Page 81 of Twilight of Embers
Cáel wrapped an arm around me, tugging me to his side. “It’s going to be okay, Little One.”
“Easy for you to say,” I grumbled.
Knox’s X5 was pulled in front of the house, and he beeped the locks. “It’s just going to take a little time.”
Cáel held the door open to the back seat. I climbed in, and he followed.
Knox got in the front and scowled through the rearview mirror. “What am I? Your chauffeur?”
Cáel grinned at him, but it resembled more of a rabid hyena. “Want me to get you one of those little hats?”
“You try to put me in a hat, and I’ll shave all those stupid fucking braids off your head,” Knox shot back.
Cáel let out a low growl.
“Enough,” I warned. “I’ve already got a headache.”
Cáel turned to me immediately, kneading the back of my neck. “Want me to get you medicine before we leave?”
“No. I don’t want to feel woozy. But a limit on the fighting would help.”
Knox sent me a sheepish smile as he started the SUV. “Sorry.”
“You should be. Plus, I like Cáel’s hair.”
I reached up, fingering one of the white-blond braids.
Cáel dipped his head, brushing his lips across mine. “I’m glad, Little One.”
“No making out in the back seat,” Knox grumbled. “It’s not fair.”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. It should’ve been weird, kissing Cáel while Knox looked on, but it felt as natural as breathing.
The ride to campus was quick, but I didn’t miss the blacked-out SUV trailing behind us. Those enforcers Cillian had mentioned.
Knox pulled into an empty spot in front of my dorm, and the second SUV parked beside us. Cáel kept an arm protectively around me as we got out. Two hulking guys emerged from the other vehicle.
Knox nodded at them. “You can wait here. We’ll be back in a few.”
One lifted his chin in acknowledgment, but the other’s jaw tightened. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea—”
Knox cut him off with a hard stare. “It’s broad daylight, in town. We’ll be good.”
The second man looked annoyed but held his tongue.
“Let’s go,” Cáel said, guiding me toward the dorm.
I pulled my key card out of my back pocket, swiping it over the lock. As we made our way through the dorm, students stopped to stare and whisper. I burrowed deeper into Cáel’s embrace.
“Ignore them,” he muttered. “They don’t matter.”
He’d gotten used to it, I realized. The rumors and whispers. I hated that for him.
In a matter of minutes, we made it to my dorm room door. I flashed my key card and poked my head in to make sure Delaney was decent.
The moment the door opened, her head jerked up from a textbook. “What the hell happened to you? Someone said they saw you leaving with Cillian and—”
Her words cut off as we stepped into the room, and she got sight of my companions.
