Page 15 of Shattered Illusion

A pissed-off vampire and an equally pissed-off gargoyle both turn to me at the same time, pinning me with their blood-red and emerald-green stares.

“Show us,” Axel demands, without even saying please. Fucking Dracula asshole.

“No.” Screw that. I’m not getting freaking naked just so they can ogle the black marks decorating my body.

“Now, Bailey,” Axel grits out, his teeth clenched so damn hard, I swear I hear one of them crack.

Again. The bastard can’t even say please. I’d be much more hospitable to his requests if he wasn’t acting like such a dick right now. But hey, two can play at this game.

Jumping up from my chair, the guys barely have a chance to back up before I whip my charcoal hoodie and black t-shirt off in one go, standing before all three men in nothing but my sports bra, joggers, and Vans.

A few crass swear words echo around the office from the three of them, but it’s Axel that just has to open his damn mouth. “Jesus, Bailey, you just had to show us your arm. Put your clothes back on.” Axel might be telling me to put them on, but there’s no denying the heat simmering in his red gaze.

Just to be a brat, I raise a brow and spin in a circle, holding my arms out. When I make it back to face the three men again, I drop my hoodie on the chair and tuck my thumbs in the waistband of my joggers. “Is that enough, or do you want me to drop trou too?”

“Alright, everyone needs to chill. It’s okay, Bailey. We’ve seen more than enough, and we’ll figure it out. How about I walk you to your dorm room so you can relax for the rest of the night? I’ll get your glamour set up, answer any other questions you have, and then we’ll figure out where to start tomorrow.”

“That sounds fabulous.” Snatching up my hoodie and shirt, I slip past the guys, throwing my top back on and making sure my hair is hidden once more. I start toward the door, ready to get away from their prying eyes, even though I have no idea where I’m going.

“Wait, you’ll need this.” Jasper’s deep rumble stops me before I can grab the handle and leave. Glancing over my shoulder, Thaddeus snags a folder from Jasper and then follows behind me.

“I’ll see you later,cor meum. If you need anything, you have my number.” The vampire winks at me before turning to hold a quiet conversation with Jasper. Asshole. See if I need anything from him any time soon after demanding me to take my freaking clothes off.

The door clicks shut behind us, and Thaddeus jogs to catch up with me in the hall before passing the folder over to me. I flip it open to see what all it contains. There’s another copy of my schedule tucked inside, along with an ornate brass key taped to a room assignment page.

Bailey Matthews/Foss Room 580 East Faculty Wing

What the ever-loving fuck?

Why the hell am I rooming with the damn professors?!

Nah.This isn’t going to work for me. I’m already a freak, with my bubblegum eyes, white hair, and body full of tattoos. Not that they’ll see it, but I don’t need the other students finding out I’m rooming with the professors and heckle me for it. That’s something I doubt will stay secret for long. It’s not like I can ask them to put a glamour on that.

My arm shoots out as I halt in my tracks. Thaddeus must not be paying attention as he plows into my outstretched limb, sending us both almost toppling to the floor. He catches me effortlessly and rights us both before turning wide eyes on me.

“What’s wrong?”

“This.” I snatch the fallen folder from the floor and shove it into his hands before flipping it open and poking my finger right on my dorm room assignment. “The faculty wing? What the fuck is this shit, Thaddy!”

He chuckles before closing the folder and tucking it under his arm. “I had a feeling you’d react like that. But you need to understand that all the student rooms are shared dorms. Thereare no singles, so we need to put you in an apartment in the faculty wing. Plus, it’s the safest place for you. Jasper and I both reside in that wing, on the same floor, so if there are any issues, we are right there to take care of them.”

I sputter, trying to come up with some type of rebuttal, but there is none. He’s right. Putting me near the two who know what I am is the safest place for me, but it doesn’t change the fact that I can kiss any chance at friendship goodbye. How the hell would I explainthisto someone?

“Fine,” I mutter, sounding suspiciously like a petulant child. I’m two seconds away from stomping my foot, but think better of it.

Thaddeus continues through the hall, not looking back to make sure I’m following, but dammit. I do follow because I have no freaking clue where I am.

Since no words are being spoken, I use the chance to look around. Not that there’s much to see. It’s a hallway like you’d see in a freaking castle. Dark wood covers the walls with gilded frames here and there, depicting different supernaturals, battles, and more all captured as a moment in time with oil paints. I don’t know what half of them are, but I’m sure that’ll be something I learn in my history class. Not that I’m looking forward to it. I thought I was done with schooling, but surprise, I guess not.

Instead of continuing to look at the boring walls, I turn my attention to the man now climbing a circular staircase at the end of the hall. I quicken my pace to catch up so I’m right behind him, and damn. What a view I have. He’s definitely on the tall and skinny side—a frame somewhat like Axel’s—with one hell of an ass in the dark wash jeans he’s wearing. A navy button-up shirt is tucked into said jeans with the sleeves rolled up, showing off pale blue forearms and a darker-hued maze of veins underneath his flesh. His white hair is left loose around hisshoulders instead of pulled back and secure. Even with his hair styled as it is, I can still see where his ears start tapering off, ending in pointed tips. The blue of his skin sticks out like a sore thumb—or ear in this case—against the white of his mane.

I wonder if those things are sensitive. One would think they are, given they are so different in comparison to a human ear. But I definitely don’t have the lady balls to ask. Not just because he’s virtually a stranger, but it’s also a rude ass question. That would be like someone asking me if my nipples are sensitive. And even though the answer to that is a no-brainer, they’d earn a swift kick to the nuts for the audacity of even asking.

The circular metal staircase ends in another hallway, just like the one we were in previously. Same dark wooden walls, same wooden floors with a red runner down the middle, but the only thing that’s noticeably different is the absence of gilded portraits. In their place are sconces brightening up the place in between the doors lining each side of the hall. Which, notably, aren’t that close in proximity.

“These are the faculty apartments. There aren’t many of us per floor, which, I’ll admit, I like the extra space. I don’t feel like I’m not on top of my neighbor. When Jasper’s grandfather originally built the castle, these rooms were for dignitaries and other guests who came to visit. They’ve been updated since, but the structure of them is very much the same.”

Thaddeus stops in front of a door with a golden plaque off to the right, the numbers five-eight-zero glinting in the glow of the sconce above it. He removes the brass key from my folder and inserts it into the lock, the click of the lock giving away like a gunshot in the silence of the hall. Then he pushes the door open and holds his hand out with a flourish, waiting for me to go first.

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