Page 77 of Moody as a Minotaur

I glanced at the students to make sure they were all okay. The man, the bear, and the wolf were standing in front of the fire mage, shielding her. A little mouse peeked out from the pocket on the man’s shirt, wiggled her little mouse nose and ducked back down again. They looked okay for the moment.

Levi moved further away from me. I wanted to grab him and throw him behind me with the other supes. How was I supposed to protect him when he was so far from me? Was he trying to make himself a target?

Shit. That was exactly what he was doing.

My pulse throbbed in my neck. A shrill ringing filled my ears.

Stress was a fucking bastard.

“Professor Boyle? What’re you doing here?” Kyle’s gaze flicked to the older man.

“Someone stole the Amulet of Truth.”

Kyle’s eyebrows lifted. “It’s gone? But how?”

“Obviously one of these creatures took it.”

I snorted, needing to take control and redirect their attention. “You know your own people want to take that thing on a walk-about, right? Tammy was telling me all about how you refused to let it out of your sight. She thinks you’re wasting its potential.”

The man’s face turned stoney. He faced Kyle but kept his gun pointed at us. “Is this true?”

Kyle scowled at me. “Tammy would never.”

“Trust me, she did.” I shrugged, keeping my eye on the hunters as Levi inched further from me. “How else would I know the thing glows when it senses magic? Different colors for different magic. I had a hood over myhead, remember? The only way I’d know about the amulet is if she told me about it.”

“Shut up,” Kyle bit out.

Professor Boyle pointed his gun at Kyle. “Where is it?”

Huh. That had worked out better than expected. I waved my hand behind my back, motioning for the students to move toward the stairs. I heard shuffling behind me, but the professor must have too, because he pivoted to point the damn gun at us again.

“Stop where you are.”

Out of the corner of my eye, something shimmered. Oh fuck. Levi had shifted. If he’d given me another minute, I could have had them fighting one another again. I wanted to be angry at him, but at the same time, he was magnificent. His horns stretched toward the ceiling. His hooves scraped at the concrete. His big bovine nostrils huffed.

The professor’s eyes widened at my amazing boyfriend. His gun wavered like he suddenly wasn’t sure where he should point it. The wolf and the bear shifters snarled behind me, rallying again now that they felt the pendulum swing in our favor.

Then Levi charged the professor, making himself the most threatening target.

“No, Levi,” I shouted.

His muscled chest heaved and his thick thighs flexed. If he hadn’t been aiming his impressively long horns at the professor’s chest with deadly intent, I would have been swooning.

But, oh God. Was Levi going to gore him? Was the professor going to shoot him?

I held my gun like a useless lump of metal. I was too scared of hitting Levi to fire the thing. The professor pulled the trigger on his gun. Nothing happened. The professor pulled the trigger again and again. Still nothing.

“Don’t! Stop!” Kyle was yelling at Levi too.

Then Kyle, the asshole, raised his hand. Something metallic glinted under the harsh light.

Fuck no. I couldn’t do anything about the professor because of his proximity to Levi, but I had a clear shot at Kyle.

I fired my gun. Kyle grunted as his legs collapsed under him. His weapon—a can of pepper spray—clattered to the ground.

Horror filled me as the professor kept trying to shoot at Levi, but my minotaur didn’t slow. He dropped his head and scooped the professor up with his horns and flung him over his head. The professor landed with a thud and a grunt. His gun tumbled across the hard floor.

I darted forward. Kyle was still breathing. I hadn’t killed him. Thank God. But blood was pouring out of a wound on his shoulder. The kid was surprisingly stoic. He only grunted when I pressed on the wound to stem the bleeding.