Page 47 of Wings of Ashes
She had never seen hyssop in real life. It required sunny areas, and most shifters lived in secluded, wooded areas with plenty of shade to avoid human interaction as much as possible.
She took a deep breath and quietly snuck by the main academy building, approaching the woods. In her previous life, she had never done anything like this. Broken rules, curfew, etc.
I need that reversal potion. I won’t sleep until I have it.
Just as she stepped in front of the line of trees on the outskirts of campus, a harsh gust of wind flung against her back, and she stumbled forward.
“What do you think you are doing, Miss Oadess?”
Ah. A familiarly stuck-up, displeased masculine voice.
History professor Étienne Thierry stood behind her. Behind his studious glasses, his silvery, slate-colored eyes penetrated her back like a fishhook, preventing any chance of her escape.
“Professor!” she greeted him—very friendly, very not suspicious. Turning to face him, she faked a smile. “I was just going for a walk. Couldn’t sleep—”
“You were headed into the forest.”
“I like to walk amongst trees,” she fibbed.
“Swan shifters don’t hike.”
Ugh. Another assumption. “Actually, I enjoy a good nightly workout. So, I guess you don’t know everything, huh?” Nix could not control the edge of annoyance in her tone. “Maybe makinggeneralizations about an entire species is as foolish and dense as it is ignorant.”
Thierry’s jaw clicked as he continued intensely staring at her. His was the kind of gaze that made her feel naked. A consuming, fervent focus on every inch of her. Each rise and fall of her chest with breath felt under scrutiny. A heated perusal.
She even glanced down to double-check that she wore clothes. Okay, so… She was wearing a flimsy silk nightgown.
She had thought to grab a flashlight. She had just not thought to worry about what she looked like. She assumed no one would notice her—like in her first life. A wallflower who faded into the background.
Maybe a pink silk nightgown camouflaging in the dark forest was wishful thinking.
“You went for a walk in that?” he asked. Though his eyes remained locked onto her face, she felt a sweep of warmth sink down her frame.
“Are you the fashion police?” she asked. “What areyoudoing out here? Dressed like that?” She shot back at him.
He did not wear the typical high-end tweed suits she saw him wear to class. This was a fitted, sleek, dark ensemble, like a sexy bank robber. Black pants encased his strong thighs. A dark cotton shirt appeared painted over him.
What was it with the sexy men at the academy not getting two sizes bigger, so their shirts did not show off their abs underneath?
“I do not need to explain myself to a student,” he stated.
“Did you swoop down like that from the main building? Are you cosplaying as the mortals’ bat vigilante man?”
Thierry scowled at her.
“Right, well, I’ll be on my way—”
“Students are not supposed to be out past midnight,” the professor said. “Who are you sneaking out to meet?”
Nix sighed, deeply disappointed in her professor. “Are you serious?” Again, with the assumption that because she was a swan shifter, she was out chasing dick twenty-four-seven?
“Is it Obsidius?”
Bael? Nix quirked an eyebrow.
Étienne Thierry’s bottom lip quirked down in displeasure as he added, “You two flirted rather carelessly in my class.”
Oh?Nix placed a hand to her sternum. “That’s funny, because I seem to remember I was trying to focus on the class while one of your male students was distractingme. And, instead of addressing the problem of these alpha males thinking they are owed female attention, you labeledmeas the distraction. You kickedmeout of a class I wanted to be in.”
