Page 6 of Big Bad Academy

“I just don’t know if it was the best choice to put her in the trunk.”

“Are you going soft on me?”

“Never.”

“She’s just a human.”

“Yeah.”

“Not really worth your time.”

“Of course.”

“She’s certainly not worth your concern,” he continues.

“I know.”

With that, I reach out and turn on some music. My flash drive, filled with music just for this little excursion, blares through the speakers. I lean back, close my eyes, and wonder whether I made the right choice.

For the pack, I definitely did. We need to know who’s threatening us and why. We need to know everything we can about these hidden villains, and the biggest lead we have right now is Heather Smith.

Why did it have to be her?

Meeting her wasn’t what I thought it would be like. She’s been very private on social media about her appearance. She doesn’t post pictures of herself, although I’m guessing that’s going to change today since this was her first public appearance. I saw a few people taking pictures both with and of her, which is terrible since it means our enemies are going to have a better idea of who to look for.

Heather Smith isn’t just a writer of paranormal romance books. She’s also the one person who seems to know exactly how our pack works. Her books detail exactly how our pack operates, where we’re located, and even who’s in charge. These are all closely guarded secrets that no one is supposed to know about, so how does she have all of these answers?

I don’t like the idea that Heather is a bad guy.

I don’t like the suspicion that she’s a terrible person or somehow evil or rotten.

Seeing her up close was like a punch in the gut because Heather Smith is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. My cock has been stiff as a board since the moment I saw her for the first time. It hasn’t calmed down since. She hasn’t seemed to notice that, but she’s noticed me.

I smelled how turned on she got when she saw me. Even being cornered in the elevator didn’t scare the little vixen. Nope. If anything, it just turned her on even more, and isn’t that curious?

I would have thought a girl like her would be shy and timid when it comes to men, but she’s not. She’s not anything like I expected her to be.

“She’s taller than I thought she’d be,” Gaston says, interrupting my thoughts.

“What?”

“The girl,” he jerks his head toward the back of the car, like I don’t know where she is.

“Yeah, I suppose.”

I don’t like the idea that he’s thinking about the way she looks.

“And prettier.”

I bristle, fisting my hands to keep from punching my best friend. If he notices, he’s smart enough not to say anything about my reaction. The idea that I’m attracted to a human is disgusting. I hate it. I hate the fact that she’s got me all riled up and I’ve only just met her.

Most of all, I hate the way she’s supposed to be this terrible villain that we’re apprehending, but I feel like I’m missing something. There’s some key to this puzzle that’s just out of reach. Heather Smith holds the secret to saving the Greystone Pack, but we have to convince her that our pack is worth saving.

After all, how can we convince the person we’re most scared of in this entire world that our pack is actually worth taking care of?

Gaston glances at the clock. We’re about six hours from home. He’s heading in the right direction, and I realize it’s time for me to get to work. I reach for her purse, which is at my feet. We went through her hotel room and cleared it out while she was at the signing. The last thing we want to do is make it look like she was abducted. If everything goes according to plan, the other writers will simply think that Heather was overtired and rude and took off for her home without saying goodbye.

Writer seem to be pretty introverted as a whole, so I don’t actually think anyone is going to be missing her very much.


Tags: Sophie Stern Fantasy