Page 60 of Gothikana

‘Good.’ He gave her another kiss. ‘Now go up for dinner before your friends think you’re missing. I’ll arrange the call to your doctor tomorrow.’

Corvina sat up, her eyes going to the prominent bulge under his zipper. He shook his head. ‘We don’t have time. Go.’

Nodding, a sudden burst of shyness overcoming her, she looked down at the floor and hopped down from the piano, rushing to her bag and the book, straightening herself up as much as she could. She felt his hand grip her braid, wrapping it around his fist as he turned her head, swooping down for a hard kiss.

‘Don’t think about me with that boy at your side,’ he told her, his eyes fierce. ‘The call of these’ — he twisted one nipple between his fingers — ‘is just for me. I’d hate to hurt him.’

Corvina tilted her head back in surprise at the danger emanating from him. ‘You wouldn’t actually, right? Hurt anyone?’

Vad pulled away at her question, donning the mask of Mr Deverell he wore in public. He gripped her chin between his fingers with his other hand and pressed a kiss to her nose piercing.

‘You’ll never know, little crow,’ his voice caressed her. ‘Now, go.’

He freed her, and Corvina went to the stairs, climbing them on shaking legs. She glanced back one last time at the man who knew everything about her even as she knew not one thing about him, the imbalance of their power suddenly making her feel like the entire episode had been less an act of affection and more a deal she’d just made with the devil.

CHAPTER 17

Corvina

The next morning, Verenmore was buzzing with the arrival of Troy’s brother.

Corvina looked around the Main Hall at breakfast, amazed by how quickly the human mind could shift gears from grief about an acquaintance’s death to excitement about a stranger’s arrival.

‘But he’s not just any stranger,’ Erica told her conspiratorially, cupping her mug of coffee with both hands. ‘He’s one of Verenmore’s alumni. He graduated and joined the International Investigation Squad.’

Ethan played with the noodles on his plate, his jaw tight. ‘Troy told me he’d wanted to come to Verenmore to be like his brother. Make him proud. He idolisedhim.’

Fuck.

For some reason, that hurt even more. Corvina glanced at Jade who just stared out the window, barely touching the food on her plate. She extended the apple she’d brought for herself to her roommate, giving her a soft smile. ‘Starving yourself will only make it worse.’

Jade sighed and took the apple. ‘I know. I just… it feels so empty without him here. Like a chunk is missing.’

It was. Troy had had a unique, bright energy to him that had lit up the whole group. Corvina, who usually didn’t like many people, had really, really liked him. She missed him and the way he’d been with her.

Turning her face away, she blinked in surprise as Mr Deverell made his way toward her table, a serious, intent look on his face. Her knees started to get jittery, her heart pounding as she looked around to see everyone quieten, watching him with curious, surprised faces.

He stopped behind Jade’s chair, his magnetic eyes on her, and took a folded piece of paper out of his pocket. ‘Your request to make a call has been approved, Miss Clemm,’ he informed her, extending the paper to her. ‘Please give this to your person of contact in the admin office. They’ll guide you further.’

Corvina wiped her palm on her skirt and took the paper. ‘Thank you, Mr Deverell.’

He gave her and the table a curt nod, then departed.

‘What was that?’ Jade demanded, her eyes wide.

‘I need to call someone, and the office told me I needed someone from the faculty to approve.’

‘But Mr Deverell?’

‘He just overheard me in the office.’ The lie rolled off her tongue smoothly. Jade frowned but leaned back in her chair.

‘He just unsettles me,’ she told the table. Yeah, he unsettled her, too.

Done with her food, Corvina stood up and swung her bag over her shoulder, gripping the paper in her fingers. ‘I’ll go make the call. See you guys later.’

They all waved her goodbye as she hurried out of the building into the misty morning. The fog had thickened so much she could only make out the shape of the admin wing ahead of her, the smoky arms wrapping around her, alienating her from everything but them.

There was something about that moment, that place that hit her like déjà vu. Standing in the middle of the garden like that, Corvina could almost believe she had been there before, could almost believe she was in another time long past, with the same castle walls looming ahead, absorbing secrets never to tell with each tick of the clock.