Page 30 of Runaway Queen

I froze in the position, on my hands and knees. My palms were burning. I felt terrified and ridiculous at the same time.

What if it was really him?

Would I run from Nikolai when I was the guilty one this time?

No, I wouldn’t. I didn’t want to.

I twisted around before I could question the sanity of it.

My butt hit the floor, and my gaze searched the path behind me.

There was no one there.

I stared at the green-black shadows between the trees. Was someone there, watching me right now? Or was it just the ghost in my head, tormenting me? Nothing moved, and slowly, my heart rate dropped back to the range of normal.

When I finally found my phone, dusted myself off, and walked out into the woods, I smacked right into a hard chest, nearly falling.

Powerful arms gripped me and kept me upright.

“Miss Rossi? Are you okay?” voices asked me.

I spun around and got my bearings. The Ice Gods stood on the trail before the wood. They were looking down at me with a variety of confusion, some concern, and a little annoyance.

“I’m fine. I just thought there was someone in the woods.”

Cayden West looked up at the dark tree line. “Who?”

“I don’t know, I ran… he nearly caught up with me, though,” I said, taking a deep breath. As much as I might feel uncomfortable about the Ice Gods, I felt safer now, standing with them. They might be assholes, but they were strong, and tough.

Cayden narrowed his eyes at me and then jerked his head to his teammate, Marcus. “Take Miss Rossi back to school, we’ll have a look.”

“No, it’s okay,” I found myself saying as three of the four headed into the trees.

“Don’t worry about us, teach. Worry about the creep in the woods, if we find him,” Beckett, the only Ice God with the same imposing stature as Cayden, called confidently to me, just before the two of them disappeared into the shadows along with Ice God number three, Ashton.

“Come on, Miss Rossi, let’s get back to school grounds. You know we’re not meant to come out here during lunch, right?” Marcus teased me.

I fell into step beside him.

“That’s for students,” I reminded him. Shouldn’t I report what had just happened? I’d just let three eighteen-year-olds race after a possible assailant. I said as much to Marcus.

“Naw, don’t worry about it. What would you even say? ‘I think, but I’m not sure, that someone I didn’t see was chasing me in the woods.’ If you say anything, we’ll just get in trouble for going off grounds at lunch, and with the big game coming up, we can’t really afford detention right now.”

“Like you’d get detention. You four can do anything you want, and you know it,” I muttered, concentrating on getting to the gates.

He was right, however. The boys would get in trouble for being out, and the mystery figure would be long gone. If he’d even been there in the first place.

“Can I get that in writing, teach?” Marcus grinned at me.

“I’m ignoring that and going inside. Thanks for the escort.”

“Anytime, Miss Rossi, and I mean that sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, any time you need a big strong protector, you call me,” Marcus said and raised a rakish eyebrow at me.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think this eighteen-year-old jock was flirting with me.

I left him at the gates and headed back upstairs to the art room and my office.

As soon as I stepped inside, I felt the shift in the air.

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