“Servants of the Black Claw,” I told her. “Most likely, they were here to take you as a human sacrifice.”
“Sacrifice?” Her eyes grew wide, and she swallowed. “Well, thank you for saving me.”
“Don’t thank me. It was foolish for you to be wandering these streets after dark. You should know better,” I told her gruffly.
Her cheeks turned red with anger. “I just wanted to go for a walk. I’m a student at the university. I couldn’t sleep, and the city’s beautiful at night,” she protested.
“It doesn’t matter. You could’ve been killed. What on earth are you doing out at three in the morning?” I couldn’t keep the harshness out of my tone. I wanted to shout and rage at her. What she didn’t understand about this world… it almost resulted in me losing her tonight.
Emma raised an eyebrow. “Your voice sounds familiar. Who are you?” She took a step closer.
I ignored her. “You shouldn’t be walking around at night by yourself. It’s dangerous to be on your own, even in a city like Dolinska. Monsters still prowl here.”
“Well, escort me back to the school yourself,” she snapped, and she crossed her arms. “Or I won’t go.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a stubborn woman. Very well.”
I extended my hand to her. Slowly, she took it. When our hands touched, I felt a powerful warmth surge through me. It went up my arm and traveled through every pore of my body, settling in my gut and creating a home there. It was emotional and powerful, and flowed through me like my very blood. It felt like holding lightning in my hand.
Emma had felt it, too. Her eyes widened and her lips parted a bit, color flashing in her emerald eyes.
I tugged on her hand and said, “Come on. I don’t have all night.”
She narrowed her gaze at me. “I’d be fooled, seeing as how you’re walking around looking for trouble.”
“You’re a mouthy one.” We proceeded through the streets of Dolinska, holding hands… I was so intently aware of every movement her body made next to mine that it made my form feel like it was on fire. What was this unexplainable, undeniable connection between us, and how could anyone on this earth live without it? How could I, after so many years?
There were nightly wards around Arcanea University as well, but you could pass through them if you were a student or part of the staff. I hoped Emma didn’t know about them, because if she did, she’d have one more clue to piece together who I really was. But as we passed through the wards to enter the school grounds, she said nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Emma went to go through the front gate of the school, but I tugged her back. “Not that way.”
We went around, through a backdoor in the gardens that few people knew about, hidden behind a square hedge. This part of the gardens led directly to the dormitories.
“Which one?” I asked as I looked up at the rows and rows of windows above us. Emma pointed.
“It’s three stories up. The only one with a balcony. I got lucky,” she said.
“I’ll say.” I reached into my cloak and grabbed my grappling hook gun. I shot it at the balcony, and it hooked over the side. I grabbed Emma around the waist and said, “Hold on tight.”
I pressed the button on the gun, and the line pulled us upward. Emma clung her arms around me as we rose. Gods, the feeling of her body pressed into mine was making my instincts go mad. It was like a million sensors were firing off in my head all at once. My head clouded over so that it was hard to think. The only thing I could conjure in my imagination was the sight of Emma beside me— Emma in my bed.
I’d never been like this before. It was too much to handle.
When we got to the balcony, I lifted her over the side before I climbed over the railing. I unfastened my grappling hook, sliding it back in my cloak.
“You got something else impressive under there?” Emma asked. She smirked.
“If you’re trying to make a crude joke, it’s not funny,” I told her.
“It’s funny to me.” She snickered. I rolled my eyes.
“You need to stay inside the school at night. Don’t go walking around on your own,” I told her.
“Excuse me? Who are you to boss me around?” she shot out quickly.
My temper raged. I wanted to respond back that I was her mate and that she needed to listen to me as much as I would her, but instead, I said, “The Phantom commands you.”
“Ooh, scary.” She waved her hands. “Some weird guy in a mask tells me what to do, and I’m supposed to listen?”
