Hands Like Secrets by Mariah Norris

Author:Mariah Norris
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: autistic protagonist, crush, bad boy, magic school, LGBTQ+, nonbinary
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
Published: 2022-04-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

My gaze snaps to the hallway entrance, picking out their silhouette moving closer.

“Blast.” I look around wildly. I don’t want Fien to find me back here with Rafel, not before I’ve finished explaining the situation. Maybe he can hide in the water closet? Which door is it?

“Friend of yours?” My panic appears to amuse him.

“My roommate.” I try the nearest doorknob. Locked. Damn. “They think I’m meeting a beau.”

He scratches his chin, peering through the curtain.

“Does she now.”

Before I can even correct his misgendering, Rafel seizes me around the waist and pushes me against the wall, though he isn’t rough about it. I gasp anyway. He puts a shoulder between me and the hallway and bends his face to mine.

“I don’t hurt cowens, Saeli, but Mantle majahel are another matter,” he murmurs in my ear, sending a puff of warm breath down my neck. Several locks of his hair slide down to tickle my cheek. “I will play along if you get rid of her.”

“They.”

“They what?”

“You keep saying she and her, but it’s they and them,” I explain, barely able to get the words out. He’s just so close.

Rafel rolls his eyes and lays a hand on my cheek.

“What are you doing?” I squeak.

“Kissing you.”

“What?” My brain sputters like a broken qi-lamp. “No, you’re not!”

He smirks, sending a rush of desire through me so strong that for a moment I can’t breathe. His scent and his closeness are making it hard to resist kissing him for real, even with the threat he’d just made.

Behind us, I hear the bead curtain being drawn aside.

“Saeli?” Fien says. “Oh...!” Behind Rafel’s curtain of hair, I see them bob to a halt.

I duck out of the pseudo-embrace, my face on fire. Strands, I’m shaking all over. I hate to imagine the state I’d be in if that had been an actual kiss.

“Fien,” I stammer, glancing at Rafel. He wears a convincing expression of chagrin, like we had been interrupted while doing something naughty. I swallow hard. Nope, nope, not going there. “Uh, I’d like you to meet, um—”

“Aeden.” Rafel steps forward and takes one of Fien’s hands. He brushes it against his lips, unleashing the full force of his seductive smile. “You must be Saeli’s roommate. She’s told me so much about you.”

I just stare. Fien also stares, with their mouth open in a little “o” of surprise.

“Nice to meet you,” they say in a faint voice, pulling away and twisting their hands together. They look at me. “This is him, then?”

“Yes,” I say flatly.

“I see I’ve been the subject of a few conversations as well.” Rafel comments in a wry voice.

Fien smirks, but he shoots me a look that makes my nape prickle. Sure, he’s charming as a snake, and willing to lie through his teeth, but how long will Rafel play nice before he loses patience? Am I imagining the barest hint of ice in those pale eyes? “Mantle majahel are another matter.”

I have to convince Fien to leave, now.

“Fien, would

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