Page 55 of Caelum

Really?How many times did we have to tell her she wasn’t intruding before she fucking listened?

Nestor kicked my foot, jarring my bad leg. My knee complained and so did I—with a glower at him.

“Be nice,” he hissed at me under his breath, then to Eve said, “Ignore Dre, Eve. He’s just a bad-tempered son of a bitch.”

Her eyes widened at his words. “Nestor, is that really kind to malign Dre’s mother?”

Nestor snickered. “Dre’s the first to malign her.”

Eve frowned but didn’t comment on that. Instead, she shuffled over to Eren who was sitting at the bottom of Stefan’s bed. Nestor and I had taken over the sofa, and Stefan was at his desk.

When she went to Eren, Nestor and Stefan’s attentions returned to their books, while Eren sat up. The dynamic had me scowling.

What the fuck was happening here?

I didn’t carry on reading the boring crap the instructors wanted us to discuss on the theory of capturing and slaughtering Ghouls. That kind of shit wasn’t something you could learn in books but in combat. At least, that was what I believed, not that the teachers ever fucking listened.

Instead, I watched as Eve pushed back so she was at Eren’s side. The two of them were pressed together, their heads touching as she showed him something in her hand.

Nestor kicked me again. “Don’t watch them,” he whispered.

“Why?” I mouthed the word, not wanting him to kick my leg again—and the bastard would. Just so I wouldn’t offend Little Miss Priss over in the corner.

“She gets embarrassed.”

Great. I almost rolled my eyes. This was exactly what we needed. A woman whom we flustered.

I could just imagine the Ghouls stopping their attack because she was uncomfortable with their attention.

Christ.

Ducking my head so I appeared as though I were focusing on the book in my hand, I managed to peer over the top to investigate what they were doing.

When I saw that Eren was trying to show her how to use a cell phone, I felt like crying.

Useless was useful when it came down to describing this bitch, and fuck me, I was stuck with her.

She was going to be the death of us. I knew it like I knew my face in the goddamn mirror.

FIFTEEN

EVE

“I wish I were ready to fight and that my goddamn leg wasn’t so useless at the moment,” Dre mumbled as he stared at the rings.

I wasn’t sure why Reed had managed to knock him out for so long, but I knew that he was a lot weaker for it.

Though I was tempted to comfort him, I knew he hadn’t aimed the words at me but at Nestor, who clapped him on the back.

“Doesn’t matter, bro. Just get better in time for Aboh.”

“Easier said than done. Christ, we’re going to have two weak links.” Dre huffed. “Fuck knows what will happen.”

I frowned at him, and when he walked off in another snit—I swear, the guy had more moods than me—I asked Nestor, “You’re still going on this vacation to Aboh?”

His lips curved, but there was a light in his eyes that made me wonder what he was thinking about. “Yep.”

A short if not so sweet answer.