Chapter 505

"Ariel," Rafe sighs, slumping down in his chair and covering his face with his hand, shaking his head. "Seriously? Do you always have to be so dramatic?"

"What!" I protest, turning to stare at him. "We agreed we were going to tell him! What's the big deal?"noveldrama

Rafe sighs. "The big deal is -"

"Wait, you're...you're Ariel?" Tony says, drawing my attention back to him as he stares at me with wide eyes. "Not...Ari?"

"Yeah," I say, taking off my hat and letting him see the braid of rose-gold hair arching over my head which tends to be the nail in the coffin of people's doubt. "I'm sorry we didn't tell you - but we didn't tell anyone who didn't need to know! And this semester we all agreed to let you in on the secret, because I thought you deserved to not be the only one in the classroom who didn't know."

"Um, we did not all agree," Jesse says, and when I turn to look at him I laugh a little to see him pointing vehemently at himself. "To some of us this is a surprise."

"Oh, you don't care, you just don't like being left out." I say waving a dismissive hand at him and turning back to Tony. "So, I'm Ariel Sinclair, and this is my brother Rafe, and my cousin Jesse," I say, re-making the quick introductions and giving him a happy smile.

Tony smirks a little, looking me over as he lounges back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. “All right. So the fact that your face is identical to the Queen's makes a lot more sense now. Damn it," he murmurs, shaking his head and continuing to stare at me like he's getting used to the new concept of who I am. "I should have put it all together after I met her."

"Wait," Rafe says, leaning forward and frowning at Tony. "When did you meet mom?"

“It was —“ Tony starts, shifting his eyes to Rafe's, but Alvez interrupts.

"If we could please get back on track," he sighs, loud, apparently irritated by us. I bite my lip a little, kind of enjoying that we've irritated him. He deserves it.

Alvez blathers on a bit now, pulling out a set of textbooks that he hands out to each of us and explaining what we're going to be studying this semester. But only Rafe and Jesse listen closely, peering through their books on the theory of magic, I think eager to find anything that's going to jumpstart the powers.

I slump a little in my seat, staring at the book, wondering if I should trust it. Because honestly, after everything, my wolf is more on her toes about Alvez than she's been before. Don't like it, she grumbles to me, sniffing the air in his direction. Not right. Like the Prince from Atalaxia. Not right, not right. She shakes her fur vehemently, like she's trying to get clean.

I frown a little inwardly. Has it always been this...not right? I ask her, curious. Or is it something new?

But she just growls more, not answering, perhaps not really knowing. Still, I decide to trust her, as I've always done.

I jump a little in my seat when everyone around me begins to stand, and as I look up at the clock I realize that I've spaced out more than I thought I did.

"I'll send you a note, Miss Sinclair," Alvez says, giving me another hungry smile as he comes around the desk. "About when you should come to my office for that... private meeting."

"I thought I was going to work with Tony," I say, pointing at him as my shoulders straighten in surprise and dismay.

"I don't mind if you work with Davis," Alvez says with a shrug, packing the last of his books and paperwork into his bag. "But I do think that our sessions together will be particularly productive, Miss Sinclair. I hope you will look forward to them as much as I am.”

And then, to my shock, Alvez actually reaches out and runs a hand over my hair, gently cupping the back of my head and tugging me incrementally closer to him.