pposed to. I scrambled for my phone and groaned when I saw the time. I was lat

y back. I threw on a high-necked sweater to hide the mark, grabbed my bag, and sprinted toward th

a! Wa

ght up to me. He looked cheerful, whic

gainst the locker next to me. "Blackwood is in a mood today. He

ying to straighten my h

r. "Relax. You're his favorite student, even if he acts l

funny about the way one of the senior students had stuttered, and for a second,

tion on the back of my neck. It wasn't the

ectacles and a pair of blue eyes so dark they looked like a storm at sea. Alaric was standing in the shadows of t

whispered, my stomach

ere," Jax said

s immediate. Alaric was already back at his podium, his hand

ike a blade. "So nice of you to join us. I assume whatever was happening in

Professor. I

wn," he

called on me every five minutes. He asked me questions so complex that I had to stumble th

esk. "You seem very interested in socializing, yet you can't even define a s

ed up at him, my eyes stinging with tears

. "Because right now, you are failing me. Stay after

d. Jax gave me a worried look, but Alaric cleared his throat sharply, and

turned the lock. The click s

the front

k. "I'm sorry I was late

suffocating. "I saw you out there. Laughing. Touching that boy. Do yo

didn't even know me! You said you weren't

o fast I didn'

e far corner of the room, near the large w

wall," he

at?

wall, El

y muscles obey before my brain could protest. I turned and f

our back," he said, his

top myself. I heard him pacing behind me, the s

Alaric said. "You will think about the fact that while

," I whispere

Elena. Patient is

ng, his voice a deep, commanding baritone that seemed to fill my entire head. He talked about disc

ll ache started in my lower belly, a deep, heavy longing that made me want to

why you are in this

re jealous,"

chest solid against my shoulder blades. He reached around and gripped my chin

gainst my neck, right over the mark. "But I do not like people touching what

d down, his lips ghosting over

g to a terrifyingly soft level, "the punishment won't be a corner. It will be your

and I heard the

d don't be l

ce door shut. When I finally moved, my legs were so weak I almost fell.

d as I walked home, all I could feel was