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  After I’d screamed, a weird calmness descended over me. I looked at my charred fingers and dipped them in the pool water.

  “You burned him?” Poseidon asked. He ran a hand through his auburn hair. Funny I hadn’t noticed the red tint until I saw him under the pool lights.

  “He’s been drugged,” I choked out, my throat dry. I could see his chest rising and falling slowly. Cal wasn’t dead. That was the only thing that had gotten me through the last twenty minutes.

  “Is he alive?”

  I spun toward him, anger burning in my chest. “What kind of guard are you? We were ambushed by some crazy man and—” I held up my hands. “He burned my fingers and drugged Cal.”

  Poseidon looked around. “But there’s no way in here other than past me.”

  “Apparently that’s not true.” I grasped Cal’s shoulders and pulled him over to the edge. “Help me get him out, will you?”

  He bent down and dragged Cal out onto the cavern floor. Then he checked his pulse and his breathing. “You didn’t kill him.”

  I sighed, climbing out and gathering my clothes. “Of course I didn’t kill him. We were attacked.”

  “By who?” Poseidon asked.

  I froze, one leg in my pants. “I can’t say.”

  He approached, peering at me. “They will all assume you did it.”

  Staring into his deep green eyes, I asked, “Do you believe that I didn’t?”

  Poseidon looked between me and the unconscious Cal, and I knew he didn’t. Figures.

  Cal started coughing, coming around. He stared at us and asked, “Sasha, are you okay?”

  I nodded.

  “Did you see your attacker?” Poseidon asked Cal.

  Cal shook his head and coughed again. “No. One minute I was talking to Sasha and the next I was out.”

  I thought for a minute Poseidon might believe me, until he continued, “So, you don’t know if it was Sasha or not.”

  “It couldn’t have been her. She was on the other side of the pool.”

  But Poseidon was already pulling out his device and calling for back up.

  Cal reached out and grabbed my hand. “I know you didn’t do anything.”

  I gave him a half-hearted smile, about as much as I could muster at that moment.

  * * *

  I wasn’t able to even look at Cal when they took him away to the infirmary. Even if I hadn’t hurt him, it was my fault he’d been drugged. He could have been injured or killed. I should have stayed away from everyone as I’d intended. I scowled.

  After the headmaster made me explain what happened again and again, and I still refused to name my attacker, she threw up her hands and sent me back to my room under guard.

  “You’ll need to collect your things,” Poseidon said as he opened the door. “They are moving you to a single room.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “When was this decided?”

  “Just recently,” he said with a small smile. “Your suitemates—”

  “—the triplets.”

  He ran a hand through his auburn hair. “Well, their parents don’t feel they are safe here—”

  “—with me.”

  Poseidon nodded. He felt sorry for me. I could tell. No one wanted to be near me because they all believed I was going mad—a crazy spirit shifter who didn’t know the harm she caused. He thought I would feel sad at being rejected by my classmates. But I didn’t care what the triplets thought of me—or anybody else for that matter—and I was just as happy to have a suite to myself as they would be to have me out of theirs.

  “It’s okay,” I said.

  He dipped his head again. There was something so strange about seeing a bruiser like Poseidon bow his head. I reached out and squeezed his muscular bicep, and he stilled under my touch. His skin was smooth and not veiny like so many big men, and unlike air shifters like Drew, he felt warm to the touch. My burned hands looked like pretzel sticks against him, and for some reason it made me laugh. It was a high, frazzled laugh that didn’t sound at all like me. Of course, I hadn’t been myself since this whole awful mess started, since Chuck first recruited me for this job. Bang-up job I’d done of it too—getting Molly and my brother and my mates all stuck in the mire with me.

  Poseidon patted my shoulder awkwardly.

  I laughed through my teeth at Mr. Charming’s pitiful display of support, then I met his eyes. The concern in their stormy sea depths pulled me in, and I leaned into him. Poseidon wrapped his arms around me, and I lay my head on his shoulder. I didn’t care who was doing the holding; it just felt good to be held.

  The door opened, and four people stared at us, mouths gaping.

  “You and your guard?” one of the triplets cried.

  “Scandalous,” another said. The glee in her voice was unmistakable.

  The third crossed her arms over her chest and smirked.

  I realized that, after all this time, I still had no idea what their names were. You’d think I’d have figured it out, living in the same suite and all. But to be honest, I didn’t much care.

  Lucan grabbed my arm and, with a wolfish snarl, dragged me out of Poseidon’s arms. He shot a glare at him. With another growl, he pulled me across the suite to my room, flung open the door, and pushed me inside.

  I backed up, falling against the bed and staring at him. “What the hell, Lucan?”

  He yanked the door closed behind him.

  My eyes hurt from not blinking as I watched him. My heart thrashed against my chest, begging me to run and get caught. I licked my lips. Part of me wanted to lose myself in him, letting the amazing sex carry us away, and the other part railed at me: he wants to control you. You shouldn’t let him.

  Lucan’s muscles pressed against his thin tee shirt as he loomed over me. My hands wanted to slide through the short beard that ran along his chin. His eyes were perfect storms, like the center of a jade crystal swirly with fury. He stalked toward me.

  I inched back onto the bed. My gaze ran down his body, and warmth pooled between my legs. Dammit, body, don’t betray me now.

  He leaned over me and sniffed.

  With my palms, I shoved against his chest, but he barely budged. Fuck, when am I going to get my shifter strength? But at the same time, my fingers curled into his shirt drawing him closer. We gazed at each other. Our lips mere centimeters apart.

  He pushed apart my legs, standing between them. His hard cock pressed against my core, inflaming it, but he didn’t move.

  My nails scraped along the taut skin of his chest, and I couldn’t look away. Torn between wanting him and not wanting him. My body calling out for his touch. Visions of our last encounter running across my mind. I licked my lips.

  Then he kissed me. Our lips, our bodies came together like shifting plates of the earth. Destined. Eternal. No matter what our minds thought, our bodies, our magic, our very natures called out for our joining.

  I dragged my hands across his chest, hoping to ignite a tenth of the passion he’d riled up in me, and he caught them. Pinning my wrists above my head with one hand, he used the other to unbutton my blouse. Lucan kissed each inch of skin that was exposed. I shuddered again and again. With every press of his lips, I slipped further and further into a place where I didn’t care that we were fighting. I didn’t care about anything other than where he was going to touch next.

  When he reached my jeans, he flipped open the button and kept kissing as he followed the zipper. I moaned and bucked against him, wanting more.

  He grasped the waist and pulled, swearing. I lifted my hips to help him, but, with a growl of frustration, he released my wrists and used both hands to dispense with our clothes.

  Before I could blink, he was pressed against my wetness. I groaned, wriggling against him. I needed him inside me, now, filling me. I reached for him, closing my fingers over his smooth muscles. “Lucan.”

  He leaned over me and brushed a lock of hair away from my face. The storm in his eyes had deepened and darkened. His hand trailed alo
ng my cheek and cupped my chin.

  “Lucan.”

  His lip lifted, and he plunged into me. I shuddered, pleasure radiating to every nerve in my body. The feel of him pressed into me, stamping me with his body, claiming me as his own. We shook, the bed quaking under us, as we slammed together again and again. He drove me to heights beyond the room, beyond the school, and when the cliff came, I grasped his hand and leaped into bliss.

  Afterward, we lay sweaty and tangled in the sheets. I stretched like a cat, enjoying being lost in the moment. I didn’t care who was outside the door. Here, it was just him and me and the hum of our bodies.

  “We need to talk,” he said, breaking the spell.

  It’d been nice to forget the world for a minute, but I knew it was too good to be true. I pulled my arms away from him and sat up against the headboard. “About what?”

  His eyes trailed over me from head to toe. “You’re not going to mate the water shifter?”

  “What?” I scowled, focusing on what he was saying. I was worried about my life and my brother’s life, and he was jealous? “This is about Poseidon?”

  Lucan growled. “When I saw him holding you, I lost it.”

  “What? No ‘I’m sorry?’” I pulled my knees to my chest. “You always fucking lose it.”

  “I only lose it around you,” he muttered.

  This was exactly what I didn’t need. I’d been worried I’d have to take care of Lucan, but the real problem was that I didn’t fit in his neat little boxes. He wanted me to be part of the pack and under his control. Like I needed anyone else trying to boss me around when Chuck was ordering me to kill someone. I swallowed. I still hadn’t digested that one yet. “You and your control issues are why we’re in this mess.”

  “Mess?” He looked honestly bewildered.

  “Yes,” I muttered, running a hand through my still-damp hair. “The mating and everything.”

  His whole body seemed to bristle.

  I could imagine him in wolf form, chasing down his prey across the mountain. My fingers itched to stroke his hair, but I curled them into my palms instead.

  “Our mating is not a mistake,” he snarled.

  I held up my hands, palms forward. “Calm down. That’s not what I meant.”

  Well, it had been a little bit what I meant. How was I ever going to learn to manage a mate who was so prickly? My lips twitched. It was unlikely he’d have to worry about me for long, anyway. Mate or no, they’d kill me if I did what Chuck wanted.

  “Then what did you mean?” he asked. He sighed and sat on the end of the bed. He looked toward the window and the sinking sun. “It is a bit of a mess.”

  I scooted across the bed, giving in to my need to be near him.

  “I’m doing the best I can,” he said. “I don’t know how to be a mate. I was raised to run a pack, and that’s it.” He reached over and took my hand, squeezing it.

  “I know.”

  “I’m protecting you the best way I know.”

  I ran my teeth along my lip. “I . . .” I trailed off. What could I tell him? That I wouldn’t hurt him worse than I already had? I didn’t need to be protected. I needed support and love. But I couldn’t ask that of him. I’d already asked too much of everyone, and all I did was hurt them.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  A chuckle escaped me. “A little late to ask that.”

  He growled.

  “Oh, hush,” I muttered. “Yes, I’m okay.”

  “Good,” he said gruffly.

  “And I’m not going to mate Poseidon.”

  “Better.”

  I snickered and, just to poke him, I said, “I do have to mate a water shifter, you know.”

  “Not that asshole.”

  “Why not?” I asked, curious.

  He shook his head. “Because.”

  I stood up. “Don’t give me cryptic answers.”

  “Okay, okay.” Lucan sighed, scratching his scruffy chin. “I do want to get to know you, Sasha.”

  “You mean more than fucking?” I knew he did and that was what scared me the most. I couldn’t add another person to the list of people I needed to protect. Bad enough that Drew had weaseled himself onto there.

  “Yes,” he said. “You’re my mate.”

  11

  Sasha

  I kicked the rock across the courtyard toward the dining hall. The lingering smell of tomato and garlic rolled over me. I had to eat after everyone else was finished because they were afraid I’d hurt someone. I had never hurt anyone before. Not intentionally. Chuck’s request made me sick to my stomach.

  Poseidon trailed behind me. He’d laughed yesterday when Lucan and I had come out of the bedroom and, then he’d gone on about thinking he was going to have to barge in and rescue Lucan. I’d had to hold Lucan back from going for his throat.

  My thoughts skittered over the conversation I’d had with Lucan. We hadn’t said anything new. Of course I was his mate. There wasn’t any denying it, but it didn’t mean we had to bond emotionally. It’d be better for him if we didn’t. He wanted someone easy to control, and I wasn’t that. I wanted to control my own life. I so wished I could undo the mate bond somehow because I was only going to bring him heartache.

  I was thinking about Lucan because I didn’t want to think about how I was going to kill Larkin. Or even the fact that I was going to do it. But I needed to. Chuck had only given me two weeks. I worried at my lip. I didn’t know what made a person able to kill, but I didn’t have it in me. And if I started thinking about murder then I was going to have to think about after I did it. I’d be dead. The Council would execute me. Then who would take care of Alex?

  I stumbled into the dining hall, checked out the food line, and filled my plate with the remnants. Ziti was one of my favorites. I remembered that fateful Italian meal that had kicked this whole mess off. The leftovers I’d shared with Alex on our balcony. How we’d laughed until I’d gone in for wine and met Chuck.

  Sliding into one of the seats, I didn’t even look up at the raised voices from the door. Poseidon would keep everyone away while I drowned my sorrows in garlic and pasta. I wished I had some wine to wash it all down.

  “Hey,” Cal said, sliding into the seat across from me.

  Turning, I glared at my guard at the door, and he shrugged. You had one job, Poseidon: to keep everyone away from me. With a sigh, I turned back to Cal.

  He leaned forward on the table, his eyes sparkling. “Didn’t you miss me?”

  “You shouldn’t be here.” I stabbed the pasta with my fork, refusing to look up at him.

  “Hey Sasha, I know you didn’t hurt me.” Cal leaned closer, his eyes darting to Poseidon near the door. “I saw him.”

  A cold chill sliced through me. My thoughts scattered and reformed and scattered again. Why would Chuck let Cal see him? How had he resisted the tranquilizer? He was out when I pulled him from the pool. Out cold. How could he have seen him? I blinked at the sunny guy in front of me. And how in the hell was I going to protect him too?

  My lips dry, I choked out, “Who?”

  “The guy who attacked us. That executioner.”

  I shook my head. “No, Cal, I zapped you through the water. You must have been hallucinating.”

  “Bullshit,” he muttered.

  “Yeah,” I said, my words far away. “You know I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. My powers must have gotten out of control.”

  He grabbed my hands, holding them on either side of my tray. “You don’t have to lie. I know.”

  Yanking my hands away, I glared at him. “You don’t know anything.”

  Cal’s face fell.

  I closed my heart to it. He shouldn’t get involved. He couldn’t get involved. I could not care for any more people. This was it. My umbrella couldn’t fit any more people. Someone was going to get wet—or dead.

  He stood, slowly, and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. He might not have the muscles of a warrior like Poseidon or the fierceness of
Lucan’s wolf strength, but he was strong and proud. I wanted to ask what his shifter animal was, if he even knew since he hadn’t shifted yet. Water shifters could become sea animals or mer-creatures. I could see him as a playful dolphin or a merman. My lips twitched, but I held firm as I watched him walk away. Cal needed to forget me, forget my problems, and most of all forget whoever he thought he saw in the pools.

  * * *

  After lunch, I went into Focus class a few minutes late. The whole class was in silent meditation. That’s exactly what I needed: more time alone with my thoughts. I grabbed a mat and went to the back to sit. Before the whole school believed I attacked Cal, Poseidon had sat behind me on his own mat and played along, but now he stood in full guard position right at the edge of my mat. That’ll be good for concentration. I plunked down and closed my eyes, blocking them all out.

  I needed to do it. If I was going to kill the headmaster, I needed to do it and get it out of the way. But how could I kill someone? I’d manipulated people, I could admit that about myself, but I’d never intentionally hurt someone. I just wanted Alex to be safe. I didn’t matter. Not really. But could I really kill Larkin to save my brother? My heart rattled against my ribs. I didn’t know.

  A hand came down on my shoulder, startling me, and I opened my eyes. “Professor Frank?” I asked softly.

  She smiled. “How are you, Sasha?”

  I snorted. Fucked to hell and back. But the professor didn’t need to know all that.

  “As well as that?” She sat down on the end of my mat, folding her body into the meditation pose.

  “Madam,” Poseidon said, stepping forward.

  Professor Frank chuckled. “I was dealing with spirit shifters when you were in diapers, young man. Back up.”

  “But, madam—”

  Chuck’s words echoed in my head: I’ve been taking down whelps like you since before you were born. Even with my dragon form and my fire, I was helpless. I hated being helpless.

  “Give us some space so I can help my student,” Professor Frank said, her voice full of command.

  “Yes, madam,” he said with military precision. He backed away and, without the presence at my back, I took the first full breath I’d had in a while.