Chapter Twenty-One

There was no way I was going back to Demir's lesson after that. He'd set me up to almost kill one of the few people I cared about inside this place, and everyone else had been watching and laughing like the whole thing was some kind of twisted game. I didn't trust myself to face them after that. It had absolutely nothing to do with not trusting myself to be around the humans in the den. That would be ridiculous. Feeding once, losing control once, didn't make me dangerous. It didn't mean I was going to hurt someone.

Again.

I just…I needed some air. Needed to get the delicious taste of blood out of my mouth and try to clear my head. I needed to think straight…but I didn't want to.

Which was exactly why I needed to.

I hurried through the hallways, brushing past the occasional student I saw—classes hadn't started for all the factions yet. No-one stopped me, and I tuned out the whispers that followed me as I went. So what that they were talking about me. What else was new? The sound of their hearts hammering like drums was new. The scent of hot blood filling my nostrils was new. And the hunger burning at the back of my throat.

I just needed to get out of here.

I slammed open the door and crashed straight into a solid wall of muscle.

"Well, look who it is. Not that it isn't amusing to see you running into my arms, but I'm more interested in seeing you crawl at my feet."

I stared at Kallan, and of course Eva and Harvey behind him.

"Trust me, if I'm ever near your feet it'll be because I'm cutting them off," I sneered at him.

"Big words for a weak little human. Oh, wait, you're not even human, are you? Pathetic little illegal mongrel."

"Weak?" I curled my lip, the blood pounding in my temples urging me to bite. "I'm going to break you in half."

"You and which army, dhampir? Because I don't see any of your traitor's pack backing you up."

"Traitor would imply I'd ever had some kind of allegiance to you and your pack of mutts. And trust me, I don't need a pack to take you down. You might like to run your mouth, but we both know you're just…" I smirked. "Compensating."

He lashed out, fast as a snake, grabbing my throat and tossing me out through the door. I seemed to fly through the air in slow motion, and I made the most of the time, placing my hands carefully to break my fall on the damp grass, and rolling easily into a crouch.

"What the fuck?" Kallen's eyes widened as I straightened. Much as I wanted to echo his sentiment—I might not have spent my life falling over my own feet, but I wasn't usually what anyone would consider graceful—this wasn't the time. I canted my head and pasted on a maniacal smile that felt all too natural as I swaggered towards him.

He took a step back, and damned if I couldn't hear his heartbeat stutter.

"That was rude," I said. "You could hurt a girl's feelings doing that."

He rolled out his shoulders. "Oh, I'm going to hurt a lot more than that."

"I think we've already established that's not going to happen."

His lips curved nastily. "That? That was nothing. And I don't care what kind of freak you are, you can't fight all three of us at once."

Well, he had me there. I didn't know what the hell was going on with me right now, but I could already feel my heightened senses fading—and with them, presumably, my newfound ability not to land on my ass when someone threw me across the grounds.

"Not so cocky now, are you?" Eva sneered. "Freak."

"Freak," Harvey jeered, jutting his chin at me. The three of them spread out, circling me.

Yeah, this was really shaping up to be a shit day.

Kallan lunged forward, throwing a punch at my face and I twisted aside. A second followed right behind it and I twisted again, but not quite quickly enough, and his fist caught a glancing blow to my shoulder. I sucked in a sharp breath and ignored the pain as I launched myself at him. A leg slammed into my midriff—Harvey's, I think—and the air exploded out of me as I was flung back. I hit the ground hard and rolled, coming up easily in a crouch.

A ripple caught my eye from my left and I twisted to see Eva rising in her wolf form, lips peeled back in a feral snarl. Fuck.

Harvey leered and shucked his shirt.

"What's the matter, freak?" Kallan taunted. "Getting scared?"

Shitting myself, as it happened, but I wasn't about to tell him that. "Just wondering why your two little friends are too cowardly to fight in human form."

Kallan threw his head back and laughed, then the sound cut off abruptly and he snapped his chin back down to fix me with his cold stare. "That line might work with your little freak friends, but we're shifters. We worship strength, and we never give up an advantage."

"If you worship strength, shifter," a voice said calmly from behind me, "then you should be bowing at our feet right about now."

I twisted round to the newcomers, and my heart sank. Thaden and Thessalia. Exactly what I needed to make a bad day worse.

"Don't you think so, sister?" Thaden continued mildly.

"We don't bow to leeches," Kallan sneered.

"If they don't intend to bow, brother," Thessalia said, tilting her head, "I don't think they require limbs."

"I do believe you're correct, sister."

Kallan snorted, but he seemed a whole lot less sure of himself than he was a minute ago. "We still have you outnumbered, leech."

"Two vampires, three shifters—two of them not even shifted—I'd say the odds are pretty even." He gestured my way. "And the halfbreed tips the scales in our favor. I dare say she'll fight with us." He heaved a dramatic sigh. "And then I'll have to report the fight to the council, and the shifters will no doubt find out you were carrying out an unsanctioned attack against the mate of the Iron Shadows' heir, and I can only imagine what kind of impact that will have on the opinions of the packs in the coming war…"

Kallan and Harvey shared wary looks.

"It all seems rather bothersome, brother," Thessalia said blandly, sounding bored.

"I agree, sister." He sighed again. "But needs must."

"Forget it," Kallan spat. "We've got better things to do with our time."

He jerked his chin at Eva, who turned on her heel and loped away.

"See you around," Kallan spat, eyeballing me. "You better watch your step, freak."

He followed behind Eva and Harvey, and I watched until he was gone, then reluctantly turned my attention back to Thaden and Thessalia, to find both of them regarding me intently.

"You've got a talent for making friends, haven't you, sweetness?" Thaden said.

I scowled at him. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"We're royalty, sweetness. Classes aren't mandatory for us."

"Right. Obviously. So the two of you just thought you'd wander around, looking for ways to make my day worse?"

"Don't flatter yourself," Thessalia said, dropping the Drusilla act. At least, I was pretty sure it was an act. "I have places to be."

She turned and left, leaving me alone with Thaden. My very least favorite place to be.

"Are you going with her?" I asked. "Or are you sticking around to make my morning even worse?"

His expression hardened. "Just protecting my blood bag."

His hand shot out and grabbed my chin. I tried to jerk away but whatever supernatural strength boost I'd gotten from Sam's blood had either faded fast or been no match for Thaden to begin with. Either way, I couldn't stop him turning my head to get a good look at my face.

"You've fed." It was a statement, not a question, so I didn't bother to answer it. Thaden's eyes bored into mine and I jerked my head again, but he still didn't let me go. Grinding my teeth together, I met his eye.

"Yes. I fed. And if you'd fucking been there—"

Then what? He'd have helped? He'd have been able to stop it? Stop me almost killing Sam? Hardly. He'd made it clear more than once what I was to him. Hell, he'd probably have been one of the assholes laughing while it happened.

"Would you just— Just let me go, okay?"

"You liked it."

"Let me go!"

I slammed my hands into his chest and he staggered back.

"Cali…"

I didn't stick around to hear what he was going to say, whirling on my heel and shoving my way back into the academy. So much for my air.