Ravage (Royal Fae Academy #1) - Lacey Carter Andersen Page 0,19

can do. Because as much as I want to always be there for her, no one ever can. And if Rayne reminded us of anything, it’s that life is fragile and precious. Teaching her feels good. It feels right.

I’ve never felt prouder to be a man. I’ve never felt more worthy of her.

But soon she finds her own pace, and I’m no longer teaching her. I’m watching her. Frozen. Swept away by her grace, by her ferociousness. Of all the fae women I’ve helped over the years, none have felt like they could fight at my side in a battle.

Esmeray could. My beautiful, extraordinary mate.

When the professor tells us it’s time to clean up, I’m ready for a cold shower. Because I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me, but watching Esmeray with a dagger is hot as fuck. I needed time to calm down and get a hold on my arousal.

We go back to the rack to put our weapons away, but Esmeray lingers, and as the other students head to the showers, I’m shocked to see her slip the dagger into the back of her shorts. What the fuck does she need with a dagger? As she heads into the showers, I watch her, my mind spinning.

This wasn’t good.

I take a quick shower and change, then wait outside of the class for her, lingering beneath the trees close to the entrance of the gym building. When she comes out, back in her dark clothes with Rayne’s bag slung across her body, I step out in front of her.

She looks surprised. “You need something?”

“Why did you take the dagger?” I ask, pinning her with my gaze.

She shrugs and tries to walk past me.

I catch her arm. “What are you doing?”

Finally, her gaze connects with mine, and there’s fire in her expression. “My brother wasn’t a moron who accidentally killed himself. Someone ended his life, and I’m going to find out who.” She jerks her arm out of my grip. “And then I’m going to kill them.”

Every muscle in my body tenses. She was already in enough danger here with her parentage and being Rayne’s sister. She didn’t need this. “No, you’re not.”

Her lip curls. “You trying to tell me what to do, big boy? Because the only time I like a man to tell me what to do is in the bedroom...when I let him.”

I can’t help but flinch at the idea of her with anyone else. “You’re not going to do this, because Rayne wasn’t murdered, he died, and you need to accept it.” The lies feel wrong, but Rayne would never forgive me if she got killed because of him.

Suddenly, she steps closer, crowding my space. “You believe that Rayne accidentally stabbed himself?”

Just the idea is stupid, but I hold her gaze. “Yeah.”

“Then, I just have to ask you… Where were you the night Rayne died?”

Shock vibrates through me. “What…what are you saying?”

“I’m saying maybe you want me to believe this asinine story because you were involved.”

It would’ve hurt less if she’d have slapped me. I rub my chest, trying to take the ache away. “How can you say that?”

She takes a step back, but her expression is filled with rage. “I just want you to know, I’m going to find out the truth, no matter what. And not even you or Bron or Lucian are going to stop me.”

Spinning on her heels, I watch as she walks away. And I don’t know if it’s the fact that she’s my mate, or that Rayne was my best friend, or the fact that nothing has hurt more in my life than losing him, but I feel like I’m losing him all over again. Only, this time, I’ve lost the faith of the woman I love most in this world.

And now I have to tell the others.

What a shitty day.

9

Esmeray

My hands tremble as I shower, but it isn’t from weakness. The iron demon had left me feeling unusually sensitive, even a little tired, but I wasn’t weak. It would take more than that beast to make me feel such a way. What made me tremble, what made me feel so strange, was that I’d awakened in Lucian’s bed, cuddled against his side.

And I’d never felt better.

Something inside of me that felt vulnerable, almost like a monster without his claws, had wanted to lie there forever. It wanted me to forget all about my brother’s death, my reason for being here, and the lies I planned to unravel.