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I flash him a side-eyed glare. "Hardly." I recline, propping myself up on my elbows, matching his nonchalant posture. "I'm just curious to see what happens."
"You can lie to me all you want, but I see the way you look at him. The way he looks at you. Did something happen between you two last night?"
I scoff, hoping to throw him off. He's way too observant for his own good. "What a silly question."
"You couldn't sleep last night, something is clearly bothering you, and your typical level of sexually charged frustration with my brother is off the charts today." He smirks, like he's connecting the dots. "So, I can only assume you two -"
"Nothing happened." I feel the panic rising in my throat.
"Kitarni -"
"Nyx, please." I don't mean to sound like I'm on the verge of tears, but the humiliation of rejection creeps into every bone in my body and I fight the urge to sprint out of the room and hide in a dark hole in the ground.
"Hey," he sits upright, pulling me against his chest and squeezes. "I'm sorry," he says into my hair. "Sometimes I don't realize when I'm taking my teasing too far. I didn't mean to upset you. Whatever happened, or didn't happen, between you two is your business."
"It's not you," I reassure him, whispering into his chest. "It's me."
"If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."
I nod, but before I can say anything else, I catch movement in my peripheral. The fire wielders' hands ignite, balls of flame licking up their arms, not leaving a mark on their exposed skin. Simultaneously, they launch an attack on Atlas, who still hasn't bothered to turn around.
Something deep within me stirs and an unyielding urge to protect him consumes me. It feels as if I'm the one alit with flame and it takes every bit of strength I possess not to throw a golden shield around him.
"Turn around, Atlas, turn around," I mumble, almost plead, not realizing my knee is bouncing until Nyx rests his hand on my thigh to relax.
Atlas tilts his head to the side, as if side-eyeing the fire beelining for him.
"What is he waiting for?" I ask aloud, to no one in particular.
"Just watch," Nyx says with a calmness that I'm jealous of.
Reluctantly, I have no choice but to do exactly that. With a flick of his wrists, Atlas' shadows emerge. He spins, whipping his shadows around him, shielding himself from the incoming blows as well as extinguishing the balls of fire before they can do any damage to that side of the lecture hall. But Atlas isn't finished. He slams his hands down on the ground, shooting shadows across the floor like spidery veins. The dark wisps rush toward the fire wielders, zipping and zagging past their defensive strikes, until they reach the students, wrap around their legs and torsos, and pin their arms to their sides, dragging them down to the floor. With his attackers bound and rendered powerless, Atlas stands up. With his blindfold still tied around his head, he turns in my direction with a knowing smile, before slipping two fingers underneath the blindfold and tugging it off his head.
Seven hells, that was probably the sexiest display of power I've ever witnessed, and he doesn't seem the least bit impressed with himself.
Without looking in their direction, Atlas releases the students from their shadowy shackles, and heads straight for me and Nyx. When he reaches us, he plants a boot on the bleacher directly in front of me, resting his elbow atop his knee.
"So." A smile tugs at the corner of his lips. "As you can see, I'm perfectly intact."
Something I'm grateful for, though I won't be admitting that to him. I barely bob my head in acknowledgement.
"Your turn, Princess."
There's no shot in hell I'll be able to do what Atlas just did, but a deal is a deal, so I slip out of my seat and stomp past him, taking my place in the spot he stood moments before.
"Turn around." Atlas twirls his index finger in a circle.
"If you think I'm keeping my back to them -"
Lifting the black blindfold up for me to see, I'm silenced. "I need to fasten this, unless you'd prefer doing it yourself."
I swallow hard before I rotate my back to him, flipping my braid over my shoulder so it hangs down the center of my spine. His hands lower over my head as he gently places the blindfold across my eyes. I inadvertently suck in a breath when he tugs the ends tighter.
Not having my sight is a strange sensation. For a brief moment, my heart constricts, and my fear of the dark begins to consume me, but then Atlas rests his hands on my shoulders and slowly drags his fingers down the lengths of my arms. That little bit of contact immediately calms my nerves. I'm no longer in the classroom with a blindfold tied around my eyes. I'm in Atlas' bedroom with the candles flickering, fireplace crackling, and his lips pressed against my neck. He palms my ass, strokes his fingers through my hair, whispers in my ear and sets my soul ablaze. Fear no longer grips my heart. Call it passion, lust, or attraction, I know this is more than that, deeper than that. This is…
"Happy or sad?" Atlas whispers and the small hairs on my arms stand straight up.
"What?" I furrow my brows.
