Page 105 of Forged in Blood

“The ground always moves for me when Ophelia comes.” Axl’s lips twitch in a cocky grin.

“Just another earthquake,” Malachi adds.

Are they really that clueless? The four of them stare at me blankly. I guess they are.

“Take a seat. All of you.” I nod toward the seats at the front of the class.

“I, uh, have to get to English,” Ophelia says, wincing.

“Yeah, and we have to?—”

“Sit. Now!” I cut off whatever Axl was about to say, and the four of them do as they are told and take a seat.

I step out from behind the podium, my stiff cock finally softening. Not that I care about hiding it from any of them. Ophelia’s eyes are immediately drawn to my groin area, and the flush on her cheeks deepens further.

“Eyes up here, Ophelia.”

Her dark eyelashes flutter against her cheeks as she whispers an apology.

I ignore the effect that has on my raging libido and allow my eyes to dart between the four of them. “Do you not think it odd that we have been having so many tremors these past few weeks? How they almost always coincide with you walking hormone-buckets having sex?”

Malachi blinks. “Are you… You think Ophelia is causing them?”

“I am not,” she says, her eyes wide with shock.

“Not purposely,” I admit. “But yes, I suspect she is. And when you fuckwits behave like you just did out in the open, sooner or later somebody is going to connect those dots.”

Ophelia’s eyebrows pinch together. “I don’t… What are you talking about? How the hell can I cause earthquakes?”

Malachi’s Adam’s apple bobs while Axl and Xavier exchange a look.

She scrunches up her nose, and it makes her pretty face look… I blow out a breath. My walls are never so close to breaking as when I am around her. I need to do better.

“Go. Leave her with me,” I tell the boys, jerking my head toward the door.

She blinks in confusion. “Wait. Why?”

“Bye, Cupcake.” Xavier gives her a gentle kiss on the head, and the others follow suit before leaving us alone.

I run my tongue over my teeth before sucking in a calming breath. It does not make me feel any less uneasy. Nor does it stop the torrent of guilt and bone-weary anguish from threatening to swallow me whole. She is still staring at me, her breath held in anticipation. Does she have any idea that I am about to irrevocably change the course of both our futures? It would be safer to speak through a bond, but I refuse to share one with her. That would put her at even greater risk. And the danger she already finds herself in all too often is why she needs to know who she is. It has become more perilous to leave her in the dark. But we cannot have that conversation here. We need a place we cannot be overheard by curious ears or magic.

“Come with me.” Her scurrying footsteps follow me out the classroom door.

“Where are we going?”

“You will see.”

She jogs to keep up with me as I leave the history building and stride across the quad. I hold open the door to Zeus Hall, then lead her down to the basement carved into the bedrock of the mountain. This part of the building is rarely used, especially at this time of the day. Still, I move swiftly. The fewer people who see us, the better. Whilst it is a rare occurrence, it is not the first time I have taken a student to the faculty library, and I already have an explanation about her keen interest in ancient Greek mythology ready if anyone should question me.

I come to a stop outside the twelve-foot solid bronze doors that were forged long before this college stood here.

Ophelia cranes her neck and studies the ornate images carved into the metal. “Wow! What is this place?”

I push open one of the doors, and cool air rushes out in a current. Her blue eyes widen with delight as the sight of the cavernous library unfolds before us. “Holy shit!” she breathes, then quickly covers her mouth and shoots me a worried glance, like I might scold her for cursing.

I usher her inside, and the door creaks to a close behind us, pulled back in place by its own weight.

“Is this like a secret library or something?” she whispers, her head swiveling left and right as she tries to take it all in.

---