Academy of Beasts IV Read online

  I bit my lip. This was either a ploy to get me to confirm information he already knew or something more devious…Damn, he was good.

  “I don’t either,” I told him and raised an eyebrow. “That’s all I seem to get here.” I leaned forward and sipped the coffee with a flourish. “You know, one of my other library books went missing.”

  He batted his eyelashes—a signature move for the fox. I couldn’t see anything like recognition in his expression, but the corner of his eyes lifted briefly.

  “How unfortunate, Fiona. Would you like to check with the librarian to see if anyone turned it in?”

  I leaned back. I was intrigued by his idea. “Sure.”

  “Great.” He didn’t seem ruffled. In fact, he sighed with pleasure as he sipped from his coffee. “Moony makes wonderful coffee, doesn’t he?”

  I smiled. “I’m happy that more people know his name.”

  “We didn’t before you,” he said and traced a finger around the rim of the cup. “Knowing things, more things than you should, is a dangerous hobby for most shifters. The less you know, the happier you are. For most people.”

  “Not for you,” I pointed out. A flicker of delight spread over his face as he met my gaze.

  “No, not for me.” He smiled easily. “You’re right.”

  There was a dash of wickedness in that smile. Too wicked for breakfast. I dropped my gaze to my breakfast and finished the last bit I had. When I was done with my coffee, I made a point of looking at the empty chairs.

  “I suppose nobody else was hungry today.”

  “Too tired,” he said with another wink. “Are you ready?”

  He rose and grabbed his bag. We dropped our plates off in the kitchen and took the shortcut through to the entryway. Jasper, I realized, I hadn’t seen much of since my recent time with the other Council boys.

  “Do you always prefer to be alone?” I asked him as we came through the garden. He opened the gate with a flourish and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

  “Who says I prefer to be alone?”

  “Me,” I told him with a shrug. “You’re often alone. Like Ren.”

  “Perhaps,” he said vaguely. “Maybe we’d all be that way if we didn’t live together. We’re in forced interaction here.” He paused for a beat. “What tension it causes.”

  A tingle began at the base of my spine. How much did he know? I tried not to narrow my eyes and focused on the path ahead of us.

  “Theo and Enrique seem like they enjoy being around people,” I pointed out. He rolled his neck. I wondered if he trained as much as the other boys, who managed to fit in fitness sessions in their private time, I imagined.

  “Theo loves everyone. That’s the nature of his kind. Enrique loves women—some women. He’s quite picky if you watch him. Like a spoiled child.” He licked his lips. “Don’t let appearances fool you here.”

  “You’re talking in riddles.”

  He shrugged. I’m sure that I wasn’t the first person to remind him of this habit. He twirled a lock of his hair in between his finger as we walked. The other hand was on his violin case.

  “Do you ever give performances?” I asked, pointing to the case. He didn’t bother looking.

  “Piano, I have a few times for the Winter Solstice celebration,” he said. “Violin is more personal.”

  “I didn’t realize that.”

  “Nobody pays attention to my music habits except for Dracus.” His wry smirk was incredibly handsome on his face. It felt like someone had opened a curtain on his spirit. An excited sensation bounded through my chest. “He appreciates classical music.”

  “And the other guys couldn’t care less?”

  “Exactly. It’s best that way.” We were coming up to the castle already. I almost wished that the walk was longer, even if my muscles were aching from my training this morning.

  “When people don’t care?” I asked, dubious.

  He nodded. “It’s best to sink into the shadows.” His eyes carefully scanned the courtyard. I followed his gaze. A few students were milling about and chatting among themselves in small groups.

  “Like a thief?” The question slipped out before I could help it. My mouth was busy making decisions that my mind couldn’t keep up with lately. He might’ve flinched, but it could’ve been a trick of the light.

  In fact, he sneezed. “Sure, like a thief,” he replied casually.

  My heart dropped in disappointment. Damn. I was hoping that he might let something slip about all those rumors. People at school sometimes claimed that Jasper escaped a prison sentence for theft by coming to Beast Academy. Maybe they were just rumors like Priscilla had assured me.

  I checked my watch. “Are you okay to stop by the library?”

  “It was my idea, wasn’t it?” His playful, cool expression was back. I nodded. We turned down the opposite way to class and headed towards the library. By now, I’d memorized virtually every path that the castle had thanks to my wandering around with Priscilla. Ren had shown me a secret passage through the servant tunnels the other day, but I didn’t feel confident enough to use them. I preferred the halls. If anything happened, at least people could see me that way.

  The librarian was at her desk when we walked in. An unreadable smirk came to Jasper’s face as he let me approach her. He hung back near the doorway.

  The librarian, Diane, set down her notebook as I came up. She regarded me closely from behind her half-moon glasses, which hung on a delicate sparkling chain. “Yes, Ms. Fiona?”

  I folded my hands in front of me, trying to look as innocent as possible. I hadn’t actually thought about what I had wanted to say. “I checked out a library book, but I think I’ve misplaced it.”

  “Well, that’s not good,” she said with a little frown. “Of course, it happens. Let me check the ledger.” She pulled out a magnificently huge book and opened it. It was the book that she kept every student’s rentals in. She turned to my page, which had been added rather recently.

  “Hm,” she muttered.

  “Yes?” I asked hopefully.

  “I’m afraid that I don’t have any books checked out for you.”

  I didn’t think that I imagined the little exhale of amusement from Jasper’s mouth, but I was too busy trying to save face in front of Diane to care about that. She offered a sympathetic smile and patted my hand, which was on the desk.

  “No worries, darling. Perhaps you’d forgotten that you returned everything. After exams, I know it’s stressful.”

  I nodded numbly. “Yes. That’s probably it.” I thanked her and left to find Jasper, who was waiting in the doorway. He was looking at a flyer posted on the door, but his lips were quirked into a sneaky smile.

  “You knew,” I accused him as I stalked past. He chuckled darkly as he came to join my side.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Fiona,” he assured me in a faux-comforting voice. I rolled my eyes so hard that I might’ve pulled a muscle.

  As I was about to respond, we turned the corner. This path to the library was a bit convoluted from this side. It was a corridor that ran into a corner, but there was a small hidden space behind where you thought the wall ended. There was a small inlet that used to contain a statue, but Priscilla had explained to me that some prankster broke it. It’d been removed. Since then, you could occasionally catch students hiding inside it to spook their friends or even amorous couples using it to press against each other away from prying eyes. Studying made people mischievous.

  In a swift movement, he pulled me towards him and against the wall inside the empty space. I opened my mouth to gasp, but he covered my lips with one finger and shook his head. I tried not to sweat as he pressed himself against me. Then I heard it: approaching footsteps. They became louder. My pulse shot up as he maneuvered his blazer around me, creating a strange tent cover despite us being covered. I furrowed my brow but kept quiet.

  For an instant, the footsteps seemed to pause near us. I held my breath. Finally, they moved furt
her away. I didn’t exhale until the footsteps had faded from my hearing. He pulled away and took me by the hand, leading me down the hall.

  “What the hell was that?” I asked him.

  “Angela was coming down the hall,” he replied quickly. “Did you want to run into her?”

  I snapped my mouth shut. No, I didn’t want to.

  He cocked his head. “Why? Did that make your heart race?” he teased. I shook my head furiously.

  But I also found that I didn’t mind the way that he held my hand until we’d gotten back to the main hallway. It felt nice. I couldn’t blame it on my hormones, as those were fading.

  He sat next to me in class.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, studying my face. “Your cheeks are a bit pink.”

  “It was just the Angela thing,” I replied quickly. “I wasn’t expecting to see her. I mean, it makes sense. She was only suspended.”

  He nodded and made a motion to talk, but class was beginning. I tried to calm my nerves as the professor began. Jasper wasn’t even in this class. He was skipping private practice to keep me safe.

  I wrote something on top of my notebook for him to see.

  Thanks.

  He smirked and said nothing.

  Foxes were sly like that.

  Chapter 5

  Compared to yesterday, today was turning out to be rather boring. I was happy about that, though. I didn’t think I could take much more excitement this week. Priscilla caught up with me after class. Her eyebrows arched upwards as she saw Jasper, lingering beside me.

  “You seem to be collecting bodyguards,” she told me and elbowed me in the side. This was probably doing nothing for my reputation. Some of my classmates seemed aggravated by the proximity I was allowed with the Council boys, especially when they could tell I was different.

  Not a late-shifter anymore though.

  “I’m not trying to.” I shoved my textbook into my backpack. She tucked her binder beneath her arm and smiled.

  “I know. With that Dragon Fist, soon you won’t need a bodyguard.”

  We chuckled and Jasper trailed along after us. I leaned in towards Priscilla. “I almost had a run-in with Angela today on the way back from the library, but Jasper rescued me.”

  She pressed her lips together as her eyes widened. “I haven’t seen her since…well, that incident.”

  “You’re welcome,” Jasper said from behind in a light voice. I didn’t need to tell Priscilla about how hard my heart was racing from our interaction or that he’d essentially pressed me against a wall. In fact…I hadn’t told Priscilla about kissing Enrique or even about the mysterious Mr. X. It seemed too dangerous. I bit my lip as we walked to our next class. Thankfully, Jasper was in this class, so I didn’t feel as bad for his company.

  Theo showed up to our second class, surprisingly. He was a minute late, but he lumbered over with pink cheeks. He must’ve run here. He settled down beside Jasper and waved at me silently with a big grin. I waved back. Maybe he hadn’t heard about my interaction with Enrique. For some reason, Theo could be oddly protective. I wondered why he wasn’t assigned to protect me.

  Professor Sahni lifted a hand to call the class to order. “Today,” she announced with a flourish, “We’ll cover an important topic in the history of shifters. The other day, we discussed the troubles and challenges that shifters faced with humankind.” Her eyes swept over us. They didn’t settle on anyone in particular. I’d spotted Sam in the top corner of the room, but he looked away when we made eye contact. Not surprising. The air for the lecture seemed lighter today.

  “I want to go over the more amorous alliances that shifters have had with humans,” Sahni finished.

  As she said the last word, it was as if a wave of fire shot up from my feet all the way to the top of my head. Jasper stifled a chortle that nobody else caught. The professor continued: “It’s an incredibly important subject for our kind. While we’ve certainly had our fair share of violent interactions with humans, there have also been just as many incidents involving romance, companionship, and loyalty through marriage contracts. In medieval times, in areas where shifters were well-established, it wasn’t unusual for a human lord to send a daughter to marry one of the shifters from among the tribe. This guaranteed protection for the human group, and in turn, the shifters were granted greater security from military raids depending on the country. Humans, historically, have developed technologies far different from shifters. This has contributed greatly to the advancement of our own technology, which combines modern ideas with old magic.”

  I wanted to sink into the ground. Professor Sahni’s lecture was already fantastic. She had the most compelling lectures in the entire Academy. Given yesterday’s events, though…I was about to be as red as my notebook cover. The amusement brimming off of Jasper was obvious, at least to me. Theo seemed happy enough, taking notes and doodling. Priscilla was studiously bent over her notebook as usual. She probably knew everything in the lecture before coming.

  You’re not a late-shifter.

  Enrique’s words rung through my mind. His breath feathering against my ear had been an extra touch of excitement. I wasn’t a late-shifter. I was human, for sure. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I mechanically took notes. Sahni walked across the stage, gesturing animatedly at us and excitedly at her chalkboard.

  “Attraction between shifters, rare beings among shifters, and humans are quite natural,” she insisted. “From the beginning, shifters were less wary of humans. There seemed to be an understanding, perhaps from our primal urges, that attraction would occur naturally between the groups.”

  A chuckle spread through the class. Jasper’s arm bumped into mine. I doubted by accident—the annoying fox.

  “History is filled with examples of powerful relationships between shifters and humans. In fact, human women often found greater opportunities for leadership among shifter clans. Shifter societies have historically treated each sex similarly, even if different duties were being performed. A woman shifter could own property easily thousands of years ago. The records from this time indicated that human women find shifter culture to often be a liberating experience.”

  “Liberating,” Jasper echoed as though fascinated. He tapped his chin with his pencil. Theo sent him a quizzical look. I bent myself further over my notebook to hide my burning face. Nope!

  The rest of the lecture passed without incident besides my frequent thoughts back to my tantalizing adventure yesterday. Dracus, Jasper, Ren, and Enrique. Everyone but Theo knew. I glanced at him from underneath my lashes. He was drawing a robot in his notebook when class ended. No wonder he needed extra tutoring. He was in class today though. That was something.

  “I’m going to eat lunch at the manor,” I told Priscilla.

  “Works for me. I’ve got club stuff.” She waved with a sly smile. “Have fun with your bodyguards.”

  I knew she was teasing, but I did realize that I looked strange with two Council boys flanking me on either side. Theo walked with us back to the manor, jabbering on about how unfair Sahni was with his grades.

  “You don’t go to class,” I pointed out. He waved his arms around dramatically.

  “Yes, Fiona! But I have good reasons.” He shut his mouth and then muttered, “Secret good reasons that I can’t tell anyone.”

  I smirked and glanced at Jasper, who was walking along with us as quiet as a mouse. “Keeping secrets is hard.” I didn’t realize what I said until his crafty half-smile transformed his face.

  “Yes, Fiona,” he said with a flickering look towards Theo, who didn’t notice, “Keeping secrets is tough on everybody. It would be hard to keep secrets from one another. Wouldn’t it?”

  I snapped my mouth shut and marched forward with them without another word. We let Theo keep ranting until we go to the manor.

  “Damn,” Theo muttered with a frantic look at his watch. “I’ve got to meet with Dracus. I’ll see you guys later.” He clapped a large hand onto my back. “Fiona, we’ve
got to hang out this week, ok? I know I’ve been busy.” He took off down the hall. My stomach knotted. I hoped that the lunch meeting wasn’t about what happened.

  The dining room was empty. Suspicious if you asked me, but nobody was. I sat down to the spread of roasted chicken, rice, and vegetables. Every meal that Moony cooked was relatively healthy.

  “Where do you think everyone is?” I asked. Maybe I could pry some info from Jasper.

  Alas, the fox-shifter shrugged his shoulders as he made a plate. “Who knows?”

  “You’re almost worse than Ren,” I informed him. “At least I can tell what Ren is thinking.”

  “I’ve spent my entire life training for that. I’ll take it as a compliment.”

  Out of the Council boys, the pasts of Jasper and Enrique were actually the most mysterious. What kind of families did they have? Enrique’s family might be linked to organized crime if you believed rumors. I wondered if Jasper’s family—

  His voice broke through my thoughts. “You know, you have a very specific look on your face when you’re thinking about things. I can tell when you’re trying to figure us all out.” He pulled an expression: slightly furrowed brow, lips softly turned down, eyes sparkling with an inquiry. I swatted him and he smirked. “I’m being honest.”

  I sunk into my seat. Well, that was thoroughly embarrassing. I wondered if the others had noticed, but not everyone was as perceptive as Jasper. I considered that he might make a good detective and said as much.

  A funny energy came to him.

  “I’m sure it would be an interesting job, but I have no interest in it.” His actor’s mask came back in its place—a coy, impassable wall. I sighed. Well, that was as much as I was getting out of the fox today.

  I’d be happy for the brief connection that we had.

  If any.

  Chapter 6

  After afternoon classes, Jasper dropped me off at my room.

  “You’re not staying?” I asked. Ren had camped out in my room, according to Dracus’ orders.