Page 25 of Laid Bare

“There’s one more thing.” Jasper laces his fingers together, placing them on the pristine surface of his desk. “You will attend your Transmutation class. I know you’ve been skipping it—” I grit my teeth. “—and I’ve given you a pass for it. But that pass is over. If you continue to miss class, we’ll have to take disciplinary action.”

What the fuckity fuck? Disciplinary action? Is he for real?

“Am I clear, Miss Matthews?” Jasper raises an unimpressed brow at my silence.

“Crystal,” I huff, shaking my head. I’m so over this bullshit. I just want to go home.

I spin on my heel, ignoring the three stares aimed my way, and exit the headmaster’s office. Two sets of footfalls echo in my wake, following closely behind me. Before we hit the stairwell, I stop and turn around, not missing the flash of pity in the two demons’ eyes.

“Can I see my schedule, please?”

Zane hands it over without preamble, giving me a moment to look over the changes.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

Portalling 102 - 9:00 am - 10:25 am - Room 160

Rune Practice - 10:35 am - 12:00 pm - Containment room 1

History of Paranormals - 1:00 pm - 2:25pm - Room 213

Transmutation - 2:35 pm - 4:00 pm - West field

Tuesdays & Thursdays

Combat - 9:00 am - 10:25 am - Gymnasium

Latin 101 - 10:35 am - 12:00 pm - Room 204

Basic Elements - 1:00 pm - 2:25 pm - Room 100

Rune Practice - 2:35 pm - 4:00 pm - Containment room 1

Gods. This is a mess. I wanted to stay away from Thaddeus so he could fix things with Miss Izzicle. Now I’m stuck seeing him every day of the week except for weekends. Even with him living on the same floor as me, I never spent this much time with him in a given week, and that’s when things were okay between us.

Now? Not so much.

“Alright, let’s get this over with,” I mumble, stuffing my new schedule into my bag. The only class I’m even remotely excited about is History of Paranormals since it’s not taught by Thaddeus or Professor Asshole.

Eventually I’ll need to call Hudson by his actual title—he did protect me during the gala when everything went to shit—but that’s about as far as it’ll go. While he’s still claiming we’re mates, I just don’t feel it. Not after what he did. If that whole day where he hurt me hadn’t happened, yeah, there could have been something.

Possibly.

Not now though.

Not ever as far as I’m concerned.

It would take an act of the Gods to change my mind on that subject.

But I digress.

The demon brothers—or are they twins? I don’t know. Something I’ll have to ask eventually—follow behind me silently, not commenting on the clusterfuck of a meeting in Headmaster Stonewell’s office.

There’s so much to be pissed off about, but all I can do is focus on the hallways and hope a student doesn’t pop up out of nowhere. It’s the middle of first period, so everyone should be in their respective classes. I won’t deny though that I feel a little bit safer having these guys at my back.

Let’s just hope they don’t stab me in it when I’m not looking.

The door to Thaddeus’ classroom looms in the distance, making my heart race. What’s class going to be like now? Not only have I been moved up to a more advanced version, but there will be new students that I might not have interacted with. There’s also the matter that I’m the reason his girlfriend has been banished back to Faerie.

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