Page 108 of Caelum

A snort sounded from behind him. “Thought ‘show and tell’ left the curriculum back in second grade.” Dre appeared like a dust bunny on an otherwise freshly swept and mopped floor. There was a mocking sneer to his mouth as he murmured, “And here I was thinking you were so innocent, Eve.”

“Fuck off, Alexandre,” Frazer ground out. His hand droppedto his side, but he held it wide and I knew, though I didn’t really understand why, that he wanted me to take it.

After last night, I knew I shouldn’t. He’d embarrassed me,on purpose, and hadn’t apologized yet. A part of me wanted to ball my hand into a fist and punch him in the throat. Who had taught him that it was okay to treat people that way? Maybe they deserved a punch to the throat too!

In the ranking of these things, I thought his behavior made him more of a jerk than a bastard, but Eren wasn’t there to confirm or deny that so I settled on jerk. Mostly because he’d looked seriously pained as he talked to me. Nestor might be the one with half his throat missing—a thought that made my stomach churn—but Frazer looked like he was in just as much agony.

“She’s part of my Pack,” Dre retorted, surprising me with the declaration. “What the fuck do you want with her?”

“I’m not,” I retorted. “There is no Pack. Eren and Stefan said they only form once you hit twenty.”

“Which you aren’t. Not yet, anyway.” Frazer sneered back at Dre who narrowed his eyes in irritation.

“What do you want with her?”

“That’s none of your business.” He tugged on my hand. “Come on, Eve. This won’t take long.”

“Music to make any woman melt,” Dre countered, and I thought Frazer’s head might just explode from the way the vein in his temple began to pulse—just like my father’s.

“Dre, don’t push me.”

“I’m not leaving you alone with her,” was all Dre said.

I frowned at him. “Since when do you care what I do or don’t do?”

“Since Stefan isn’t around to watch over you.” His lip curled, and I could sense his disapproval. I just didn’t know why.

They chose not to be friends with Frazer and Reed, and until last night, both of them had been rather polite to me.

Did Dre know something I didn’t?

I didn’t like him, but Stefan and Eren trusted him. I’d had a handful of meaningful conversations with Frazer and Reed but had hundreds with my friends.

Gnawing on my bottom lip, I realized I was being too trusting. I wasn’t sure why when I was actually very distrustful. After a lifetime of being uneasy around most people, I had more walls than Caelum did. And Caelum’s defenses were easier to breach than mine.

But Frazer and Reed? They’d been some of the few people here to speak with me. That they’d tried at all made me want to go easier on them.

Pathetic, perhaps, but friends weren’t easy to come by here. As yesterday had proven with that boy from the common room and the way everyone in there had tittered and laughed their heads off as I planted face-first in the ground.

Still, Dre appeared to be watching out for me. The reason why had yet to be determined, so I worked my hand loose of Frazer’s grip. “Whatever you need to tell me, Frazer, you can say in front of Dre. He may act like a jerk but…”

But what?

When Dre glowered at me, I just shrugged. “You’ve yet to show me a kinder side, but I know the others trust you.”

Frazer snorted, and my words seemed to have calmed his temper some. He cut us both a look, then said softly, “This has to be private.”

I could tell Dre was surprised, but he shrugged, his eyes narrowing on Frazer’s hand which had clasped mine again, as he tugged me down the corridor.

“There’s a bathroom at the end of the hall,” he stated quietly, and though I shot Dre a look, he returned it with a grunt.

Irritated, I untangled my hand from Frazer’s and folded my arms across my chest the second the three of us were tucked into the small bathroom.

When Frazer locked the door, Dre cocked a brow and demanded, “This had better be good.”

Frazer ignored him. “The rest of the Academy can’t know about this, Eve. Do you understand me?”

“Know about what?”

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