Thief

by Sadie Moss

  “My parents are fine with me staying here,” he tells me. “We have a big gathering for the winter solstice, anyway, and that’s in a month. So I’ll see them all soon.”

  With just the four of us and only a handful of other students and admins around, the dorms and school buildings grow quiet. Well, the five of us. Roman’s still around too, since he doesn’t really have family to go visit either. I sneak into his room and spend time with him, since the guys are all studying for tests and special third-year projects and all that. But he’s busy with grading and lesson planning too, so even though I could happily spend an entire day naked in his bed, I try to give him breaks so he can work.

  I was so ahead on my homework going into the holiday that I don’t have much to do. Turns out being unpopular and hated by the school for half the semester actually makes you really fucking productive.

  Go figure.

  I know I should probably relax for the week. It’s been a crazy semester, and I should use this chance to unwind and take it easy.

  But I don’t feel like relaxing.

  I want to investigate.

  Look, some asshat is attacking students, and I nearly took the fall for it. Alyssa’s out for my blood like never before, people are running scared, and that bullshit is just not gonna stand. I don’t appreciate bullies and never have, and this is my goddamn school.

  It was a gradual process, my falling in love with Griffin Academy. But it happened. The same way I fell in lo… er, started to care a lot about the men in my life.

  The longer I’m here, the more I appreciate the importance of this place, and I’m not going to watch it be attacked. There are other types of magical academies all over the country, but this is the only one that trains Unpredictables. It’s our only safe haven. And if the last semester with Johnson’s freak-out at the Trials proved anything, it’s that we’re not completely safe in the rest of the magical world. Our protected bubble here is threatening to burst, and there are people out there who hate us and would possibly rather see us dead than let us wield our magic among them like equals.

  So, a practically empty school? Sounds like a great time for me to do some digging and find out who might want to steal students’ magic, and how, and why.

  Of course, I’m not planning to do all of this alone. I’m not the idiot chick in a horror film, thanks. I’m going to get backup.

  On the third day of break, I find Cam and Asher in the library. It’s where they’ve practically been living the last few days, now that classes are out and they can devote all their time to studying. Cam’s a laidback guy and full of energy, not the type you’d expect to find in a library, but he’s been plugging away faithfully. Both of the guys have had me grill them with flashcards and stuff.

  Dmitri could probably use my help too, but God forbid he ask me for it.

  Damn it.

  Anyway, Asher and Cam have taken over one of the tables in the deserted library, Cam bent over a thick tome and Asher diligently tracing runes over an object that looks like an extra thick dinner plate.

  I walk up behind them just as Cam’s chin slips off his hand and he almost face-plants on the book.

  Yup, he was totally dozing off.

  Looks like it’s the perfect time for them to take a study break. I sidle up and plop down into the seat between them, and without even hesitating, they both reach out an arm to touch me. Cam’s hand lands on my thigh, his warm palm sending a delicious tingle up my leg, and Asher’s fingers thread through the back of my hair.

  It’s one of my favorite parts of this thing developing between us—how easily and how often they touch me now. It’s casual and automatic, and my skin reacts to the contact every single time. It’s as if at any given moment, our bodies would rather be touching, so whenever we’re near each other, it’s the most natural thing for them to do.

  I lean into Asher’s hand, letting him massage my scalp even as his other hand keeps tracing runes on the large disc.

  “What are you up to, Sin?” Cam asks.

  “Oh, nothing.” I wrinkle my nose. “But it could be something, if you guys are finished cramming…”

  “We’ll never be finished,” he says, in the tone of someone announcing the zombie apocalypse.

  “Pretty sure there are scientific studies on why it’s good for your brain to take breaks from studying. It helps you to relax and retain the information better.”

  Cam gives me a look through squinted eyes, like he thinks this might be bullshit but doesn’t know enough about neurology to dispute it. I give an over-the-top pout and bat my eyelashes, making him crack a smile. He enjoys theatrical dramatics.

  Asher fucks up the rune he was tracing somehow and curses, hanging his head in his hands. “Ugh.”

  “You guys need a break. Seriously.” I grab each of their hands and tug. “C’mon. Please?”

  “Fine,” the blond-haired mage groans, getting to his feet. “But if we fail our classes and you’re stuck with us for another whole year, you’ll have only yourself to blame.”

  That actually sounds amazing. I can’t even stand to think about being here without them in my third year, so the idea of keeping them around makes me smile. I’d never want to hold them back though, and I know they’re way too smart and driven for that to ever happen. They’re going to graduate with flying colors.

  But in the meantime…

  I pull them toward the door, still holding each of their hands.

  “What are we doing?” Asher asks.

  I grin. “We’re going to find out who’s been stealing magic.”

  Chapter 19

  Asher is the responsible one out of the three of us, so of course he has some reservations about us poking around campus to try to find the culprit.

  “What if we get hurt?” he points out. “What if we get in trouble?”

  “It’ll be fine,” I assure him.

  Honestly, at this point, how could it possibly get any worse for me if I do get in trouble? After having the whole school suspect me of the thefts, it’s hard to worry too much about something like getting caught snooping around.

  “If worse comes to worst, we can say we snuck off to have sex,” Cam points out with a wicked grin.

  I bust up laughing, and Asher rolls his eyes but cracks a smile.

  These guys are two of the very best people to be around if I want to relax. Roman’s not high-strung or anything, but he’s a very passionate and intense person, like Dmitri in his own way. Asher and Cam are both more laidback—but in different ways. They balance each other out. Asher’s calm and collected, but relaxed, while Cam’s energetic and always has a joke ready.

  It’s really nice.

  We start by going through the classrooms where the incidents occurred, just to see what we can find. I don’t know what we could stumble upon that the professors and admins didn’t discover when they inspected the rooms after the attacks, but you never know.

  “We should check the registry,” Asher says. “See if we can find a link, a student who was in each class.”

  “But whoever did this just had to be on campus, right?” I counter. “Or maybe in the same building as whoever they were stealing magic from? The culprit could’ve done all of this from the bathroom, for all we know.”

  “Fair enough.”

  We finish going through our large combat classroom and move on to another room on the third floor where first-years have their Theory of Magic class.

  I really wish we had Dmitri with us. Cam and Asher are bantering back and forth, and I love it, but I’m so used to seeing them with their other friend as well. I’m not sure where he is at the moment—he’s been spending a lot of break away from everyone, and I don’t know if it’s because of his family or school or me, or some combination of all three.

  We go well together, all five of us. Or we seemed to anyway, in the little time I was awake at Roman’s house. I don’t know what to do to get that back, to have Dmitri join us again. He and I are still in this silent
standoff. He’s not willing to say anything to break the silence, clearly, and neither am I.

  I know what I’d like to say. I’d like… well…

  Look, I’m not the begging kind. I’ve never chased after a guy in my life. I never knew a man who was worth it before, and besides, I wasn’t going to sacrifice my dignity like that. But I admit that what I really want is to ask Dmitri if we can work things out, if we can repair things somehow or grow to a better place.

  Even if I was mistaken about how much he cares for me, it doesn’t change the fact that I care for him. A lot. We’ve spent a lot of time together. And I know he’s attracted to me sexually—it’s sort of hard to fake that.

  Surely we could become something more?

  I want him to pick me. For the first time, I want to be that girl jumping up and down yelling pick me, pick me, pick me. I feel almost like Alyssa or one of her friends, on the hunt for a guy to marry to up their status since they’re Unpredictable and can’t make it far in magical society as a result.

  But it’s not because of Dmitri’s status or money that I want him. I don’t care about shit like that. And he’s cranky as all get out, but he watched over me when I was in my coma, he stayed with me all summer, he’s helped me when I needed it and protected me this whole time, and I can’t let go of that.

  And for all his snippy words, he’s never actually been a jerk. He’s never been cruel or hurtful. I’ve always felt safe with him. Protected.

  I wish it was as easy as just asking him to please choose me. But I don’t know how to say that, and I don’t think he’d want to hear it.

  “Hey, Sin.” Cam pauses in his perusal of a desk and looks up at me. “Everything okay?”

  I’m tempted to ask him if he knows about Dmitri’s, ah, situation. That the guy is promised to some girl to secure a family alliance like we’re back in the Middle Ages or something.

  But if Dmitri had told Cam, I know Cam would’ve told me. Asher might have kept his friend’s secret for a little while, out of respect for his privacy, but I’m sure he would’ve told me too as he saw things getting more serious.

  And it was getting more serious, at least for me. I may not have meant to, but I’ve been falling for Dmitri right along with the rest of the guys. Asher knows that. He’s a mind reader, so I can’t hide my feelings around him when his cuff is off—or even when it’s on, honestly. He sees right through me.

  Which makes me pretty sure neither of the guys knows about Dmitri’s “betrothal”. He would’ve been embarrassed to talk about it, I’m sure. He plays his cards close to his chest.

  And I can’t betray his trust by telling them.

  “It’s nothing.” I shake my head, trying to summon a carefree smile.

  Cam snorts. “C’mon, I might not be a mind reader like certain people I could name—”

  Asher gives him a deadpan look.

  “—but I know when something’s on your mind,” he finishes. “You get a little line between your eyebrows when you’re lost in thought. What’s up, honestly?”

  I might not be able to tell them the full truth, but I can at least admit a little bit of what I’m thinking.

  Perching on a desk, I let out a small sigh. “It’s stupid, I know, but Dmitri’s bugging me.”

  The two men exchange looks. “Yeah, what was your argument about?” Asher asks carefully. “You looked really upset when I walked in on you guys.”

  I grimace. “Yeah, sorry about that. I must’ve made your family wonder…”

  “No, no, you were fine. They know Dmitri’s hard to get along with, and it wasn’t like you two were making out or anything.” He gives me a wry, teasing grin before he sobers up again. “What happened?”

  “I tried talking to him about it,” Cam says, “but he’s keeping a lid on it. I know it’s not the same as what you’re going through with him, but Dmitri doesn’t always let us in either. It’s fucking frustrating, but it’ll pass, and he’ll talk to you in time. He’s just moody, and I don’t think he’s ever really had friends before, or a real romantic interest, y’know? This is all new to him.”

  “It’s not easy,” Asher acknowledges. “But if you’re patient, he’ll come around.”

  The thing is, while I appreciate their sympathy—and it’s good to know that I’m not the only person Dmitri tends to shut out—this isn’t just a difference of opinion or a quarrel. This is a big hurdle, and a fundamental… difference in outlook, I guess you could say.

  I want to be with him.

  There, I’ve said it. I want to be with him, and I thought I kind of was with him, but I never asked for clarification, and I lumped him in with the others when I shouldn’t have, and I was wrong. He doesn’t want me the same way, and even if he did, he’s fucking betrothed like some modern-day royalty or something, and he’s not going to go against his parents. I think he’s made that point clear.

  Not exactly the same thing as when Dmitri and Cam had an argument over whether Star Wars or Star Trek is better.

  When I don’t speak for a few moments, Cam gets a small, mischievous smile on his face and saunters up to me, taking me by the hips and tugging me off the desk before kissing me softly, slowly. I can feel myself melting just a little. I swear to God, his lips have some kind of magical stress-relieving properties. Is that an Unpredictable power? Because if it is, he’s got it.

  “I think…” he murmurs, “somebody… needs a little distracting.”

  “Oh, do you?” I shoot back, but I’m laughing as he kisses down my neck.

  Mmm, okay, yes, I am one hundred percent on board with this. I feel Asher take my hand and kiss my knuckles as his body moves in behind mine, sandwiching me between him and Cam. God, yes…

  “How about we take a break from this wild goose chase for a little bit, huh?” Cam asks, pulling back and grinning playfully as his tongue darts out to taste me on his lips. “The campus is practically abandoned. And I can think of more fun things to do in an empty classroom than search for clues.”

  Well, I can’t argue with that, now can I?

  My entire body tingles as I remember what kind of fun the three of us got up to last time we were in an empty classroom together, and Asher pulls me closer, pressing my back flush against his front. I can feel his cock already growing hard, and I’m sure he’s remembering the exact same night I am. I’ve been with each of the guys separately since then, several times, but the night of the Inter-academy Ball remains one of the hottest things I’ve ever experienced.

  Of course, that was at night, under the cover of darkness—right now, late afternoon sunlight streams through the classroom windows. But Cam was right. The entire campus is nearly empty, with only a handful of staff, students, and teachers remaining.

  The odds of anybody walking in on us are pretty damn low.

  And besides, Cam is currently kissing up one side of my neck while Asher trails kisses down the other, and their lips on my skin are rapidly destroying my most responsible brain cells. The only ones left are jumping up and down yelling “fuck yes!” so if I’m hoping they’ll talk me out of this, I probably shouldn’t hold my breath.

  Four hands are roaming my body, sliding up under my shirt, brushing the undersides of my breasts, slipping beneath the waistband of my jeans. I can’t really move because I’m trapped in an Asher/Cam sandwich, so I just let their solid bodies support me between them as zaps of electric pleasure dance across my skin.

  Cam’s lips find mine, and he kisses me like we haven’t fucked in weeks—and even though that’s totally not the case, I kiss him back the same way, because it feels like it’s been way too long. He’s hard too, and when he slides a leg between mine, immobilizing me even further, I feel his cock grinding into my hip. I also feel the solid muscle of his thigh against my clit, and I let out a little squeak of pleasure, which he swallows up with a chuckle.

  “Yeah? You like that?”

  “Uh huh,” I gasp, then groan as they both roll their hips simultaneously, pressing all of us c
loser together exactly where it counts.

  Jesus. What would it be like to have them both at the same time?

  I’ve never done anything like that. It still freaks me out a little, to be honest, but holy shit, the idea of being fucked by both of these men at the same time is making my body threaten to spontaneously combust.

  I grind down hard against Cam’s leg, even as I press back into Ash’s body, wriggling my ass.

  “Oh, she does like it,” Asher says from behind me, and I can hear the pleased grin in his words. There’s a slight rasp to his voice too though, as if he knows what I’m thinking about and it’s doing the same thing to him as it is to me.

  “Fucking hell,” Cam breathes. Then he attacks my mouth with another kiss, and I can feel how turned on he’s getting by the way his lips move against mine, hot and hungry and dirty.

  Asher’s hands move to my hips, and they pull me backward until he’s perched on a stone windowsill on one side of the classroom. I end up sort of sitting on his lap, only he’s not quite sitting down, so it’s more of a lean. I’m still mostly vertical, but he’s supporting my weight. My legs fall to the outsides of his, and Cam’s still in front of us, keeping our little sandwich intact.

  The blond mage’s blue eyes sparkle with heat as he pulls back slightly, and then he slowly draws my shirt up. He doesn’t even take it all the way off, just bunches up the fabric above my boobs, exposing my stomach and bra-covered breasts.

  Oh fuck.

  Ash and I have our backs to the window, and we’re on the third floor—so even if someone were to walk by and look up, it’s unlikely they’d see enough to guess what was going on. But having our backs to the window means we’re facing the classroom door. If anybody does walk in, they will definitely know what’s happening in here.

  Still, when Cam dips his head to suck on one of my nipples through my bra, I don’t push him away. I don’t even pretend this isn’t what I want.

  Hmm. Do I have some kind of exhibitionist streak I never knew about? I’ve had more sexual encounters in public places in the past year and a half than in the entire twenty-one years before that.