this road. "Can we not talk about Ash right now? I just want to escape all that for a few hours today.”
Soren inclines his head in acknowledgment. "Fair enough. What would you prefer to discuss? The weather? The declining standards of education in supernatural institutions? Or perhaps—" his voice drops, "—how exquisite you looked coming apart on my cock the other night?"
"Actually," I say, ignoring the heat that creeps up my neck at the memory, "Since you’re in a sharing mood. I do have a question for you, Soren. I want to know why you're still here." I never did get much of an answer from him about that, and it occurs to me that I’d really like to know.
"Here? In the library?"
"No. At Serpentine." I lean forward, genuinely curious. "You stayed when Victoria was in charge. You stayed when Helena took over. Now you're here under Ash and the Blood Moon Coven. Why? What's keeping you here through all these changes?"
The flirtatious mask slips for just a moment, replaced by something more guarded. "That's quite the heavy question, little witch."
"Humor me," I say. "I'm genuinely curious. You don't strike me as the loyal type who sticks around through regime changes out of duty."
"You wound me," he says, pressing a hand to his chest in mock offense. But his eyes remain serious. "What makes you think I have some deep, dark reason? Perhaps I simply enjoy corrupting young minds. The benefits package is excellent, and the hunting grounds fertile."
I roll my eyes. "Cut the bullshit, Soren. I've seen you with your guard down, remember? There's more to you than the horny demon professor act."
He's silent for so long I think he might not answer. His fingers drum on the table, and his gaze is distant.
"Protection," he says.
"From what?"
“Demon hunters, dark magic practitioners, humans who've discovered what we are and want to destroy us. Or worse, bind us to their will."
"Like what the covens did to me," I say softly.
"Similar, but cruder. Before I came to Serpentine, I spent decades on the run. Never staying in one place for more than a few months. Never letting down my guard. Always looking over my shoulder for the next hunter."
I try to imagine Soren—confident, seductive Soren—running scared, and the image doesn't compute. "But you're so powerful," I say. "I've seen what you can do."
"Power doesn't matter when they come at you ten to one, with binding spells specifically designed to trap your kind. The academy's walls don't just keep students in, Rose. They keep hunters out."
Understanding dawns. "The wards."
Soren nods. "Some of the strongest magical protections there are. No one gets in without permission. As long as I'm employed here, I'm safe."
"So that's why you've stayed through all the changes of power. Because leaving would mean..."
"Becoming prey again." He says it simply, matter-of-factly. "I've been hunted. I've been caught. I've been... used. I don't intend to experience any of that again."
The honesty in his voice catches me off guard. This isn't the Soren I know, the seductive professor who flirts shamelessly and touches me like he can play my body like a violin. This is someone else. Someone with scars and fears and a past he's running from.
