Page 77 of The Tribrid Princess and the Taste of Chaos
A few murmurs flit across the room, and I see Allison frowning as she says something to Himari. But for once, she’s serious, not smirking about something or other.
“It is confirmed that an old student who has walked these halls before was the one who assisted in opening the portal. But that is something that can happen again, with or without her. As the one overseeing the protection of the Academy, this is not on Alpha Aaron but on me. We’ll continue to aim to do better.”
I feel a sliver of guilt at the end of his speech. This was my doing, not his!
I step forward, opening my mouth, “Actually, it-”
“Sienna Rossi and Jayce Westwood, a word.” He jerks his head towards the door behind him and, turning, he leaves. The moment he does, hushed whispers break out.
“Why Jayce?” Theo asks loudly from nearby. “I mean the fierce witch, yeah. She fought head-to-head with one of them, but Jaycey? All he did was watch.”
Ares smirks, but before he can reply, Carter frowns at both of them. “He killed a couple of them, remember?” Carter’s cutting remark comes. “Grow up.”
“You ok, Si?” Allie asks, frowning as she looks between Jayce, Tatum and me. I nod.
“Yeah, and I do need to talk to them. And you guys…” I say, giving them an ‘I’ll explain later’ look.
Heaven quirks an eyebrow but nods before she looks over at her mom. Aunty Ri walks towards us, stopping in front of Tatum and hugs him. He doesn’t crack a smile, but he does place a light kiss on her forehead before releasing her. She then comes over to us and pulls Heaven into a tight hug.
“Mama…” Heaven hisses.
“I’m so glad you’re safe.” The worry in Aunty Ri’s eyes is obvious as she brushes her fingers through Heaven’s curls. Before she hugs me, she runs over my injuries, her eyes glimmering, but she doesn’t say anything and hugs me tightly. She then turns to Allie and cups her cheek. “I’m relieved you girls are ok,” she says. “I’ll catch up with you all in the morning, get to bed and rest. Come on, Sienna.”
Heaven nods as Allie looks at Tatum. “Who died?” she asks as she walks past him. Tatum simply cocks a brow but ignores her. Aunty Ri’s arm remains around me as she leads me out of the hall. The rest are already halfway down the hall, and I try not to look at Jayce or pay attention to the way his shoulders move, or his ass.
Gods, is he perfect… he walks with confidence and a sexyarrogance, one that draws attention to him. He now raises his hand and massages the back of his neck, flexing his tatted bicep, which makes my cheeks heat up. I quickly look away, only to see Aunty Ri watching me with an amused smirk. My face burns even hotter when Aunty whispers a spell, one I know.
So no one can hear us.
“Did I just see you checking out Jayce Westwood?”
“No!” I deny extremely quickly.
She chuckles. “Well, the Westwoods have always been easy on the eyes,” she teases me.
“Aunty!” I blush.
She wraps her arm around me. “There’s nothing wrong with liking someone. I just never noticed it before. I’m assuming it’s a new crush? I heard he’s your division leader.”
“Aunty, stop!” I hiss, blushing as I nudge her.
She laughs before she tilts her head and brushes a strand of my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. Her eyes flick to my neck, and she frowns. “Tatum said you fought a witch.”
The blood on my neck… that was from Jayce’s hold.
I wrap my cardigan tighter around myself and nod. “Yeah, but I managed ok. She was just draining my power extremely fast, like it was nothing.”
Aunty nods. “Well, let’s get inside. Everyone will want to hear this.”
I look ahead to where Jayce is leaning against the open door, keeping it open for Aunty and me. His head is turned towards the others in the room, showing off the sharp, sexy angle of his perfect jawline. I step inside, avoiding looking at him despite feeling the heat of his body.
“Thank you, Jayce,” Aunty Ri thanks him, and he lets the door swing shut behind us.
We’re in one of the meeting rooms, closer to the Headmaster’s office. Alpha Matherson, Professor Syldora and Professor Bree, who is Head of Stealth and Tracking, are also here. All stand respectfully until Uncle Leo sits down first. He motions at two seats on his left and looks at me and Jayce.
“Both of you sit down,” he commands.
Ahren smiles at me before I take the seat next to him, and Jayce takes the one on my right. It’s closest to Uncle Leo. I’m far too aware of him beside me, but he doesn’t look my way.
