Free A Man of Honor (A Young Adult Paranormal Romance) (The Honor Trilogy) by J.P. Grider Page A

and crosses his arms in front of his chest.
    Restraining from decking him before he explains, I stand rigid about a foot from him. “I want to know who you are and why you need three vials of Honor’s blood.”
    He loosens his stance and sits back in his chair, picking up a pen and turning from me. “Mr. Sutherland, we’re done. Please leave.”
    His hand starts moving along his paper, but it’s shaking as he writes. I’ve hit a nerve.
    Moving to stand in front of him, I place my hands, palms flat, on his desk, lowering myself to look him in the eye.
    “Who are you? And what do you need with Honor’s blood? What do you know? What do you want?”
    He places his pen down and meets me eye to eye. “Mr. Sutherland, do yourself a favor and get your own girlfriend. Honor belongs to your brother…no?”
    This distracts me momentarily. I shake it off. “What does that have to do with my question?”
    “Jealousy. Resentment. It’ll eat away at you. Make you do things you wouldn’t normally do.” He peers deep into my eyes. “Leave it alone now, Storm. Before it’s too late.” He picks up his pen and goes back to his work. “We’re done,” he says, keeping his focus on his work.
    Pounding my fist on his desk, I attempt intimidation. He merely raises his eyes at me, not his head. “What are you talking about?” I ask, suddenly mentally exhausted.
    “Brothers, Storm. I’m talking about brothers. Back away from your brother’s girl before it turns you into a monster who only wants revenge.”
    I shake my head. “You’re crazy, you know that? You think I’m worried about Ethan? If you haven’t noticed, we’re pretty much indifferent toward each other.” I lie.
    “We’re done, Mr. Sutherland.”
    Pushing his desk right into him gets his attention. He stands. “That’s enough. Leave or I’ll call the principal and get you suspended.”
    “Go ‘head. I don’t care if I get suspended. Besides, I’ll just tell them you took three vials of one of your student’s blood.”
    His face shows little sign of being affected by my threat. “That’s right. Of course you don’t care if you’re suspended. You’ve already done this high school scene.” He shakes his head. “So let me ask you . Why are you here, and what do you want with Honor…besides that sexy body of hers?” He smirks, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
    “That’s right, Mr. Sutherland. We both have secrets, don’t we? If you don’t want the school finding out who and what you are, and what your precious Honor is…you’ll back away from me. You come to class, keep your mouth shut, you leave class. Got it?”
    I feel my shoulders drop but hope he doesn’t notice. He knows. He knows we’re empaths. And that’s why he wants Honor’s blood. Who is he?
    My eyes stay on his, and I want so much to shake information out of him. But I won’t. Who knows how serious he is about outing us ? Until I have something substantial to hold against him, I need to keep my mouth shut.
    Dropping my gaze first, I turn and walk out. But I’m not done with him. I will find out who he is. And I will find out why he’s here.

Chapter Seventeen
     
    The doorbell rings, and my hands are covered in blood. Pouring blood into a two-inch wide mouth, even with a funnel, is messy. The blood plops. It doesn’t pour. And since it’s thick, it doesn’t flow consistently, overfilling the funnel and spilling over my hands every time.
    When the doorbell rings a second time, my soapy hands are under the hot water. Mentally, I wish the person to go away, but since my car is parked out front, they probably realize I’m home. I’m just about done scrubbing all the blood off when it rings again.
    Damn it. “I’m coming,” I yell, not too pleasantly, silently hoping it’s not someone looking for the elixir.
    “What!?” I say abruptly, opening the door and stilling. My chest tightens. My breath hitches.
    “Hi, Storm.”
    Standing outside my door,