7

P rofessor Mallory, who tells me to call him Valin, is circling me while I stand with my fists raised, my elbows tight against my ribs for protection.

“You are quite weak, little Seraphine.” He inspects my posture, flattening his hand on the small of my back. “Straighten your spine and try to relax.”

I don’t relax at all. He’s everywhere.

He lets me punch his side, but I might as well have punched a wall.

“Good, now use more power.” He smiles when I groan and laughs every time I hurt my fist. “Come on. Harder.”

I throw my fist.

“Harder.”

I throw it again, missing him.

“ Harder .”

Dane is watching us as he spars with Orsen; they’re both punching each other and using their powers to battle. Orsen whips him with a wave of water, and Dane nearly burns him to a crisp before a black mass of shadows shoves his friend to the other side of the arena.

Typical that he doesn’t follow the rules. We aren’t to use powers, since everyone is training to fight as a human.

We have our fighting uniform on. The girls are wearing shorts and tops with the academy logo, and the boys are wearing black sweats with tanks. Everyone is sweating, and the space around us is full of trees and buildings and objects to mimic a battleground, despite being a class where students must learn how to fight without powers.

For some reason, the teacher wants to work with me again. I initially thought he was taking pity on me for not having powers and all, but the attractive man has done nothing but put his hands on me, floor me, and grab at my hair.

My back slams into the ground, his hand pushing on my chest. “Focus.”

I blink away the shock and windedness.

After getting back to my feet, I take a blow to the ribs, then something shoves me to the side. Valin’s fist misses my face by an inch, and I glance over at the twins to thank them, but none of them are looking at me.

But Dane is watching us. So much so that Orsen gets a good hit in.

Valin continues his lesson, and by the end, I’ve been pinned beneath him more times than I can count. There’s growing frustration, but not on my part. It’s almost suffocating.

“Who is your partner?” Valin asks while we pack up our weapons and head for the changing rooms. “For the security measures.”

“Oh,” I say, capping my bottle of water. “Dane.”

He flattens his lips. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Yep.”

“A beautiful woman like you shouldn’t be around the likes of him.”

I stop walking. “Should you be speaking to me like this? I’m a student.”

“There are no rules, little Seraphine.”

My cheeks heat.

A wave of annoyance hits me from behind, and I already know who it is, even as he says, “The mortal is needed at the main office. Perhaps try to fuck someone else you’re supposed to be teaching.”

Valin smiles, but it’s fake. “Of course.” His blue eyes find me again. “No rules. Remember.” And he winks before walking off.

He even has power over the teachers.

I watch Valin’s muscular back then spin to glare at Dane. “Really?”

Dane crosses his arms. “We have a lot of work to do, and I refuse to sit in your room while it smells like him. He’s fucked half the students here. He’s just flirting with you because he knows you’re easy.”

“I want to slap you.”

He chuckles deeply. “You would only hurt your hand.”

I sneer. “Fuck you.”

“Unfortunately, you might have to.”

I pause, staring at him, before I shoulder into him and get the hell away before he sees how red my cheeks are.

He doesn’t follow me into the changing rooms, or when I march past him to my room.

This is the only time we’ve conversed properly, and it’s him interrupting a teacher flirting with me.

By the time Friday comes, I’m excited to have some peace, but when I get to my dorm after class, a checklist is sitting on my bed.

Ten assignments for our human relations class. Not one or two, to break us into the strange and new set-up of a mixture of sexual and emotional tasks.

Ten.

And the first one needs to be completed by Monday morning.

I sigh and drop down on my bed, pulling out my phone and opening our messages.

Dane Dalton is an asshole, and quite frankly, I’d like to avoid him in every way. Then I can focus on passing and getting the hell off this island, but unfortunately it seems he’s going to be key to making that happen.

Me : Did you get the list?

An hour later, he replies. A small miracle. Maybe Orsen helped him.

Dane : List?

Me : You take too long to reply. It’s like texting a ninety-year-old grandpa. Come to my room. Easier to talk, it seems.

There’s a knock at my door the second after I press send.

I open the door an inch. “You’re fast.”

He looks bored. “Speed is one of my powers. What list?”

“Yet it takes you an hour to type one word.”

I let him in, ignoring the silhouettes around the room dancing and becoming excited in his presence.

“This,” I say, handing him the scroll. “It’s for our human relations class.”

He grimaces as he starts to read the first one then stops. “Task one is due on Monday morning.”

“I know,” I reply, snatching the list and reading it aloud. “Ask your partner five questions to get to know them. You cannot lie or skip. The task will be recorded automatically and sent to me.”

“I don’t want to know anything about you,” he kindly tells me. “You’re as boring as any human.”

I’m pretty sure I’m the only human he knows, which makes that statement invalid.

“Great, then this will be quick. Ask me something.”

He huffs, hands gripping the frame at the foot of my bed. The wood cracks under his grip, and I shouldn’t be concentrating on his fingers flexing around it. But I’m staring.

“I can’t stand you,” he says. “And being forced to be around you makes me sick.”

“Then quit. Go back to your own realm and stay there.”

He waves me off. “It isn’t that easy, or I would.”

I guess I’ll start off task one. “My first question…” I flap the list above my head. “What realm are you from?”

“The Shadow Realm.”

I tilt my head. “There isn’t a Shadow Realm.”

Silence, and Dane lowers his gaze to the ground. “I’m aware.”

Nodding at the meaning behind his quietness, I take a deep breath. “Now you ask me something. We need to get this task out of the way.”

He pays me no heed as he paces the room for far too long. Stops. Paces. Stops. And I want to throw my phone at his head.

“I don’t know what to ask you.”

I huff as Dane leans against my dresser in his dress pants and shirt, the top two buttons still undone, his tie resting across his shoulders. He’s rolled up his sleeves again, and to my dismay, I allow myself to look at the veins on his forearms.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and pushes himself away from the dresser. “This is ridiculous. What am I supposed to ask you? Your fucking favorite color? I can’t stand your presence, and now I’m stuck with you. What I want to know is why?”

I roll my eyes. “I can’t answer that. Ask me something else or leave. I don’t have time for your dramatics, Dane.”

He sighs, chewing on his bottom lip. “If I were to cut you, what color would your blood be?”

I drop my back to the mattress and stare at the swirling shadows, calm and free. The opposite of how I feel. “I hate you.”

“The feeling is mutual. Answer the question, mortal.”

“Red. Happy? My turn. Why are you such a dick to me?”

He shrugs. “You shouldn’t be here, and I simply don’t like you.” He turns and studies the papers on my dresser, then looks at the pictures on the wall as he asks, “Are you a virgin?”

He spins to face me when I don’t give him a response. I scowl before giving in. “Obviously I’m not.”

His eyes take in the full length of my body, clad in my uniform. There’s a hint of anger in his tone with his next words. “Yes. It is obvious.”

“Because I’m nothing but a warm body?”

He hums. “Yep. Yet you did mention having a boyfriend before.” He grits his teeth as he says the word “boyfriend,” like the mere thought of me having a partner makes him sick.

I don’t show any emotion on my face that shows the last part isn’t even remotely true. “Are you a virgin?” I ask, already knowing the answer.

He smirks. “By far the opposite.” Then he wipes the smile off his face. “What sad excuse for a human would ever fuck you? Who is he?”

I could explain my last encounter with Grayson, if he wants the details, but it would sound extremely boring. Instead, I pace. “My next question: why don’t you know your age?”

“It was my turn to ask something. Age is just a number and unnecessary.” He suddenly winces in pain, folding forward, and I look at him in confusion. “Fuck. The questions are spelled. I can’t lie.”

“What did you lie about?”

“I don’t know my age because…” He grits his teeth, gasping. “Fucking hell. I don’t know my age because I don’t fucking know.” The pain stops, and he catches his breath. “After a while, we lose track. I don’t know how old I am.”

Oh.

“That’s quite sad actually.”

His eyes darken, and the shadows on my walls gather. “Do not pity me. I am, and always will be, above you.”

“Great. Next question.”

He closes the distance between us, until I’m nearly snapping my neck to look up at his towering form from my bed. “Why are you here?”

I stand, so we’re nearly head to chest. “I already said I don’t know! Do you want to kill me?” I counter with my last question, desperate to end this. I should ask why I can feel him, his emotions and his presence, but these are the first questions that come to mind.

I’ll ask later.

“Yes,” he says, and when no pain comes his way, I clench my jaw and fists.

“Don’t look at me like that, mortal. I’ve made my feelings towards you very clear. I want to watch you suffer, hear you beg, and feel you take your final breath with my hand around your throat. That is not a lie.”

I do the only thing acceptable at my height—I knee him between the legs, satisfied when he drops down to my feet in agonizing pain.

I should be scared, running, begging for my life, but I hum in contentment as I sit back down on my bed, reading the list once more as he tries not to burn down the castle with fury.

“As soon as you stop crying, get the fuck out of my room.”

A gust of wind swipes the list out of my hand, and Dane is on top of me in a blink. He straddles my waist, rage in his eyes, pinning my hands above me.

His ghost hands take my throat. “Do not ever hit me there again.”

Instead of wincing or flinching, I smirk. “I hope it hurts.”

“Shut the fuck up. I have two questions left. Would you fuck your teacher?”

I shrug. Might as well be honest. “If you mean Valin Mallory, then I probably would.”

His grip tightens on my wrists and throat, but not enough to cause pain. Dominance—that’s what he’s trying to prove.

“Last question.” He lowers his face until his cheek grazes mine and whispers against my ear. “Do you want to fuck me, mortal? Do you want me to slide my cock between your legs and make you forget your precious professor?”

My eyes widen as he lifts his head to look at me. Silver eyes with dilated pupils stare back.

“Absolutely not!” But as the words fall from my lips, so does a loud scream as invisible nails stab into my brain.