Wicked Wings

38

“So what you’re saying is, you’re old,” she says with a teasing grin.

I grin back at her. “Pretty much, yeah. Now get off my lawn, youngster.”

“Not a chance.” She tilts her head as she studies me, and I’m struck again with how lovely she is. “You definitely don’t look old. Especially in jeans and a t-shirt. I thought you lived in those suits.”

“Only when I’m in public. Like I told you before, my father ingrained in me that a man is only as good as his suit, and it’s hard to get over that even after all these years. But then, you understand how complicated relationships with parents can be, don’t you?”

It’s a leading question, going back to what she said that night, and with it she instantly tenses again. “I don’t know who my father is.”

“Is that so?” I ask. “A pity. Maybe now that you’re here, he’ll claim you. What about your mother?”

“Dead.”

“That’s not what you told me back at the bar that night.”

“You must have heard me wrong.” She looks at the water and stands. “It’s late. I should get back to my room.”

She’s falling back upon her lies then. I hoped she would be honest with me, but I understand her need for secrecy better than anyone. As she starts to walk away, I call out, “Olivia.”

She turns and looks at me in the dark, easily meeting my eyes thanks to her demon blood. “Yes?”

“I won’t expose you.” I can’t explain why, but I won’t give her up. Not unless I’m forced to. “Your secret is safe with me, I swear it. And not just because I’m worried about an inquiry for sleeping with a student. So if you ever need to talk…I’ll be here.”

Her eyes lower to the ground for a few seconds. Then she meets my gaze again and gives a curt nod. “Good night.”

As she walks away, I let out a long breath. Getting close to Olivia is dangerous for so many reasons. For one, it’s forbidden for a teacher and a student to have a relationship. For another, she could find out what I am and expose me too. I can’t afford to have my cover blown, especially not when I’m closer than ever.

And the most dangerous reason? When she’s around, I feel more than I have in a century.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Olivia

L

EAVE NOW BEFORE YOU GET HURT

Wadding up the paper, I stuff it deep into my bag before anyone else sees it. “Assholes.”

The threatening note is the latest of a long line of them left in my bag, slipped under my dorm room door, or under the windshield wipers of my car. I even found one shoved in my bag after I shopped in the school store. Tanwen was nearby that day, so I’m sure she’s behind the notes.

I just finished up my last session with Bastien, and after a long day of classes all I want to do is go to my room and take off my bra, but that’s not in the cards today. I stop by the cafeteria to grab a coffee, and then head back to the library. I’m a few minutes early, but Marcus beats me there anyway, already waiting in one of the private rooms.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He stands when he sees me and holds out my chair for me. “You ready for this?”

He’s got several books on imps out already, which I don’t need. Mother told me all about the other demon races, and I’m not sure I trust these books to be unbiased anyway. On the other hand, I thought I knew everything about angels too before coming to Seraphim Academy, and I’ve learned a lot in the last week. Maybe there will be something helpful in the books after all.

Marcus flips one of them open. “From what I’ve read so far, imps represent the Deadly Sin of envy and can create illusions. They feed on attention and awe, so they tend to have jobs like actors, musicians, and magicians. That should make this project easier.”

“Do we have to do a presentation or just the paper?” I ask, as I grab one of the books.

“We have to do a 3D model of an imp using its powers.” Marcus stares at me like I should’ve known this.

“You’re joking.” A 3D model? Out of what? Paper mâché? I don’t think so. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think? And imps look just like humans, they just have the power of illusion.”

Marcus bursts out laughing. “We don’t have to make a 3D model. Just write a paper.”

“Oh, I see how it is.” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face as he laughs. His features, sharp and handsome, soften as he chuckles.

He opens his notebook and checks his messy handwriting. “We’re supposed to find historical, religious, and mythological people who are imps and write a ten-page paper on them by the end of the year. We did a similar thing last year in Fae Studies.”

“That shouldn’t be too hard. There’s Loki, Houdini…”

Marcus’s eyebrows shoot up. “How do you know they’re imps?”

Shit. Mother told me. I’m not supposed to know this stuff. For a second I forgot. I give a little shrug and try to play it cool. “Grace told me. She took Demon Studies last year.”

“Cool. We can definitely research those two. I think we need another person. Maybe a woman. Let’s see what these books say.”

We spend the next hour combing through the books Marcus brought while taking notes, and making an outline for what we need to research more. Though I originally pictured Marcus as more of a cute jock type, he’s smarter than I expected.