Page 66 of Laid Bare

“Go ahead. It’s your word against mine.”

“Mmm, but will your brother corroborate with me or you? That is the million-dollar question.” I tap my chin, waggling my eyebrows.

“Why you…” Zane rushes for me, throwing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “We don’t want to be late. Let’s go.”

He leaves Luka and Axel to trail behind us with Bane taking up the rear of our group. I share wide eyes with mates through the break in his wings, wondering what the hell the demon thinks he’s doing.

“Wait. Where’s Aero? Bane pauses, looking back toward our dorm. But Zane doesn’t stop. He continues on, leaving me to yell down the hallway.

“He’s staying in the dorm today. I didn’t want to bring him since I don’t know what we’re doing.”

What no one knows, though, is that Aero is hiding underneath my hair, a spot he’s made his own since our trip to Councilman Cassian’s office. There’s no way he’d actually let me leave him at home, and I wouldn’t feel safe leaving him behind.

“Lucifer’s balls, Zane, put me down. I can walk, ya know.” I wiggle on his shoulder, hoping he’ll relent.

A deft slap to my ass stops me immediately. I gasp, jolting up and scrambling for something to hold on to. My hand connects with one of the horns on top of Zane’s head, and I grip it tightly, praying to the gods that I don’t fall.

Zane stumbles, and Bane stifles a laugh, but no one says anything. If only I knew now just how much me touching his horns affects him.

The hallways are blissfully empty, which is actually quite shocking for being a Saturday. But at least my mates don’t have to witness the crude remarks and whispers the other students throw at me.

Monday worries me, though. I know what they’re going to call me. And I don’t know if I’m ready for it.

Because it’s a given that they’re going to call me a murderer.

It’s just another false persona they plan to label me with. Just like whore, mistress, and homewrecker.

But I digress. I shouldn’t even be worrying about that right now. Monday is still two days off, and right now I have a surprise to figure out.

A shiny red SUV rests outside the doors to the academy, the vehicle extremely different from the matte black sports car Axel usually drives. It’s also larger than any SUV I’ve ever seen. But given the size of the demons playing my bodyguards, they’ll need room to be comfortable.

Zane pulls me off his shoulder, sliding me down each and every inch of his body until my feet are planted firmly on the asphalt. Then he steps away, leaving me wondering if he’s just as affected by that display as I am.

His gaze scans the horizon and the grounds around the academy. It’s the first time I’ve seen him do it, and it reminds me of the fact that he’s actually my bodyguard, and he’s doing what he’s been hired to do. Protect me.

Bane disappears around the other side of the vehicle, doing the same, if I have to guess.

“Alright, goddess.” Luka steps up to me, his large frame engulfing me in his shadow. “For this surprise, you need to be blindfolded.

Axel produces a black piece of fabric from the inner pocket of his suit jacket, dangling it in front of my face.

“Are you brave enough to let us surprise you,cor meum?

I raise my brows at the blindfold. This is starting to feel more and more like a kinky kind of surprise, given the greeting I got when they arrived.

Fuck it. You only live once, right?

* * *

The SUV slows to a stop, the motor idling as Bane and Zane’s conversation cuts off. We’ve been on the road for a while now, and I have no idea where the heck we are. My sense of direction isn’t the best in the first place, but the blindfold has made it completely impossible to gauge what direction we traveled in.

“Are you ready,cor meum?”

“As I’ll ever be, vampy.”

Luka chuckles, and there’s a scratch of clothing against the leather seats. I’m assuming they’re moving around or doing something. All I do truly know is that we haven’t driven any further.

“Go ahead, Bane.”

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