Chapter 37 Rulebreaker
"The Headmaster says a lot of things, doll," Ryker interrupted, pushing off the wardrobe with a languid grace that made my stomach do a slow, treacherous flip. "Most of them are boring. I find that the best way to deal with Juda Gringer is to treat his rules like suggestions. Especially the ones that try to tell me where I can and can’t go."
He stepped into the emerald light of the ivy, and my breath hitched. He’d shed the leather jacket, wearing only a thin, black Henley that was stretched to its absolute limit across his shoulders. He looked predatory. He looked out of place. And he looked entirely too comfortable in my bedroom.
"You’re going to get me expelled," I whispered, though the 'brat' in me was already surfacing, fueled by the lingering hum of the Lumin in my system. "Or executed. Or whatever it is you do to humans who can’t follow simple housing policies."
"Please," he scoffed, stopping just a few feet from the bed. "If they haven’t executed me yet, you’re safe. Besides, I wanted to see how the "little bird" was settling into her cage." His eyes swept over me, lingering on the way the silk nightgown draped over my hips. His pupils dilated, the storm-gray of his irises darkening until they were almost black. "Nice feathers."
I felt the heat rise in my cheeks, a blush that had nothing to do with embarrassment and everything to do with the way he was looking at me. Like I was something he wanted to take apart just to see how I worked.
"I chose the Lumin," I said, lifting my chin defiantly. "Malik approved."
Ryker’s lip curled into a smirk that was half-amusement, half-snarl. "Of course he did. Malik loves things that are safe. He loves things that don't bite back. He’d have you sipping lukewarm water and reciting litanies until you forgot you had a pulse." He took another step, invading my space until I could feel the heat radiating off him. "But you and I both know that silver liquid didn't touch the fire I put in you back in that alley."
"That was the Amyl," I countered, my heart hammering against my ribs. "You lied to me. You drugged me with supernatural ecstasy."
"I gave you a shortcut," he corrected, his voice dropping to a low, seductive rumble. He reached out, his hand hovering just inches from my neck. "I showed you what you’re capable of feeling when you stop trying to be the perfect little pharmacist. You liked the fire, Amaya. I felt it when you touched me. It wasn't the drink. It was you."
"I was scared," I lied, my voice wavering.
"You were hungry," he whispered. His fingers finally made contact, grazing the skin just above my collarbone. His touch was electric, a searing heat that made my entire body go taut. "And you’re still hungry. I can see it in the way you’re looking at my mouth right now."
I opened my mouth to snap something witty back, but the words died in my throat. He was right. I was a brat, I was stubborn, and I was currently vibrating with a desire that was as terrifying as it was addictive.
"You should leave," I managed to say, though I didn't move.
"In a minute," Ryker murmured. He leaned down, his face inches from mine, his breath hot against my ear. "Just a warning, doll. Seraphina and her little flock of pigeons? They’re going to try to break you tomorrow. They think you’re weak because you’re human." He pulled back just enough to look into my eyes, his expression turning sharp, lethal. "Show them the teeth I know you have. Or I’ll have to come back here and give you a much more... hands-on lesson."
He didn't wait for a reply. In a blur of shadow and ozone, he was gone, leaving only the scent of cedarwood and a lingering, throbbing heat on my skin.
I fell back against the pillows, my breath coming in short, jagged gasps. My new life was a nightmare. A beautiful, intoxicating, dangerous nightmare.
And God help me, I didn't want to wake up.
The silence settled back into the room, thick and charged, smelling faintly of smoke where Ryker had been. Scarlet's soft breathing from the next room was the only thing keeping the shadows from swallowing me whole. I pulled the silk sheets up to my chin, imagining Malik's cool, disapproving light washing away the demon's lingering heat. The quiet was a fraud, a thin veneer over a roaring inferno. I pulled the silk higher, aware that Ryker had successfully set the first spark of defiance within Salvation's sterile walls. The emerald light from the ivy suddenly seemed too sickly, too soft against the memory of his storm-gray gaze. I closed my eyes, trying to conjure the pure, cool scent of Lumin, but all I found was the lingering smoke of his presence. The thought of Malik's stern disapproval barely registered against the raw, demanding imprint Ryker had left on my skin. I am so fucking screwed!