Page 4 of Obsession

A muscle ticked in Tivek’s jaw. “I believe I can give you unique insight into how the warrior thinks. I can tell you what he would do in almost any situation.”

I couldn’t hold back the snort of laughter. The adjunct was clearly delusional if he thought serving the academy master had given him insight into the mind of an Inferno Force warrior. “How could you do that?”

“He is my brother.”

Chapter

Three

Britta

Iturned slowly, preparing myself to face Kann. I also tried to summon the courage to tell him that he didn’t have to do what he’d promised. He didn’t have to teach me how to flirt with Zav.

But it wasn’t Kann walking toward me. It was Zav.

I almost tripped over my own feet as the tall Taori approached me. Even though he was an engineer like me, he looked like no engineer I’d ever seen. With stubbly cheeks, a braid of dark hair hanging down one side of his head, and a dagger-shaped pendant dangling from a cord around his neck, he looked like he belonged to a biker gang. The low-slung leather pants and open-neck shirt didn’t help. At least he was wearing a shirt now. None of the Taori had worn shirts when they’d arrived at the academy, and I hadn’t been the only woman who’d found their inked muscles to be a major distraction.

Zav caught me by the elbow as I stumbled to one side. “Did I startle you?”

“No.” I shook my head vigorously, even as my cheeks blazed with heat. “I didn’t expect to see you here, though.”

He cocked his head to one side. “No? This is where I’ve worked a good deal of the time I have been at this school. You have been with me much of that time.”

I bit back a groan. Of course, he was right. But how did I tell him that I got flustered every time I saw him, even after all the times we’d worked together? I couldn’t exactly tell him that his very presence intimidated me, or that, as a human, I was still getting used to a species with tails and horns.

“I meant that I’m surprised to see you braving the first day of the new term.” I swept my gaze to the cadets walking briskly past us on the way to classrooms.

He twitched one shoulder. “Where else would I be?”

In your quarters enjoying a few more hours of sleep, I thought. That’s where I’d be if I didn’t have to make my second-year engineering class. Or maybe I’d be lingering over a hot cup of coffee, if the Drexians knew the first thing about coffee. But they didn’t, so I wasn’t. Besides, I never missed a class.

“I wanted to speak with you about the modifications we’ve been working on to protect Drex from the Sythian swarm and any other threat.”

My breathing had steadied, and I was able to nod agreeably. So that’s why he’d tracked me down so early. “Now?”

“Not now. There isn’t enough time before classes begin.”

I was impressed he knew so much about the class schedule. Then again, it was a very engineering thing to do.

He started walking with me down the corridor, our steps quickly synchronized. Talking about work made it easier for me to act somewhat normal. It also made it easier to remind myself that Zav didn’t see me as anything but the Iron who’d been assigned to help him. And that was fine. Really. I was used tobeing the smart one, the capable one, the one guys came to for help with broken gear, but never for dates.

It didn’t matter how much progress women made; men never seemed to be able to handle dating someone smarter than them. And I’d been smarter than just about every guy who’d ever asked me out. That meant I either had to play dumb, which I refused to do anymore, or accept the fact that there would almost never be a second date.

To the Taori’s credit, he hadn’t shown any signs of being intimidated by my intelligence. That was probably because he was also a genius. But despite showing no signs of being threatened by my brains, he also hadn’t made any moves in the entire time we’d worked together.

It hadn’t helped that I’d been tongue-tied and awkward as hell, but that shouldn’t have stopped him if he was interested. Besides, weren’t the Taori supposed to be obvious when they were attracted to someone? But I’d heard not even a hint of a growl from Zav.

Because he isn’t into you.

I pushed aside the bitchy voice in my head as we got closer to my classroom, and I paused in front of the wide, double doors. “I’m happy to put in some hours after classes.”

“I am glad to hear it.” Zav gave me a quick nod. “We should talk more after class.”

Then he spun on one heel and strode from me—and straight into the classroom. I remained on the threshold, utterly confused by Zav. Was he going to wait inside the classroom for me to finish? Was he planning to observe the class?

It wasn’t the craziest thought, but Taori technology was even more advanced than Drexian, so I wasn’t sure what he thought he could learn. But he’d been more than gracious with me, and eager to solicit my ideas for the technology we were tweaking.A true scientist could always find a kernel of inspiration, I reminded myself.

Hitching my bag higher on my shoulder, I strode into the engineering classroom and froze. My heart stuttered in my chest as I spotted Zav. He wasn’t sitting in the back row or even saving me a seat further up in the stadium style seats. Zav stood at the transparent lectern, his silvery horns catching the light as he studied the arriving cadets.

---