Page 20 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

Water that rippled but stayed solid beneath his feet as he charged me. I whirled on my heel and took off toward the Academy, pushing myself as hard as I could. Students stopped and stared. A few of them laughed. I booked it for the entrance, praying that I’d reach it in time.

I was almost there when Gareth ducked out of it. I briefly saw annoyance on his face before I pivoted, racing around the building instead. Silas had to have gotten Freta away by now, right? My lungs were on fire as I burst through a group of older students and lunged toward what I thought was another entrance to the hall.

The doorknob disappeared under my hand. The sound of Red’s bellow filled the air behind me. I whirled, dropping to a half-crouch as I prepared to fight. As Red bared massive fangs and started to beat the ground, Gareth’s voice rang out.

“Red, stand down.”

Red growled, his massive fists slamming into the ground again. Gareth slunk around the corner, moving as gracefully as the cat his bound form was. His expression remained bored as he leaned against the building and studied us.

“Seb told you to leave it,” Gareth said. “We don’t want to draw attention yet. You know how Seb gets when we don’t follow his orders.”

I remained tense, waiting, as Red bobbed, apparently deciding whether to listen to Gareth or attack me. Gareth rolled his eyes and sauntered to him, smacking the back of his head. “Go back to your dorm and shower. You stink.”

Red shook himself. He melted back to human form, though the dangerous aura that pulsed from him didn’t change. It was so overwhelmed by the golden boys that I’d underestimated him. I wouldn’t do that again. Lesson learned.

After he left, Gareth continued to stand in my way, peering at me with a mild curiosity. His gaze was sharper than his expression, though, and I could almost feel him sizing me up.

The relief at being free of Red made me weak. With his dark hair, green eyes, and bronzy skin, I found myself thinking he looked like the hero from one of my favorite romances. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all. My body warmed the longer he looked at me, and I stared back unabashedly.

“Thank you for intervening,” I said shakily.

His lips twitched. “Don’t get this wrong. Red could tear you to pieces for all I care. I just don’t want to deal with Seb’s tantrum if Red steps out of line. Court Oslo are a bunch of troublemakers, and I don’t want them to complicate the relationship between Vespa and Thunderwood. Not to mention when Seb’s pouting it ruins the mood.”

“Let me guess. He’s pouting over being forced to be my peer mentor already?” I asked, then instantly wished I could take it back. I should be ducking my head, groveling to make him think I was weak, and get out of here. It didn’t matter if he’d saved me or if he was handsome. He was dangerous.

Gareth’s faint smile widened. “He is. But I suppose he has his own plans for how to deal with you, because he doesn’t want us to intervene. Next time you see him, you should thank him for holding Red’s leash.”

Yeah, I wasn’t going to take advice for any of these guys. “I think I’d rather just pretend like I don’t exist for a while. Seems safer.”

“You’re not as stupid as you look.”

“Hard to be as stupid as I look,” I answered with a shrug. As much as my instinct told me to get the hell out of here, I pushed back on it. I wanted to get a better read on this guy. And I didn’t want to put my back to him. “Though I’m still plenty stupid. Shouldn’t be talking to you at all. Or I should be on my knees weeping in gratitude that you deigned to talk to me or something like that.”

Gareth shrugged. “You should be trying to avoid notice. Unbound, no court … but does it really matter? Even if you don’t end up a target, you’re not making it through the binding trials, anyway. You’ll be dead by the end of the year.”

My chest tightened at his words. I wanted to shoot back that I was going to do everything I could to prevent that. And, in failing, I planned to take down at least Seb with me. Instead, I shrugged. “You’re probably right. I mean, if Red is already coming after me, he’ll take full advantage of the binding trials.”

“Not if Seb decides—” Gareth cut off, his smile fading to a frown.

I kept my face neutral, fighting the itch to excuse myself.

“Huh.” His eyes narrowed me and he studied me more intently than he had so far. It made my skin crawl. “You don’t fully understand what the peer mentorship is, do you?”

I lifted one shoulder and let it drop.

He sauntered toward me again. This time, I fell back, not wanting him to get too close. My reaction seemed to please him, and interest sparked in his eyes. “How did someone with such a weak aura manage to get herself into a position so prestigious? I know they like to throw in some fodder to sate the bloodlust, but you? What is so interesting about you?”

“Honestly? I have no idea. I figure Lotmas was just being an asshole. Wanted to humiliate Seb and decided to use me for it.”

“I’m not talking about Lotmas.”

I opened my mouth to ask what was he talking about, but thought better of it. Instead, I gave him a small bow. “I think I’ll be doing that groveling and leave now, if you don’t mind.”

“That wasn’t much of a grovel,” he said, his expression unchanged. But he stepped back, giving me an opening.

The hairs on my neck stood on end as I passed him. I half-expected him to grab me, but forced myself to walk at a regular pace. I felt his eyes linger on me until I made it safely back into the Academy.

Even then, I didn’t dare let my relief show. I acted as though nothing had happened as I made my way up to the dorm. This only solidified it for me. Freta and Silas were the exception here. Fae, and especially high fae, were all bastards.