Page 85 of Gemini Queen
Yet, somehow, the news manages to arrive as an unwelcome shock.
“You must inform me immediately if Master Zerxes gives you any difficulty, Ms. Gemini,” I say quietly. “I’m your headmaster, which gives me some authority to intervene if he ventures beyond the pale.”
“Good to know, but I’m handling him. You can believe I was a hard no on the whole Janus Dance.” She seems eager to put the thought of Bucephalus Zerxes behind her, an impulse for which I can scarcely blame her. A gust of wind makes her huddle into her coat. “Fuck, that wind’s biting. Why are we up here, Lucius?”
“Master Aries,” I remind her lightly, scrupulous to reveal no inkling of how much it pleases me to hear my Christian name on my queen’s sweet tongue. She’s absolute trouble, this one, and she’s my student and she’s strictly off limits.
But she’s compelling.
So compelling I can barely look away.
Clearly, my wolf wants her.
As for myself, I’m the Aries scion. Under any other circumstances, I’d be one of her suitors.
Her gaze veers to me, and I realize with a shock that I’ve neglected to shield my thoughts. Her wide eyes roam over my chest and shoulders and slide up my neck to linger on my mouth. Her tongue slicks over the soft pink bow of her lower lip.
I’m assailed with a sudden, violent impulse to lean down and claim her in a savage kiss.
Ours, my wolf growls in agreement.Our queen. We should claim her too.
Of course, I restrain myself. Having one student in my bed is more than enough indiscretion.
“Master Aries,” she whispers, obedient in that, at least. Her knowing eyes find mine. “That’s a mating bite you gave Ronin, isn’t it? I can tell by the way he acts. It sexes him up when I go anywhere near it.”
Damnation. This time Iwasshielding my thoughts. But my queen’s a powerful witch, even more powerful than I’ve appreciated. Clearly, her untrained power is growing.
This revelation only makes our business in this belfry more pressing.
Notwithstanding the fact that Zarina herself is certain to resist.
“Mr. Pendragon’s condition is confidential information,” I say briskly. “To answer your earlier question, Ms. Gemini, we’re in this belfry because it’s the safest location on this campus for me to endeavor to teach you to control your lightning.”
“Mylightning?” she repeats, happily sidetracked by this diversion. Her indignant lips pop open with instant protest. “Lucius.” (So much for Master Aries.) “I don’t summon lightning. Remember?”
“You don’t summon it voluntarily,” I correct her carefully, angling to maneuver past her swiftly mounting resistance, “but it comes unbidden, does it not? Half the lights in ourdomusneeded to be replaced this morning. My job is to help you control the lightning. So that it never again comes unbidden. To speak plainly, my queen, this is knowledge you require.”
“Nope.” She pops the P and waves a mittened hand to fend me off. “It’s not. That’s knowledgeyourequire if I’m going to ascend. I keep telling you. I’m. Not. Ascending. Okay?”
In fact, the prospect of this queen refusing to ascend isn’t at all okay.
It’s intolerable.
My fists clench and my shoulders knit in bitter frustration. Our people need her on that throne. They need her there wielding her witchcraft with control and conviction. Her stubbornness is condemning us all to extinction.
But I know far better than to say so outright.
Instead I pull in a steadying breath of crisp cold air and cling tight to my patience. “Even if you never ascend, you still need to learn to control this power. You’ve already killed with it, Zarina—”
“Damn it! I keep telling you, it’s Zara.” Her voice rings over the rooftops, echoing with a resonance that makes her peacoat float and her eyes glow violet. “You won’t even listen to me aboutthat, much less my feelings about my so-called fate and my fucking witchcraft. God, don’t you realize—?”
Her voice splinters and she shakes her head, hard and angry, blinking back a glitter of tears.
Over the wintry sea, I hear an ominous rumble of thunder.
“Do you even know what happened in Vegas?” she whispers, low and miserable. “I mean, do youreallyknow?”
“I know what everyone in the witching world knows.” I keep my voice level, professorial, my gaze fixed on the ocean to give her space. “I know eighty-seven people died in the Gemini Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. I know your mother was one of them. I’ve even seen the feed from the security camera before the grid went down. I know you and your mother both summoned lightning that night. I know you were a child and Belladonna was to blame.”
