Muscles rippled across Bastian’s ribs as he prowled to his side of the bed, and I counted four more scars. I didn’t know how I’d never noticed them before.
“Most people don’t stare at me with a frown,” Bastian said mildly before getting into bed next to me. Just like last night, he kept some distance between us and thankfully pulled the covers up enough to cover himself.
Not before I got an eyeful though because I wasn’t able to look away quick enough.
“A story for a story?” I chose a spot on the ceiling to stare at, and that seemed to help with both the room spinning and the fact that a very naked Bastian was lying a foot away from me. Thanks to last night, I knew all the rumors and self-boasting weren’t a lie.
“How very Moroi of you to barter for something so trivial,” Bastian said wryly. When I turned my head to look at him, he grinned and propped himself up on a bent elbow so he could look down at me.
For a second, I saw ice-blue eyes instead of emerald green, and a grin that was slightly quirked up on one side.
“Do you want a story or not?” I rasped, shoving Ryker out of my mind.
Bastian looked at me for a long moment, the amused expression fading as a more contemplative look replaced it. “What’s your happiest memory? Before meeting me, I mean?”
I turned a little on my side so I could see him easier and gave him an innocent look. “Before seeing your below-average face for the first time, you mean?”
“Your cruelty knows no bounds.” He reached over and nudged my shoulder. “Entertain me.”
Suspicion took root in my mind. Bastian had never expressed any interest in getting to know me before, but then we’d never traveled together like this. At least one of the other Alphas had always been present, and they would talk amongst themselves, only occasionally involving me in the conversation. I supposed he was only talking to me now because he had no other options.
Although . . . he did have options. The two Velesians I’d mentioned earlier would have been happy to entertain him all evening. Did he have some ulterior motive for being friendly? I didn’t know what he hoped to get out of it since he clearly wasn’t interested in sleeping with me.
A sudden tap on my nose had me jerking my head back.
“Did you just flick me?” I stared at him incredulously. “What are you? Five?”
“I’m bored is what I am, so start talking.” His eyes took on a dreamy state. “Maybe about how you, Samara, and Cali had a three-way in the library or something.”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course that’s where your mind would go.”
“Don’t be so judgy, my little voyeur.”
Heat flushed across my cheeks. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about what happened last night while in bed with a naked Bastian.
“Sorry to disappoint, but we’ve never done that. But my seventeenth birthday . . .” I said quickly before he could say something else to make me blush harder. If that was even possible. “It’s one of my happiest memories.”
“Go on,” Bastian drawled.
I chewed my bottom lip for a moment. This was the memory that popped into my head, but now it felt weirdly personal to share. I’d just have to choose my words carefully.
“It was my second year at Drudonia, and by that point, Samara, Cali, and I were inseparable.” A faint smile played across my lips. “Samara figured out it was my birthday and convinced Cali to steal some chocolate from one of the elder scholar’s rooms—it didn’t take much convincing—and Samara traded some gems with another student to get my favorite type of wine. They had this whole plan of a secret party in one of the less used study rooms.”
I chuckled, shaking my head. “Cali blindfolded me and brought me down to the room. Samara had dragged Roth and Nyx into it as well. Roth was grumpy about the whole thing and Nyx was just super shy back then.” My mood dimmed a little bit thinking about Nyx. Drudonia hadn’t been a good fit for them, but being a ranger had been, and now their entire life had been turned upside down as they walked the fine line of being a Moroi or a Strigoi.
“How’d their plan work out?” Bastian asked, his tone almost gentle, as if he’d guessed where my thoughts had gone.
“Not well,” I said. “They hadn’t realized the room was being used by two scholars who were having a secret tryst—one of whom was Samara’s archnemesis.” The memory of Samara’s shocked face at seeing the prim and proper scholar barge into the room with his hands firmly grasping the breasts of the pretty but shy woman who mostly tended to the books in the library flashed in front of me, and I grinned widely. “The couple were . . . very caught up in each other, so it took them a moment to realize they weren’t alone.”
Bastian laughed.
“Samara panicked. She was constantly getting in trouble that first year for back talking and had just gotten off cleanup duty for the washrooms.” At this point, I started laughing with Bastian. “Samara practically threw Cali in front of her to prevent the scholar from seeing her, but Cali had started celebrating early and had already polished off a bottle of wine by herself. She collided into the couple, and all three went down. The rest of us ran out of the room like we were on fire, leaving Cali to fend for herself, which she was really pissed about later. Although Nyx had enough sense to grab the chocolate and wine.”
“So your favorite memory”—Bastian’s chest was shaking with laughter now—“is a failed birthday party?”
“The scholar tried to chase after us, but he must have unbuttoned his pants prior to opening the door because he tripped over them after only a few steps. Several other scholars berated us for running, but I don’t think anything could have gotten Samara to slow down at that point. We raced back to our living quarters and jammed ourselves into my tiny bedroom,” I said between gulps of laughter. “Samara was convinced the scholar had seen her and was wailing hysterically about having to clean more toilets. I’m pretty sure Cali slapped her at one point because Samara’s voice can be kind of high-pitched when she’s spiraling.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen Samara spiral.” Bastian’s eyes were almost comically wide. “She’s either in her I’m a sexy minx persona or her I’m going to smile as I slit your throat while you sleep persona. I’ve never seen her lose it.”
