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A slow, vicious smile stretched my lips. How could I hold it back? After all, battle isn’t all about brute force and magic.
Victory was about choosing the correct method of combat.
I’d chosen the perfect weapon for a cruel man used to getting whatever he wanted. Especially from women.
As he began the process of self-destruction, I sauntered to the exit. Before leaving, I added, “Oh, and good luck with your essay. All that impressive lack of formatting and paragraph breaks would have gotten me kicked out of kindergarten, but clearly, you exist with more balls than I, my dude. Rock on.”
As if on a magical gust of wind, the double doors opened easily as I strode outside in victory. I closed my eyes in ecstasy and suppressed a groan.
Eating men like him for lunch literally gave me life. Who would have thought that’s all I needed for a confidence boost? To be honest, I owed that idiot. He provided me a service just now. I could run a marathon right now. Slide across the Gate and dance in the Demon Territories. Climb all the way through Betty—no. That was too far.
Rain misted across my warm cheeks. Now the night didn’t seem so daunting. After all the drama with my clients at the cafe, and then all the stupidity with Razai and this doomed job I’d taken, my confidence had been shaken. Gods, I’d been off my game for too long.
Students began to filter out of the buildings as one of the large class blocks ended, and I picked up my pace. The files called me, urging me to sift through their stale information again to find a spark, a clue, anything.
Maybe talking through the files with Razai would help me make connections. Keeping it all in my brain wouldn’t be enough long-term, after all. But Razai wasn’t done with his day. As the sky darkened to a heavy, bruised purple, his class ran through Betty with terrifying speed. I’d never seen so many people covered in rain, mud, and sweat before.
All the while, their charismatic teacher cheered them on with a gleeful smile. The damp shirt clung to his corded and cut body, the white fabric teasing hints of his skin.
“It’s a shame his pants are black,” I sighed before clamping my mouth shut. Nope. I definitely hadn’t just thought that.
Or imagined it.
And I definitely wouldn’t again.
Razai jogged toward a cluster of students and shouted something. The thin athletic material perfectly tapered to his form, each stride making the fabric stretch and move with his muscles. His thighs alone could—
Nope. Not me thinking about his thighs doing anything.
While I scrubbed out the image of his flushed, bright expression with images of the brutal murder of Benjamin Castile, I showered and cooked a simple meal in my tiny kitchen. Rain clattered against the balcony door as I leafed through the files again.
Movement in my periphery made me pause. From this vantage point, I could still see into the training yard. Razai hung to one of Betty’s horizontal bars, pulling himself up to touch his chin to the metal and easing down in a fluid motion.
Shirtless.
“How does he make it look so simple?” I asked. “It took me a year to gain the muscle for pull-ups.”
Razai dropped to the ground and shook his wet hair. His muscles seemed to bulge more than usual, didn’t they? Not that I was an expert on what his body looked like at any given point in time, but come on…
I leaned over the armrest, squinting for a better look.
Had he gotten taller or something? Something about him seemed different, didn’t it? Even that wasn’t quite right. Razai was… oh.
That’s it.
Usually, there was a joke flying off his tongue or a person to banter with. I’d never seen how he behaved alone. Now, his brows rested calmly and his mouth seemed softer, even from a distance. Still, no one would call him anything but a warrior.
How had I not seen it before? At first, I’d scoffed at his claim to weapons and combat, but now I was certain he was the most terrifying person I’d seen in this whole school.
Why were my palms suddenly so sweaty? That’s weird.
On a whim, I slid the curtains closed. Not for any particular reason. Just for… focus. The loud rain and flashing lightning were too distracting at the moment.
I swallowed hard and got to work. The next few hours were filled with notes, notes, and more notes. In fact, I had so many notes about my observations and thoughts that I realized I needed a fresh organization system to display them and keep track.
There had to be a way to utilize the wall space in this place. Right?
Azra called too. I ignored her and the sinking sense of guilt every time her name flashed across the screen. A warning. A reminder that I was doing everything wrong. Jeopardizing everything important.
