Page 25 of Phantom Flower

Ilya:

That fucker is sniffing around again. Can I stab him in the eye????????!

I exhaled smoke through my nose. I already knew who he was talking about.

Kento Kurosaki. Rei’s older brother.

The one who had glared daggers at Ilya earlier that day. If he kept showing up near my territory, I would handle it the same way I had handled the rats in the basement, especially if he tried to keep Rei away from me.

Dimitri:

Ignore him for now.

I locked the phone and stood.

Tomorrow I would see Rei again. I would make sure of it.

***

I leaned against the pillar near the east entrance. Ilya and Alexei stood next to me.

Students gave us a wide berth.

Good.

I wasn’t in the mood for noise.

Then I saw him.

Rei walked in with Marco at his side. The timid little scholarship kid was hovering close, saying something that made Rei’s mouth twitch in what might have been a smile. The red flower was gone today. Black again. I wondered what their meaning was.

I pushed off the pillar and started walking. I let the space between us shrink naturally, let him feel me coming before he saw me.

Marco noticed first.

His shoulders hunched, eyes going wide like a deer that had just heard the wolf. He tugged on Rei’s sleeve.

Rei turned.

Our eyes locked.

He didn’t bolt. Good boy.

He held my stare, jaw tight, but I saw the way his throat worked when he swallowed.

I stopped a few feet away, close enough that Marco took a half-step back. Close enough that Rei had to tilt his head to keep looking at me.

“Morning, little fairy,” I said. “Sleep well?”

Rei’s eyes narrowed. “What do you want?”

Marco made a tiny, nervous sound. I ignored him.

“Marco, you go ahead,” Rei said.

His friend seemed hesitant, but Rei looked confident, so Marco nodded and said, “I’ll wait for you.”

Then he left.