by Leia Stone
Arthur cocked a brow. “I see,” he said, and then turned back to his son. “You were supposed to bring her to me immediately when she returned,” he uttered quietly, but I still heard every word.
Gage shrugged. “We were busy,” he said.
Kill. Me. Now.
Just the insinuation that Gage and I were sleeping together reddened my face. It didn’t matter that I didn’t respect Arthur and was one hundred percent sure he was an evil POS, I still wanted to crawl under a rock and hide. I got that this was probably not a big deal for a lot of kids my age, but it was a big deal to me. I was by no means sheltered. I’d spent the better part of the last year being the primary money earner and taking care of Gran all on my own, but I’d hardly had time for boys, so, romantically speaking, I was a bit stunted.
Arthur made a noise in the back of his throat that was hard to interpret, and then nodded in satisfaction. “Bring her to my office once she’s presentable. I’ll get her set up in our system and registered for classes.” He tilted his head in my direction. “And I’ll allocate her a more appropriate room assignment.”
He’d said what any responsible adult would say, but was there a glitter of pride in his eyes? Gross.
With that, he turned on a heel and left. Several other Shade students loitered in the hall, keen on watching the show.
This was quite possibly the most humiliating moment of my life.
“Do you have Tatum in there?” a familiar voice asked. Indigo peeked around Gage. Seeing me, she smiled and then waved.
“Do you have any extra clothes Tate can borrow? Hers are…” Gage swiveled his head in my direction, a suggestive grin on his face. “Let’s just say hers didn’t make it through the night unscathed.”
I sucked in a breath of air so quickly I started to choke on it.
“No prob. Give me a minute,” she said.
Gage closed the door, and I chucked a pillow at his head, which he easily deflected.
Jumping out of bed, I stomped over to him and poked a finger in his exceptionally well-toned chest. He simply looked down at my hand and then up at my face.
“What were you thinking? Now everyone thinks we slept together,” I said. Maybe this was payback for blackmailing him. If so, I probably deserved it.
Gage plastered an innocent look on his face—I wasn’t buying it—and gestured to the bed. “We did sleep together.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” I snapped.
“Calm down, Tate—”
“It’s Tatum.”
“It’s just part of the plan,” he said.
I scoffed. “Convincing your father and the rest of Shade Academy that we… er… that you and I…” I waved my arm toward the bed because I couldn’t seem to get the words out. Gage smirked, obviously amused at my distress. “That was part of your plan?”
“Actually, it was. Much easier to explain why we’re spending so much time together if everyone thinks we’re shagging.”
I’d gotten so used to his light accent that I’d forgotten he was British until he said things like shagging.
“Ah, you’re a pig.” I pushed against Gage’s chest in frustration, but he didn’t move an inch.
“Apologies for the spooning,” he said with a broader smile. “I rather like having a warm body next to me while I sleep. I think I could convince Dad to keep the sleeping arrangements the same if you’d like.” He raised one eyebrow but there was a playful smirk on his face.
I really wanted to throat punch him. It was going to happen right then and there, and it didn’t matter if he’d kinda, sorta, maybe, saved my life a time or two. I wouldn’t feel bad about it.
Not one bit.
I don’t know if it was the look on my face, or if reality just set in, but Gage finally sobered. “Honestly, it earns me brownie points with my father if he thinks I seduced you into becoming a Shade.” I frowned, immediately remembering what Drea told me about the girl Jacob had liked: Britt. Maybe that story was true after all?
Gage continued, oblivious to my judgy thoughts. “He was suspicious after I killed the level five demon in the diner. If we’re going to get away with stealing his talisman, we’re really going to have to sell this lie. I can guarantee we won’t be able to pull this off unless I’m on his good side.”
“So you want to pretend I’m your girlfriend?” I crossed my arms and pinned him with a glare.
Gage’s eyes bugged. “Girlfriend?” He said the word as if it were something foul and detestable. “Let’s not get carried away. I don’t do girlfriends. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Then what was all that about?” I swung my hand around to indicate the room and the little charade he’d just performed for his dad.
“Shagging and having a girlfriend are two different things.”
“You want people to think I’m sleeping with you without being your girlfriend?” I pulled a face. “Who do you think I am? Gross.”
Gage crossed his arms over his chest, which drew my eyes back down to his naked skin. He needed to put on a shirt.
“What do you care what people here think of you? You’re not planning to stay anyway. And besides, we just met. Saying that you’re my girlfriend won’t be believable.”
I rolled my eyes. “But you think it’s perfectly believable that we’d be having sex after only two days?”
Gage shrugged. “Yeah.”
I rubbed my forehead. “I can’t believe we’re having an argument about the status of our fake relationship.”
“Just for the record, I don’t really like the ‘R’ word either. Sleeping together, friends with benefits, bed buddies… whatever. But ‘R’ word and ‘girlfriend’ are off limits.”
I threw my hands in the air, totally exasperated.
“How about we meet in the middle and settle on dating? It keeps things vague while still accomplishing our goals,” Gage offered, his lips twitching, but he covered it by going over to his dresser, grabbing a shirt and finally, finally, covering his chest.
I narrowed my eyes. Was he enjoying this argument? If so, he was deranged.
Huffing, I planted my hands on my hips. “Seriously. You think this charade will help us find Arthur’s talisman?”
I didn’t like this persona Gage suggested I project, but he had a point. Did I really care what the Shades thought of me if I was never going to interact with them again?
“Yeah, I have a plan.” He paused, considering his next words. “But are you really prepared for the consequences of your actions? You need to know that after you steal my dad’s talisman and heal your gran, you’ll be hunted. You won’t ever be able to show your face around here again. You’ll have to watch your back for the rest of your life. His talisman is his source of magical power. He will not let it go lightly.”
I swallowed hard. Yikes. Maybe he was only playing up the danger to get me to chicken out of the whole thing and get himself off the hook? But if he was telling the truth, watching my back for the rest of my life didn’t sound ideal… but if it would save Gran, then I would do it.
“I’m okay with that. Gran deserves to get her life back. What’s your plan?” I hadn’t meant to growl the words accusatorially, but they came out that way. His father took years from Gran. It was his fault she had a scrambled mind, so now I was going to take something from him.
“Have dinner with me tonight.”
I shook my head. “Gage, focus on the plan.”
He lifted a single brow. “That’s the plan. We’re fake shag… dating, so I’m bringing my newest conquest to have dinner at my father’s penthouse to impress her with my wealth and power.”
Conquest. Yuck. I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth.
“And how is that going to help us?”
“The most likely scenario is that he stores his talisman in his home office. We’ll need to get into his penthouse to search.”
“If you think it’s there, why don’t we just go right now. He’s probably going to be busy
here all day.”
Gage chuckled. “That’s cute you think my father would let me in his residence unsupervised… at least anymore. He’s well aware of the trouble I could get into. His penthouse is warded with Shade magic, as well as the best human security money can buy. We’re not getting in unless he invites us.”
Excitement thrummed through me. Sure, I’d prefer to ransack Arthur’s penthouse right now, but waiting until tonight wasn’t really a stretch when I originally thought it would take me days to find his talisman.
I stepped forward eagerly. “What does his talisman look like? Should I get a gun? Or maybe a sword? I wonder if I—”
Gage groaned, rubbing his face. “Why am I doing this?” he grumbled up at the ceiling in frustration.
I grasped the sides of his face and forced him to look at me. When he did, I was met with two stormy green eyes.
“Because I believe… deep inside… you’re a good person,” I told him. And I did believe that. Mostly. He couldn’t only be helping me to keep me quiet about his warning call to Lumen Academy. There had to be more to him than that.
His face fell, eyes softening. It was like he’d never been told that before and I’d hit him right in the feels. Gage, I was learning, was like a complicated puzzle. Every time I thought I had a piece figured out, there were hundreds more that didn’t fit.
“I’m really not,” he said, and then his eyes fell to my lips, and I wet them with my tongue.
Full disclosure. Even before I started homeschooling my senior year, I was a bit of a loner, so other than kissing Peter Garrison on the bus sophomore year, I had zero experience when it came to making out or anything of that nature. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about what it would be like to kiss Gage.
“Tate.” His voice was so soft it feathered over me.
Butterflies took flight in my stomach.
“It’s Tatum,” I breathed, leaning closer to him.
Sure, I could fake date the giant, ripped, angel warrior. Easy peasy. Totally believable. My street cred for this stuff was legit.
Run. My inner self was freaked out.
What am I doing?
A knock at the door snapped me from my mental breakdown. I dropped Gage’s face like a hot stone. Stepping back three paces, I realized I was all but panting.
“Enter,” Gage growled, annoyance laced in his voice.
Indigo popped her head into the room and grinned. “Clothes. Wanna change in my room?”
I sighed in relief, nearly fanning myself. “Yes.”
I crossed the room so fast I all but ran. It was getting way too hot in here.
“Meet you in the cafeteria, babe,” Gage called at my back.
I cringed. “No pet names!” I snarled back at him.
I could tell by the cocky look on his face that I was in trouble.
Indigo was shorter than me, so her skinny jeans were more like mid-calf capris, and I was totally not wearing underwear, but other than that I was rocking some clean semi-cute threads. The jeans were high waisted, and she’d given me a hot pink crop top so that a few inches of my midriff showed. She’d insisted on doing my hair into a thick side braid, and even putting on makeup.
“If you don’t look your best on the first day, the other girls here will eat you alive. Especially Claire.”
I paled. “Who is Claire?”
“She’s kinda the queen bee around here. Or at least she likes to think so. And she’s hooked up with Gage on and off for years.”
Great. And everyone thought I was dating—or, ah, doing stuff—with Gage now, so Claire would be after me.
“She still likes him I assume?” I raised one eyebrow as Indigo added some smoky black eye shadow to my upper lids.
Indigo snorted. “Still likes him? She’s obsessed with him. Watch your back.”
My stomach knotted. I was getting the very strong impression that Lumen Academy was full of sunshine and rainbows and wholesome students, while Shade Academy contained psychotic unicorns, demons, and worse… evil mean girls.
Oh, how I longed to have Drea at my side. But I had to admit, Indigo was growing on me, and I wasn’t sure how easy it was going to be to leave her here when I joined Lumen Academy.
“Hey, thanks for helping me out.” I reached out and squeezed her hand.
She smiled. “I was the underdog when I arrived too. We gotta stick together.”
Was I the underdog? Dang. Wasn’t that another word for loser?
Pushing that from my mind, I stood up and got a glimpse of myself in the mirror.
Whoa. I rarely wore much makeup. I was a mascara and lip gloss kind of girl. I was also pretty modest with how I dressed. I liked my body, it was just that I was kinda bashful with all the attention I got when I showed skin, so I stopped doing it. I guessed if I was going to be posing as someone who’d caught Gage’s attention, I’d have to dress like this. I needed to be seen as his equal, because he didn’t seem like the kind of guy who dated girls that worked at dodgy diners and just wore lip gloss and mascara.
One hundred dollars says Claire wears false eyelashes, I bet myself.
Indigo and I left her dorm room and headed toward the cafeteria. Just one day. I only needed to do this for one day so that I could make it to dinner with Arthur tonight. Then I would steal his talisman and book it back to Lumen Academy and save Gran.
One day, I breathed, making it my internal mantra.
When we stepped into the cafeteria, Indigo grabbed two trays and handed me one. I swallowed hard as every single eye seemed to turn in my direction.
You’re imagining things. You’re not that important, I told myself. But it was hard to shake the feeling that they were going out of their way to stare at me. My stomach grumbled as I piled eggs, bacon, toast, fruit, and a cup of yogurt on my plate. I’d been hungrier lately, like I couldn’t get enough calories no matter how much I ate.
When we left the food line, I spun, and Gage was standing right in front of me. His green eyes raked down my body, trailing over my pink top, down the tight skinny jeans and then slowly back up.
Without a word, he took my tray, carrying it for me as we followed him to a table with half a dozen people at it.
Gage is carrying my tray not because he likes me, but because he’s selling our lie, I told myself, because the butterflies in my stomach were dancing like they were at a rave right now.
When we reached the table, Gage set my tray down and then sat next to it, patting the seat. There was a challenging sort of glint in his eyes. I imagined making me uncomfortable was his concession for being roped into this heist.
I gulped, sitting as I stared at the group of teens who’d fallen into a hushed silence. Indigo sat on my other side. She shifted and silently dove right into her meal. I got the vibe this crew made her a little uncomfortable as well.
“Everyone, this is Tate. She’s new here,” Gage said casually, and then slipped an arm onto the back of my seat, clearly staking his claim without using words. “Her mom was a Shade.”
“It’s Tatum actually.” I gave everyone a friendly but probably awkward smile.
Gage reached out, grabbing a piece of bacon from my plate, and bringing it to his mouth. I yanked the strip from his hand and put it back on my plate.
“Get your own, babe,” I said sarcastically, and he smirked.
I was starving, and I’m pretty sure Thou Shall Not Steal Bacon should be the eleventh commandment.
A gorgeous redhead wearing a black leather corset top and way too much makeup reached across the table and placed a piece of bacon on Gage’s plate. “You can have mine, G.” She winked.
Jealousy flared to life inside of me as Gage picked up the bacon and ate it.
My gaze flicked to the redhead’s, and she smirked.
False eyelashes.
“Claire?” I asked.
She looked surprised. “Gage told you about me?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Just a good guess.”
An unco
mfortable silence descended on the table as I tucked into my meal. Gage cleared his throat. “Kev, my dad got season tickets again this year. Wanna hit up the Yankee’s game opening week?”
The scary dude I’d seen outside the gelato cart last night nodded. “Definitely.”
It was hard to explain, but some of these kids had an energy to them that made me squirm. I couldn’t put my finger on it, and I was just finishing my last bite of food when my vision suddenly went blurry. I blinked rapidly, trying not to freak out.
Maybe four pieces of bacon was too much salt or something. When my vision cleared, I gasped.
Kev, Claire, and Gage’s other friend Shawn all had a dark shadowy snake coiled around their throats.
I yelped, flying off the bench and stumbling backward. Gage turned to face me in surprise. Waving off Indigo, he left the table to approach me where I cowered in the corner of the lunchroom.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
I searched Gage for the same snake, relieved to see it wasn’t on him, and then looked back at everyone at the table, who were now staring at me like I was a lunatic. Indigo was also snake free, but the smoky shadow creature slithered from Kev’s neck, down his shirt, and out of sight. I blinked and Claire’s snake loosened, draping around her shoulders like a shawl.
“Snakes,” I whimpered.
Gage frowned. “What?”
I swallowed hard. “Claire, Kev, and Shawn have… demon snakes around them. Don’t you see that?” I pointed to the table, glad we were out of earshot.
Gage looked at his friends and then back at me. Surely, if he was a Watcher, he had the same abilities as I did to see demons.
“I don’t see anything. Maybe you need more sleep.”
No. They were there. I blinked rapidly again, and the snakes turned into black smoke and then disappeared. Shaking my head, I ran a wobbly hand over my arm. Goose bumps covered my flesh.
“Hey. You good?” Concern etched on Gage’s face. He reached for my hand.
I’d be touched if I thought it was concern for me, rather than concern that I was ruining his reputation. I didn’t know what that was, but it was clear no one else could see it so I was keeping it to myself.
“Just need more sleep, I guess.”