Page 16 of Mortal Shift
Chapter Six
I wished I’d taken Ling up on her offer to show me the way to the canteen, which I was pretty sure would have been a more productive use of my time than seeing Astor. So much for my big hope of getting out of here. I considered trying to find my way to the hall on my own, but what I’d seen of this place was a maze, and the last thing I needed was to be lost and on my own, especially with idiots like Davorin prowling the halls. In the end I figured my safest option was to backtrack my steps straight to the dorms, which I managed with only two minor deviations, and without anyone else trying to humiliate me for looking at them the wrong way. Maybe I’d just got unlucky with the first few people I met. Maybe most of the people here would be okay. I might even enjoy— Well, no, that was probably taking it a bit far. But that didn’t mean it had to be terrible, if I gave it a chance, right?
I reached my room—because despite Zane’s advice, I really didn’t feel up to socializing right now—and rattled the handle. Shit. It was locked. I was locked out, and no-one had given me a key.
“Cole?” I called, and then banged the flat of my hand on the door a couple of times. “Come on, this isn’t funny! Let me in.”
I slapped my hand on the door a couple more times, then kicked it for good measure. No reply. He was either ignoring me, or he wasn’t in there.
Just great.
Well, I wasn’t going to sit around outside the door waiting for him to let me in like someone’s pet cat. Looked like I’d be making a start on those allies sooner rather than later.
At the very far end of the corridor was another set of doors, also engraved with the same glowing wolf emblem, and I could hear several voices as I got closer. I hesitated for a moment, because truth be told, my experience of shifters so far hadn’t exactly been stellar. But I had to face them sooner or later, and at least none ofthemhad tried to throttle me. I drew in a breath, and, remembering Zane’s obsession with not showing weakness, squared my shoulders before pushing the doors open.
As the doors swung inwards, the closest students turned to stare at me and fell silent. A heartbeat later the silence spread as the rest of them turned to stare, and then all at once pockets of whispers broke out around the room. I caught the word ‘human’ more than once and heaved an internal sigh.Here we go again.
Heat prickled across my face as all of the sixty or seventy students stared, whispered, and even pointed at me, and if a hole in the floor had opened up to swallow me, I’d have been grateful. But of course it didn’t, and I just stood there, rooted to the frustratingly solid ground as they kept staring.
Well, whatever. If the worse they were going to do was point and stare, then after the day I’d had, that was a win. And if they were going to talk about me, then I could at least make sure they were doing it for the right reasons.
I rolled my eyes and lifted my chin.
“Hi. I’m Cali. And yes, I’m human. And no, I didn’t want to come to Darkveil. But I’m here now, so we’re all just going to have to get used to it.”
“For now,” someone said from the middle of the crowd, and several snickers rose up around the room.
“I hear you prefer to spend time with the fae,” someone else said, and this time I pinpointed a guy with tanned skin and shaggy blond hair. His lips twisted in derisive amusement. “Heard you’re even calling one ‘Master’ now.”
I flushed red again. I shouldn’t have been surprised my humiliation in the corridor had already made it halfway round the academy.
“I didn’t have a choice,” I said as my blush spread, and I hated myself for it. “He…did something to me.”
“I’d like to do something to you,” shaggy hair’s friend said, cupping his hands over his crotch suggestively, and raucous laughter erupted around the room—even from the girls.
I whirled on my heel. I don’t know what I’d been thinking, but I wasn’t going to find any allies here.
“Aw, don’t leave us, freshmeat,” he called, to more laughter. “We’re just getting to know each other.”
I grabbed the door and yanked it open, and immediately, a palm slapped against it, wrenching it from my hand and slamming it shut. I spun to glare at its owner, and found myself face to face with Cole. He planted his other hand on the other side of my face, caging me against the door. I tried to twist away, but between his arms, his chest, and the door, I was trapped, and the smile on his face said he knew it. His scent crowded my nostrils, and heat coiled at my core as my body responded to his dominance in a way I absolutely did not appreciate.
He bent his nose to the nape of my neck and inhaled deeply, setting my heart stuttering.
“Ugh, get off,” I said, shoving at his impossibly muscled chest, and he nipped at my neck in reprimand, sending another spike of heat between my legs.
“Smells like she’s enjoying that, Cole.”
I jerked my gaze over his shoulder, eyes widening in panic as I spotted nostrils flaring round the room. They could smell my arousal. All of them. And I was absolutely going to die of humiliation. Tears pricked at my eyes.
“Get off me,” I repeated in a whisper, my voice hoarse and desperate. “Please.”
Instead, he cupped one hand possessively on the back of my neck and moved his lips to my ear.
“I like it when you beg,” he murmured. “Do it again.”
I swallowed hard, and the word was on my lips. Then I swallowed it and ground my teeth together. Like hell was I going to beg him. He was either going to let me go, or he wasn’t, and I wasn’t about to humiliate myself even more for his amusement.
He rumbled a throaty chuckle, and nipped at my throat again.
