Runaway Mortal (11 page)

I didn’t say anything at first, but my mind was filling up with a million thoughts. Why had he reacted like that? Why had he seemed to take it so personally? Why was he apologizing?

“You weren’t completely wrong.” I shrugged a shoulder, trying not to seem too affected by his words even though they were causing those damn flutters to start up in my belly. Maybe they were hunger pains. I took another bite of my muffin for good measure. “I was being reckless. I guess I’m in a lot of trouble, huh?”

“No, not exactly,” he said slowly.

“What?” I stopped chewing, surprised.

Loire heaved a sigh, looking uncomfortable. “I decided not to report your indiscretion.”

“Why?” Nothing was making sense right now. Wasn’t SRECON all about protocol?

“Because that would mean Tyrone would get into a lot of trouble for not doing his job properly.” Loire’s voice was tense as he spoke. “And I’ve known him for too long to do that to him.”

Huh. So SRECON did break the rules sometimes. “Does Veritas know?”

Loire shook his head, looking down at the ground. “No, which is why I wanted to speak to you alone. I need to make sure that you won’t think too hard about what happened last night or she’ll pick up on it. Can you do that?”

“Of course,” I said, a little too smugly. “I’ve been keeping my thoughts from Veritas since the beginning.” Sometimes I was reckless, but I knew how to keep a secret.

That got his attention, and he jerked his head back towards me. “Like the reason why you ran away and then came back?”

When I didn’t say anything, Loire stood up in frustration and began pacing. “If you told us what was going on maybe we could help you.”

Ah, there was the “we”. Had someone put him up to this? Or was he actually concerned for me?

I stood up to my full height. I was almost as tall as Loire, but he still had a few inches on me. “You tricked me once. I’m not going to let you do it again. My business isn’t your concern.”

He stopped pacing and stopped short of me; his eyes were the same color as the sky before a bad storm. “You let yourself be tricked. If you ever want to make it into SRECON, you need to have your guard up.”

“Your guard didn’t seem up last night,” I accused, not flinching at the look in his eyes.

Loire’s body was tense as we stared each other down. I’d probably hit a nerve when I’d said that. I wasn’t sure why I’d even said that. Something in his demeanor changed—he relaxed a little and I felt myself do the same as we maintained eye contact.

A warm feeling grew between us; I could practically feel the air around us humming. It was like a part of him was calling out to me, to touch him, to feel him. It was the strangest thing. I almost felt like I was back with him that night at the bar.

I wanted to wrap myself around that feeling and hold onto it. I wanted to become a part of it.

Surprise flashed across Loire’s face, and he glanced down quickly before stepping away. For some reason he seemed disorientated for a second. “I’m done talking about this with you. Just count yourself lucky that the headmaster isn’t going to find out about last night.”

Embarrassment washed over me. I couldn’t believe that I’d let my feelings take over for a second. It was not cool thinking about Loire in that way. He was off-limits. I mean, I wasn’t even sure if I even
liked
him.

For now, I was just thankful that he’d kept me out of trouble.

Chapter Eleven

“Rise and shine, sugar.” A cheerful voice roused me from sleep.

I’d been dreaming of broken glass, its jagged pieces floating in front of me in the shape of a figure-eight. Sand was swirling all around me like it was being carried by the wind. It was confusing and I couldn’t figure out what it meant. Why couldn’t I have sexy dreams about
One Direction
like normal teenage girls did?

Forcing my eyes open, I saw a blurry shape take form beside me. Tyrone flashed me a white smile, and I rolled over and covered my head with my pillow in response.

“What do you want, Tye?” I groaned, my voice coming out strange and muffled.

“Your uncaring attitude absolutely kills me,” he said in an overdramatic tone. “I thought we had something special.”

I ignored him and rolled over again, surveying the room. “Where’s Loire?”

Mock-hurt filled Tyrone’s face. “I thought our time together meant something to you, but you’d rather be with him? I see how it is.” He folded his arms across his chest and pouted.

I tossed my pillow at him, but he managed to jump out of the way and avoid it just in time.

“I like it when you’re angry,” he said with a laugh, watching me climb out of bed. “It’s such a turn on.”

Grabbing an elastic band from my dresser, I swept my messy hair into a ponytail. “You still didn’t answer my question.” I sat back down on my bed. “Where’s Loire?”

“Busy,” Tyrone replied simply. “Lover boy has no time for you anymore. How does that make you feel?”

“Lover boy?” I raised an eyebrow in question, trying to keep my cool.

Tyrone smirked knowingly. “I know you have the hots for him.”

“You don’t know anything,” I said, refusing to give him anything to work with. There was no way he could know that I found Loire attractive or the pull I’d felt towards him yesterday.

“Sure I do,” he said with a smug expression. “I saw everything I needed to see when he busted into that demon kid’s party. With the way you were dressed and the way he looked at you, I knew there was something going on. There’s some major friction between you two and we all know that channels itself into-”

My cheeks flushed at his insinuation. “You really need help. There’s nothing going on between me and Loire. I hate him.”

“Call it whatever you want,” he said with a wink. “But we all know hate is just another side of love and you guys should really get it out of your system.”

The thought of Loire and I “getting it out of our system” snaked its way into my subconscious, and the flush I’d felt in my cheeks spread to the rest of my body.

I didn’t get how hate and love were even slightly related, but I decided to change the subject. “You’re lucky you didn’t get into trouble for being at the party. Very Tassels would have turned you into stone with a mere look.”

Tyrone shrugged, like it didn’t bother him either way. “Loire wouldn’t want me to get into trouble and it’s not like you would’ve said anything. I call this a win-win.”

Realizing that I only had an hour before first period started, I shooed Tyrone out of the room so I could shower and get changed. Misha had left a note telling me she had a few things to do before breakfast, so I took my time showering, knowing I wouldn’t have to share the hot water with her.

Once I was dressed, Tyrone and I headed down to the dining hall where Anna and Contessa were eating together. When Contessa caught sight of me, her lips upturned in disdain and she said something to Anna in a low tone before hurrying off.

“Good to know she’s on my side.” I sat down beside Anna as Tyrone went to grab breakfast. I honestly didn’t give a demon’s tail what some uppity angel thought of me. She could go choke on that metaphorical halo of hers.

Anna’s face was filled with concern as she turned to me, but whatever had been bothering her was quickly pushed aside as she broke into a warm smile. “Morning, Kat. Tessa just had a few things to do. How come Tyrone’s with you?”

“Loire’s busy,” I said, doubting that was the real reason Tessa had bolted at the sight of me. “So Tye’s filling in.”

“Oh, okay.” Anna took a bite of her bagel and frowned. “Wait.
Tye?
You call him Tye now?”

I shrugged in response. I guess I did. “Hey, I’m sorry about the whole thing with Sander’s party and Misha-”

“It’s fine.” Anna sighed, tucking her beautiful hair behind her ears.

I reached across the table and grasped her free hand. “No, it’s not fine. I should’ve said something then. I just really want the two of you to talk again.”

Anna gave me a tight smile. “I’m sure we will. In time.”

***

Tyrone followed me around for the rest of the day with no sign of Loire anywhere. I was beginning to wonder when, or if, Loire would ever be back when Tyrone pulled me aside after third period.

“I’m leaving now,” he said.

I’d just been on my way down to the gym for Martial Arts when he said this. I spun around, studying his face to see if he was being serious. “What? You’re leaving me unguarded?”

“I didn’t say that. Besides, I always know where you are, serial killer.” Tyrone motioned at the ira bands and gave me a mysterious smile before walking off.

He’d left me feeling even more confused than I already was. What the hell was going on?

Still absorbed by Tyrone’s weird behavior, I stepped into the gym and didn’t notice Professor Martin right away, who was standing at the front of the room.

“Is there a reason why you are late to my class, Miss Lyrille?” Professor Martin asked in his wheezy voice.

Groaning, I turned to face him and then blanched as Tyrone’s weird behavior suddenly made sense. Loire stood beside the professor, looking incredibly smug. He wore black track pants and a snug, black tank top that showed off his muscular arms.

I had never seen him show off his arms before and it fazed me for a few seconds. They were huge and covered with numerous tattoos. I liked big arms and tattoos.

Cue drooling.

“Uh, um, not really.” I had wanted to sound indifferent, but instead my words came out like a spluttering mess.

Professor Martin didn’t seem with my response. “Well, since you’re already up, come over here. You can be part of the demonstration for today’s lesson.”

Reluctantly, I placed my bag against the wall and walked over to him, trying not to make eye contact with Loire. We hadn’t spoken since our awkward encounter in the courtyard, and I was pretty sure he was still pissed off about it. He wasn’t exactly my favorite person right now either, despite his hot arms.

“Today we are very lucky to have the assistance of a highly skilled SRECON agent, Loire Beaumont,” Professor Martin said grandly, like he was announcing the arrival of the president.

I snorted and covered my mouth, turning it into a fake sneeze instead when I saw Loire glance at me.

“Thank you very much for volunteering your time, Loire,” Professor Martin continued. “Could you tell us a bit about how you use martial arts in your field of work?”

Loire nodded and stepped forward to address the class. “Martial arts is precision fighting. There is no second guessing; each move is inflicted with purpose. As a supernatural reconnaissance agent, we need to go in and complete a job with little mess and fast results. Martial arts is a great way to disarm your opponent without the blood and gore.”

The entire class seemed fascinated with his words, which only worsened my mood. The girls were staring at him like they’d never seen a male before, and the boys looked at him like they wanted to be him.

Professor Martin beamed. “And that is exactly why you need to do your best in this class by training and studying hard.”

By default, everyone zoned out as Professor Martin gave his little speech. I chose that moment to sneak a peek at Loire who was standing very still, a polite smile on his face, his hands neatly folded in front of him. He seemed to be interested in what Professor Martin was saying, but I could tell that his mind was somewhere else. His stormy, blue eyes seemed distracted as they flitted around the gym, and then finally rested on me.

Not wanting to be caught staring, I quickly looked back at Professor Martin, feigning interest as he finally ended his sermon and gestured at Loire grandly. “Loire, would you be so kind as to demonstrate the move we will be practicing today?”

Loire approached me with the ghost of a smile playing around his mouth, immediately making me feel uneasy. He stopped a few feet away from me, grabbed the dagger from his belt, and suddenly threw it at me.

The other students gasped, but my focus was on the dagger hurtling towards me.

My natural instincts kicked in and I deftly caught it, taken aback that Loire had risked throwing a weapon at a student without warning. For all I knew, he could’ve been trying to decapitate me.

Seeming satisfied, he turned back to the rest of the class who were staring at us in awe. “I would’ve been worried if an eleventh grade mortal hadn’t been able to catch a knife thrown at close range. Then again, I haven’t heard the greatest things about Katerina Lyrille so I took my chances.” He shrugged as an afterthought and the students laughed.

A heat began burning inside of my belly. It wasn’t acid reflux; it was rage from being mocked by Loire in front of everyone. I needed to get it out somehow and Loire would be that unfortunate target.

As Loire turned towards me again, I was already anticipating his next words, almost predicting them before he even said them.

“Come at me with the knife.” He looked at me levelly, his face relaxed. “Attack me.”

A primal cry escaped my lips as I charged forward. I didn’t need further prompting, I didn’t need an invitation. I just wanted to show Loire that I wasn’t as pathetic as he thought I was.

I lunged at him with the dagger, aiming for his left shoulder, but before I could comprehend what was happening, Loire grabbed me under the armpit. His fingers dug into my soft flesh as he flipped my entire body over his shoulder like I weighed nothing. Before I knew what was happening, my back slammed painfully down onto the hard surface of the gym floor.

There were several excited gasps, but all I could register was Loire leaning over me, his fingers pressing into my throat. My body went limp, my head became fuzzy, and within seconds, Loire had snatched the dagger out of my lifeless hand.

The pressure around my throat stopped and I gratefully sucked in deep breaths of air. Loire moved away from me as the class burst into cheers and applause. Professor Martin offered me a hand, which I grudgingly accepted as I got back up on my feet.

“That is only one of the many moves that fall under one of the many different categories of martial arts,” Loire was saying to the class. “This particular branch is known as sambo or ‘killing your attacker with her own knife and making her look like a giant moron’ as I’m sure Katerina has just discovered.”

Everyone burst into a fit of laughter, and I glowered at Loire who looked like he was trying not to join in. A hot flush spread across my face, further adding to my humiliation. I wasn’t going to forgive Loire for embarrassing me like that.

The rest of the students stood up and Professor Martin began splitting everyone into pairs. “Yes, you two can go together. No, girls, you cannot be in a group of three. Mr. Leary, who is your partner?” he asked a large boy with a shock of blonde hair.

“Anyone except
her
,” Max Stanton said loudly, tilting his head in my direction as his friends laughed at me.

Something inside me snapped, and all the anger and frustration I’d been bottling up finally exploded. I felt my legs move towards Max as if I had no control over them. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but I knew I wanted Max to hurt as much as I did.

Without warning, two firm hands clamped down on both my shoulders and steered me sharply away from Max and his friends. I didn’t need to turn my head to know it was Loire. He guided me outside where the first drops of afternoon rain were beginning to fall.

I pulled myself free from his grasp and spun on him, anger coursing through my body like poison. “Why did you stop me?” I demanded, balling up my fists in frustration. I really wanted to kick something right now.

“I was saving-”

I didn’t let him finish. “I don’t need saving, okay? I’m doing fine on my own!”

Loire rubbed his temple with a finger, a sudden look of exhaustion passing across his face. “If you would just hear me out, I was going to say that I was saving
him
from you.”

My mouth fell open in surprise and my hands relaxed at my sides. “You were
what
?” His words weren’t making any sense. They contradicted everything he’d said about me just minutes ago in front of the class.

“I know that you’re more than capable of dealing someone a great amount of pain. I was saving him from the embarrassment of getting his ass kicked by a girl half his size,” Loire said in a quiet voice.

“Don’t mess with me, Loire,” I cried, my anger returning a little. “You humiliated me in front of everyone like I was some pathetic weakling, right after you almost strangled me to death!”