Page 59 of The Lost Elemental

Kai rested a hand on my ass as he descended the stairs. “And I don’t want you losing this.”

“Kai, if you don’t remove your hand from my butt, I am going to shave your head while you’re sleeping.”

He gasped. “My hair is fucking amazing. You wouldn’t dare.”

“I would.” Because if he didn’t stop touching me, I was going to lose all self-control and ask him to take me right then and there.

Kai lowered his hold to the backs of my thighs. It helped but not enough.

When we made it outside, I pinched Kai’s butt…hard. He let out a ridiculously high-pitched shriek and I wriggled out of his hold. I landed with a grunt, tripping backwards into Atlas’s hold. I looked up at him. “If you pick me up, I’ll pinch you too.”

He chuckled. “Come on. Let’s get you fed.”

We crossed the quad, heading towards the main building. I glanced over at Atlas. “Did they fix the windows?”

“Not sure.”

Phoenix looked between us. “What windows?”

Shit. I assumed he and Kai knew.

“What windows?” he gritted out.

Atlas’s eyes went hard. “The king of air tested her for a double binding yesterday.”

“What the fuck?” Kai clipped. “You’re just telling us now?”

Phoenix’s gaze cut instantly to me, scanning my body as if looking for any signs of injury. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

His brow arched.

I sighed. “It isn’t on my list of top ten things to experience again, but I’m good. My muscles are a little sore. That’s it.”

“No wonder you had a headache.” Kai rubbed the back of my neck as we walked, dropping a kiss to the top of my head as we passed the boarded-up windows. “Knew you were a badass.”

Phoenix was quiet, clearly mulling the news over in his head. Stewing on it. I grabbed his hand and squeezed. “I’m fine. Please don’t try to assassinate a king.”

He grunted in response.

I looked up at Kai. “Was that him agreeing or disagreeing?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Atlas opened the front door and held it for us. There were only a few students who were up already. Most were taking advantage of the day off and sleeping in.

“Will there even be food out yet?” I asked.

“Not everything,” Atlas said. “But enough to hold us over.”

My steps faltered as we entered the dining hall. There were scatterings of people at different tables, but I only had eyes for one. Riven sat at the royal table, his head bent close to Eva’s. They whispered to each other and then he smiled down at her, his eyes dancing. It was the kind of intimacy that was built over years.

I hated the way my stomach twisted at the sight. The reaction was beyond ridiculous. Riven hadn’t said a kind word to me. And yet seeing him look at her that way made my heart ache.

“Oh good, the Ice Queen,” Kai muttered.

I forced my gaze away from the table as I headed to a station that had breakfast casserole and an array of baked goods. “She seemed nice enough the other day.” I wasn’t about to turn into the kind of girl who tore someone else down because she was jealous.