Obsession: A Rejected Mate Shifter Romance (The Mate Games #1)(26)

Real peach of a guy, that priest—ex-priest? I was still a little fuzzy on the details, seeing as how he was a vampire and all. It had to be pretty difficult to be a good shepherd to his flock when he wanted to eat them all. As far as I could tell, his vamp status made it impossible to participate in the ministries for which he’d been ordained.

Priest or not, you’d think spending three days in and out of consciousness half-naked in a guy’s bed would earn you some leniency, but nope. If anything, he seemed even more uptight than usual. Which was not boding well at all for me, considering that we had a session scheduled for this evening.

I groaned and snapped my laptop closed. Moira looked over with a concerned lift of her brow.

“Something wrong, sweetpea?”

She’d been momming me ever since Alek brought me back clad in only his T-shirt. I’m not gonna lie; it was pretty nice having someone tuck me into bed and keep refilling my water or bringing me warm tea. I was totally fine, physically, after Alek sent what felt like the force of the Norse gods raging through my bloodstream. But I think letting Moira take care of me made us both feel better about what happened.

She’d been really upset with herself for getting so drunk she’d ended up in one of Iniquity’s private rooms to sleep it off, leaving me unprotected. And I . . . well, I just wasn’t used to anyone caring for me like that.

I gestured to my computer. “Is the good father always this much of an asshole?”

Her second brow lifted to join the first. “Generally speaking, yes. Though, you’d have to tell me what he’s done to give you a more thorough assessment. I will say that he does seem a lot more snarly around you. Then again, so do most people.”

“Yeah, yeah. So you keep telling me.” I sighed and scrubbed my hands over my face. “He just said I have to go back to class today. Threatened me with punishment if I failed to obey.”

Moira moved to stand behind me, affectionately rumpling my already listing ponytail. “Sounds like we should get you dressed and fed, then. You have weapons and defense with me this afternoon, and word on the street is Sanderson transformed the grove for drills and sparring training. Welcome to hell week, sweet cheeks.”

I groaned, folding my arms on my desk and dumping my head on top of them.

She stopped twirling my hair and chuckled.

“Are you really laughing at my misery?”

“No. Well, yes. I just realized your lover boy is in class with us.”

“Lover boy?” I asked, peeking over my arm. I hadn’t told her what happened with Alek the night before—I was still trying to figure out what the hell happened there for myself.

“I should say boys, plural. As in, all of them.”

That had me straightening and twisting around to look at her. “Excuse me?”

She started counting on her fingers. “Wolf, Viking, and Vamp. You’re going to be in a sandwich with the whole sexy trifecta.”

The thought of having to deal with one of them, let alone all of them, had my stomach twisting in knots.

“Is it too early to start drinking?” I asked, not totally kidding.

She tugged my ponytail, then stole my rubber band to tie her own navy-colored locks up. “Unfortunately, the dining hall doesn’t do alcohol, so yes. But if you hurry up and hop in the shower, I can braid your hair before we eat.”

Even though I groaned as I stood, there was no heat behind it. If I had to spend the day sparring with supernatural sex gods and listening to lectures on the tenuous nature of our Families’ politics, at least I’d have Moira to do it with.

We’d just finished up with our meal—no buffet style here, Ravenscroft had an actual waitstaff and daily menu for its students—when Noah walked in.

My steps faltered, and Moira immediately craned her neck to see what had brought me up short.

“Oh hello, Prince of Darkness,” she whispered under her breath.

“Don’t call him that.”

“Do you have a better name for him? Dark lover, perhaps?”

I tried to elbow her in the ribs, making her laugh as she sidestepped my blow. It almost distracted me from the fact that Noah’s presence caused crackling energy to snap through the room.

I hadn’t seen him since the stabbing. I remembered dancing with him. How his hands had wandered, and the way he kept trying to steal kisses but would purposely miss my lips until I’d been crazy with the need for him to just do it already. I remembered the taste of his blood as he forced me to drink, and how after the first taste, he hadn’t had to force me at all. And then . . . nothing.

Crickets.

He’d totally ghosted me.

I mean, we weren’t exactly dating or anything. But I thought maybe we were starting something. He’d made it pretty clear he was interested in me and then completely fell off the face of the earth. Granted, I’d been unconscious, and Caleb had mentioned how he’d told everyone to stay away. Still, I thought Noah might care enough to wonder how I was doing, at the very least.

Our eyes locked across the room, and for a second, I thought maybe I’d misunderstood everything. Maybe he was just respecting Caleb’s rules. I started to smile, my hand lifting in a little wave.

Then she walked in, and all my na?ve musings exploded right in my face.

Any hint of emotion I’d thought I’d found in his eyes was gone. Hidden behind a mask of bored indifference as a stunning redhead, her skin creamy and perfect, slid her arm through his. Noah barely spared her a glance, but the mystery girl gave him an adoring look as she trailed her other hand up his arm, leaving no doubts as to the claim she was making.