The Demigod of Sea sent me a harsh look. “That’s none of your business.”
Probably not.
I shrugged just to irritate him. His gaze landed on my bare shoulders as if he wanted to remove the sheet from me and run his hands over my bare skin.
A shiver passed over me as heat rose between my thighs.
For a second, I must have looked confused. How could I still feel attracted to this demigod? He was an utter ass.
“Did Ares ever get back to Axel about the reason the ritual went awry with me?”
“Am I your messenger boy?” he hissed.
I sighed. As I’d said, an utter ass. But I didn’t need this hostility so early in the day.
“What about Zak?” I asked hopefully. “He can’t be away, too, right? He should have come to get me instead of you.”
A dark light flashed through Paxton’s eyes, turning the violet color to deep purple as the sea demigod grew angrier.
“Why am I even answering your questions?” he grated. “No one dares to question a demigod. No more stalling, Marigold. You’re going to class, and you have two minutes left now. If you aren’t ready by then, I’ll drag you across the campus whether you have clothes on or not.”
He wasn’t kidding. He was ruthless.
I rolled my eyes, but I started searching for my name tag among the rows of drawers in the cabinet. My clothes should be inside one of these.
My mood was foul by the time I’d found the name Marigold, pulled open the drawer, and yanked out a uniform along with a pair of new boots.
I hoped that they got my size right, especially the shoes.
I didn’t spare the demigod a glance as I took my uniform to the public bath chamber half a block away from my dormitory.
He didn’t follow. I hoped that he’d leave while I changed.
For a second, I thought about running, but I gave up the idea before a plan formed.
I cleaned myself in record time, put on my uniform of blue and gray, and stood in front of a mirror before the sink.
I hadn’t really looked at myself in a long time.
And now, a woman who hadn’t completely lost the roundness in her cheeks stared back at me. She had elegant, long eyebrows that didn’t need to be plucked into shape. Her lips were pink and full. Under her dark, thick eyelashes, her green eyes had the color of an untamed forest and the energy of a firestorm. There was so much life I stepped a pace back in shock.
“Marigold, look at you,” I murmured to myself as I threaded my hand through my lavender hair.
I was still here. I lived. I hummed a tune, almost happy again.
“I’ve never seen a soldier that narcissistic,” Paxton’s voice commented as he suddenly appeared in the mirror behind me.
I hadn’t noticed when he’d zoomed in.
“Are you spying on me in the women’s bath chamber?” I asked, frowning at him deeply. “Do you even have a concept of boundaries, demigod?”
“I am above all rules and boundaries,” he said arrogantly. “But you, the rest of you, are bound to all of them.”
I wanted to toss something at the asshole, but I had nothing in hand. It wouldn’t work anyway. He’d just give me a harder time. The Demigod of Sea sought to crush me.
As if he could hear my thought, his taunting gaze met my glare in the mirror, daring me to assault him.
“And what did I say about two minutes?” he asked.