Even after the catastrophe of his glim sparking in my old reality—the equipment he smashed in wolfish form and the assistant who died the next day—he never aimed any of his frustration at me.
Of course, in that world I’d had no more idea what to expect than he did. I don’t think either version of Cole likes feeling like an oblivious student rather than the well-informed teacher.
It must really piss him off that I knew one critical secret about himself before he did.
Mia’s chirpy tone breaks through my gloomy reverie. “We should all go grab dinner there Saturday night! It’ll be amazing.”
She grins at me, and I smile back, my mind scrambling to piece together what topic they switched to.
Stella speaks before I need to answer. “This month’s Blossom-Bounty joint social is that night. We should probably make an appearance after all the club meetings we’ve missed.”
She has a point. Our intensive combat seminars, and my poisoning and various excuses after, have meant I’ve been hugely neglecting some of Other Elodie’s extracurricular obligations.
I aim my smile at Stella with a dollop of gratitude that she covered for my distraction, whether she realized it or not.
She doesn’t even look at me. She hasn’t acted angry since the day I told her off, but her attitude has stayed cool as ayuki-onna. Like she’s put up a wall of ice between her and me, within sight but untouchable.
It shouldn’t bother me, but the chill niggles at me anyway.
I’ve developed a real talent for pissing off people in this reality.
What Stella actually said fully sinks in, and I have to suppress a grimace. The thought of attending another joint social, where I’ll have to pretend I don’t want to dance with either of my matches who might be there and endure hours of gossip about every schoolmate around us, turns my stomach.
I think I might rather battle knife-wielding maniacs. Would it be too much to ask for neither?
Closing my eyes for a second, I inhale slowly.I have all I need. I have all I need.
The churning inside me eases slightly with the mantra.
As we pass a fork in the halls, a tug resonates through my palm. Through my bond mark.
With a skip of my pulse, I close my fingers against the spot. The tug comes again, gentle but insistent.
Salvatore. When I concentrate, I can taste his fiercely buoyant energy through the beckons.
Radiants only know what he’ll do if I don’t respond. Anyway, Iwantto.
I drift to a halt and yank open my satchel, then let out a groan for show. “Scald it. I left my imbuing project in my locker. I’d better run and get it—I’ll see the rest of you in class.”
Cadance tries to wave off my concern. “Oh, Jovak probably won’t even call on you.”
“Better not to take the chance,” I say brightly, and hurry off.
Salvatore’s tug leads me back down the hall, around a corner, and through a doorway into a quiet stairwell. I duckinto the nook beneath the first flight of stairs and find my formidable match waiting in the shadows.
With a careless flick of his hand, the nearby ephemera shivers into a barrier I assume will conceal us.
As Salvatore steps toward me, I keep my voice low. “What’s so urgent you needed to see me here?”
He doesn’t speak at first, just wraps his brawny arms around me and pulls me against his immense frame. With his musky scent enveloping me, I can’t stop myself from melting into the embrace.
Salvatore lets out a contented sigh as if he’s been waiting years for this moment and kisses my temple. “You’ve looked down since you left your house this morning, mia amata. Like something’s shadowing that light inside you. What’s gone wrong?”
There’s a hint of a growl in the question. I swallow thickly and decide not to prod at the fact that he was apparently watching mewhenI left my house. What else is new?
I might as well tell him the truth—it’s not as if he won’t find out soon enough. “I activated Cole’s—Professor Raith’s—glim yesterday. He… wasn’t very happy with how I handled it. I’ll be fine. It just feels worse having a match upset with you than anyone else.”
An actual growl reverberates from Salvatore’s chest. “He should be thanking you. That puffed-up prick. I’ll rip off his head and shove it up his ass, since he thinks it belongs there.”
