Witch Born - LJ Swallow Page 0,26
a vicious bastard who doesn’t trust anyone. When he ran the academy, people constantly tried to knock him off his perch and suffered. Dorian arrived, deposed Zeke and took over. Nobody touches Dorian’s perch. Don’t be the one to try.”
I drag both hands down my face. “I appreciate your concern, Oriana. I’m tired. I might shower and head to bed.”
She shrugs. “You can listen to me, or ignore me. Your call. But if you continue to screw around with Dorian, or use magic, I can’t be around you. Don’t lose friends because of your enemies.”
Chapter Fifteen
Zeke stands outside the common room, the way he often does, with his offsiders flanking him. I avoid his eyes—the way I avoid everybody else’s—as I stride the few metres from the bathrooms towards my room.
“Eloise.” My spirits sink at his voice as his footsteps catch up to me.
Gripping the towel that rests across my arm, I pause and turn to him. “Zeke.”
He leans sideways against the wall and I’m again intrigued and uneasy at his strange eyes. “You and Dorian. Quite a show.”
“Apparently so. I hope you enjoyed it.”
His full mouth quirks into a smile. “Very much.”
I make an exasperated noise and turn away.
“Wait.”
Pausing again, I look over my shoulder. “What do you want?”
He pulls himself from the wall and rubs his lips together as he approaches me. “I have a proposition for you.”
Omigod. “I’m not interested in sex with you.”
“That wasn’t what I meant, but I like you think about sex when you look at me.” He drops his gaze to my breasts and bites his lip.
“What, then? I’m tired,” I snap.
“We can take Dorian on together. Kick the bastard off his imaginary throne. What do you say?”
The idea of creating an alliance with a guy who Oriana says is as big a bully as the one I hate repulses me. “No. Thanks.”
As I walk away, he moves quickly and blocks my path. “I can help you. Protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection.”
“That’s what you think.” His expression hardens. “You’ve pissed off Dorian Blackwood. You need protection.”
His voice is harsh and I waver as he backs up what Oriana says. “I can protect myself.”
“With magic? I doubt you have any left after today.”
“I’m not interested. Thanks.” I grit my teeth. “Please move.”
Zeke cocks his head. “Is this personal between you two? What did the hybrid bastard do to you? He’s not supposed to touch girls without their permission.”
“Something personal, yes, but in the past.” I sidestep. “Excuse me.”
He moves to block my way. “You’d better learn to respect Dorian’s power or join us. We can keep an eye on you.”
“I can look after myself.” The words weren’t meant to be dismissive but his eyes narrow. “I mean, I wouldn’t want anybody to go to any trouble.”
“It's no trouble.” His face breaks into a seductive smile. “I like to keep my girls safe.” My? I pull back in surprise when Zeke’s slender fingers touch my bare arm. “I don’t want you hurt, Eloise.”
The softness in his tone catches me off guard, too. “Why?” I blurt.
“Some people here are worth looking after.”
Again, I want to protest I don’t need help, but there’s a truth I haven’t acknowledged yet.
Ravenhold is a different world built on a new set of rules. Rules I’m refusing to follow, which isn’t the most sensible direction to take.
But neither is trusting a different bully, however softly he speaks to me or strangely touching his concern is.
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
He drops his hand and his eyes narrow. “Choose your friends, Eloise, otherwise they may become enemies.”
With his thinly veiled threat echoing in my ears, I walk back to my room.
He’s right. Oriana is right. Everybody here has an alliance and I need to make mine.
Chapter Sixteen
The bell drills into my head and ends my dreams. I was walking in the gardens at my family’s estate, in the middle of summer when the warmth soaked my skin and the only sound were the birds and insects buzzing.
I snap my eyes open to the cold, grey room where the cold slaps my legs and the sound is my roommate snoring.
“Oriana,” I call across the room as the bell stops and she doesn’t move. No response.
I climb out of bed and grab my robe and towel for a shower, then call her name again. She mumbles and turns over.
If the bell stopped a minute ago, that means I have half an hour for a shower and breakfast before my first lesson of the day. I