Page 72 of Midnight of Ashes
“You think you can touch her?” Cáel roared.
He picked Brent up and threw him against the wall with inhuman strength.
Brent’s head cracked against the drywall as he slid down in a heap. True fear filled his eyes as he cowered against Cáel’s massive form. “S-she came on to me. I was trying to get her off of me.”
“I’m going to be sick,” I whispered.
Knox cursed but lifted me in his arms, taking off down the hall. He got me into a single-room bathroom just as the contents of my stomach emptied into the sink. He pulled my hair away from my face as the bile just kept coming.
He trailed a hand up and down my back. “Let it out. That’s it. You’re okay.”
I heaved over and over until my stomach ached and my legs trembled. Knox braced me against the sink as he opened a wooden cabinet next to it. He pulled out a bottle of mouthwash. “This will help.”
I nodded weakly as he poured some into a little cup. All I could think was that the staff bathroom was a hell of a lot nicer than the student ones. What a stupid thing to fixate on. But that simple thing was easier to think about than everything…else.
My legs shook harder as I rinsed out my mouth. When I looked in the mirror, I saw my torn blouse, the red marks ringing my neck, and my split lip. Then the tears came.
Knox ripped off his sweatshirt and gently pulled it over my head. “Gonna get you out of here. I’m going to lift you, okay?”
I nodded, unable to speak.
He cradled me in his arms, bracing me to open the door.
Two enforcers charged down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of us, their eyes going wide.
“Go to Professor Brent’s office. Make sure Cáel doesn’t kill him here,” Knox snapped.
My body trembled harder at the word kill.
Knox cursed. “Sorry. I’m so sorry.” He walked quickly through the empty hallways, and I prayed we didn’t run into any students or staff.
Knox kicked open the back door of the building that led to the parking lot.
The sun shone down. It was in such opposition to the dark events of the day that I couldn’t get my brain to compute. None of it made any sense.
My teeth started to chatter.
“Just hold on, Hayden. We’re almost there. Gonna get you home. Get you warm,” Knox crooned.
“What the hell happened?” a deep voice called. Some part of me recognized it as Easton’s. “Terry called and said to meet you at the car.”
My vision was blurry as Easton’s face filled it. I couldn’t exactly make out his features in any defined way, but the rage that permeated bled through all of that.
A snarl twisted his lips. “Who. Did. This?”
37
CÁEL
“Don’t kill him. Not here,” Terry warned.
The words barely penetrated through the blood roaring in my ears. All I could see was Hayden’s face. Her split lip. The bruise already rising on her cheek. The red marks rimming her neck.
“He. Dies,” I gritted out.
The pissant scrambled back. “Y-you can’t do that. I’m a tenured professor.”
I growled low, the sound making everyone in the room freeze. “You. Touched. Her.”
