ChapterThirty-Six
THORNE
Ishoved the doors of the headmistress’ office open with such force they broke off their hinges. I couldn’t believe what I’d just been told. Fury boiled under my skin, barely contained. Everything had been shot to hell with one conversation.
“Thorne, wait!” Callie called, trailing after me and yapping a bloody mile a minute like a damned rabid Chihuahua. “This is a good thing! It’s therightthing. You’ll see.”
“Callie, do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up before I shut you up.”
She pouted, batting her eyelashes at me like it would garner any ounce of sympathy. All it made me want to do was shove her into the lake and see if they’d double as flippers. “Thorne, you know how these things go. The Vampire Council makes edicts to keep us safe. This is the way things are supposed to be. You and me. Together. I mean, I even have your aunt’s name. I was made to be a Blackthorne.”
“Keep my aunt out of this. You and I are nothing,Callista. You don’t understand what you’ve done, calling attention to things this way.”
“I didn’t call attention to anything except that we haven’t gotten a chance to spend the appropriate amount of time together because you’re always running off. We’re to be wed, Noah—”
“Do. Not. Call. Me. That,” I snarled, baring my fangs and scenting her resulting fear.Good.Maybe the little fool had some sense after all.
“She’s not good enough for you. Whatever this is, she’s got some kind of spell cast on you. Don’t you see? It’s her and that witch friend of hers. They’re trying to ruin everything.”
She reached out, attempting to run her fingers through my hair, pressing her body against mine.
Before I could stop her and shove her away, her gaze locked on something behind me. “Oops,” she whispered.
“What the hell is going on here?” Sunday’s voice, filled with hurt, hit me like a bucket of ice poured down my back.
Callie sneered. “If you wanted to get frisky,Noah, you should’ve asked me to meet you somewhere more private. I know you’re excited about the ball, but really...”
“Oh, piss off,” I muttered, flinging her hand away and spinning toward my mate. “You know this isn’t what it looks like.”
Hurt still flickered in her gaze, Kingston’s actions too fresh for her to immediately dismiss what she’d seen. “So what is it, then?” She cast a livid glance at Callie. “ What does this dollar store Barbie doll mean about you being excited about the ball?”
“Oh, poor lamb, she doesn’t know?” Callie put on an air of pure innocence. “The Council decreed like species must be paired for the ball. That means, unfortunately for you, our Noah can’t lower himself to take a disaster like you.”
Uncontrolled rage built in my chest, exploding before I could stop it. “Don’t you dare speak of my mate that way, you pathetic little maggot.”
Callie’s pale skin leached of all color before two angry splotches of red stained her cheeks. “Yourwhat?”
“You. Heard. Me.” I stepped forward with each word, and she took careful steps away. Then I ripped the sleeve of my shirt free at the shoulder, exposing my voluntary traitor mark.
Callie lifted a shaking hand, gesturing in Sunday’s direction. “This? This is what you choose when you could have had me? This low-born, half-breed, nothing of a reject shifter? Her own family doesn’t even want her. She’s not good for anything—”
Four red slashes opened up on her cheek, blood trailing down the porcelain skin, healing almost instantly.
Sunday stood at my side, her fingers shifted into razor-sharp claws, eyes glowing wild. “I didn’t hurt you last time, and you blamed me anyway. Consider this payback.”
“You little bitch!”
Sunday growled, a deep, violent rumble low in her throat. “Give me one reason, Callie. I fucking dare you.”
“Enough!” The headmistress appeared in a cloud of black mist between them, and for the first time ever, I was relieved to see the powerful and terrifying woman. “Mademoiselle Fallon, come with me.”
Callie smirked, crossing her arms over her chest, but Headmistress le Blanc shot her a disdainful glare. “You are clearly not innocent in this either, Mademoiselle Donoghue. We will be speaking about your choices shortly.”
I hated how bloody powerless I was in this. Headmistress le Blanc could reduce any one of us to ashes if she so chose. She was the strongest being on this plane of existence. She’d been killed more times than history even knew, yet she always returned, unscathed, wiser than before.
She turned toward her office, not checking to see if Sunday was following her, and yet when I took my first step, she called over her shoulder, “That will be all, Mr. Blackthorne. Your mate will be safe with me and returned to you shortly.”
All I could do was watch Sunday walk away. Every step killed me. But I had to trust le Blanc’s word. And once I had Sunday in my arms again, I’d make this up to her. Ideas sparked to life in my mind, my lips curling up in anticipation.
Yes.
I’d make this a night she’d never forget. So when we had to attend the ball with others, she wouldn’t doubt my love for her for a single moment.