AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“And how is Acari Mei-Ling?” His question might’ve been on topic, but his voice was distracted. He shifted his weight, stepping closer, brushing his thigh against mine.
I inhaled sharply and covered it up with a tiny cough. He’d flirted with me before, but never like this. I’d have taken slashing fingernails over his thigh any day.
“She’s great. ” I tried to lean back, but the doorjamb was hard at my back. It was so weird to have this conversation as he was touching me in totally inappropriate ways. “I think if she can survive this first year, she’ll be great. ” I was rambling, but anything to keep this exchange on the spectrum of normalcy.
“Have you heard her play?”
“I have. She seeeems”—the volume of my voice spiked as he leaned in to nuzzle my neck—“really talented. She said she can play a lot of instruments. ”
He pulled back. “So, you did not find anything extraordinary about her performance?”
How to answer? The urge to protect her overwhelmed me. Being Mei’s guardian had gone from an assignment to something personal. I liked her and wanted her safe.
The vampires knew she had a gift, but did they understand just how hypnotic her playing was? If they were to experience the true potency of her power, she’d never be safe from them.
And then a selfish thought flashed into my head: Once the vampires realized what they had in Mei-Ling, she’d be under scrutiny forever—that meant, as her roommate and guardian, I’d be under even more scrutiny.
I decided to play it cool and downplay her talents. “Sure, yeah. Flute’s not my thing, though. ”
Alcántara tilted his head, considering. “Not your…thing?”
I shrugged it off. “It’s kind of shrill, you know?”
His gaze swept along my face, studying me. Finally, he said, “Perhaps she doesn’t need your help after all. ”
Oh God. What had I done? Had I given the wrong answer? The only thing worse than vampires having too much of an interest in her would be them not caring whether she lived or died. “I could tell she was good,” I added with quick enthusiasm.
My mind raced ahead. The moment Alcántara left me, I’d need to find her. If she was with a bunch of Guidons, she was probably being eaten alive as we spoke. I didn’t know if Vampire/Watcher bonds were common, or how they even worked, but if Alcántara was somehow connected to someone like Masha and he gave the green light, Mei-Ling was toast.
“Let us forget her. ” His intensity flared, like fresh wood catching in a fire that’d waned. He stepped so close, I had to look up to meet his eyes. “Now it is just you. ” He brushed the hair from my brow. “And me. ”
I strained to listen, hoping I’d hear voices of other girls in the hallway. But it was silent. It didn’t stop me from saying, “She could come back any minute. ”
He chuckled. “I’ve ensured we won’t be interrupted. We have been interrupted too many ti
mes recently. Too often, another has come between us. ”
Heat flooded my face—I couldn’t help it. He was talking about Carden. “What do you mean?”
“You know who I mean. ” He pressed the backs of his fingers to my cheek. “Such a pretty blush. It confirms the truth of my words. ”
I forced myself not to flinch. “I…I’m just hot, I think. ”
His lips peeled into a seductive smile. I saw the glimmer of his fangs and looked away. Looked down. Maybe he’d think I was just being demure.
But then I felt cool pressure under my chin. His fingertip, tilting my face up to his. “Hot indeed, querida. ” The naughty way he said it implied so much more than just my temperature.
These attentions, this intensity, it was like he’d suspected my interests lay elsewhere, and his response was to force the issue with these creepy lingering touches and suggestive words.
Alcántara had flirted with me before. I once thought he might kiss me, in the library, what felt like so long ago now. But his bizarre wooing was different now. There was something in his eyes that hadn’t been there before our mission. Or rather, something was missing from the look he was giving me, like he was a snake viewing me through glassy, bottomless eyes. Teasing me. Trifling with me.
He cupped my cheek. His other hand remained gripped on my waist. The feel of his fingers curling into the soft flesh of my torso was the only thing reminding me to keep breathing. “There have been certain…elements thrown between us. ”
He began to lean down.
Oh God, oh God, oh God. The words keened in my brain. There was no calm mantra now. Oh God.
This was it. There was no escaping. I was pinned between the door and Alcántara’s cold, hard body.
