“Are you sure, what?” Cade asked, sounding impatient. He growled quietly, and when I moved my attention from Sloane to him, I noticed that he wasn’t even looking at us. He was staring toward the far corner of the dining hall—at Bain.
“I’m just making sure you weren’t the one who tried to kill her.”
Cade’s attention flew back to Sloane, and that was when I took over looking at Bain. My stomach dropped when I saw that he was staring directly back at me, but if I thought that Cade and the rest of the Rebels were hard to read, Bain was like reading a dead language—even if I wanted to read him, I couldn’t.
“I’ll kill everyone in this school before I ever let someone touch her again. So, no, Sloane. I wasn’t the one who tried to kill her.”
Sloane sat down, unfazed by Cade’s threat. “Not surprised to hear a threat leave your mouth. You probably have a knife or gun on you at all times. Just like the rest of you Rebels. Fucking psychos.”
“We sure are,” Shiner said with a little skip in his step. His long legs straddled the dining-hall table as he stuffed a breakfast sandwich in his mouth, chewing and swallowing it in record time. “Psychos are better in bed.”
“So I’ve heard.” Sloane rolled her eyes and waved her hand at Mercedes so she could join…our?…table.
I stood awkwardly, looking at everyone as they sat down at my table that was supposed to have been for me and me only. I wasn’t sure how I felt about everyone suddenly coming to sit with me and the fact that the entire dining hall was staring at us. I knew Aubrey was probably fuming as she sat with her friends, looking at the Rebels’ empty table, but Cade had been correct when he told me that she would be leaving me alone. I hadn’t caught a single look from her.
Although, that could have been because I had lost my shit that day when her friend pulled my sleeve. She probably thought I was unstable. And maybe I was.
“Sit.” Cade’s command did nothing but twist my insides.How could he make such a tiny word sound so inviting? Especially when he was bossing me around?
He tugged on my plaid skirt, his finger brushing over the skin along my thigh. My eyes widened briefly, and I was certain no one else had noticed or felt the uptick in my pulse, but Cade had a way of sensing these things in me. He leaned in close and whispered, “Was last night not enough?”
My cheeks were warm, and I elbowed him as I sat down beside him. “Stop it.” One finger-fuck and a blow job, and he suddenly thought we were back to normal.
But are we? This really was no different than before. Sexual innuendos, touching in the dark where no one could see, desperate for each other’s attention. Shit, we are back to normal.
“That’s right…” Isaiah interjected, placing his arms on the table. He leaned in closely, and Gemma gave him a side-eye. “What exactly did you two get into last night?”
Cade and I both paused, his leg stopped bouncing beside mine, and I had the sudden urge to scoot away.
“You two were together last night?” Sloane gave me a look that made me backtrack.
“What? No.” The refusal to admit anything jutted out like a swift punch. We were not together. We did not go to the psych hospital. We did not touch. And we did not set a building on fire.
My face was as red as those flames. I could feel it.
“That’s interesting,” Isaiah mused, his hand disappearing under the table. Gemma grinned as she tried to busy herself with her oatmeal. “The headmaster pulled me aside this morning and told me something I think you’ll all like to hear.”
“Spit it out, Rebel. We don't have all day.” Sloane sipped on her tea, giving no more than a second of silence.
“I heard that the Covens was set on fire last night.”
Shit.
Cade’s hand landed on my thigh, and although it was such a subtle movement, my leg kicked in response. Isaiah’s mouth curved as he dropped his eyes to Cade’s arm that I was certain he knew had moved to my leg.
“Wow. Really?” Cade bemused, grabbing his mug. Black coffee laid inside, and that didn’t surprise me at all.
“Wait, what the fuck? Are you serious?” Brantley dropped his fork.
“Yep,” Isaiah said, wrapping his arm around Gemma’s waist. “They aren’t sure who did it, but it looks to be arson.”
I swallowed a bite of my pancake to keep my mouth busy. What were we thinking? What if they trace it back to us? What if they come to take me away again?
My head was spiraling as Brantley asked questions and Shiner joked beside him. “Maybe it was your brother, Gem. Or maybe it was Cade and Journey since they look pretty fucking guilty over there.”
Cade shrugged. “Wasn’t us.”
“It wasn’t Tobias,” Sloane said before shutting her mouth like she had admitted something she shouldn’t have. Gemma’s eyes flew over to her, but I couldn’t pay attention because I was suddenly feeling uneasy and unprotected.
Cade turned his head slightly to me, tapping the inside of my leg. “Breathe.”
A burn zipped through me that left a trail of embers behind. Except, it had nothing to do with his hand clamped on my leg. “I want that knife,” I whispered, blocking the side of my face with my hair. It was as if Cade and I were in our own little world, tucked away from everyone in St. Mary’s.
“I have it.”
Our eyes met, and there was no time to waste. “Meet me at my door tonight. After curfew.”
I zeroed in on his dimples as he tapped my leg again. “I would have been there regardless.”
Then, he turned away, and we joined the conversation as if there wasn’t a literal threat hanging over my head and a burnt-down building with our names smeared in the ashes.