Page 112 of Mortal Shift
I glanced at the floor on the off chance it felt like opening up and swallowing me while I was standing here discussing my sex life with a virtual stranger.
“No doubt you’ll seal the bond soon.”
“Maybe we can focus on making sure he’s alive long enough for that to be an option?”
“I’ll bring this to the alpha. But he won’t be able to interfere in the investigation.”
“But they’re not even investigating!” I objected. “They’re just pinning it on him.”
“We can buy you some time. The rest is going to be down to you.”
“We are so fucked.”
He chuckled under his breath.
“If I believed for one moment you were an ordinary human, that might be true.”
“Um…thanks?”
“You should get back to the academy before you’re missed.” His brow furrowed. “How did you get here?”
“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
Hell, I didn’t even want to know. But if Blaine managed to stall long enough for us to clear Cole’s name, whatever price that slimy little weasel was going to make me pay would be worth it.
“Don’t suppose there’s somewhere round here I can catch an uber?”
Blaine chuckled.
“I’ll get Lucas to open a portal for you.” He caught my eye. “And Cali? Be careful who you trust.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
If ever there was a warning I didn’t need, that was it. Seemed like pretty much everyone at Darkveil was out to get me, and those that weren’t didn’t care what happened to me one way or the other. Ling, Jax, and maybe Thessalia: the list of my allies was painfully short. And what I was about to do now was hardly going to make it longer.
I exhaled sharply, shook my head, and rapped on the large, sigil-laden oak door in front of me.
“Come,” the haughty voice commanded from within, and I cracked the door open and stepped through into Astor’s cavernous office. She glared at me from behind her desk, and I might have taken that to be hatred for me over what everyone thought Cole had done, if I hadn’t known it was her standard expression.
“You should be in class, Ms. Ellis,” she said, and then turned her attention back to the paperwork in front of her. “You’re far enough behind as it is.”
“No I’m n—” I started to argue reflexively, then snapped my mouth shut. I wasn’t behind in my classes, which meant either Astor didn’t know as much as she thought she did, or she was trying to rile me. I was pretty sure neither of those was a good thing. I sucked in a breath and tried for polite. “I’m sorry to disturb you, Domina, but I wondered if there was any news on Cole?”
“Oh, I’ve no doubt you’ll be rid of him soon enough, in light of his crimes.” She continued looking down at the sheet of paper in front of her as her pen scratched across its surface.
“I don’twantto be—” I snapped my mouth shut around the words as they burst from me. So much for polite. But screaming and shouting wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I moderated my tone. “I don’t want to be rid of him. Things have changed between us.”
“Well, how unfortunate for you, then. Though,” her pen paused and she looked up at me, her eyes glittering coldly, “I gather you are the reason he chose to break the law.”
“He didn’t.” I ground my teeth together. “He’s innocent. There isn’t a single piece of evidence that he did a damn thing, and I know that because he didn’t do it.”
“There is a witness,” she said calmly, and turned her attention back to the sheet of paper. “Which is irrelevant, because he confessed this morning.”
My head suddenly felt fuzzy, and I swayed on my feet.
“No, he…” I shook my head, sending a lance of pain and dazzling lights through it. “He couldn’t have. He didn’t do it.”
“It would seem your mate believes otherwise.”
