Page 12 of Dance of the Phoenix
“Yeah,” I murmured. “He trained me every day from the moment I could walk until he was first put in prison.”
Ragnor hummed in understanding. We were silent for a while until he finally finished massaging me and slapped my butt. I whirled my head toward him and narrowed my eyes. “What was that for?”
“For hiding that you were a Praefectus,” he said with a frown, using the word for one who had mastered Iovan’s Imperium. “I knew you had some martial arts knowledge, thanks to Logan’s reports during your newcomer days, but I didn’t know it was like that.”
I leaned back, gently pushing him off me, and sat down, facing him. “Logan didn’t mention that?” I asked with a frown of my own.Logan knew Iovan’s Imperium, since I’d taught some of it to him during my time at foster care with his parents. I’d even used some of itonhim, in ways he would never forgive me for.
So why didn’t he tell Ragnor, hisLord, about it?
Ragnor’s face twisted, turning carefully expressionless. I tensed. It had been a while since I saw this kind of face on him, and it put me on full alert. “Why would Logan know about it?” he asked, midnight blue eyes locking mine in a dangerous hold.
It was then that I realized I hadn’t told Ragnor about one thing in my past. One of the most crucial things in my past that actually pertained to the present too: the relationship I used to have with Logan. The fact that Logan’s family had taken me in as a foster kid when my father ended up in jail. That Logan now loathed my very existence—and rightfully so.
Oh, fuck.
Just the thought of sharing that, telling Ragnor about Logan and me, made my heartbeat quicken and my mouth turn dry. Anxiety filled my insides, my stomach churning with sudden fear.
“No, I guess he shouldn’t know about it,” I said, hoping my voice was as indifferent as I willed it to be.
Ragnor’s eyes scanned my face silently before he nodded and got off the bed. “I’m going back to the office,” he said with his back to me as he slid his feet into his usual combat boots. “Take a shower and rest. The day after tomorrow, once the voting is done, you’re in for two very intense weeks of whipping you into shape.”
I didn’t have the time to respond before he left the room and slammed his suite door shut.
And I had the nauseating suspicion that Ragnor knew I had lied.
Chapter 6
Aileen
The moment Isora, Zoey, and I set foot inside the cafeteria the next morning, I felt an eerily familiar tingling sensation all over my skin.
I tried to shake it off, thinking it must be my imagination, and went about filling my plate with food and brewing my regular Americano with AB plus, but when the three of us settled at a table and murmurs broke out all around us, I knew it was not, in fact, just in my head.
Not when the gossiping vampires spoke just loud enough for me to hear.
“I heard the Lord personally carried her, as if she’s someone important and not just a Common like us ...”
“They said Sulien was still in the infirmary after their battle ...”
“What is she even doing here? Isn’t she supposed to be in the Atalon League?”
It threw me back to a couple of months ago, when I was still in the Atalon League, and Atalon himself was trying to make me his lover. Back then the League members had talked about how I didn’t deserve to be with a vampire Lord, especiallytheirLord. That hadn’t bothered me much, considering I had no interest in Atalon whatsoever—even before I knew he was the asshole to end all assholes.
But now, with the things they were saying about me, it was a different story.
“Wait until they learn you’re our Lord’s lover,” Zoey muttered softly enough to not be overheard. “Their heads are going to blow up.”
I snorted. “I’d rather their speculations remain just that.” I paused, glancing between Zoey and Isora, who both seemed nonchalant about the whispers around us, before I tentatively asked, “Is Sulien really in the infirmary still?”
The two exchanged looks briefly before Isora turned to me and said with a serious voice, “Your mock battle yesterday was quite ... intense.”
“That’s one way to put it.” Zoey smirked humorlessly. “Did you really have to pummel his face like that? It was terrifying. Everyone thought so.”
I hadn’t thought about how my actions yesterday might’ve been perceived by the onlookers, but when I thought about it now, I realized that perhaps the hesitant clapping of the audience after my fight hadn’t just been in my head. When I executed the second Behest, I had been so focused on keeping the power flowing through my muscles so I could best Sulien that I didn’t realize I was going overboard with the punches to his face.
“Shit,” I murmured, staring down at the still-whole omelet on my plate.
“Yeah, it was ...” Isora said quietly, and when I raised my eyes to meet hers, she gave me an apologetic smile. “Terrifying, really.”
