19. Kellen

Chapter 19

Kellen

Kellen knocked his fist against Headmistress Dyer’s door, waited two seconds, wondered why the fuck he was knocking and not just entering, then smashed his elbow into the door, barging in.

“Your manners lasted all of two seconds,” Headmistress Dyer reprimanded from where she sat behind her elaborate desk, her red glasses slipping down the bridge of her nose when she dipped her head and narrowed her eyes in a scowl. “I feel like you broke a record somewhere in the world.”

“I expect my trophy hand delivered at dawn.” Headmistress Dyer rolled her eyes, but couldn’t completely contain a smile.

Valerie Dyer was Headmistress of Delmarth when Kellen was a student here. He spent much of his time in her office as a kid—mostly for disciplinary reasons, starting fights, never following directions and being an all-around shithead, though sometimes he would come to her office to have lunch, just because he didn’t have anywhere else to go. He never thought they would get to a place of being quiet acquaintances with a gulf of mutual respect between them, but fate has a funny way of giving you what you need when you least expect it. She’d been a massive support to Laya and Jarion, the only person who believed his concerns about what their parents were doing and who worked alongside him to instigate the Cavalian law enforcement to take action. She’d gone above and beyond providing resources to them when Kellen first became their legal guardian, setting them up with lodgings near the school that were protected by wards so his mother couldn’t find the location when she was released from Terminus. He would be forever grateful to her for that.

“How’s Jarion?” Headmistress Dyer asked, closing the lid of her laptop to give him her undivided attention.

“Physically fine, thanks to Ms. Rose.” Headmistress Dyer leaned back in her ornate seat, which was really more of a throne than an office chair, framed by gold spikes that jutted out from the backrest.

“Oh? So maybe hiring Ms. Rose wasn’t the colossal mistake you accused me of making?”

“ Maybe,” he conceded. Headmistress Dyer tossed her head back with a triumphant laugh.

“I believe you told me that by hiring Ms. Rose, I would be sinking the entire school into an early retirement. For Kellen Kilic to actually admit he was wrong, she must be better than even I realize.”

“I didn’t come here to listen to myself be quoted, though I do enjoy hearing my words repeated back to me.” Kellen crossed his legs, resting his ankle on his thigh. “I have a student who’s failing my class. Markus Loewe. I’ve given him multiple chances to make up the work he’s missed, but he’s failed to hold up his end of the bargain. He’s received zeroes on all his chapter quizzes and the first two exams. At this point in the semester, I’m not sure how he could possibly catch up enough to pass my class. I’ve never dealt with this before, so I wasn’t sure of the proper protocol.”

“Bring it to Ms. Rose. See if she can talk some sense into him before you give up.” Kellen groaned. “You just said she wasn’t that bad,” Headmistress Dyer reproached. “Why are you groaning at the thought of needing to speak to her?”

“I said it maybe wasn’t a mistake to hire her. Not that I enjoy speaking to her.” Liar, Coz crooned in his ears.

Crawl back into your hole, he snarled at Coz.

I am quaking with fear. Sarcasm dripped down the walls of his mind.

“We’re halfway through the semester,” Headmistress Dyer reminded him. “If there’s a chance Markus can be guided down a different path, let Ms. Rose try. He just needs enough at this point to simply pass the class. We’re not gunning for an A, just enough to scrape by for a D. Worst case scenario, we bring his parents in and have a more serious discussion about what the rest of the year looks like.”

“Fine. I’ll go talk to Ms. Rose.” Headmistress Dyer lifted the lid of her laptop—her subtle indication that his time with her had finished. Kellen chuckled at the passive-aggressive gesture. “And you lecture me about manners,” he spat at her, hefting from his chair and storming to the door.

“Still lasted longer than you,” Headmistress Dyer jested.

“The bar is set extremely low, then.” She lifted her fingers in a dismissive wave without looking away from her laptop screen.

After dropping Jarion at his next class, Ella reentered her office with the intention of scrubbing the orange paint off her body. She almost tripped over her desk, which Kellen had hauled across the room and positioned in front of the couch so he could prop his feet up, thus blocking her doorway.

“Kilic!” she yelled, smothering her eyes with her hand to prevent a headache from stretching into its full form across her skull. “What did I say about breaking into my office when I’m not in here?!”

“Do it more?” he mocked, resting his intertwined fingers on his stomach and wielding those disgustingly handsome dimples against her.

“Why did you feel the need to drag my desk over here? There was a coffee table already in front of the couch.” She gestured to the tiny table hidden beneath the arch of her large desk, the glass rectangle submerged in shadows.

“I wanted to elevate my legs, and your coffee table wasn’t tall enough. You should really think about redecorating in here, Rose. It’s not a conducive environment to relaxation.” Ella’s cheeks boiled.

“Fix my office right now and then get out.”

“But I need to talk to you.”

“Do I look like I’m in the mood?” she barked, gesturing down to her sullied dress.

“Do I look like I care?” he shot back, not glancing away from her face to take in the blemishes of orange she was referring to. Ella’s mouth fell open, then sealed shut. Why did she think she liked him again?

“You know what I don’t understand? You claim to hate me, yet you spend more time in my office than I do.”

Kellen blinked at her, then shrugged. “It smells nice in here.”

Ella shook her head. “Get out of my office right now.”

“No. I came here to talk to you about a student.” Kellen adjusted the desk, shifting it to the right a marginal distance so Ella could squeeze through the small opening and successfully slip into her office.

“I already told you that I can’t speak to you about your brother.” She looped around the desk and dove for the drawer that contained her hand sanitizer, squirting a dollop onto her palm and rubbing her hands together to spread the translucent liquid, scrubbing off the orange paint cresting in the creases of her hands.

“I’m not here to talk about my brother. It’s about someone else.” Ella froze.

She set the hand sanitizer on the desk and turned to him slowly, drawing out the moment for dramatic effect, savoring the place on her metaphorical high horse that she was about to officially claim.

“Wait a second,” she said, a flicker of a smile toying with her lips. “Did you actually come here to talk to me about a student?” Kellen offered nothing but a blink of his eyes. Ella’s face illuminated with a wide smile, her hands coming together in a thrilled clap. “You did! Oh, this is HUGE. This might be the greatest thing that’s happened in the history of all universes, the Earthly Plane and Cavale combined!”

The corner of Kellen’s mouth quirked up. “Conceit isn’t a good look for you, sweetheart.”

“I think I wear it well, thank you very much.” Ella swung her hair off her shoulder. “In fact, I wear it so well that if you want my help, I’m going to need to hear you ask for it. The whole sentence.”

“Really?” he groused.

“Would you not request the same from me, if it was I surrendering to you?” Kellen cocked a brow, leading Ella to fear she might’ve just stumbled into a trap where her precious victory would be robbed from her.

“How would you like me to surrender to you, Ms. Rose? With words on my tongue, or my tongue between your legs?”

Heat bloomed across Ella’s cheeks.

She dared herself to goad, “And if I chose the latter and not the former? Would you get on your knees, Kilic?”

One second, Kellen was seated on the couch.

In the next breath, he’d crossed the span of the office until he was crowding Ella, his proximity and that intoxicating, sandalwood scent causing her to stagger back, her spine colliding with the wall. Kellen’s hips pinioned her beneath him before he caught her chin and lifted it, his breath stippling over her lips. His eyes burned into her, dancing with roguish intensity and a glint of his own arousal, the blinding vehemence of it ripping the life out of Ella’s legs, her knees buckling in their strain to remain upright.

Kellen skimmed his mouth across her cheek in his journey to reach her ear. He barely touched her, the contact not sufficient to be considered a kiss, yet she felt like he was kissing her everywhere, like his lips were becoming a part of her skin, embedded in her bones, coalescing with her blood, so the very things that fueled her, that permitted her to live, were now his lips, his embrace, him.

He then brought his lips to her ear and whispered against the shell, “Noella Rose, I need your help,” before his teeth tugged down on the lobe. Her eyes fluttered shut as the oxygen in her lungs escaped through a heaving wheeze.

Her fingers begged to fist his black sweater, to yank him into her, to eliminate the useless space between them. Would pulling her face back and lifting her chin high enough for her lips to find his be so bad?

She found her hand raising, not to gather the material of his sweater to pull him closer, but to delicately traipse her fingers over his face. The digits moved with a mind of their own, up the scales on his neck to where the flesh around his eye was still bruised. Kellen flinched, not because the wound still hurt, but in surprise of her actions. He didn’t withdraw from her, though he had turned to stone under her careful examination. She skimmed the injury, her touch akin to a feather sweeping over his brow, wanting to streak his flesh with her existence the way his lips had just tinged hers.

His own hands slid down her waist, gripping her hips, mirroring the possessive nature of her own appraisal, their battle of wills extending into who could mark the other deeper with their touch.

His fingers burrowed into her torso when her index finger brushed curiously atop his lips. His mouth opened on instinct, his teeth lashing out to gently, playfully, seize the tip of her finger and bite down.

His tepid breath puffed around her finger when they both gasped.

Neither of them could deny the electric pull they felt towards one another, the undeniable rope tethering their minds and bodies, like the invisible hands of the universe were shoving them together, screaming this is where you’re supposed to be . In that moment, Ella didn’t want to deny it. She didn’t want to fight with him or fight against him. She wanted to yield, just for a transitory moment, to explore this strange, burning thing between them, even if it was a taste of something she couldn’t keep.

Ella was about to succumb to the combustible chemistry when the door to her office banged into the desk still blocking the entry. Ella thrust Kellen away from her just as Eyal poked his helmet into the office.

“Did you put this here to keep me out?” Eyal growled at her.

“No, actually, but now I might just leave it there.” There was nothing friendly about her smile.

“Do you mind?” Kellen snarled at the envoy, either not realizing who this was or simply not caring about the consequences. “We were having a private conversation.”

“I heard no talking, so I assumed Ms. Rose was in here alone.” Ella directed her face at the floor, just in case her cheeks were as red as they felt. “I can come back when you’re finished.”

Kellen barked, “Yes,” at the same moment Ella insisted, “No,” the two of them glaring at each other.

“Mr. Kilic was just about to speak to me regarding a student.” She’d come to the conclusion that the moment had passed, the tension fizzled into the ether. Disappointment lingered in its wake, though whether it was one-sided or shared between them was unclear. Eyal pushed the desk forward to make more space for himself to enter the room, then arranged the desk back where it was supposed to be, towards the backend of the room. Kellen watched Eyal move around her office to come stand at Ella’s side, glaring at the envoy like Eyal’s breaths were offensive to him.

“His name is Markus Loewe,” Kellen explained, peeling his eyes off the envoy to gaze at Ella.

Can he leave? Kellen asked her privately.

Aros Cavalian has assigned him to be my protection detail, she answered, sending him an image of her rolling her eyes. Kellen coughed out a laugh, then bit his lip to silence it when he received a quizzical look from Eyal.

Wait. Aros Cavalian? he suddenly spluttered when he thought deeper about what she’d just said.

Stop getting distracted and tell me about the student.

“He’s a Cerebri student in my History of the Gods class. He’s a senior. I’ve had him in class before. He’s never been the best student, mostly because he doesn’t apply himself, but he’s always been able to at least scrape by to pass his classes. He’s currently failing my class.” Ella slid her laptop towards her, lifting the lid, and typed in the password to the official Delmarth database to access his report card, taking a seat in her office chair.

“How badly is he failing?” she asked while she typed in the name, needing Kellen to spell it for her.

“He hasn’t handed in a single assignment all semester. He’s failed all his chapter quizzes and the first two exams.”

Ella ripped her eyes off the screen to look at him.

“He hasn’t handed in a single assignment all year?!” Kellen nodded. “Did you speak to him about it?”

“Of course I did,” Kellen snapped, then softened his tone when her eyes thinned into slits. “I spoke to him on Monday. I gave him an opportunity to make up the work. I told him he wouldn’t get full credit for the assignments, but if he got the missing reading logs to me by today, by Wednesday, I would give him partial credit for them. He didn’t even show up for class today. I later saw him with his little friends on the quad, and he literally ran away from me when I tried to talk to him.” The corners of Ella’s lips twitched. Kellen growled, “This isn’t funny, Rose.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I was just imagining a kid running away from you.” He glared at her until she got her silly smile under control. “Why did you wait until now to bring this to my attention?”

“I wanted to give him a chance to fix his behavior, something I’ve never done and won’t ever do again. I went to Headmistress Dyer this morning about what to do, since I’ve never dealt with something like this, and she told me this was your jurisdiction, for some reason.” Ella’s glowered sharpened at the for some reason. “I didn’t know you dealt with this kind of thing. I thought you were only a therapist.”

“I’m not a therapist,” she reminded him.

“Then what the fuck do you do?” Ella’s brows soared up to her hairline. Kellen winced, then rushed, “That came out more aggressive than I meant it to, but it was a genuine question.” Ella shook her head.

“I don’t know what to make of you, Kilic.”

“If it helps,” he drawled, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets, “neither do I.”

“It does a tiny bit.” Her muscles relaxed when his expression softened. “To answer your question, I provide social, emotional, and academic support to all students, so yes, a student failing a class absolutely falls under my jurisdiction.” She focused back on her computer screen when Markus’s current report card loaded. Her eyes scanned the data. “He’s passing his other courses. Barely, but he’s passing.”

“So it’s just my class, then?” Kellen leaned over her shoulder to look at the screen. His chin hovered near her neck. She had the strangest urge to nuzzle her cheek against his, but stifled it by gripping the edges of her computer screen.

“We should get him in here and talk to him together.” Ella glanced at Eyal. “Would you go grab Markus Loewe and bring him to my office, please? He’s currently in…” She pulled up his schedule. “He’s currently in mathematics with Mr. Anesh in the Cerebri sector, room three forty.”

“I’m not a delivery boy,” Eyal barked at her. Ella felt Kellen’s scowl mug the air around her, her expression far more gentle and pleading then she knew Kellen’s was without even looking at it.

“Please?” she entreated.

Eyal sighed, grumbling, “I don’t get paid enough for this,” then exited the room, slamming her door shut.

“He seems lovely,” Kellen quipped.

“It says on Markus’s schedule that Mr. Takeshi is his advisor,” Ella read off the screen. “We should loop him into this conversation after we speak to Markus. Also Daniel Madix.”

“Why the fuck do we need Daniel Madix?” Kellen’s still swollen eye convulsed at the mention of Daniel.

“Because he’s the Cerebri department head. He should know that one of his students is failing a class.”

“I’ll let Headmistress Dyer tell him.” Kellen took a seat on her desk, folding his arms across his chest, the material of his black sweater pulling around his biceps. Ella forced her eyes to move to his face, wandering to his black-and-blue eye.

“What happened with you two?” She had no business asking, but her own curiosity got the better of her.

“He’s pissed at me for hurting Oliviana. For sleeping with Oliviana. For everything really.”

“And why did you? End things with Oliviana?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“I couldn’t give her what she wanted,” he answered after a minute of quietly considering the question. He grew silent, then added, “and she couldn’t give me what I wanted.” Ella spoke with vigilance and tender consideration of each word.

“What is it that you want, Kellen?” Kellen sucked in a breath when she called him by his first name.

“I don’t know anymore,” he murmured through an aggrieved sigh. He suddenly reeled his head back, seeming to truly look at her for the first time, and laughed, “Why are you covered in orange paint?”

“An activity I didn’t anticipate being as messy as it was.” Ella pinched the dirty fabric of her dress and moaned, “When I tell you I am craving a bath so badly right now that I want to scream, I mean it.”

“I believe it.” Kellen lifted a strand of her hair brittle with orange paint, rolling the crunchy wisp between his fingers. It was such a casual invasion of her space, as though he believed it was entitled to him, that the act stole the air from her lungs. He murmured distractedly, “I hear you do laundry every night, sometimes twice in a night if your clothes get dirty after your walk with your dog. You carry a brush with you at all times to make sure your hair stays untangled. The pencils on your desk are always arranged in color order. Any time I move your couch or your chair even an inch to the side, just to see if you’ll notice, you always move it back, without fail.”

“I didn’t know you noticed all of that about me,” she whispered breathlessly.

His gaze pierced her lips when it lifted from her hair to her mouth. “I notice everything you do, Noella.”

Any response Ella could have given died a merciless death when Eyal returned with Markus. Kellen released her hair, fixing his features to remove the dark glint of need that had flashed within his irises, slipping on the mask of the strict professor. Ella threaded her fingers together on her desk, offering Markus a smile that was not returned, then gestured for him to take a seat on the couch.

“We haven’t formally met,” she said, rising from her chair and circling around the desk to stand closer to Markus. Kellen shadowed her movement. “I’m Ms. Rose. I’m the school counselor.”

“You mean the human ,” Markus corrected with disgust, wrinkling his nose at her. She sensed where the tone of this discussion was headed.

“Yes. The human.” Ella rested her backside against the edge of her desk. “Mr. Kilic came to me with some concerns about your grade in his class. He said you haven’t handed in a single assignment all semester and you’ve been failing all your assessments.”

“You told on me?” Markus yapped at Kellen, who, to his credit, was succeeding in keeping a rein on his temper.

“I’m concerned that at this point in the semester, you’re too far gone to be able to pass my class.” He spoke with a gentleness Ella wouldn’t have expected from him. “I’m trying to help you, Markus.”

“So I’ll take the class again next semester. No big deal.” Kellen’s jaw ticked.

“This is your last semester of History of the Gods. Next semester, you’re supposed to move on to War Strategy. If you don’t pass this semester, then you don’t get to take War Strategy. You won’t graduate in June.”

“Fine. So I won’t graduate in June. Whatever.” Ella’s heartrate spiked. Kellen tensed next to her.

I don’t know what to do if he truly doesn’t care, Kellen said mind-to-mind.

Let me try to dig a little deeper, Ella proposed. There may be something else going on. I doubt he actually doesn’t care, but if he really doesn’t, then we will all need to accept the consequences of that choice.

“You seem to be managing the coursework in your others classes, considering you have no other missing assignments,” she probed. “What about Mr. Kilic’s class has been so difficult for you?”

Markus twisted the sleeve of his sweatshirt around his hand. “I don’t know,” he replied, refusing to look at her, like he couldn’t stand the sight of her. “I really don’t want to be here right now.”

“Well, you have to be here right now,” Kellen barked, not as aggressive as he could have been, which alerted Ella that he was really trying to contain his rage. “We’re here because you refuse to do the work and accept the help I’ve offered. I gave you an opportunity to make up the work, and you missed it.”

Markus started to roll his eyes, but Kellen’s glower stopped him in his tracks. He then began to form a sloppy explanation, starting with, “I forgot—”

“Not the I forgot excuse again,” Kellen hissed with his own eye roll. Ella could feel his anger as though it were a tangible object being hurled at Markus’s head. He rose from where he’d positioned himself at her side to incline closer to Markus. “Did you forget to come to my class today? Did you forget that you have a responsibility to show up and do the work, like every other fucking student here? Did you forget that your parents are paying an exorbitant amount of money for you to attend the best school in Cavale? I don’t think you realize what a privilege it is for you to be attending Delmarth, and you’re wasting it, in your last year, when you’re so fucking close to the end. Now you decide to waste it?” Kellen shook his head. “It’s sad, Markus. It’s really sad.”

Damn, Ella thought to herself, awe-struck by that performance. She was tempted to clap.

“Did something happen over the summer when you weren’t at school?” Markus laughed like what she’d said was intended to be funny.

“What a dumb question,” he chuckled to himself.

“It’s not a dumb question,” Kellen argued in her defense, taking her off guard for a moment.

“I’m trying to understand if there’s something outside of school that’s preventing you from being able to focus on your work.” She tried another approach. “Do you have an issue with Mr. Kilic specifically?”

“No,” Markus answered, then threw in, “I mean, he’s a dick, but no.” Kellen’s lips wrestled with a smile. “I just don’t like the class. We’ve been reading this same book since Kindergarten. It’s boring.”

“There are a lot of myths to go through,” Kellen contended, though beneath the statement, she sensed he agreed with Markus. “The Gods want us to be steeped in their full history before we enlist in the army.”

“ Fuck the Gods!” Markus exclaimed. Eyal flinched in the corner of the room. “Who fucking cares? I don’t need to know their whole fucking history. I don’t want to fight in their bogus war, so what’s the fucking point? What has Aros done to actually earn my support, huh? So he lost his mate a thousand years ago. Now every Primordial is expected to give their life to his cause? To do what exactly? What are we even fighting for? Are we trying to get Tala back? No. We’re essentially fighting our own people, just because our stupid kings hate each other and refuse to coexist. It’s ridiculous!”

Well, that was very telling, Kellen marveled.

What if he’s a Dissident? Ella speculated. Maybe he supports Edar and that’s why he doesn’t want to read about the Gods.

Not much we can do about that, Kellen replied. He either puts his head down and plays the part of loyal subject, even if he hates it, or he risks the Gods tossing him into Terminus. Ella had her own personal feelings about that talk track that she didn’t have time to delve into right now.

“I understand the work being tedious,” she said, validating his feelings, “and at the same time, we sometimes have to do things that are tedious because that’s what’s required of us. If there are accommodations we can make to help you, we can discuss that together. If the material is too dense and you’re having trouble understanding it, Mr. Kilic or myself can work with you one-on-one after hours to go over the chapters. I want you to be successful. Mr. Kilic wants you to be successful. We want to put you in the best position to be able to graduate in June, but in order to do that, we need you to work with us.”

“I have no interest in working with you,” Markus snarled at her, launching his saliva through the air right in her direction. When the spit struck her face, Eyal came to life from the corner of the room, rushing forward. The envoy lunged at Markus like he was about to tackle the Primordial to the ground.

“Don’t!” Ella cried, swatting at Eyal to make him back away from the boy.

“You do not spit on a teacher,” Kellen reprimanded, flames sparking around the pupils of his eyes. “That is completely unacceptable, especially someone who is only trying to help you. Ms. Rose is your school mom. Exercise some self-control and give her the same respect you’d give your actual mom. What is wrong—”

“It’s fine, Kilic,” she interjected, wiping the spit off her cheek. Lashing out with cruel words wouldn’t help Markus take this seriously. Ella lowered her focus back over Markus, the breath she released wearied and desperate. “You say you don’t care if you graduate. What do you care about? What do you see for your future?”

Markus blinked vacuously at her, no evidence that there was a soul within those lifeless amber eyes.

“Nothing,” he answered in a way that left her certain he only said that to spite her, not because he actually didn’t care about his future. “Can I go now?” He had the audacity to sound bored with this conversation.

“The fuck you thin—” Kellen started to shout, but Ella raised her hand to fetter the flow of outrage.

“Do you understand the consequences of the choice you’re making?” she asked Markus, her tone more stern then she’d typically use with students. “Do you understand that if you fail this class, you will not graduate? You won’t get to take War Strategy next semester, so you will have to repeat both classes next year, when all your friends have graduated and started their lives. Not taking this class isn’t an option, so if you put it off now, you will eventually have to take it again, because that’s what’s required in Cavale. Do you understand?” Markus’s only response was a blink of his lashes. Ella sighed. “Fine. You can go.”

What’re you doing? Kellen asked her as Markus rose from the couch and gathered his backpack.

We can’t force him to care, she said. If this is how he’s choosing to make his bed, then it’s time to help him prepare to lie in it.

“This discussion isn’t over,” Kellen called out. Markus raised his middle finger over his head before he slammed the door shut. “What a little bitch, ” he grunted, spinning towards Ella.

“Did you just call me his school mom ?” she laughed when Markus shut the door. “What does that make you then?” Kellen’s lips sprawled out in a brilliant, mischievous grin, unveiling those dangerous dimples.

“I think you know what I’d call myself, sweetheart.”

“Ew!” she cried when the meaning clicked in place. She steered her finger at his face, specifically his impish grin. “EW! That is so inappropriate! Do I need to do the sexual harassment training with you again?”

“Again? When did you do it the first time?” Ella’s jaw dropped.

“The second week of school. I did it for the whole faculty. I did sexual harassment and suicide prevention. Was no one paying attention?!”

“Everyone hated you back then,” was his only response. She deflated in her chair.

“That was such important information.” Ella suddenly rethought what he just inadvertently admitted. “You said everyone hated me back then. Does that mean you don’t hate me anymore?”

“I never said that.” She knew he was lying. “I just think we’ve found a common enemy.”

“Markus is not an enemy. He’s a lost kid who’s having a crisis of faith in a country that won’t allow him to question what’s being taught to him, not without the threat of being tortured for the rest of his life if he expresses any kind of dissent. Honestly, I understand his frustrations with the Gods.”

“I would be careful with what you say,” Eyal warned, pointing up at the ceiling—not the ceiling, but to the heavens.

“I am not a Primordial,” she objected, “so I will not be cut off from my right to freedom of speech.”

“As long as you remain in Cavale, Ms. Rose, you must abide by the same laws as all Primordials.”

“So I’m not allowed to have an opinion? No one is, without the threat of being tossed into Terminus? It’s wrong.”

When Kellen lightly grazed her knee with his hand, his fingers crawling up to squeeze her thigh in an act of disapproval, for a brief moment, Ella thought she saw stars pepper over her vision.

You’re entering dangerous territory, Noella, the same male voice that both sounded like Kellen, and yet didn’t, cautioned her. Do not overestimate the protection the Gods have given you. Even Aros.

Who are you? Ella asked the voice.

Coz. My dragon, Kellen explained, adding, he doesn’t shut the fuck up, but he’s right this time.

Your insolence is uncalled for, Coz spat at Kellen, then directed at Ella, Apologize to the envoy for your disrespect, then ask him to leave us alone a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Ella stammered, contorting her voice to sound deferential and conciliatory. “That was unfair of me to say. You’ve done nothing but follow the orders given by your king, and I’ve been such a bitch to you. You don’t deserve for me to give you such a hard time. I’m sorry.”

Even though she couldn’t see his face beneath the helmet, she heard the smile in Eyal’s voice.

“I appreciate that, Noella.” She tasted genuine guilt on her tongue for the way she’d been treating him. Everything she’d said had been true—he didn’t deserve her anger, not when it was directed elsewhere.

Can you please ask him to call you Ella? Kellen requested.

Why? she asked.

Because if it’s alright with you, I’d like to be the only one to call you Noella. Ella’s face burned.

“Please, call me Ella,” she extended to the envoy with a sincere, agreeable smile. Then, she intreated, “Would it be alright if Mr. Kilic and I had a moment alone to discuss our plan for Markus?”

“Of course. I’ll wait in the hall.” Eyal dipped his head in his version of a bow, then stepped outside.

Why did you make me send him away? she asked Coz.

The sound of his voice was irritating me, the dragon replied.

“Like I said,” Kellen grumbled aloud, tapping his index finger against his temple, “He never shuts the fuck up.”

“So he’s just like you, then.” Ella flashed an artificially sweet smile. Kellen didn’t bother to dignify that with a response.

“What are our next steps with Markus?” The smile faded from her face, replaced with a disheartened frown.

“We call in his parents and explain that he won’t graduate if he doesn’t get his grade up in your class. Maybe he’ll care more if his parents are involved, or maybe he won’t, but either way, his parents should know what’s happening. Headmistress Dyer, Mr. Takeshi, and Mr. Madix should be included in that meeting.”

“Let me make the call to his parents,” Kellen suggested. “If you call, they’ll hang up. They’ll come if I ask them to.”

“Fine. You call, but I’ll still be at that meeting.”

“It might be better if you’re not.” Ella pulled her head back to glare at him. “Didn’t you see how he just reacted to being in the same room as you? That anger comes from somewhere. It’s entirely possible his parents will react the same way to you.”

“I don’t give a shit,” Ella burst out, Kellen’s brows raising along with his widening eyes. “It’s my job to be a support for the students, even the students who hate me. If a decision is made about a plan to help him, I want to be part of that discussion. I will absolutely be at that meeting, and his parents will have to suck it the fuck up. If I can tolerate being around people who hate me and literally fantasize about killing me, then they can tolerate being around me for an hour.”

Reverence spilled out of the heated look he threw her. Did he know how much emotion he revealed in his eyes? Did he know the way it caused her heart to thrash wildly in her chest, caused the blood in her cheeks to simmer, caused every muscle in her body to ache with the need to be close to him?

“You make it so fucking hard,” he mumbled on his stroll to the door.

“Make what hard?” she asked, bringing him to a halt just when he’d enfolded his fingers around the doorknob.

Kellen spun around, green eyes shimmering, then answered, “For me to hate you.” Ella’s heart leapt into her throat.

“Good,” she whispered, then watched Kellen swallow a harsh breath and quickly flee the room.