Dragon Fire Academy 1 First Term an RH academy romance - Rachel Jonas Page 0,15

to see who was there, I was alone. It was just me.”

Toni frowned. “That’s what happens when you eat junk food before bed.”

Shrugging, I noted that she was probably right about that.

“Well, there’s a bright side to all this,” she sighed. “Once things slow down and we get a break, we can head to one of the lagoons to hang out and cleanse our palettes—one of the benefits of attending school in paradise.” A satisfied grin filled her expression, but soon faded. “That is, assuming we can even find a lagoon that doesn’t require us to wander onto the mysterious ‘forbidden territory’ everyone’s so cryptic about. Wouldn’t want to break the rules,” she added with sarcasm.

I grabbed my backpack and opened the door to our room so we could step out. “I’m sure someone can point us in the right direction. And if not,” I shrugged, “rules are meant to be broken, right?”

“Wrong.”

My stomach bottomed out at the sound of the deep voice that halted Toni and I both in our tracks. Standing just outside our door, four glaring dragons awaited us.

It had been a full week since our first and only encounter. Still, I hadn’t forgotten the bad taste my appointed guardians—posing as mentors—had left in my mouth. Between then and now, I’d seen them lurking from a distance, but I’d been spared the frustration of being trapped in a conversation.

Until this very moment, that is, as they made it all but unavoidable.

Four intense stares locked on to me like the sights of heat-seeking missiles. They surveyed me in segments. Rayen tilted his head indiscreetly, zeroing in on the few inches of thigh visible beneath the hem of my skirt. Meanwhile, Kai ogled my C-cups beneath the white button-down I wore—making it apparent he was a boob man. He gawked so blatantly I had to tug the lapel of my blazer closed just to get the perv to blink. And then there was Ori and Paulo. They seemed less preoccupied seeing me in uniform and managed to only focus on my eyes.

“What are you doing here?” I huffed, hiking the straps of my bag further up my shoulders while Toni locked our room.

“Nah, I’ll ask the questions. I wanna hear more of what you were saying,” Paulo pressed with a smug grin, taking slow steps that consumed the distance between us. I had to clench my fist to keep from decking him. “You mentioned something about breaking rules?”

He was close now. So close it made my breath quiver as we exchanged icy glares.

“It’s an expression. Chill.” I didn’t mean to, but my gaze slipped upward, observing him as he dwarfed me in his shadow. I couldn’t help but to notice he was clean today, wearing khaki shorts and a fresh, white v-neck tee that rested over his pecs like icing on a cake.

Oh my gosh. Did I just imagine him covered in icing? None of them were worthy of being ogled in that way, thought of as hot. Not with those sucky attitudes.

His firm scowl stayed trained on me a moment longer. “Just make sure you don’t get any bright ideas, Princess,” Paulo asserted in that cocky way of his, taunting me with that word again.

Princess.

His eyes danced with satisfaction and I rolled mine. Apparently, knowing he’d gotten to me brought the sick bastard joy.

“Whatever. I have a class to get to.” As I passed between two of the brutes—Paulo and Kai—I made sure to let my shoulders slam into both. Of course, they didn’t move even an inch, but it still made me feel better.

Toni rushed to catch up and I wished it wouldn’t have been super flashy to do a quick invisibility spell. I could’ve used it to cloak us both, and to ditch the Shade Brigade who’d shown up uninvited.

Halfway across campus, I realized they intended to escort me the entire way. Ignoring them was practically impossible, seeing as how every so many yards, random natives to the island would call out to the four. Mostly they wanted photos, but several only stopped to show their gratitude. They were all vague, just like Nora and Sienna had been, so it was still unclear what, exactly, they were thankful for.

As if all that unnecessary attention hadn’t been bad enough, the guys posted right outside on the front steps of the building. When they plopped down and got comfortable, I guessed they’d be waiting in this very spot after dismissal.

Lucky me.

Inside the classroom, tables similar to those from