Page 60 of The Last Aether

“Damn straight,” Phoenix gritted out from the driver’s seat.

Atlas chuckled, his fingers tangling in my hair. “I love that they’re about to tear someone apart who they don’t even know.”

Phoenix arched a brow in the rearview mirror. “Like you’re any better. What would you do if you saw some asshole who made Aura cry?”

The humor fled Atlas’s face as he thought about my tears. “Crush him.”

Riven laughed, the sound skating across my skin in pleasant shivers. “Let’s face it. We’d all burn down the world for her.”

I stared at Riven, feeling the honesty of those words. I knew now why I’d always been drawn to him. It wasn’t because of the aether pull. It was because I’d loved him in between memories. Those moments that were burned into my brain but erased in the seconds that followed.

But if I let myself fall and he wasn’t there to catch me? I didn’t think I’d ever recover.

34

A girl I vaguely recognized from my dorm leaned closer to her friend, whispering in her ear as she stared in my direction. I tried to focus on the hallway in front of me, but my gaze only caught on other students openly gawking as I walked down the hallway with Riven, Phoenix, and my guards.

Some people were simply curious. I didn’t blame them for that, even if their stares made me feel as if the walls were closing in around me. Others were openly hostile.

“Hey, Aura,” Aiden called with a wink.

Phoenix stiffened at my side.

I reached down, weaving my fingers through his. “He only does it to get a rise out of you.”

A muscle in Phoenix’s jaw ticked. “I don’t like him even breathing the same air as you.”

“I don’t think sharing the same oxygen is going to put me at risk.”

“Aren’t you going to stop to say hello, brother?” Aiden called in a singsong voice.

He stood next to another guy I’d seen him with occasionally. Aiden could hide his hatred and derision when he wanted to, but his friend was doing nothing of the sort. Animosity rolled off him in waves, grating against my skin.

Riven slowed as we were about to pass them. “Phoenix doesn’t have time for you, but I could be convinced to make a detour.”

There was a bite to his words that had Aiden’s eyes sparking with fire.

Riven grinned. “Temper, temper, temper.”

Aiden closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, the flames were gone. “Wouldn’t mind going a round with you, Riven, but I think it’d be a hell of a lot more fun to do it with Aura.” He let his gaze roam over my body. “First combat class tomorrow. Want to request to be partners?”

Phoenix surged forward, slamming Aiden against the wall. “You touch a hair on her head, and I’ll end you.”

Aiden only laughed. “She has to stand on her own two feet. You can’t fight all her battles for her.” Something flashed in Aiden’s eyes. A sick sort of excitement.

The emotion made nausea sweep through me. But he was right. The guys couldn’t always step in for me. No one would respect me if they did.

I laid a hand on Phoenix’s back. “We’re going to be late.”

I spoke the words as if Aiden didn’t even exist. He got a charge out of the attention his antics got him. Just like a spoiled child.

His gaze bored into me as I turned and headed down the hall, not waiting for the guys to follow. My guards, Egan and Carn, instantly fell into step behind me. A few seconds later, Riven and Phoenix hurried to catch up.

Riven grinned down at me. That smile made my stomach flip. It was the widest I thought I’d ever seen on him, and it made his eyes sparkle in the afternoon light. “You’re a genius.”

“Obviously,” I said with a laugh. “But why are you just figuring that out?”

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “I don’t think threats or ass kickings have ever put Aiden in his place as much as you ignoring him just did.”