Page 40 of A Lesson in Obedience
“Of course it was,” I muttered.
“He quite literally mentioned how the witches and everything that troubled the students and school before has been rectified. The culprit has been identified, and the authorities are doing their job.” I could hear the disdain in his tone. It made his voice deeper than it was and it sent anodd shiver through my body. I focused back on him when he continued. “You should be getting one too. All the students will get one tomorrow about coming back. Probably with a lot of flowery language that puts people at ease or well, I should say it ismeantto put people at ease.”
“Students who don’t know a fucking thing.” I looked down, focusing on my shoes.
“We knew they were going to treat things like business as usual. Students will fall for it. And so will parents because they all believe this school has so much history and integrity. There isn’t much we can do about the masses. Worrying about everyone else makes you lose focus and?—”
“We need to have control of the situation. I know Asher.” I placed my hands on my hips and my cropped shirt rode up just a little, revealing a sliver of my skin. His eyes darted to the exposed area and he cleared his throat when we heard the sound of a door closing.
He cast a glance over my shoulder, and I followed his eyes. River walked up to us, rubbing his hands together. “I’m going to feed Beau and Gray—,” he stopped himself mid-sentence.
I cocked my head to the side. “You can say his name in a normal conversation, River.”
He nodded toward the guest room and then looked at his brother. “Grayson needs to go to the dorms to get stuff, so are you good with taking him?”
Asher looked at his brother, dumbfounded. He sat his coffee down with more force than necessary. “No, especially since this is the first time I’m being told I’m playing chauffeur.”
I looked between them. “Why can’t he just shadow in there and grab things, then shadow back out? The school doesn’t prevent the use of magic on campus, it just prohibits it when it comes to students, give or take some exceptions so…”
“Riley, it’s just not—” Asher started but I turned my head sharply to look at him.
“What? Trust, right?” I made sure my words hit him directly andhe rolled his eyes, so they were looking at the ceiling. “If Grayson really means to be on our side, then let him off your proverbial leash.” He watched my mouth when I spoke, his eyes narrowed as he leaned against the kitchen counter.
He ran his index finger over his bottom lip. “Maybe someone actually listened to me last night.” He pushed away from the counter, grabbing his coffee and walking past us to the living room. “Fine, he can go, but I’m clocking him the minute he shadows out of here. I’m not bailing him out if he gets caught by university police for using magic.”
River’s top teeth bit into his lower lip like he wanted to laugh but he held it back. I followed him further into the kitchen, silently watching him get Beau’s dog bowl prepared. “Are you all ready to go?”
“Go?” I asked, pushing my braids over my shoulder, watching Beau scurry over to his food bowl when River sat it down.
“Your mom’s.”
I instinctively grabbed my necklace, knowing that even though it didn’t hold my magic hostage anymore, it still brought me some kind of comfort like it used to. “Oh, right. Yeah, let’s go. You stay in the car, remember?”
River nodded dutifully. “Of course, whatever makes you happy.” He ruffled his hair before coming over to me and lightly held the jewel of my necklace between his fingers. He was giving it the same look that he’d had upstairs. “Didn’t this get destroyed?”
“Um, it did.”
He let it fall back against my chest. “O-kay, so how is it here now?” He raised his eyebrows playfully, letting me know that this wasn’t an interrogation.
I hadn’t really thought this through, and I wasn’t the absolute best at thinking on my feet. Footsteps came from behind me and Asher ran into my shoulder as he passed by, placing his coffee mug in the sink. He was literally just washing the fucking mug and Icould tell he was watching me. I flicked my gaze back to River who was also looking at his brother.
He had an amused smile on his face. River was so unassuming that it amazed me how observant he was.
“You know what, gorgeous? I don’t need to know. Between you and me, we can assume the giver of such a caring gift can remain…” He threw his voice so Asher would definitely hear him, “anonymous.”
The dishwasher rattled when Asher slammed it shut. “Shouldn’t you two be going now?”
River rolled his eyes, leaning down to kiss my cheek and went to grab the car keys. “Watch the dog, Asher. We’ll be back.”
Asher waved him off, giving Beau a disinterested look as my familiar munched on his food. Beau said goodbye to me in my head, much too interested in breakfast. I followed River out the front door, realizing I’d forgotten my phone inside.
“I’ll be right back,” I informed him, pointing over my shoulder to the house.
I pulled open the front door, not paying attention when I ran into a chest and heard a sharp breath. My eyes widened when I stepped back and saw Grayson in front of me. My mouth was suddenly dry and I felt a pit in my stomach. I had assumed I would feel disgust or anger when I saw him. All I felt was hurt. It was like everything I had thought I would feel was consumed byhurt.
Disgusting hurt.
Angry hurt.
