Hearing my name come from his lips caused goosebumps to cross my skin. And not in a good way. It sounded like ridicule. I wouldn’t sit beside him. I didn’t trust him.

“Sit,” he repeated.

The air seemed to ripple. In an instant, a massive force bore over me. The others too, judging by the way they all jerked violently before recovering. I grit my teeth, struggling to remain upright. The Sway.

Kaz guided me to the other side of the table, fingers tight on my shoulders. He pushed me down in the seat beside Claude. I went down harder than he’d meant, affected by the Sway. My ass hit the wood painfully. Kaz mouthed an apology as he took the seat to my left.

“There,” Claude said softly, turning in his chair to fully face me. “There’s no need to be afraid of me.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said before I could stop myself.

“Is that so?”

I heard the masked provocation. For now, he’d left out. I faced forward, hyper-aware of his proximity to me. What was he planning?

His hand appeared in my field of vision and he took the tail end of my ribbon and slid it between his fingers. “I see you took my advice about your bow,” he said lowly, his already deep voice filling with resonance.

I wanted to fling his hand away but held myself back. I could see he was instigating me. But for what reason? Did he know the truth behind my pendant? If he did, would he be sitting here beside me so calmly? Aside from his obvious intimidation attempts, his attitude toward me was a lot less hostile. Was it because we were in front of the others?

“Claude, you better not be bothering her,” Adora warned.

I held my breath. Neither San nor Kaz had addressed him by his name, yet she called it so easily.

Claude leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. “Certainly not.”

He didn’t get upset. I turned to see Adora shaking her head at the prince and dropping a pile of books on the table. She moved with ease, unhindered. Did the Sway not affect her? Or was she just more used to it from being around him, like Kaz? I could feel sweat beading on my forehead as I tried to ignore it and not hunch my shoulders.

“And lay off your Sway. Cleo must be suffocating.”

The weight disappeared. I could breathe easier. Adora winked at me when she caught my eye. How could she command him like that with no retaliation? Even San, stretching his limbs out, didn’t think twice about resting his arm along Claude’s back. Claude didn’t mind, lifting his head instead so San could move his arm for him to use as a pillow.

Was this the same Claude who’d wrapped his hand around my neck the night before? I wanted to ask so many questions but wanted to save them for when Claude wasn’t around. Perhaps his guard was down when he was beside his classmates, but for all I knew it was a ploy, and I wouldn’t fall into a false sense of ease. I kept my head angled toward the desk, following the pattern of the grain in the oak surface.

The teacher came in a moment later. A tall fellow who wore an ankle-length tan jacket, black slacks, and button-down, and had his blonde hair tied up in a bun at the top of his head. Younger than I thought a teacher would be, judging by the soft, unwrinkled lines of his diamond-shaped face. He frowned as his eyes scanned the room. It was then I realized no one else was in it. Only the teacher, and us five.

“Again?” he sighed.

“Sorry, Lietz,” San said, tipping his chair back so it stood on two legs. “They must have realized his highness would be in attendance again today.”

The teacher—Lietz— ran a hand over his forehead and pursed his lips. “What? Do they just peek in the door and run? We already have a small class as is.”

“Think of it this way. We get way more one on one interaction like this. I know I don’t mind.”

“As much as I know you love to monopolize everyone’s attention, San, I still have strict results expected by the board. If my students don’t show up half the time, how will they score well on tests? I’ll have to talk to Evander about this.”

Claude didn’t show any sign of listening or being affected by the fact the students were avoiding him. Not unusual, then. But it surprised me. Why wouldn’t they be fawning all over him?

Well, his personality wasn’t amazing. Perhaps his domineering demeanor wasn’t reserved for me alone.

“I think it’ll only be worse from now on,” Adora said. “If having the vampire prince around intimidated them enough to skip class, I can’t imagine how they will handle having a renowned vampire hunter here as well.”

“But there’s an essay due…”

“Post-pone it. I still have to finish my one for Ms. Maharaj. You don’t wanna overwork us, right? Ugh, my wrist hurts.” San shook out his wrist as he spoke, feigning pain.

Lietz fixed San with a flat look. “Fine, you can have an extension. But I’m adding five hundred words.”

“What!”

“Ms. Levant, I know you’re coming in the middle of the semester, but I expect you to keep up with classwork, too.”

I sat up straighter as he directed his attention to me. “Oh, yeah. I will.”

“We can work out a time to meet up so I can help you get caught up. I’m assuming you studied English in your homeschooling?”

“Yes.” I’d already finished it all last year, but I wouldn’t say that. Best to keep low expectations in English so higher grades would come easier.

He clapped his hands together. “Great. We are currently in our grammar unit. I’m aware that you don’t have the materials yet, so Kaz, if you would kindly share your book. Today we will be focusing on perfect progressive tenses.”

Before Kaz could slide his book over, Claude produced his own, placing it in front of me. He slid his chair closer to me as well, the legs squeaking as they were dragged across the floor. Our shoulders touched now and I tensed.

“Here,” he said, so close his breath brushed against my cheek.

I jerked to the side, bumping against Kaz as I put distance between myself and Claude. Kaz pushed me back into and I threw him a look over my shoulder.

Claude reached his arm out in front of me to open the book, encroaching in my personal space. “What are you doing?” I whispered.

He regarded me coolly. “I’m playing my part.”

“Huh?”

“You’re not the only one bound by this treaty.” He leaned in, so close I could see the shadows of his long lashes on his cheek. “But don’t be fooled. This is only for appearances. I won’t hesitate to make you disappear when I figure out your plans.”

“Your hostility only makes me more inclined to believe you yourself are hiding something.”

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch. The blood rushed in my veins.

I curved my lip into a smirk, even though my heart threatened to jump out of my chest. Two could play at manipulation tactics. “So, it’s true. You are hiding something.”

A mask of calm fell over his face, every hint of emotion erased besides the golden glow of his pupils. They flashed fiercely. “How fearless of you to speak to me like that.”

“You can’t hurt me.”

“You refer to the treaty, but you forget I’m the prince. I can do whatever I wish.” A finger went to my throat, skin barely brushing skin. “Missing something, aren’t you?”

I refused to react. “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

His nostrils flared. “I will—”

“Ahem.” Lietz cleared his throat. “As much as it pleases me to see you two getting along already, please pay attention to my lecture.”

Claude lingered as I put distance between us, latching onto the distraction. I shoved Claude’s book back to him and scooted closer to Kaz. Kaz smiled as he pushed his book closer to me. “We’re here,” he said, pointing to a paragraph at the top of the page.

I swear I could feel Claude’s irritation radiating through my back.

No matter. Now I knew my father’s theory must hold some truth to it. Claude’s responses ascertained that. There was something hidden. Perhaps the heir.

I only needed to find him.