Six Ways to Break: Hemlock Academy Book 6, page 7
In fact, there seems to be a small collection of rock crumbles from the window to where I’m standing a few feet away from it, nestled in the awful shag carpeting and making it a danger to the body and the eye.
There has to be something else I missed in the apartment, a reasonable excuse for all this rubble to be here; but the rocks are isolated to this one specific area and don’t stem from something else in the room that I decided to destroy last night in a drunken stupor. Standing where I am, where the rocks stop their progression forward, I have the perfect view of my bed, as if whoever left this mess stood here and went no further inside because they wanted to watch me…sleep? Because that’s not at all creepy.
My first thought is to call Adam, but then I remember that he thinks I’m trash, so I don’t do that. Cory might help, but he's dating the man that thinks I’m trash, so that won’t do either. I could call my brother, but I’m pretty sure that he’s hanging out with his girlfriend since Sunday is his only full day off during the week.
Well, I wanted to live alone and be independent, I guess I can handle this myself.
When I go to open the giant window that I have to cross through to get to the balcony, it strikes me as odd that it opens so smoothly. No noise or resistance, nothing that would alert me if it was being opened. And I’m sure I’m only taking note of that now because I’m fully paranoid by all these little discoveries, but it is worrying.
There’s more rock debris out on the balcony, a lot of it actually. It’s a small space, but I walk around it to try and figure out why the mess looks so weird.
I freeze with my heart in my throat when the rocks seem to take shape into letters.
Somebody was on my balcony, must have taken advantage of this slightly deteriorating gargoyle for material. I don’t know what they used to chip the stones off of him, but all of the gravel I’ve seen inside and out of the apartment is a perfect color and texture match to him. There's even a part of his base that’s extra crumbly now, with loose stones scattered about the railing.
For some reason, my first thought is to comfort and apologize to the fake man. “So sorry they hurt you,” I tell him with my hand on his leg. In the light of day, I can tell he definitely does not have an erection like I was convinced of last night, which is mildly upsetting. “How did they even get up here?” I wonder, because we’re so many floors off the ground, and the building is brick with hardly enough grooves for any sort of finger hold.
There is a tree not too far off, though it would be a hell of a jump to make and there’s no way whoever trespassed could have jumped onto this balcony without me or Wilder noticing.
Damn it. I have to call him, don’t I?
Luckily, my phone is in my pocket so I don't have to go back inside, because leaving the scene and having to face it all over again feels scarier than staying here and becoming somewhat numb to it.
I vaguely remember Wilder saying something about putting his number in my phone when he was helping me to bed last night. I hope I didn’t dream that part. It's a total bitch move to call for help after I completely kicked him out, but if he really wants to be my mate, then I guess he can start now.
I bite my nails as I wait for him to answer the phone, freezing in place when I see him sitting on a bench outside my dorm, looking down as hell. I duck down beneath my railing so he doesn’t see me, because this amuses me and because I’m awkward as hell.
“Delaney? Do you need something? Is something wrong? I didn’t think you’d use my number or remember that I gave it to you.”
It's kind of fun to watch his reactions without him knowing I can see him. “Umm, I’m not sure. Were there any sort of odd noises from the balcony last night you heard in your much-more-sober-than-me state?”
His eyes immediately snap to my balcony and he stands up, looking for me. Okay, the jig is up. I stand up too so he can see me as he starts taking long strides back to the dorm. “No, nothing. Why? You need me up there?”
“There was nothing at the window? What about rocks falling to the ground? Or maybe somebody jumping onto the balcony from that tree over there? I was just going to come hang out outside, but I stepped on something and—”
“Are you okay?”
“Fine.”
“Are you sure? Because I can take you to the clinic. I don’t mind, I promise.”
“I can handle a little blood, Wilder.”
“Fuck. You’re bleeding? I’m coming up there. Stay put.”
For fuck’s sake. He’s gonna act like a complete dick to me in class, but the second he finds out I nicked my foot it's suddenly a crisis?
I narrow my eyes at him when he walks right into my room, pocketing a set of keys. “You just unlocked that. How the hell did you get a key to my place?”
“You’re my mate.”
“Hardly! Who the hell gave you a key to my place?”
“That’s not important. Let me see your foot.” He nearly sprints across the room to reach me, eyeing the rubble on the floor as he pulls me way too tenderly through the window and back into my living room. “Do you have a first aid kit? It would be a shame to get blood all over this beautiful green shag carpet…”
“Bathroom,” I mumble, ignoring the jab at the décor I can't change, because I realize that nothing else is going to get discussed until he sees this through. Shifter brain.
He sets everything on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch and lifting my foot in his lap, opening up an antiseptic wipe to clean it. “I think there’re still some stones in your foot.”
“There should be some tweezers in the kit.”
He grabs the tweezers and very carefully digs around and gets everything out, placing the pebbles on the used antiseptic wipe before opening up another one to clean my wound again. He's diligent with ointment application and a bandage, smoothing everything out before cleaning up after himself and washing his hands.
“Thank you.” I sound like I’m slightly turned on, but it’s only because I am.
“Of course, anything.”
“Did you get body snatched?” I blurt out.
He smiles at me and it scares me so bad that I actually fall off the couch. Which is a problem because there’s still a coffee table there that I hit my head on.
“Godsdamn it, Delaney. Can you please stop injuring yourself? I don’t like it. Do you need an ice pack?”
I rub the bump and wave him off. “I’m fine. Promise, I think I’m gonna live.”
“Don’t joke about that.”
“Oh right. No other lioness to take my place, right? Is that why you’re still interested in me? Because I’m rare?”
He grabs my hand gently, holding it with both of his. “I always wanted to mate for love, not duty to my clan. My lion’s actually not quite as picky as he could be. I might have found a non-lion partner eventually, and I guess I’ve been taking it out on you that I lost the option to choose.”
“Oh my goddess. Seriously?” I yank my hand back. “I think I’m going to scream.”
He tilts his head “Why, other than the fact that you’re interrupting my story?”
“Because out of the people I've found that are supposed to be my mates, four out of four have informed me they don’t want to be my mate.
“Honestly, if I don’t take on any mates or complete the bond, the worst that will happen is that I just lose my magic, right? I think I could handle losing pieces of my soul like that, if it meant I could save myself from all this rejection. It is just cruel to expect me to keep bouncing back. It’s supposed to be a magical experience at Hemlock, but instead I’m getting a ‘go fuck yourself’ left and right instead.”
He pulls me onto the couch and then gets on his knees in front of me, dropping his head right on my lap while his hands gently wrap around my ankles. “You didn’t let me finish my story. After seeing my mom abused by my dad for years, I knew I couldn’t let anybody else get into that position with him if I could help it. The second the rumors hit me that you were a lion shifter, I acted almost without thought because even though I didn’t know you, I knew you were way too young and way too important to this community to be swallowed up by somebody like him.”
“I feel like you’re not giving a lot of credit to how scary my parents are. You do know my mother ate the being that was going to destroy the world, right? Ate him like a bag of fucking pretzels. And don't even get me started on the fact that I have eleven fathers. Have you heard the name Jericho Mathers? Top assassin? He used to braid my hair when I was little. I'm sorry, but you saying I wasn’t safe from your crappy little lion daddy is insulting. Do you not think my parents taught me how to take care of myself? I’m a princess, but I’ve got some moves.”
“No doubt, your parents are epic and strong, and I have full faith in you, and if my dad took you in I'm sure your parents would have gotten you back; but the question is, how much damage would my father have caused you in that time? Because I know he would have forced a claim upon you like I did, then he’d be under your skin until he died. Which probably wouldn’t have been too far off knowing your temper, but I digress.
“I watched you that day at the picnic, you know? There was this sparkle to your eye, and as stupid as it sounds, you’re my dream woman. Everyone you talked to walked away looking like they’d just won a prize. You’re magical. I watched because I wanted to know who I was tying myself to, and watching you interact with so many strangers that you were so kind to made me feel like I was honor bound to protect you. I wanted to preserve that at all costs so I didn't have to watch my father snuff it out.
“I hated that I couldn’t give you the proper courting that you deserved. Besides the fact that you’re the daughter of the queen, and I’m just some lion shifter that teaches at a college, I’m also way too old for you. Our values are not the same.
“I studied the way those bodyguards looked at you, and I instantly knew that fixating on you could be turned into a weakness because they were clearly infatuated and a little distracted. It was way too easy to separate you from them, and that pissed me off.”
“I wasn’t too happy about it either,” I remind him.
“And having you in my arms like that? It was ridiculous how good that felt. I knew you would never choose me if it were up to you. We don’t run in the same circles, you would never have looked at me or thought of me romantically, not when you have the pick of the litter.”
I sit there quietly and listen, even though he's wrong. I absolutely could have seen him in a romantic light if he’d have flirted to let me know he was interested. Age isn't important to me, because that doesn't reflect anything about a person's soul. Unless they're underage. No thank you.
“I bit you knowing exactly how hard it would be to walk away from you, but I just kept telling myself I was keeping you safe. My mark would protect you, and I figured it would just be an invisible shield in case my father plucked up the courage to approach you. I never meant to crash into your life and commandeer one of the actual mate spots on your arm, because I didn’t want to take that choice from you.
“I was so mad when you showed up to campus because it meant I was going to have to continually see you all the time. My lion all but forced me to go to you, knowing I couldn’t do anything about our connection because I also have a human counterpart that knows you and I are basically strangers. I was sure you’d be repulsed by the thought of me trying to establish anything since I was your teacher. You’re young and beautiful, you should be with somebody on your level.”
“Are you done telling me what I need?”
He lifts his head, finally feeling up to some eye contact. “Why do you seem surprised and offended?”
“I know nothing about your dad, but if you thought he was a big threat… hypothetically, let's say I believe you. If your father is a big threat to me, then you acted in my best interest by trying to protect me in the way you felt you could. It must have been so frustrating for you to bite me knowing you’d never be able to claim somebody else in that way. Especially if you thought you would never see me again. The fact that you walked away instead of trying to force a new life on me supports the claim that you thought you were being noble. I'm not sure I can fault that, even if the thought process was a little backward.
“I was hanging out with some friends, actually Cory, your TA? They’re dating my best friend. Maybe ex-best friend, I don’t know. But I was hanging out with both of them, I said something about lions, and they piped up saying they had all kinds of information about it because they worked with you, and I kind of let it slip that you’d claimed me. Obviously, that’s when I found out that you worked here, and furthermore that I was in your class. I was terrified; I had no idea how you’d react, that’s why I tried to sneak into the back of your classroom. I was trying not to be noticed. I was more than a little embarrassed, especially when you didn’t really greet me, but instead went out of your way to isolate and ostracize me.”
He lowers his head as his hands once more run up the outsides of my legs, starting slow chills that make their way to the outside of my hips. I shouldn’t like that he’s touching me that intimately, but I do, and once again I feel starved for any sort of affection. When he talks again, his voice is softer, more vulnerable. “If I could go back in time and change that entire day, I would, no matter the cost. I was so caught off guard seeing you in my class even though I knew you’d be there, so on edge because my lion was pacing like crazy, and I was fighting him. That's why I lashed out at you. Obviously it had nothing to do with you, it was me and my beast butting heads, and it made me really cranky.
“I'm not known for being the friendliest of teachers on campus as it is, and there you were, this giant temptation, the most beautiful thing I could never have, smelling so damn sweet even from all the way in the back, and I lost my mind wanting you. It was all I could do to stay in front of that class of students and pretend to be the consummate professional I really wasn’t, and I’m never out of control like that. My head was a mess, and I lashed out. I'm so sorry Delaney, for being unfair to you and in such a public way.”
“It was humiliating,” I admit.
“And I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry for making you feel my classroom was unsafe. I never want that for my students, even if college students annoy the hell out of me a lot of the time.”
“Thank you for the apology. And for meaning it this time; I wasn’t convinced you did when you approached me after class. Even if you had meant it though, it wouldn't have mattered because I wasn’t ready to hear it.”
“Delaney, when you claimed me in the middle of my lecture, I thought I was going to have a damn heart attack up at the lectern. I never thought I’d get to feel that from you, never thought I’d wear your mark. And then the fact that I’m your first one? It’s an honor I don’t deserve.”
I hang my head, wondering if letting my magic loose to claim him like that was in fact the biggest mistake I've ever made. I literally know next to nothing about this man, have no idea if we're compatible at all, or even if we get along or would enjoy spending time together, and now we're magically bound for better or worse. But I guess it's not like we weren't already, I just made our bond more impermeable. “Whether you deserve it or not, it’s done.”
He nods, acknowledging that. “So where do we go from here?”
I open my mouth to speak but suddenly a large crack sounds, startling us into turning our heads to see something hard hit the balcony window, leaving behind a very damaged plane of glass with web-like cracks covering most of it.
“What the hell was that? Did somebody throw a rock at your window?”
Wilder jumps up to investigate, but I pull him back. “Wait. That’s why I called you here. I stepped on some sharp rocks walking over to the window, and I thought it was weird that the window was open a little bit. I was wondering if you maybe had gone out through it this morning to get some air and didn't shut it all the way?”
He shakes his head no.
“Damn it. I was really hoping you’d say yes. The window doesn’t make any noise and it moves without any resistance, so I wouldn’t have heard it if it opened, but if you stand where the rocks stop…” I trail off while he walks to that spot, looking around the apartment until he sees my rumpled bed that I never made this morning. It’s actually a perfect view to where I was sleeping .
He seems as confused as I am. “I didn’t hear anybody in here though, and I have elevated hearing because I’m a shifter. If somebody was in here, I would have known, Delaney.”
“There’s more. Go outside with your back to the railing and look at the rocks on the ground.”
He crawls out, careful not to disturb anything and then starts cussing. Because the rocks on the ground, if you look at them from the right angle, spell out the words ‘you’re mine.’
Chapter Eleven
Jackon
I know I’m in trouble. For the first time in my life, I know my actions did more damage than I'm prepared to handle.
I stare at the shut door that my brother just stormed out of, wondering if he’s even going to bother waiting for me, or if he’s going to head back to Hemlock without me.
It's probably best not to tempt him any further, so I grab my bag and run downstairs praying I catch him in time.
I jump in front of our car as he starts to pull out of the parking lot, and for a split second I actually think he might hit me. I can see him thinking about it through the windshield. His jaw flexes and his teeth grind harder as I walk and try to get in; except when I reach for the passenger side, he locks it.
He motions for me to climb into the back, so I reach for that door instead, climbing in with an apology on my tongue.
“Just don’t,” he bites out.
Then he proceeds to flip on the radio and cranks the volume so loud I can’t even hear myself think, let alone have a conversation with my brother who’s only a few feet away.
