Page 18 of Wings of Ashes
Nix cut him off and stared right into his liquid silver irises. “Ithink there seems to be a lot of assumptions about a female cygnus shifter trying to educate herself on things other thanhomemaking and satisfying a future husband. I think that this school needs to remember that classes are open toeveryone, not only to specific species.”
She added, “And if you have a problem with a female—who will never have super strength or speed like some of the alphas who take your class—wanting to learn about other species to expand her knowledge and give her abetter chance at lifeoutside of the academy, instead of people gatekeeping history and her continuing to be uninformed and naïve, then I would ask you to speak with my advisor who agreed to enroll me in your course mid-year.”
Professor Thierry had…finally stopped glaring. He blinked at her behind his glasses, pursed his lips, and ever so slowly gave her a single nod.
A wild grin burst across her face, and he blinked some more.
Then, his breath caught, and an expression of pain slammed over his face. He turned his back to the rest of the students and coughed into his fist.
From her nearby position, she saw the way his arm shook. His fist was clamped so hard, he might have broken his own fingers with such a grip.
He grunted and announced unevenly, “Class is dismissed early today.”
“But professor—” A girl from the front row scowled at Nix. “—we haven’t even gone over—”
“Dismissed,” he exclaimed. “Read the next two chapters of the textbook and prepare a one-page reflection before tomorrow’s class.”
So…Nix needed a textbook.
Students packed up and rushed for the door, excited for a few hours back in their day before lunch.
Nix hesitated to leave as she peered around his back to see the way his hand now clenched at his chest. “Um,” she said softly. “Are you okay?”
“Get. Out.”
The last of the students quickly exited, but Nix stayed, frozen where she was. The professor’s body began lightly shaking.
“What’s happening?” she asked, distressed, as she stepped around to face him.
She saw…pain.
Horrible pain flashed across his face before he quickly tried to mask it again.
Nix knew pain like that. The kind that made breathing difficult. The kind that felt like internal organs would rather shut down than continue feeling it.
“What do I do? How do I help you?” she cried out in concern when he slumped over his desk and slammed a hand onto the wood to steady himself. “What’s happening?”
“My arteries are…fuck…” Professor Thierry used the hand not on the desk to claw at his chest. “This is…why…potion.”
The vial with the red liquid. It was medicine? And she had broken it.Damn it!No wonder he looked so pissed at her earlier.
“What do I do?” she asked. “Should I get Professor Bowen? Does he make your potions for, um, this?”
“Get. Out,” he repeated in a grating tone so icy and stone-like, it felt like getting pelted with pebbles.
Still, she stayed next to him. “No. I know what it’s like to go through pain alone, and it’s worse. Trust me.” She gently laid her palm onto his back, and he stiffened. “Shhh.” She tried to calm and comfort him as she rubbed a circle over the middle of his spine. “You’re, um, you’re going to be okay.”
“No,” he muttered solemnly. “I won’t.”
She continued smoothing her hand over his back in reassuring circles. So close to him, she breathed in his heady scent for the first time and bit back a soft moan.
Okay. Wow. She had never had such an instant reaction to a smell before. He smelled like chocolate-covered cherries and old leather-bound books. Like a decadent day of reading and snacking. Sweetly sophisticated. Delicious and filling. Comforting.
“I will be fine in an hour. You are dismissed,” he said.
“See? Look at you?” she cooed, still rubbing his back. “Speaking in full sentences again. That means the pain is lessening.”
He frowned and looked down at his hand, which slowly relaxed on the desk. He inhaled and shook his head. “It…typically lasts longer than this.”
