Gods, what I would’ve given to have sat next to him during the drive here, listening to his dry jokes and getting all of my fears off my chest. Honestly, just sitting next to him would have made me feel better.
“I love fries,” I finally say.
“I’ll make sure they’re extra crispy when I see you again.”
I smooth an invisible wrinkle from my cashmere sweater, desperate to stretch this moment until it breaks. The only words left are “good luck” and “don’t die,” but luck’s never been mine, and an early death is the likeliest ending for us both.
“You’ll be bored without me,” I finally say.
Rowen lifts his hand but then drops it, fingers balling into a fist at his side like he wants to cup my face but knows he shouldn’t. “You know I will, because I’m impatient.”
“Aren’t we all?” I tease.
The horn honks, making us both jolt. The fact that my father managed to reach toward the front and honk means he’s beyond irritated.
Rowen inclines his head. “To the other side, where there is no war.” He lifts his hand to the right side of his face, then brings it down his cheek until he hits his chest, flipping it over in an ancient offering of the Gods. “No war withthem.”
Mouth dry, I whisper, “Only life for us.”
“Only life,” he whispers. “Hunt well, daughter of—”
I shake my head.
I don’t need his damning words cast into the world. I don’t think I can bear the weight of them. Everything already feels heavy. Everything already feelswrong.
Maybe because it is.
“Everything will be fine,” I say.
I hate that I lie so easily now.
I hate that I actually want to believe the lie even more.
Chapter Three
Aric
My jaw aches from clenching it, and I drag a hand over the day-old scruff, as if I can rub the tension out. I should go for a run. Shower. Shave. Pretend I’m ready for the onslaught of new and returning students about to flood campus.
I stay where I am.
I’ve been standing at this window, staring down at the loop in front of Endir’s gates, long enough for my breath to fog the glass.
Watching. Waiting.
Forher.
The absolute last person I ever wanted to see again.
Two years ago, that day on the beach, I made the mistake of doing her a kindness. She went straight to her father. And by the end of the week, my parents were dead.
I hoped she rotted in hell.
When I saw her name on the enrollment list last week, I froze. My brother, Reeve, was reading the roster over my shoulder, and I knew the moment he saw her name, too, because he took a few steps away like I was going to throw something.
Which only pissed me off more. I’m not violent. Usually.
My grandfather is a cunning bastard. Nothing happens on this campus without his permission. So if she was coming here, he’d allowed it to happen. Hewantedit to happen. Only question is, why?
