Page 52 of Caelum

“Why would the others try to stop Dre from going? Isn’t that mean?”

“Haven’t you figured out that they’re mean anyway?” Stefan retorted, his muscles bunching as he folded his arms across his chest.

“I suppose.” What Samuel had told me hadn’t been nice, but Reed hadbeen kind enough when he’d explained why my favorite suit of armor in the whole Academy had horns.

“No ‘suppose’ about it.” That came complete with air quotes. “We’re not just jackasses, Eve. We get along with most people in school, but those three are pretentious, self-righteous assholes.”

“Why?” I wouldn’t take his word for it. Not when his words were merely an opinion and not fact.

“Because they are. They treat everyone like they’re lesser.”

“Why?” I repeated, ignoring their disgruntled huffs.

“Most of us are poor. I’m not sure why that is. But we are. You speak to anyone here, and they’ll have a nasty backstory. It’s just how we roll. Eren was beaten every day by his brother-in-law until he was recruited, and Nestor was thrown out of his house when he was eleven, and he only survived because a priest took him in. I was orphaned when I was young and lived in an orphanage where I was beaten and used like a workhorse.” Stefan’s tone held no hints of sadness. It was like they’d long since come to terms with their pasts, and they could no longer affect them.

From what he was saying, I was glad about that. It meant that, at some point, I’d forget about my time in the New Order.

“Those three aren’t like that?”

“No. Their families were either middle class or well-to-do,” Nestor reasoned, hunching his shoulders so he could shove his hands in his pockets. I tried not to notice what that did to the muscles on his chest.

I’d never been around men before when they were semi-naked, and these past few weeks I’d seen more male bodies than I’d eaten hot dinners.

Where my chest was soft, my breasts full and round, theirs were taut and hard. Some days, usually when the Succubus was in control, I wanted to squeeze their muscles. Prod my finger into one of the thick ridges to see how firm they were?—

“Eve?” Nestor tapped my chin, making me blink when I realized he was aware of where I’d been staring.

I cleared my throat. “Sorry. I’m listening.” Spying the amusement on their faces,again, grr, I ducked my head to avoid their gazes.

“Because their families weren’t scum like ours were, they’ve got an attitude. They like to lord it over us,” Stefan explained.

“They want us to feel bad for not having as much as they had, even though they’re here too, where we’re all equal, and where our past bears no reflection on our future?”

The three of them snickered. “Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.”

Confused, I turned back and saw Reed and Samuel hustled together,arguing over something next to one of the now-empty boxing rings. Reed must have sensed my gaze because his eyes darted over to mine, seeming to pin me in place for endless, heart-numbing seconds that made me wonder if my lungs had stopped working.

When his mouth curved into a smile, I finally pulled back, staring at the floor rather than at him.

More perplexed than ever, I rubbed a hand over my face. Feeling the sweat drying on my skin from the heat inside me that came from the soul that had launched me at Samuel, I mumbled, “I need to shower.”

I didn’t wait for the guys to say anything. What was there to say?

I’d just started a fight, had learned that the men here weren’t interested in faithfulness and that Reed’s smile was just as beautiful as Stefan’s.

Unsurprisingly, it was the last point that scared me enough to have me scurrying away to my room.

FOURTEEN

DRE

When I stared at Stefan’s back, not for the first time, I wanted to shake my head at the sight.

It seemed too incredible to believe.

Mates at our age were pretty much unheard of. But to find them through the simple touch of hands? Impossible.

The mark didn’t lie, though, and I saw it every time we hung out in his room and messed around on his PS4. He never wore a shirt in here, and I knew why too—the mark was red-hot. I’d touched it accidentally the first time he’d shown it to me, and both of us had yelped. It was a burn that hadn’t healed in some ways, except there was no infection. No leaking flesh or pus. Just red, raw skin that was waiting on the Claiming to calm it down.

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