Spycraft Academy B. Miles (new ebook reader txt) 📖

could do it with my back to you, and Drina could use her tongue on the both of us. Or maybe we could both use our tongues on you. Would you like that, Sam?"

They were driving him crazy with just the barest touches and a few whispers of what may come. He didn't know if it was a testament to how weak-willed he was, or how good they were.

June was at the table in front of Sam's, and when the flames of her heating clamp hissed high, Sam startled and the warm, feather-light vibrations choked down the rest of his length and swirled around it. His arm jerked and one of his tubes—the one he'd been brewing his base in—went flying

The glass shattered on impact, wet powder and potent plant moisture spreading in a tiny heap on the floor.

"Sam, my boy, are you alright?" Franklin's big, concerned gaze struck Sam from across the room and the poisons master hurried over.

Sam would have picked up his mess instead of allowing his instructor to do it while he simply watched like an asshole. He would have, except if he came around the table, he was more likely to poke his instructor in the eye than be of any help.

Mattie and Drina giggled. His eyebrow twitched. The soft buzzing, and Mattie's voice, were both completely gone, as if they had never been there to begin with, as if it were his imagination.

Women, he decided, were quite evil.

Drina won the brewing contest, but it was no honorable victory. Sure, she might have brewed her poison to perfection and sure, she might have worked twice as fast as everybody else, but Sam could have beaten her, damnit, he was sure of it.

If only she and Mattie hadn't made him screw up his concoction. Twice.

Franklin was practically bouncing around Drina like a maypole, holding her vial up and crowing about 'lethal brilliance.'

And Drina stood there cockily, soaking it all up. When she caught Sam's scowl, her grin brightened and she winked at him. Then Sam got an idea and while Drina took a dramatic bow, he smirked wickedly at her. Paralysis potion, huh? He wondered how strong it tasted.

Maybe he could give it to her before outdoors class. Just a bit. She would be so mad.

He sobered when another idea hit him, a better one, a more serious one. If the thief showed up anywhere again, he could hold him down and shove the poison down his throat. If Sam could investigate this on his own and come up with proof and names, he could turn the culprit in with confidence that there would be no backlash.

Sam was far, far from a gallant knight or a light-hearted do-gooder. He wouldn't even bother if Fletch hadn't let it slip that it might be something that could put the whole country at risk.

Sam would do what he could, but he would do it carefully, patiently, quietly, and without getting his crew or himself harmed in the process. His benevolence ended where personal threat began.

Franklin pocketed the vial and glanced at the clock as the iron bell chimed across the campus. "Alright, good work today, class! Don't forget to study chapter three tonight. We're going to be working with hemlock all semester, so it's best to get nice and acquainted with its chemical properties!"

Nobody answered his enthusiastic reminder as they gathered their things. In fact, he was pretty much ignored by everybody in the school unless he was giving a lecture. Even the other instructors didn't talk to him.

Students filed from the classroom and Franklin's voice got higher as the students thinned. Drina swished her way out as well, but Mattie and Rosin stopped and waited on him. Sam shook his head.

"You two go on. I need to ask Franklin something."

Mattie lifted an eyebrow and smirked knowingly. "Not telling on us, are you love?"

Sam snorted. "And wake up to a bed full of crawlers, no thank you. It's just about the test. I'll catch you when I'm done."

"Tell on you for what?" Rosin looked between the two of them, her smile happy but confused.

Mattie chuckled and reached over to tuck an errant lock of silver-blonde behind her ear. Rosin was so white that her blush was easy to see. Mattie must have noticed, because she got this expression on her face, the one she wore when she was trying to decide whether something was worth her attention.

Sam watched the two of them intently. Rosin and the girls had been getting along very well so far, but he supposed they didn't know the blonde girl well enough yet. To Mattie, she was still probably in the category of 'maybe.' The redhead was always harsher with other women than men; that's why the crew back home had been mostly male. She'd flashed her fangs at every girl that might have been a crew prospect.

"Um..." Rosin cleared her throat and gave Mattie a bashful smile. "Sorry, did you hear me?"

"Oh, I heard you." Mattie had been playing with the tail of Rosin's braid, just looking at her for a few silent beats that lasted far too long. "I just didn't want to answer."

"Oh. I'm sorry, I didn't mean...that is...um..." Rosin stuttered, her blush now uncomfortably red along her cheeks and neck.

Sam's eyebrows rose and he shot Mattie a warning look. If she saw it, she didn't react.

Mattie shot her a bright smile and her whole countenance changed to something bright and happy. "At least not publicly, but walk with me and I'll tell you all about it."

She looped her arm through Rosin's and practically dragged the stunned blonde out of the classroom like a mutt on a leash, joining the handful of students trickling out the door.

Franklin's voice was almost a shout, chasing the last student into the hallway. "And remember to wash your hands thoroughly! You never know when a stray nettle will—"

The door closed. Franklin deflated. He muttered, "—sneak up and surprise you."

Franklin sighed heavily and rubbed the