Midnight Secrets

The lecture hall was not as I pictured it. To be honest, I wasn’t exactly sure what I’d been picturing. The rows and seating were tiered, with cushioned chairs before the desks that looked comfortable as hell. It made me wonder how they paid attention without falling asleep. The tiered rows weren’t facing the front like the lecture halls in our college but forming a circle.

“Do you want me to take a seat while you head down there?” I asked, inclining my head to the area at the center of the rows, where a random and seemingly out-of-place desk sat. It must be weird for the teacher to never be able to face all the students at once and always have some at their back.

A smirk tugged on his lips as he began descending the stairs, shooting me a glance over his shoulder. “Why? Do you have some teacher and student fantasy you would like to fulfill?”

I didn’t bother to respond as I followed him down the stairs. “How do you know no one will bother us here?”

“The door locks from the inside and is reinforced with witch magic.” The casual way he referenced witches floored me. It was still mind-blowing not only to hear they were real but that Sel was one of them.

“The witches seem to have helped a lot. Are they…allies, or were they paid?” I had no clue how this world worked, and if I was going to be spending time here, that needed to change.

“A little bit of both.” Cass pulled out the chair to the desk, moving it back so it was out of the way. The desk was way bigger than the ones my professors had and came up to my belly button. Cass grabbed my hips, lifting me to sit on the desk with my legs dangling over the side. A surprised squeak left my lips as I grabbed his shoulders to stabilize myself.

His hands lingered on my hips, still looking down at me, but at least now our faces were closer together. “We are allies with a couple of the covens, but we still have to trade favors with them when we need their services. Nothing comes for free in our world.”

I struggled to focus on his words when his lips were inches from mine and the way he stood between my legs.

“If you want me to pay attention to any of this shit, you’re going to need to quit distracting me,” I murmured, my voice showing how much he affected me. My body was practically screaming at me, telling me to close the mere inches between us, but that could come later. Right now, I needed to learn about this new world.

Cass backed away, and even though I missed how close he’d been, I knew it was for the best. He grabbed the back of the discarded chair, gripping it with both hands as he stared at me. My thoughts became jumbled as he bit down on his full bottom lip, pulling all my focus to his lips.

Maybe he shouldn’t be the one teaching me this, he was way too damn distracting.

“Just to get this out of the way: no, we don’t have a definitive answer as to where the supernatural species have come from. We have many stories and theories, but nothing concrete. Our kind have been around for a long time, and that knowledge has been lost throughout the years. I will also not go into all the different types of supernaturals. It will be overwhelming enough without adding all of them to the mix. Trust me, it can wait. You’ll have more than enough time to learn about them later.”

I wanted to argue and insist on learning about the rest, but he was, unfortunately, right—it pained me to say. Learning that there were vampires, werewolves, and witches was nearly too much for me to handle at the moment. I didn’t need to learn whether or not dragons were real or some sort of nightmare-fueled creature. I wanted to be able to sleep when this was all over. While it might be dicey now, there were some things I was better off not knowing. For now.

“The supernatural world is ruled by six councils: one for each continent—and yes, I know there are seven,” he quickly added before I could correct him. “But not enough of our kind lives in Antarctica to make it worthwhile to form a council.”

“Wait,” I cut him off, holding up a hand. “Are you saying there are supernaturals living in that cold ass place?”

Rather than be annoyed at my interruption, Cass’ lips twitched in amusement. “There are a few supernatural species that live in below-freezing temperatures. But again, we’re not discussing them right now.”

“Alright, fine. Tell me about the councils.”

“The council is made up of representatives, but not every species has a representative. There are way too many species, and it would be a mess. Trust me, nothing would ever get done.”

How many damn species were there? Just thinking about the possible amount had my anxiety spiking.

“The North American Council resides in South Carolina. They are the ones who preside over the trials and hand out punishments; basically, they enforce the laws. Our trials go a little differently than human ones, with the use of magic and the differences between our laws, but the concept is still the same. The council hires supernatural bounty hunters—we typically call them hunters—to hunt down those who have committed a crime or tried to escape.” Cass hesitated when he brought up bounty hunters, making me wonder if supernaturals didn’t like them. He didn’t say anything else as he carefully watched my reactions.

“What species are the bounty hunters?” I asked, uncomfortable by the silence and how strange Cass was acting.

Cass pressed his lips together, and at first, I thought he wouldn’t answer me. “Human.”

I gaped at him, confident I misheard him. “Human?”

“They wanted bounty hunters to be unbiased and have those who won’t abuse their position for petty rivalry.”

“Humans?” I asked again, unable to get past this. “They have humans tracking down and fighting supernatural beings that are stronger, faster, and have magic on their side? That’s insane. Why would they be dumb enough to take on a job that’ll result in their death?”

“Each species has its own weakness the hunters can exploit. Not only do hunter’s genetics give them a leg up over other humans, but they’re well trained. All of them are born into it and grew up learning how to do this. They know how to handle themselves. Many supernatural species are arrogant enough to underestimate them as you just have, and they use this to their advantage.”

There was a hesitance to Cass that I didn’t like and had my anxiety spiking. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Cass wiped his hands down his face, the muscles flexing in his forearms. I’d never seen him look so grave. Was he nervous? With the way he was clenching and unclenching his hands, it gave me the impression this wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have. But even still, he maintained eye contact with me. “Your father is a bounty hunter.”

At first, I didn’t understand what he meant, my brain refusing to even consider this. “I know, he hunts down criminals—”

“He’s a hunter.”

Everything in me stilled as I finally caught onto his meaning. My face felt numb, as did the rest of my body. No. It wasn’t possible. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t do something so reckless and what was basically a death sentence. Cass had to be mistaken.

I shook my head, unable to form words as he approached, making soothing sounds as he cupped my face.

“No, this can’t be right. Why would you say that?”

“I’m sorry, but it is. He knows about supernaturals and knows what I am. He always has.” Cass’ expression showcased his reluctance, as did how he kept hesitating. He hadn’t wanted to be the one to break the news to me.

“No,” I said again, refusing to believe this, but my denial sounded weak. My father was a tough man, I knew that, but there was no way he could fight supernaturals and remain alive. Picturing him fighting someone as fast and strong as Ezra had me ready to panic.

Cass was patient, letting me spew out denial after denial. “Why do you think he had you learn how to use weapons and taught you how to defend yourself? It’s because he knows what’s out there, lurking in the shadows. It’s why he gave you pepper spray with flecks of silver in it, the weakness of many supernatural species. It’s also why he probably tried to convince you to go to a different college.”

I’d always known my father had me take self-defense classes because of his job, and he knew what was out there. Cass was right. My father had tried talking me into going to a different college, preferably on the West Coast, but there was something about this school that I felt drawn to.

“Why wouldn’t he tell me? Isn’t it more dangerous for me to be kept in the dark?” Breathing felt almost impossible like my chest was squeezing my lungs. My life now felt like a big lie, one after another. Nearly everyone I was close to was a part of this world and had been lying to me for years.

Cass’ expression softened as his thumbs stroked my cheeks. “Probably for the same reason I kept it from you: to keep you safe and away from all of this. Knowing about this world only puts an additional target on your back.”

“Is that why you cut off contact with me when you started shifting?” There were countless other questions I could’ve asked, but this was the most important in my mind—the one I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Releasing a long sigh, Cass dropped his forehead against mine. “When we start shifting, we have no control over our wolves or our shifting. It’s a risk to be around humans during that time, but I could’ve still called you.”

“Why didn’t you?” Part of me was afraid of the answer, my old insecurities rearing their head even though I knew it wasn’t because he didn’t care for me or anything like that. But even still, I needed to know his reasoning.

“I thought it was the best way to keep you safe. Your father had made it clear he never wanted you to know about this world. He wanted you to have what he never could: a normal life. I understood where he came from and agreed—it’s hard to ignore our world once you know about it, especially as a human—so I did what I thought was best and cut off all contact. I didn’t want my friendship with you to put yet another target on your back or draw attention to you. There will always be a risk toward you if the wrong supernaturals find out your father has a daughter.”

I didn’t allow myself to consider the threats against me and what they might do to me to hurt my father. “I hated you,” I whispered as memories of those unreturned calls sprang up.

“I know.”

“Distract me,” I begged, my brain feeling like it was overloading. “Help me think of anything else.”

His lips tipped in a grin. “With pleasure.”