Storm and Fury by Jennifer L. Armentrout

7

Jada let out a loud, weary sigh as she leaned back against the couch beside my chair. “He is so annoying.”

“Yep.” I took a sip of my strawberry smoothie as I watched Clay shove one of the younger males in the chest and laugh as the boy stumbled back against the stone of the Hummer-size fire pit.

Why hadn’t I noticed this behavior before? Had I been blinded by the fact that he’d paid attention to me? I sighed. The answer was probably, which meant I needed to make better life choices.

“I really hope he gets assigned to someplace way, way far away from here.” Jada wiggled her fingers, and I handed over the smoothie. “Like Antarctica.”

“That’s still too close.” Ty was sitting on the other side of Jada, stretching out his long legs. He’d recently gotten his dark hair shorn, and I was still getting used to it. “Knowing my luck, he’ll end up assigned to the same city as me.”

By this time next year, he’d be going through the Accolade himself, and then, like Clay and the others, he’d be relocated to a city. Jada would definitely go with him, and I...I would most likely still be here. Heaviness crept into my chest, and I tried to shrug it off.

Jada took a drink of my smoothie. “And yep, there goes his shirt.”

Frowning, I turned back to the pit. Flames roared behind Clay as he pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it at the boy he’d just shoved as he shouted something. “Why does he do that?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” whispered Jada, shaking her head. “It’s like his mating call or something.”

“Ew.” I shuddered.

“You should go talk to him, Trin.” Ty lifted his brows when I sent him a sharp look. “He likes you.”

Yeah, I’d already gone down that road.

“So,” Ty said, leaning into Jada. “What’s going on with your boy over there?”

My gaze shifted to where Misha sat next to Alina, and I clapped my hands together. “My little boy is growing up.”

Jada giggled.

“Look at him,” I whispered as I took the smoothie back. Misha was showing Alina something on his phone. “He’s sharing. Bonding with her. The next thing I know, he’ll be mating and—”

Misha’s head swiveled in my direction. It was like he had some kind of sixth sense or something, because I know damn well he couldn’t hear us.

The three of us waved at him.

Misha shook his head before turning back to Alina.

“Do you know Alina?” I asked them as I smothered a yawn.

“Not really well, but she’s seems pretty cool.” Jada rested her cheek on Ty’s shoulder. “Just kind of shy. Quiet. She’s training to be a healer at the clinic.”

I took another sip of my smoothie as I watched Misha and Alina, torn between wanting to bust up their conversation and be obnoxious like I normally was, and doing what I normally didn’t do, which was to give them the space Misha deserved.

“Are those the guys from the DC clan?” Ty asked, and I followed his gaze.

My stupid stomach took a tumble as I searched out the blurred faces of two figures sitting not too far from us, under several strings of fairy lights.

“Yeah,” I said. “That’s Dez and Zayne.”

Silence as both Jada and Ty looked at me. “What?” I asked.

Ty lifted his brows. “How do you know their names?”

“I didn’t tell him you snuck into the Great Hall when they arrived.” Jada lifted her head from Ty’s shoulder, grinning.

I fixed a blank look on my face. “Yeah, I heard their names when I was eavesdropping.”

Jada looked at me strangely, and as if I had no control, my gaze found its way back to Zayne and Dez. The latter looked like he was laughing at something Zayne had said, and I wondered what they were talking about and if Zayne was smiling.

Did Zayne even know I was here?

The moment that question formed in my thoughts, I wanted to smack myself. What a stupid thing to wonder. It wasn’t like Zayne was out here looking or thinking about me. Sure, he’d been looking for me yesterday in the training facility, but he’d just been curious about why I lived here. I couldn’t blame him for that.

And why was I even thinking about Zayne? There was no reason, and I wasn’t thinking about him. Not at—

“You’re staring at them.” Jada leaned into me.

I blinked. I was, indeed, staring at them. Neither had looked over here, thank God. “I dazed out,” I said, feeling my cheeks heat. “Wow.”

Jada was looking at me strangely again.

“What?”

She looked over again to where they were sitting. “Nothing.”

“Hey!” Clay shouted, and I looked up to see him heading in our direction, still shirtless.

“Hell,” grumbled Ty under his breath.

I lowered my smoothie as he swaggered up to where we were sitting. There was no way he was going to talk to me, not after what had gone down between us.

None of us acknowledged him as he stood there. I just stared at him.

Undaunted, Clay looked at Jada and Ty and then refocused on me. “You know what you should be doing right now?”

I tensed.

“You should be getting me a drink,” he said, loud enough that half the people around the Pit had to have heard him. “I’m empty-handed.”

My jaw dropped. “Excuse me?”

“A drink.” Clay’s grin was slow, practiced in a way that showed he thought it was sexy and charming—a way I used to agree with. “You should get one for me.”

I leaned forward. “Are you serious right now?”

His grin only got bigger. “Yeah, I am. Because what else are you doing?”

“Are you high?” Jada asked.

He looked at her as he ran a hand over his chest. “You don’t get a body like this being high.”

A laugh burst straight out of me. “I can’t believe you just said that. Out loud. And in front of people.”

“What?” Clay lowered his hand. “It’s the truth.”

Ty snorted as he shook his head.

“Come on, Trin. Get me a drink and we can talk.” Clay ignored Ty and didn’t dare step to Jada. He was a jerk, but he wasn’t stupid enough to mouth off to the Duke’s niece. “Because I think we really need to talk.”

“I rather jump into that fire pit with a polyester suit on.”

Ty outright laughed. “I think you got your answer.”

“Why you gotta be like this?” Clay asked, ignoring Ty. “Look, I’m just trying to smooth things over. Especially since you messed things up for me.”

I stiffened. “I messed things up for you? Are you sure you’re not high?”

“What is he talking about?” Jada asked.

“Yeah, you would think you did nothing.” Clay lifted his arms, bowing his back and cracking his spine. When he was done being his own chiropractor, he bent down and placed one hand on the arm of my chair and the other behind me on the back cushion.

He lined his face up with mine. “Are you going to kick me out a window again?”

“What?”Jada demanded.

“No.” The fine hairs on the nape of my neck stood up as I tipped forward, making us nearly as close as we’d been when we’d kissed. “I’m going to kick you into the fire pit if you don’t back up.”

“Yeah.” He spoke directly into my ear, for only me to hear. “I’d like to see you try.”

Every cell in my body demanded that I put as much space as humanly possible between us, because I was a second away from turning him into a Warden tiki torch. “Really? Because I’m happy to oblige.”

Clay smirked.

“I have a question for you,” I said. “You’ve watched Game of Thrones, right?”

A flicker of confusion across his face was visible. “Yeah?”

“Remember King Joffrey?” I smiled sweetly. “You remind me of him.”

Jada sounded like she was dying beside me.

The too-charming smile faltered. A long moment passed as Clay stared at me. “I get it.”

“Get what?”

“You.”

I lifted my brows.

“Is there a problem?” Misha was suddenly there, behind Clay. “Because I remember clearly the conversation you and I had.”

“Yeah, I remember it.” Clay was grinning again as he pivoted. He eyed Misha and then patted him on the shoulder. “One of these days.”

With that, Clay walked off, throwing his arms up and out as he threw back his head and let out a roar that was definitely not human.

My gaze shifted to where Zayne and Dez were sitting. Both seemed to be looking over here, and my shoulders sagged. Of course they’d witnessed that.

“He’s an ass,” Misha grumbled, watching Clay over his shoulder. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to talk to you.”

“Okay, so what in the world happened?” Jada asked.

I answered before Misha could, giving them a quick rundown minus the whole kicking him through the window. “So, yeah, I’m kind of shocked he would even speak to me.”

Jada was glaring in Clay’s general direction. “And Thierry delayed his Accolade?”

I nodded.

“Good.”

“That’s huge.” Ty leaned forward. “Don’t get me wrong. Clay deserved it and more. But as much as it pains me to admit this, he’s actually a really good Warden, skill-wise. He’s almost impossible to take down in class. He’s fast, and not just in his Warden form.”

“Well, he brought it on himself.” Smothering another yawn, I handed my smoothie to Jada to finish off and rose. “I’m going to head back.”

“Why?” Concern pinched her features. “Is it because of Clay? Because, seriously, don’t let him ruin your night.”

“It’s not because of him. I’m actually pretty tired,” I said, telling the truth.

Jada looked at me as if she wasn’t sure if I was telling the truth, but she dropped it.

“Okay,” Misha said. “Just let me say goodbye to Alina—”

“No. Stay.” I stretched up and patted his head, nimbly dancing out of the way of his hand as he swung at me. “I’m literally going back to the house. I don’t need you to walk me.”

Misha hesitated.

“I’ll text you when I get back, okay?”

“Okay,” he said after a moment.

I didn’t waste time, because if I did, Misha would change his mind and leave Alina sitting by the fire. Saying goodbye, I dipped around the couch and then glanced over my shoulder toward the fairy lights.

Dez and Zayne were still there, and I quickly looked away.

I started toward the house. It was a good thing Misha didn’t know about me running into Zayne yesterday.

Or what I’d told Zayne.

I was still smacking myself for that one, but if Misha knew about it, he’d be right here with me instead of hanging out with Alina and enjoying himself.

I thought about what Clay had said to me as I followed the sidewalk back to the house. It had been...weird. I get it. What in the world had he meant? The thing was, he didn’t get it.

Had Zayne heard Clay? I sighed. Probably. Not like that would be embarrassing or—

“Hey.”

My heart jumped in my chest at the sound of Zayne’s voice. It was like I’d conjured him from the shadows. I stopped and turned around, ignoring the way my pulse started pounding.

“You didn’t try to hit me.” Zayne halted a few feet from me, under the soft glow of a streetlamp, hands in his pockets. “Turning over a new leaf?”

“Ha. Ha,” I grumbled. “Maybe you just called out loud enough for me to hear this time.”

“Maybe.” A small grin appeared. “So, what was going on back there?”

I knew exactly what he was talking about, but I played dumb. “What do you mean?”

“That guy,” he answered. “Yelling about you getting him a drink or something.”

“You heard.” I sighed.

“Confident the entire state of West Virginia heard him.”

Shaking my head, I lifted my hands. “It was nothing.”

“Doesn’t seem like nothing if you left immediately after that.”

I lowered my hands. “Wow. You were really paying attention.”

“I was.”

Surprise stole my voice for a moment. “Why?”

“Because I saw you over there, so I was paying attention.”

“You didn’t even look at me until after Clay made an ass of himself.”

That easy, teasing grin returned as he bit down on his lower lip. “So, you were also paying attention.”

Warmth splashed across my cheeks. “No, I wasn’t.”

He chuckled as he tucked a strand of blond hair behind his ear. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And annoying?”

“That, too.” He looked to his left and then back to me. “What’s the deal with that Clay guy?”

“He’s just... He’s just a dickhead.” A breeze lifted the ends of my hair. A weird little shiver curled its way down my spine. The wind picked up, tossing my hair over my face. I took a step back. “I need to get home.”

“I can walk you.”

There was a voice that whispered yes, a voice driven by an almost desperate need for something more than passing attention, but that need was irresponsible and reckless and interesting.

“I’m heading in that direction, anyway,” he said, nodding toward my house and the Great Hall beyond it. “It’s not a big deal.”

Exhaling softly, I nodded. “Okay. Sure. Whatever floats your boat.”

Zayne chuckled.

“Are you laughing at me?”

“Kind of.”

“Then I revoke my acceptance of your offer.” I turned and started walking.

Zayne easily caught up with me. “Nope. No take-backs.”

I fought my grin and won.

We walked in silence for a while and then Zayne asked, “What’s it been like, living here?”

“What do you mean?”

“Have other Wardens acted like Clay, or are they nice to you?”

I glanced at him. “Almost all of them have been accepting of me being here, if that’s what you mean. Clay is just... Well, he’s an ass, but I grew up with a lot of the younger ones. Even Clay.”

“And you were schooled with them? What was that like?”

“Okay, I guess. I learned about the Civil War in one class and the different species of demons in the next. Which means I probably had a more interesting educational experience than most humans,” I said. All communities were outfitted with their own schools. They of course were much smaller than many schools in the human world. One building housed K-12, and each class typically had no more than ten to fifteen students. “What about you? Did you grow up in one of the communities?”

“I was born in one in Virginia, just outside Richmond, but I don’t remember any of it.”

“You’ve always lived at one of the outposts, then?” I asked, referencing the locations where trained Wardens who patrolled and hunted demons lived.

“Yep,” he answered. “And you’ve never lived anywhere but here and...New York?”

I was surprised he remembered. “I came here when I was eight, with my mom.” We crossed the street, heading toward the smaller stone wall that separated the main house from the community. “It’s all I’ve known.”

Zayne was quiet, and I stole a quick glance at him. He focused on the dimly lit path and then his chin tipped in my direction.

I looked away, sucking in a shallow breath of the cool, pine-scented night air. “What was it like in the outpost?”

“Nothing like this,” he answered. “I grew up surrounded by trained Wardens and not away from...well, everything. I spent as much time in the city as I did in the compound. It’s never this quiet there.”

“I can imagine,” I murmured, but I really couldn’t. I didn’t remember much about living in New York State. We’d been in a suburb outside of Albany, never anyplace like Washington, DC, or New York City. “You were homeschooled?”

“I was. My father brought in someone to handle my education, a human who wasn’t too freaked out being surrounded by Wardens.”

“That had to be hard, being the only kid.”

“I wasn’t the only kid,” he said, and my curiosity piqued. Before I could I question that, he said, “Can I ask you something?”

“If I said no, you’d probably ask, anyway.”

“I wouldn’t. Not if you meant it.”

The genuineness in his voice brought my gaze to him. I actually...believed that. “What do you want to know?”

“How old are you?”

I lifted a brow. “I’m eighteen. How old are you?”

“Twenty-one,” he answered. “I’ll be twenty-two in a few months. September.”

I folded my arms over my stomach as we rounded the stone wall and neared the house.

“You’re eighteen and your mom is gone—and I’m really sorry about that.” He tacked on that last part quickly. “But why are you still here?”