Miss Mayhem (Rebel Belle #2)(10)

I didn’t like that. I didn’t like it at all. How could David suddenly have new powers we didn’t know anything about? Saylor had never mentioned anything about mind reading, and, ugh, I was in no way ready to handle a boyfriend who could read my every thought whenever we touched hands.

“There are all sorts of things we can teach you.” Alexander sat back, his chair creaking. “All sorts of powers locked away in that mind of yours.”

“David doesn’t want to learn anything from you people,” I said, crossing my ankles.

But David jerked his head to look at me, something like irritation in his face. “I think that’s one of those things I get to decide for myself, Pres,” he said, and in that second, he wasn’t the Oracle or my boyfriend—he was the annoying guy who wrote mean articles about me in the school paper, the boy who never stopped arguing with me.

“Saylor said—” I started, only to let the words die in my throat. Saylor had told me that David’s powers could prove dangerous, and that the Ephors wouldn’t care. That his power was the only thing that would matter to them. I didn’t think she’d ever told him that, though, and this wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have in front of Alexander.

Ryan was looking down, frowning a little, but Alexander only watched me with those green eyes, brows drawn sharply together.

Finally, he folded his hands on the desk, the cuffs of his blue shirt peeking out from his jacket. “The issue as far as I can see, Miss Price, is that neither you nor the Oracle nor your Mage”—Ryan’s head came up—“currently have any sort of guidance. With the deaths of Christopher Hall and the woman you called Saylor Stark, any assistance you could have had in protecting the Oracle—”

“David,” I interrupted. “His name is David.” My voice shook the littlest bit, and I hated that. But I also hated anything to do with these people wanting to “help” David.

Alexander inclined his head the tiniest bit, lips pursing slightly. “As you say. David.”

Manners and graciousness dripped off those four words, but I knew when someone was being condescending, and I didn’t like it. Maybe that’s why my voice was frosty when I replied, “We don’t need your assistance. We have things totally under control. We have a Mage, an Oracle, and a Paladin. We don’t need anyone else.” It wasn’t true, not really . . . I was shaky and tired and completely in over my head. But I couldn’t take help from these people. Not the people who kidnapped Bee. As for everything else . . . we’d figure it out as we went.

Alexander’s expression didn’t change, but a muscle ticced in his jaw and after a long pause, he reached for the teapot at the edge of his desk, filling a delicate china cup. Once he’d taken a sip, he fixed me with that gaze again.

“I’m unsure of how you could control anything, Miss Price, seeing as how you are not actually a Paladin yet.”





Chapter 5


MY MOUTH went dry. “Excuse me?” I finally managed to croak.

His fingers drummed on the mahogany desk. “Well, you have the powers themselves, of course. That’s not in any doubt, as Michael’s corpse attests.”

“Michael?” I said, confused. Next to me, I could feel David tense, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw that he was sitting up straighter in his chair now.

“I believe you knew him as ‘Dr. DuPont’?” Alexander’s manner was still casual as he tugged at his cuffs, but there was a hard glint in his eyes.

Oh, right. The history teacher turned assassin who I’d killed. I glanced at Ryan. He’d heard the story—I’d told him everything once he became the Mage—but I knew this was the part he still had a hard time with. It had to be weird, knowing your ex-girlfriend killed somebody, even if it was in self-defense. But he was still watching Alexander, a wrinkle between his auburn brows, his leg jiggling up and down.

Alexander continued, “We don’t doubt your Paladin . . . prowess, Miss Price. But you have not yet earned the right to call yourself by that name.”

I didn’t like the sound of that one bit, and I crossed one knee over the other as I leaned in toward Alexander. “I gave up a lot to protect David. I lost my best friend, I lied to my family, and I watched a woman I loved and admired die right in front of me. So don’t tell me I haven’t earned being a Paladin. I’ve more than earned it, buddy.”

“Hear, hear,” David muttered next to me, and I felt his hand land on mine on the arm of my chair. I glanced over long enough to smile at him, and across the desk, Alexander sat back in his chair.

“So,” he said, nodding at our joined hands, “is that how things are?”

I jerked my hand out from underneath David’s, although I couldn’t have said why. It was like . . . I didn’t want this guy knowing about us. But obviously, it was too late for that.

David shot me a glance that was either pissed or wounded or both before facing Alexander. “What? is that not allowed?”

Alexander gave an elegant shrug, still kicked back in his chair. “It’s not officially against any rule I’ve heard of. But it’s never been an issue in the past.”

Curiosity got the best of me, and I shifted in my seat. “Why?”

Drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, Alexander looked up, like he was trying to think of the right words. “Oracles are usually very . . . dedicated to their duties. Having constant visions leaves little time for personal relationships.”