Cursed (Book # 3 of Hunted)

Aftermath

As soon as the door shut behind Adrew and Ilian, the whole class erupted into conversation, a good portion of it directed at me.

                                                                                          "Are you okay?"

         "What did it feel like?"

                                                                                                                         "Were you scared?"

                             "What was that blue stuff?"

                                                                                        "Are you in love with him?"

It all dissolved into an indiscernible din.

"Settle down!" The professor commanded, "All of you." The younger students all scrambled back to their seats but continued sending furtive glances my way. Hardwicke approached my desk and set before me an energy bar and a bottle of electrolyte water. I looked up at her and said, "Thanks, but I just came from lunch." She smiled at me and replied, "You just had part of your life force sucked out of your face. You probably have a bit of a headache. This will help."

I looked down at the energy bar and sighed. I didn't want anything from this teacher, but my head was killing me. As I reached for the water the bell rang and the other students leaped to their feet. I made to stand as well, but the teacher stopped me with a glance.

"What's your next class?" she asked, and I replied, "Medicinal Plants and Herbs."

"With Greenleaf?" she continued, and I nodded. "I'll write you a tardy slip. Sit in the back room and rest for a few minutes." I thought about refusing, but I felt shaky, and my head throbbed with each beat of my heart, so I agreed and took my water, energy bar and book bag into the back room.

The room was pretty much what I had expected. It was mostly taken up by shelves filled with textbooks and plastic bins filled with miscellaneous school supplies. There was a ratty loveseat shoved against the wall between two bookcases, a mini refrigerator and a microwave. In all, a pretty standard teacher hideout. I plopped down on the sofa and unwrapped the energy bar. I nibbled on the end and sighed. First day of class and I was already finding trouble...or rather trouble had found me. At least I would have something exciting to share with Brooke and Jia li and the rest tomorrow at lunch...assuming they invited me to sit with them again. Not to mention Keegan. He'd probably have a bit to say about keeping a powerful Fae in chains.

I cracked open the bottle of electrolyte water and took a seat sinking deeper into the warm cushion behind me. I turned my head and breathed deeply closing my eyes. The couch smelled nice. It smelled like...My eyes snapped open, and I sat up straight. It smelled like that Incubus. Right. We had all seen him come out of this room. Maybe he had been sitting here...waiting for Andrew and Professor Hardwicke to yank on his chain and parade him around like a goddamn circus freak.

I angrily stuffed the rest of the bar into my mouth and chewed furiously. This was so not okay. I would definitely be having a word with...someone. I hadn't seen Clay since he first brought me here, but the next time I did see him I would give him a piece of my mind. I crumpled up the energy bar wrapper and tossed it in the small bin by the mini fridge. My headache had all but gone, so I crammed the bottle of water into the mesh holder on the side of my bookbag and stood up. The ground stayed firmly beneath my feet.

I was about to leave the room when I was seized by a strange impulse. I mashed my face into the back cushion of the loveseat and breathed in the echo of Ilian's scent. Then I realized how utterly weird that was and I shook myself starting towards the door. I could hear a class on the other side as I tried to be as discreet as possible.

I opened the door and saw another class full of thirteen-year-olds. Prof. Hardwicke was sitting at her desk hunched over a thick binder filled with colorful paper tabs. If she was there, then who had I heard teaching the class? I glanced over at the white board and saw a strange creature. A man, at least I thought it was a man, but he had pointy ears and small, fuzzy antlers sprouting from the top of his head. I stared at him for a second as he ran enthusiastically through a presentation, the green dry erase marker in his hand squeaking against the board.

I glanced at the board and saw the heading, 'Intro to Creatures of the Light.' Beneath that the creature had written out his stats. His name, species, caution rating and age. My eyes widened; he was older than Ilian by several hundred years and a 2 on the caution scale. I ground my teeth in irritation as I noticed the lack of collar, muzzle and handler.

"Light-doesn't-automatically-mean-good" my ass. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the teacher. She handed over my tardy slip and said, "I am truly sorry for the inconvenience." I bit my tongue and turned away. Yes...getting the life sucked out of me on my first day was a real inconvenience. I shoved open the door and started towards greenhouse 2.