Page 33 of Demon Found

“There you are.” The grating voice of a second person startles me, and a square-faced barrel of a guy steps out from behind a rock into Zephyr’s path. “I don’t like being kept waiting. It’s risky. Here’s what you asked for.”

“Let me see,” Zephyr says, his silky tones floating on the air. He reaches out and pokes his finger into the bag the man is holding before sniffing it. “Very good. More next time?” He slips a wad of notes into the guy’s back pocket, squeezing his butt as he does so.

“My ass is not part of the deal, Zephyr.” The guy growls, shifting away. “Our source for SupeZ is secure. Just don’t get caught because you’re too wankered to cover your tracks.”

They turn and start to walk toward me.Shit, shit, shit.

On tiptoe, I slip farther into the woods. Why the fuck do I end up in situations like this? Something about the rough-voiced guy screams that he wouldn’t take kindly to being spied on. Flattening my body against a tree, I hold my breath.

Gradually the footsteps die away.

I double over at the waist and force my ragged breathing to slow.

This is not the streets of Venez, this is an academy. They wouldn’t have done anything if they’d seen me, except threaten me a little. Probably.

Why the fuck do I have to be linked to that idiot angel?

Chapter Seventeen: Lorelei

Chewingmylip,Ipace the length of our dorm room again, swinging round at the end and marching back. I’m not a grass, but . . . But I’m tied to a guy who’s doing his best to reach an early grave.

Pretty impressive for a freaking angel. They live a very, very long time, virtually forever unless someone kills them. Or they kill themselves. What happens to me if Zephyr dies? I don’t even know if he plans to keep all that SupeZ to himself.Shit.

“Will you just go to your guidance meeting already?” Naeve’s sleepy voice emerges from under a pile of blankets on her bed. She must have had stuff sent from home. That luxurious jumble of linens is not academy standard issue. “Seriously. You’ve been pacing for an hour. It’s Saturday, it’s early. Just go already, you obviously need to get something off your chest. And I’m sleeping.”

“Talking in your sleep?”

“Go away.”

I tug on my academy sweats and nudge the door shut behind me. Hell, I really need to work out how to get hold of clothes thataren’tuniform. Maybe I can get a job. The hada take care of most menial tasks, but there must be something people need. Something that’s not SupeZ. Or maybe Seth would lend me some money until the holiday. I could pick up a few jobs back in Venez to pay him back.

Despite leaving the dorm early, I’m already late by the time I find the office block. Why couldn’t Professor Maggo have our meeting in the lecture theater? At least then I’d know where I was going. Turning my pad upside down again, I peer at the map on-screen before the damn thing flips the image on me. It’sdefinitelythis corridor. Trailing down the row of doors, I read off each professor’s name before I finally find Maggo right at the end. I ball my fist to hammer on the solid oak door.

“Enter.”

I didn’t get achanceto knock, and he’s not even a vampire. Do griffins have super-strength hearing?

I poke my head around the door and take in the wood-lined office. It’s more like a personal study for a very hungry bookworm. There are books everywhere, from the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, to the tables and chairs littered with tomes, to stacks of paperbacks on the floor. Finally, my gaze lands on the professor, in his teaching robes, propped up in a leather chair. How many damn cushions does he need? I know he’s a short ass, but hellfire. He istiny. Noticing his fierce glare and impatient gesturing, I scramble into the hard plastic seat in front of him.

“Sorry I’m late. I got lost.”

“Yes, yes. We’ll add another ten minutes onto the end of your detention.” Maggo glares at me, and I give him the stink eye straight back. He could give me a break, I’m here on the weekend.

“So. We have some developments to discuss. Let me see your wrist.”

Bloody Naeve, she can’t keep anything quiet. Although, I was in his class, and I did run out in flames. He’d be a pretty shit tutor not to notice something happened. Reluctantly I move toward his desk and hold my arm out.

He snatches up my wrist and pulls out a giant magnifying glass, peering through it, tsking loudly. This guy has no damn social skills. He doesn’t even attempt eye contact, instead fumbling for a small pot on his desk. He flicks off the lid and extracts a pinch of a bright-pink powder. Before I can protest, he sprinkles it liberally over my arm and goes back to peering.

“Hmm. How interesting.” He finally looks up at me, eyes shining.

“So, it is there?” I sigh. “All three of them? Hairy shitballs.” I pull my hand away, rubbing at my pentagram and frowning.

“You don’t seem pleased, Miss Smith. Hundreds of powerful supes graduate from this very academy every year and yet can’t ascend because they don’t have even one allegiance bond. You seem to be rather petulant about having acquired several. In your first week.”

“I don’t play well with others, sir.”

Maggo simply raises an eyebrow in reply.

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