Page 55 of Black Onyx
His face is pulling all the right expressions, but none of them are sincere, every single one of them is fake, and I’m even more convinced that he had something to do with it.
“Thank you for the rundown. Since it was more challenging than we thought it was going to be, feel free to take the afternoon off to rest. I’ll expect the written reports on my desk in the next three days.” He says dismissively, and we waste absolutely no time getting out of there.
The hallways are full of students going about their day, and so we stay silent until we get up to our room.
“Storm, let's go,” Killian says as soon as we’re in the room, already gathering his shadows around him as his tail moves excitedly behind him.
“Where are you two going?” Reaper asks suspiciously, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyes them.
“There was a kid that went into the office immediately after us. I know for a fact that he wouldn’t have anything to do with whatever the Headmaster is up to, and I also know that there is very little chance that he is working alone. He looked pissed off enough that the first opportunity he gets, he will contact whoever he’s working with, so we need to get back down there quickly.” Killian explains almost impatiently.
“Stay safe and no murder,” I reply with a warning, and the others start to smile until they realise I’m serious, and then they start to look a little bit nervous.
“Please don’t murder the Headmaster. I’m assuming that will complicate things.” Rival’s dry tone makes me giggle.
“I’ll make sure he doesn’t.” Storm says, cloaking himself in his own shadows.
“That’s hardly reassuring.” Loki grins sarcastically.
Both of the brothers ignore him entirely, and I watch as they both disappear, becoming a part of the shadows. The way they use them is completely different. I know that Killian can move through the shadows to different locations, whereas Storm doesn’t seem to be able to. Instead, he cloaks himself in them and moves like that, but Storm’s shadows can take on their own personalities, whereas Killian’s can’t. It fascinates me.
“I’m going to clean up, guys,” I tell the room and they all nod and go to do the same.
Once I’m in the shower, I marvel over the fact that I not only get a shower, but I also get a hot one; there was only a brief moment in time that I got to experience hot showers. My thoughts start to drift away from that period in time, and back to Mayhem’s words from earlier play through in my mind. He said I belonged, and that’s probably the nicest thing that anyone could ever have said to me and what’s even more astonishing is that I actually feel like I belong too. Storm and I may have our differences, but I instinctively know he’d have my back in a fight. Regardless of whether he likes me and I’d do the same.
The fact that my getting hurt had such a profound effect on Reaper is almost unfathomable. Usually, people take great joy in hurting me, so having him so affected is an entirely new experience for me. I’m not going to let him distance himself from me though, I don’t think I can, and I’m hoping that my words earlier had some sort of effect, and he won’t still try to avoid me.
Poca still hasn’t made an appearance, but I’m not getting concerned enough yet to try and summon him. I’ll give it a few more days before I get to the point where I’m worried enough to do that.
Feeling a thousand times better, I pull on the joggers someone left me and a tank top and make my way back out to the front room. Loki’s dressed similar to me in lounge clothes and is watching some fae comedy show that I’ve never seen before, and Rival is in the kitchen, making something. The others must be in their rooms still, taking advantage of the afternoon off.
I make a beeline for the kitchen and, more importantly, the coffee. Rival smiles at me but focuses back on his food, leaving me to it, which I’m grateful for because I’m feeling adventurous and want to try something different with my coffee. As I start the coffee, I open the cupboard to get out a mug and notice several bottles of flavoured syrups.
“Are these for the coffee?” I ask Rival.
“Yeah, you’re welcome to try some. Only put a small amount in, or it’ll overpower the coffee and won’t taste great.”
“Thanks,” I reply as I start to sift through the bottles to find a flavour I like.
After choosing caramel and hoping that I’ve made it right, I take my coffee over to the seating area and settle down next to Loki.
“Hey, Love, have a nice shower?”
“Yeah, it’s still novel to have hot water and be able to shower whenever I want; I got used to not having that privilege again,” I reply without thinking, my focus on the TV and sipping my drink which is delicious.
“What?” Rival barks.
I turn my head to see him standing behind the couch, looking incredulous, while Loki sits in front of him, staring at me in horror.
“What’s wrong?”
“You weren’t allowed to shower?”
“Or have hot water?”
I sigh; that one is on me for answering when I’m distracted and because I’m starting to feel so comfortable around them. “No, not when I was with my father. Not unless I needed to play the good little daughter and be paraded around for father’s dignitaries. Then it was a cold one. I showered when I could at other times,” I just about manage to stop myself from saying when I was on jobs, “to be honest, I could’ve showered more often, but it wasn’t necessarily that safe.”
If I explained that I had to wait until a specific guard was on duty, one that I knew wouldn’t look or try to touch; I have a feeling that their looks of anger would turn murderous.
