Chapter 242

“Ariel,” Rafe sighs, slumping down in his chair and covering his face with his hand, shaking his head. “Seriously? Do you always have to be so dramatic?”

“What!” I protest, turning to stare at him. “We agreed we were going to tell him! What’s the big deal?”

Rafe sighs. “The big deal is –“

“Wait, you’re…you’re Ariel?” Tony says, drawing my attention back to him as he stares at me with wide eyes. “Not…Ari?”

“Yeah,” I say, taking off my hat and letting him see the braid of rose-gold hair arching over my head which tends to be the nail in the coffin of people’s doubt. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you – but we didn’t tell anyone who didn’t need to know! And this semester we all agreed to let you in on the secret, because I thought you deserved to not be the only one in the classroom who didn’t know.”

“Um, we did not all agree,” Jesse says, and when I turn to look at him I laugh a little to see him pointing vehemently at himself. “To some of us this is a surprise.”

“Oh, you don’t care, you just don’t like being left out.” I say waving a dismissive hand at him and turning back to Tony. “So, I’m Ariel Sinclair, and this is my brother Rafe, and my cousin Jesse,” I say, re-making the quick introductions and giving him a happy smile.

Tony smirks a little, looking me over as he lounges back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. “All right. So the fact that your face is identical to the Queen’s makes a lot more sense now. Damn it,” he murmurs, shaking his head and continuing to stare at me like he’s getting used to the new concept of who I am. “I should have put it all together after I met her.”

“Wait,” Rafe says, leaning forward and frowning at Tony. “When did you meet mom?”

“It was –“ Tony starts, shifting his eyes to Rafe’s, but Alvez interrupts.

“If we could please get back on track,” he sighs, loud, apparently irritated by us. I bite my lip a little, kind of enjoying that we’ve irritated him. He deserves it.

Alvez blathers on a bit now, pulling out a set of textbooks that he hands out to each of us and explaining what we’re going to be studying this semester. But only Rafe and Jesse listen closely, peering through their books on the theory of magic, I think eager to find anything that’s going to jumpstart the powers.

I slump a little in my seat, staring at the book, wondering if I should trust it. Because honestly, after everything, my wolf is more on her toes about Alvez than she’s been before. Don’t like it, she grumbles to me, sniffing the air in his direction. Not right. Like the Prince from Atalaxia. Not right, not right. She shakes her fur vehemently, like she’s trying to get clean.

I frown a little inwardly. Has it always been this…not right? I ask her, curious. Or is it something new?

But she just growls more, not answering, perhaps not really knowing. Still, I decide to trust her, as I’ve always done.

I jump a little in my seat when everyone around me begins to stand, and as I look up at the clock I realize that I’ve spaced out more than I thought I did.

“I’ll send you a note, Miss Sinclair,” Alvez says, giving me another hungry smile as he comes around the desk. “About when you should come to my office for that…private meeting.”

“I thought I was going to work with Tony,” I say, pointing at him as my shoulders straighten in surprise and dismay.

“I don’t mind if you work with Davis,” Alvez says with a shrug, packing the last of his books and paperwork into his bag. “But I do think that our sessions together will be particularly productive, Miss Sinclair. I hope you will look forward to them as much as I am.”

And then, to my shock, Alvez actually reaches out and runs a hand over my hair, gently cupping the back of my head and tugging me incrementally closer to him.

I gasp, and a vicious snarl instantly rips from Jackson’s lips as Tony gasps in shock, but before anyone can do anything more than that Alvez is already striding out the door.

“What is with him?” Tony asks, coming to stand between Jackson and I, looking between us, appalled.

“You see it too?” Jackson asks, frowning over at Tony.

“How could I miss it? I mean, the man is a weird guy, but he’s such a creep with Ari.” Tony just shakes his head, his expression appalled, as Jackson and I exchange looks.

“What are you talking about?” Rafe says, coming to stand with our little group, Jesse following close behind. “Who’s a creep with Ari?”

The three of us just turn to stare at him like he’s crazy because…I mean, how can he have missed that?

“Whatever, I’ve got to get to a study meetup,” Tony says, hoisting his pack on his shoulder and looking briefly towards the door before looking back at me. “Thanks for letting me in on the secret. I won’t tell anyone.”

“Well, thanks in turn for that,” I say to Tony, brushing off Alvez’s creepy moment in my eagerness to speak to Tony while we have him. “Why don’t you come by for dinner tonight? We all get together in our room and –“

“Ariel,” Rafe sighs, again running his hand down the length of his face. “I’m sure that Tony already has dinner plans –“

I gape at my brother. “That doesn’t mean that we can’t invite him, Rafe –“

“No, it’s cool,” Tony says, interrupting and grinning between us. “I actually do have dinner plans. Thanks, man,” he says, looking into Rafe’s eyes, “for not assuming that I’m just sitting around with clasped hands, waiting for a dinner invite from the royals.”

Rafe blushes a little, I think embarrassed by what Tony is clearly interpreting as his inhospitability, but before he can say anything Tony turns back to me.

“Maybe some other time, Ari,” he says, flashing me a grin. “We should meet up, though! About the magic!”

“Definitely!” I call after him as he heads for the door, waving over his shoulder at the group of us still left in the room. “I’ll send you my schedule!”

“What are you doing, Ari?” Rafe groans, clearly frustrated with me, though I have no idea why.

“What is the big deal!?” I ask, tossing my hands out to the side. “Tony’s in the group now! Why can’t he come to dinner!?”

“Tony is not part of the group,” Rafe growls, bringing his head up to level a glare at me. “Just because he knows one secret does not make him privy to all the others.”

“What others!?” I ask, baffled.

“Your mate situation, for one,” Rafe says, gesturing vehemently to Jacks, who just stands stoic, his arms crossed. “Not to mention matters of national security! We have no idea who Tony really is – he could be a spy!”

“Oh, he’s not a spy,” I sigh, grabbing my books and starting to shove them in my bag.

“How do you know that, Ariel?” Jesse asks, looking at me curiously.

“I just know,” I say, rolling my eyes and glaring between my brother and my cousin. “I just have a good feeling about him, okay! And quite frankly, right now I’m much more willing to trust my and Jackson’s instincts about people over yours.”

Jesse presses an offended hand to his chest. “What does that mean?”

I sigh, glancing at the clock, knowing I’ve got to meet Blaze in a matter of minutes. “Can we talk about it tonight? I’ve got more classes.” I look up at Jackson. “Want to walk me and play bodyguard?” I give him a broad grin.

“Always,” Jackson says, giving me a smirk and putting his hand again on my lower back as he escorts me towards the door.

“This isn’t over, Ariel!” Rafe calls after me, still kind of pissed.

“It never is, Rafe!” I call back, flashing him a grin over my shoulder as Jackson and I head down the hall.