Page 9 of Wings of Ashes
“Hell?” He raised a dark eyebrow. “That sounded like a curse on your pretty pink lips.”
Blowing out a frustrated breath, Nix turned to scowl at the strikingly gorgeous, dark-haired man and spat out at him, “What do you know about Hell, huh?”
She aggressively clicked her pen as she added, “You probably have no idea of the meaning of the word. Endless torture and searing pain. I bet your idea of misfortune is burning your mouth on a hot cup of artisan coffee.”
The big-bodied friend beside him, who kept his face down and hidden behind his oversized hoodie, chuckled lowly. The gruff, throaty sound was gravelly and hoarse as if it were a rare occurrence, and the vocal cords were not prepared for such a thing.
Sunglasses turned his head to stare and gape at his friend. “Did she just make youlaugh?”
Nix begged her ears to hear Professor Bowen.
“…and then we will test it on a willing student. Does everyone understand the ingredients list and process?”
Damn it. No. Nix did not understand because she had not heard a damn thing. Maybe if she hadalphashifter hearing.
Professor Bowen added, “The forest on the outskirts of the academy grounds should have all of the ingredients you need.”
The forest? Were they supposed to gather raw ingredients for a potion all on their own? Nix had no idea what different herbs looked like.Starting a year’s class in the second semester might be a bit more challenging than I thought.
“Since we do have a new student, one of your groups should welcome her for the project.”
The one other female in the class raised her hand. “I’ll take her.”
“Fuck no,” Sunglasses cursed. “You’re in our group,” he told the other woman.
“So?”
“So, I don’t want to be in a group with a groupie.” He jabbed his thumb in Nix’s direction.
“She doesn’t seem like a groupie,” the female said and glanced at Nix. “Are you a groupie?”
“I actually actively dislike him.”
“Well?” the other female asked him from a few desks away, staring at his dark, designer sunglasses. “I don’t understand the issue. I thought one woman wasn’t enough for you, Bael?”
Sunglasses sighed deeply, appearing annoyed at having Nix join his class group for the assignment.Bael. That was his name?
Nix did not like the idea of being grouped with the two alphas who witnessed her fall in the hallway and did nothing to help, but not being the only girl in a group sounded preferable for this class.
“Okay, groups, go collect ingredients. Some on the list are quite rare, so you should not waste time and allow the other groups to find them before there are none left.”
Bael leaned over and whispered to Nix, “Get in my way, and you’ll understand what Hell is, Blondie.”
4
CHAPTER
Wait for it… And…bam.
Bael watched as Blondie tripped over another tree root in the forest, catching herself on a stump before she faceplanted.She can’t even fucking walk without playing the damsel in distress act, Bael thought to himself and rolled his eyes.
She was being obvious. A swan shifter joining a class of predominantly alphas and other deadly shifters? Weren’t cygni shifters supposed to flock together?
She was there for one reason only—to stand out from her crowd and attract male attention. Her long, platinum hair, lithe body, and pink lips all called out to be adored and fawned over.
Bael had heard bystanders in the hallway refer to her as the “Ugly Fuckling,” but she was not ugly. There was just something odd about her face that made her look…blurry.
Not my type, Bael thought. Cygni shifters were frail, self-centered, and scheming. They had the power to enchant others, almost like sirens.
