Page 43 of The Ways We Betray (The Path of Temptation 4)

"I dunno," Ela said, answering for her. "We have Sensuality, which is a core course for all Body, so she's probably in that one. Then there's Bondage, and Working with Multiples is after that."

"And I have First Aid after that," Nari added. "My class for the Path of Action."

Anver blew out a breath. "That's a long day, Nari."

"Tell me about it," she agreed.

So he reached over to press his hand on her arm. "How about we start helping with your homework early, hm?"

She leaned into him, pressing her head to his shoulder. "You don't have to, but I'm also not going to talk you out of it."

"We have to," I assured her. "I kinda want to do that Bondage class, though."

"I'm already in it," Ela reminded me. "Makes more sense for me to do it."

"Yeah, but you have all the rest to do too."

He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed gently. "I'll let you help me, though. I mean, we'll all be doing Entertainment, Zeal can do her Word class, Talin can take High Society, and Nari can just worry about Sensuality and First Aid, because those suck."

"No, they don't," she laughed. "I'm actually kinda excited about First Aid. I mean, considering what you'll be doing?"

"There is that," Talin agreed. "If something gets out of hand, at least we'll have a medic there to stop the bleeding, right?"

Nari rolled her eyes. "I was actually thinking that it would be more useful in knowing if something went too far. Plus..." But she let her words trail off.

"No, finish that," I demanded.

She quickly licked her lips. "I was just thinking that if I'd known how to stop the bleeding or something, I could've helped Talin, but I was tied."

"But you could've told me," Ela said. "It would've helped. It's definitely a class worth taking."

She looked at him with nothing but appreciation in her eyes, because this was still bothering her. She wouldn't complain about it, but I could understand. Her guardian had almost died. I could only imagine that would feel the same as me losing my ward, and if something happened to Ela, it would destroy me.

"Yeah," Anver said, "and, um, sounds like I might be acting as an additional guardian for your first session."

"What?" Ela asked.

Anver set down his fork. "Um, when I took Tishlie to talk to Roek?"

"How'd that go, anyway?" I asked, having forgotten all about it.

"Fine," he promised. "Saval and Roek weren't impressed with her shit. But, after they sent her out, Zeal showed up. Seems he's been busy today."

"Apparently," Nari agreed.

"And he made it clear that he wants me to learn how to work with you, Wraythe, and with Talin. He's, um, planning something."

"But you don't know what," Ela realized.

Anver shook his head. "No. I know that he's training me, and he needs me to figure it out, because if he tells me I'll try to do what he wants and not what I should. I get it, but that also means I'm playing blind here."

"He wants you to be a good guardian," I told him. "Not an obedient one, Anver, but the kind who will kill to protect what matters to you."

"And how will I know that if I couldn’t give a shit about my ward?" Anver asked.

I flicked a finger over to Nari. "Because you forgot that you have a desire too. Your marks might match Tishlie, but we all know she isn't the woman whose attention you desire."

"That's a good way of putting it," Anver agreed. "And did you know Roek's asexual?"

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