I stared at him, but it was hard to argue the point, considering what had been at stake at the time. And I couldn’t expect them to believe Talakai wasn’t involved, not when he vanished that same night.
And the hardest part of it was, they might be right.
A big hand landed on my shoulder, and squeezed. I hadn’t even heard Matt come up behind me.
“But Jacques is looking into it?” the Dire insisted.
Ryan nodded. “I agree—the sword thing is odd. It’s worth investigating. Jacques is going to try tracing the previous owners.”
“What about Aaron?” Matt asked.
Cody’s mouth pulled in a straight line. “He’s still comatose. Tyrez and Sebastian want first crack at him. I have, apparently, been forbidden to see him.”
“Which is wise, and you know it,” Cara interjected. “Pounding him to a pulp is not constructive.”
Cody’s eyes flashed copper. “Satisfying, though,” he growled.
Kitani reached a hand out to his arm, her fingers turning white as she pressed them against his skin. “We got them back,” she reminded him. “The idea is to stop it from happening again.”
Cara smiled at me. “If you want to be in time for your class, you’d better get going. I’ll see you afterward. Sebastian’s released you from the afternoon run, so that you and I can have another session. I’ll meet you at the forest gate.”
She was right about the time. “I will see you later,” I replied.
Mari waited for us in the hall—most students had already filed out while we were talking. As we followed her to the coliseum, Matt moved his hand to my sleeved arm. Heads turned to stare at me.
“Do I have food on my face?” I whispered to Mari.
She squinted down at me. “No. Why?”
“They want a look at you,” Matt said, but I noticed he didn’t remove his hand from my arm.
The eyes that belonged to nosy Dires went from me, to the arm, and then to him, before turning away.
I should have minded that he’d laid claim. But I didn’t.Mine.The word was my own, and it echoed through me. Because he hadn’t just laid claim to me.
I’d done it to him.
He wasmine.
The conviction came from deep within me, and I contemplated it as we took our seats. The headmaster, Amadeus, strode up to the podium. I almost groaned aloud, and Matt uttered a small growl.
Diplomatics had sounded like a boring class, and it didn’t disappoint—ninety minutes of excruciating theory that had the class snoring after the first ten. I envied Trix’s ability to curl up at my feet and have at it. The headmaster had the annoying habit of droning, followed by sudden increases in volume that I was sure were designed to snap us out of our doze.
After our very physical morning, it didn’t entirely work.
As the class wrapped and the students staged a rapid exit, Matt leaned into me.
“Ask Cara if a glove will help, Angel,” he whispered, his voice so growly it sent a pulse straight through to my core. “I am not a patient Wolfie.”
My gaze dropped from his glowing eyes to his lips. He’d kissed me, back when we were tracking the twins, and it hadn’t drained him. But much as I longed to, I couldn’t risk it.
Wouldn’t risk him. Memories of him lying beneath me, unresponsive, his heart barely beating—no, that couldn’t happen again.
He must have read it in my eyes, because he lifted his head away and offered a lopsided smile. “Abstinence might make the heart grow fonder, but it makes other things much harder.”
For once, he didn’t spew Aussie slang. “Well, until I get this thing under control,” I said, “You might have to cope with that on your own.”
His eyes flared. “Flogging isn’t my idea of a party.”
