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She flipped him off. “Teague doesn’t need some meathead to protect her. If she can survive the Underworld, she can take care of herself.”
Hawk laid his tray on the other side of me, opposite Axel. “I’d planned to bring food to your room, so you could stay in bed. You must be tired.”
“I’m fine.” Nightmares pulled me under every time I closed my eyes anyway. I’d rather be awake.
Hawk rubbed my shoulder and took a seat, glaring at Axel. The older male raven just snorted and dug into his food.
“Scoot over, Hawk. Make room for one more, guys.” Roxie gave a saccharine smile as she dragged a chair from an empty table and attempted to squeeze in next to Hawk, but Kourtney wouldn’t budge. “I don’t want to miss any more time with my bestie now that she’s back.”
Hawk sighed and moved his chair so close to mine I could have been in his lap, which didn’t please Roxie one bit. Her tight, forced smile could crack at any moment.
She finally squeezed in and opened her orange juice. “Tate, who’s going to be your partner since Hawk and I have been working together.”
Hawk’s brow furrowed. “Tate has always been my partner, Rox. You just wanted to fill in.”
She blinked and swallowed, probably trying not to choke on her rage. “Right, but we’ve been working so well together. I just assumed we’d remain partners.”
“You weren’t working well last night when I had to save your asses.” I stabbed my omelet, my fork clanking against the plate. “Roxie, you were running around looking for your damn sword while your partner was getting attacked by three demons.”
She flicked her raven ponytail over her shoulder. “Well, you had my weapon, so I couldn’t exactly decapitate demons without it.”
“You don’t carry backup weapons?” I snapped. “You could have done something to get them off Hawk.”
She rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for not being perfect. Not all of us are lucky enough to kill a high demon with a rusty piece of metal.”
My fingers tightened around my fork, my nails digging into my palm. The desire to punch her was so intense my other hand curled into a fist and lifted, but Kourtney interrupted before I could act.
“Were you really held and tortured by a demon lord in the Underworld?” she asked, earning a glare from Hawk. “What? Everyone is talking about it. We all want to know if it’s true.”
How the hell did everyone know that already? I’d only returned last night and hadn’t talked to anyone except Coltrane, Hawk, and the medic. When I turned to my partner, he winced as a blush coated his cheeks.
Son of a bitch. He probably ran his mouth during morning training. So much for him avoiding the spotlight.
Several pairs of eyes flitted in my direction, and their whispers reached my sensitive ears. Some of them thought I’d run away while others believed I’d been in the Underworld as a captive. A few crazy theories floated around that I’d run off with a nightworlder lover.
The last one was laughable but closer to the truth than anyone would ever know.
“Yeah, it’s true,” I muttered, shoving a bite of my omelet into my mouth, and chewing.
“What was it like?” Kourtney leaned forward, tapping her fingers on the table as she waited on my reply.
Axel grimaced. “Really, Tran? I doubt she wants to go into detail.”
I swallowed my food and grabbed my water, taking a sip to keep the omelet from shooting back up as images of the cell Karn locked me in flooded my mind. It wasn’t just the torture he inflicted, but what he made me do to those innocent humans.
Bright crimson suddenly covered my plate, oozing over my omelet and hashbrowns and dripping onto the glossy finish of the table. Even my water had transformed into blood. The slickness coated my hands just like it had after murdering Oliver and Arissa. Her warm blood coated my chest, and the copper scent infiltrated my nose.
I shot to my feet, the chair scraping against the floor. “See you guys later.” I snatched my bloody tray and hurried through the cafeteria, dumping it into the trash can while ignoring Hawk’s shouts.
Panic raked claws across my back as I darted into the hall. How long could I maintain this calm, collected,humanfacade before it collapsed?
ChapterFourteen
The musty scentof books overwhelmed me as I rushed into the raven’s library on one of the basement levels to hide from Hawk and all of my problems. I rubbed my nose while passing through the wooden stacks toward the back where the reference books were located. The smell didn’t bother me last time I was in this place.
Of course, Fane hadn’t cursed me then.
I touched the tattoo on my neck, gritting my teeth while images of Fane whipped through my mind. The bastard ruined my life the moment he bit me, and now he haunted me every chance he got.
