Page 30 of Dead Wolf Falling (Bad Moon Academy 2)

Mmhmm. I told you.

I never said he wasn’t cute,I say to Joan before focusing on Carter again.

“Do you know how many demons were listed in that book?”

He shakes his head. “I pulled it because it talks about the Underworld.”

“Right. The Underworld, the place most people call Hell. Well, guess what, this freaking three-hundred-page book only had three demons listed in it. Samael, Lilith, and their daughter Mazzikin.”

“Should we add them to the list?” Everett asks, picking up the pad he’s been jotting notes on whenever someone finds something useful.

“No.” I sigh and set the book down with exaggerated care. “I doubt the rulers of the Underworld care about Jinx.”

Carter snickers and goes back to reading. “Walk around for a few then get back to work.”

I huff but waste no time taking the break he’s offering me. I head up the stairs, going to the third floor, and lose myself in the rows of shelves, running my fingers over the spines of several books. Even if I’m not excited about reading research material, being around so many books makes my nerd heart happy. I’d be a hell of a lot more enthusiastic about my reading if there were some romance sprinkled throughout the pages upon pages of facts. But alas,History of the Underworldhad zero romance, unless you count the dry fact that Samael and Lilith had a daughter. No steam or tension, justthey had a child.

“Boo,” Brayden whispers, brushing his mouth against my ear. I know it’s him and not Draco because the vibrato of his voice is deeper and fuller, even when he whispers.

I spin and slap his chest, shooting daggers at him with my eyes. He chuckles and presses into me, backing me against a shelf and laying his hands on either side of my head. He’s so tall I have to crane my head to maintain eye contact, and this only serves to make his smile widen.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“I said we had to talk, remember?”

I blink, not giving him an inch.

With a heavy sigh, he searches my face. “You can’t trust your friends, Raven—”

“Like I can trust you?” I spit the question out, pressing my lips together in a firm line.

He moves his hand to my face and slowly traces my cheek bone with his thumb. My breath hitches at the contact, and my stomach flutters. Cheeky fuck.

“You’re mad at me,” he finally says, pulling his hand away and putting it back on the shelf next to my head.

“Am I?”

He narrows his eyes. “I didn’t lie to you.”

I shrug. “Omission is almost as bad. You knew who I thought you were.”

“I’m sorry.”

His apology is so unexpected I don’t know what to say for a few moments. I expected him to deny it, to argue his innocence, but he didn’t.

A shifter who knows how to communicate? Yum.Joan purrs like a cat in my head.

She’s ridiculous.

With a sigh, I glance away. “It’s fine.”

“Raven,” he says, pulling on my chin so I’m forced to meet his eyes.

His skin is so cold, almost like he’s still from another realm, but that’s impossible, right? I brought him back.

He leans closer. “I regret earning your anger, not our interactions.” His eyes drop to my lips, and the memory of him pressing against me in his phantom form and kissing me just after Draco had flashes through my mind.

Kiss him,Joan whispers, completely ruining the moment.

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