Page 26 of Bound to Three Fae Beasts

He stared at me silently. The scars against his pale skin seemed to be more intense than before, his blue eyes even icier. I hated the way he looked at me, and the shivers it sent over my scalp. I tried to sidestep again, but he only blocked me again.

“I was just looking for a place where I could read in peace. After what happened in Thatcher’s class, I was hoping to avoid Seb. And the rest of you.”

He tilted his head to one side. “Did you get your knife back?”

“I didn’t have the chance to grab it before I went to the nurse’s office.”

That was the truth, but I’d taken a fresh one from the great hall that morning at breakfast, and encouraged Silas, Penry and Freta to arm themselves, too. The four of us promised we’d practice sparring and Freta would teach us proper techniques once I was healed.

I could pull it now, of course, but I doubted I’d be able to fight my way out of this. So how was I going to get out of this? I scanned my mind, trying to remember what Miss Wren had taught us about Court Vespa. It was one of the most powerful courts. Vespa and Laurel were rivals, which was why it was odd for Jasper and Seb to be friends. They were, if I recalled, in a bit of a tricky situation. Why was that? Something happened to make them lose face, right?

He leaned toward me. “If you’re trying to escape notice, you’re doing a poor job of it.”

“If you three would just stop noticing me, I’d do a better job.”

“Three?” Jasper lifted one eyebrow. “I was under the impression that you’d only managed to piss off Seb so far. Or have you gotten on Gareth’s bad side, too?”

There was something very unnerving about his stillness. Seb was dangerous in his anger, Gareth always seemed as though he was hiding something behind his grins. But Jasper? There were too many questions about him. Like why his face scarred? Why did he always spend time with his court’s rival heir?

He was the only one that didn’t do a lot of posturing in front of others. Almost as though he was trying to escape attention, too.

“Well? Have you pissed off Gareth?” Jasper asked me.

I lifted one shoulder and let it drop. “Not really sure how I managed to piss off Seb, either.”

“You called him Sebastienne. In public.”

“Only after he’d already targeted me,” I snapped. It was as I guessed, though. He hadn’t told his pals about me finding him and Flora up on the dueling floors. He kept it a secret.

Secrets.

That’s why Jasper didn’t posture like the others. He was holding a secret. The rumor about Court Vespa was that one of their heirs had a cursed form. They were bound to a wrong form and was quickly disowned by their family. Someone that high-ranked wouldn’t be completely kicked out, just disinherited and not permitted to reproduce.

“You look like you just figured something out,” Jasper said, his voice pitching lower.

“I think I did. But not about Seb or Gareth. About you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Oh?”

My heart beat shallowly as I nodded. We were here alone, so there was no danger in him lashing out to save face. If I was right, his position was precarious enough he wouldn’t risk killing me, either. Not only would it be known that it was him, but his family might be looking for a way to erase the embarrassment of their heir binding to a wrong beast.

Blackmail could be useful. But trying to blackmail him could also be dangerous.

“What I still don’t understand, though, is how a dragon can be wrong. It’s not as though they’re natural creatures in the first place,” I pushed onward, trying to sound bold. “Do your friends know? That’s you’re the disinherited Vespa heir?”

Jasper moved quicker than I could react in my current state. He grabbed me by the shoulder and yanked me to one side. Before I knew it, he had thrown me onto the couch. My chest clenched and I gasped as pain ripped through my arm.

“Who told you?” he demanded, looming over me.

I shook my head. “I figured it out. Others will figure it out soon, too. I’m just wondering how Seb and Gareth will react when that information gets out.”

“They already know, so if you’re hoping to try to use this to make me pull their interest off you, think again.”

“Yeah, I didn’t really think that would work. So how about you just let me leave this place, I forget it exists, and from here on out, we just ignore each other? I don’t exacerbate the rumors, and you don’t start targeting me with your buddies,” I said, and my voice wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped. There was a slight shake in my tone that matched the shake in my hands.

Gods, I wished I was braver than I was.

Jasper leaned over me, putting his hands on either side of the couch. “For someone who thinks she’s clever, you don’t think things through, do you?”