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“You’re cold,” he said instead. “You know I can’t drive you back…”
For a surreal moment, I thought I heard regret. I was shivering, but my cheeks flamed hot. “That’s cool,” I said quickly. “I can walk. I want to walk. ” I tried to sound casual. Normal. At this point, I just wanted to get out of there.
“I’ve a towel in the car. ” His eyes were so solemn as he said it. Like he was offering me not just a towel but something more.
I was shivering now, my body seizing and shaking. I’d have killed for a towel, but I also had the gut sense that I needed to get away. I’d been alone with Ronan tons of times. I reminded myself we were cool. This was normal. He was kind of on my side.
And yet we’d always maintained complete formality in front of other people. So what was with the towel? It was such a simple thing, but might it be construed as preferential treatment? He wouldn’t offer Izzy and Aubrey a towel—I’d have bet on it. What would the other girls think?
What would Carden think? I had a feeling Ronan knew about my relationship with the vampire, so why was he even acting like this? Did he suspect our bond and worry for me? Was this his way of looking out for me?
I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what the rules were. So instead I just stared dumbly.
“You’re being foolish,” he said, and his sudden coldness snapped me out of it.
I’d just been imagining things. I was being foolish.
“Sorry. You’re right. ” I laughed and shook my head. “I think I must be, like, hypothermic or something. ”
He opened the back of the SUV and pulled out something that looked more like a blanket than an item you’d use after a swim. “Take it. ”
I did, shivering with relief as it absorbed the excess water from my clothes. It was a dark color—green maybe?—though hard to tell for sure in the moonlight. The edges were frayed, and errant threads tickled my hands. It was an old towel, not some standard-issue thing. Ronan’s personal towel. I imagined it was the one he used after he surfed.
I had the weirdest urge, and as I brought it to my face to scrub my cheeks and eyes, I inhaled deeply, seeking some Ronan scent. I smelled the brine of seawater, and sniffed again, trying to detect the other scent that lingered just on the edge of my senses.
The squawk of girls cut through the air—the other Initiates returning.
I abruptly wadded up the towel and tossed it back to him, hoping he couldn’t read my expression in the dark. “Thanks. ” My voice came out way more earnestly than I’d intended.
“Annelise, it’s merely a towel. ”
“No, I mean for earlier. ” I realized that was what I’d been wanting to say the whole time. “Thanks for what you did on the beach. ” That hadn’t just been him being a teacher—he’d been looking out for me. I may not have known why, but I knew. I’d seen it on his face.
I expected him to deny it, to blow me off in his usual way, but instead he shrugged it off. “It wasn’t entirely on your account. The leggy one had it coming. ”
He gave me a quirky grin that made me trust him. Made me want to take a risk. I strained my ears, making sure the other Initiates were still far off. I had a minute. Maybe two. Before I could chicken out, I asked the one question on my mind. “What happened to Emma?”
His face shuttered instantly, but his voice was kind. “Emma is gone. Let her go. ”
“She was alive. ” I knew it now, knew it in my bones. “They took her to the keep. What happened to her there?”
“You have enough to concern you without thoughts of the vampires’ keep. It’s my understanding that Alcántara has given you this term’s assignment. Is that correct?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then that is what you must focus on. ” His tone was stern, relentless. “Alcántara’s assassination class is infamous. Many girls have lost their lives not taking it seriously. ”
“But I—”
“Let…it…go. ” He paused between words, drawing it out, trying to make me hear. “You must. Unless, perhaps, you want to find yourself in the same situation. ” His words gave me a chill—and not for the reasons he would’ve thought. Did I want to find myself taken to the keep? He didn’t know just how close to the mark he was—I was desperate to see inside.
“Well…” I gave him a sheepish look. “Actually, I was kind of thinking I might want to. Break in, I mean. ”
“To the vampires’ castle?”
At my nod, he laughed. He actually laughed.
“It’s not funny. I mean it, Ronan. ”
