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“That’s how they cope. When they get hurt, they work harder. Since last summer, they’ve been working harder than they ever have in their lives.” The depth of her understanding surprised him; he’d been on earth a lot longer than Skye before he’d been able to look past his own pain to somebody else’s. “They leave me little notes and treats. I know they love me. It’s okay.”
Her room was a colorful place, with lavender walls and a bright quilt on the bed, and a shelf laden with gleaming equestrian trophies and ribbons. A couple pieces of homemade artwork hung on the walls: a collage made mostly of magazine cutouts that seemed much too angry to be Skye’s own work, and a framed, blown-up, artistically Photoshopped photo of Skye with another girl he remembered from Evernight, Clementine Nichols. And yet there was something a little bare about the room—maybe only because she’d been at boarding school the past two and a half years.
Or maybe not: On one slightly dusty shelf, Balthazar could see the imprints where framed photos had once stood. They’d been removed from this shelf not that long ago. Pictures of Dakota, he thought. Skye’s parents weren’t the only ones in the family who reacted to pain by pushing it away.
She continued, “Besides, my parents never had tons of free time, not after they started lobbying in Albany. Thus boarding school.” Skye stepped out of the closet, and Balthazar glanced over at her briefly—or that was the idea. Instead, he couldn’t look away. She was dressed in a black T-shirt and leggings, but both of them hugged her lithe body, br**sts to waist to h*ps to thighs—
No humans, he reminded himself, thinking of Jane. But the old rule seemed very far away.
Skye couldn’t quite meet his eyes, as if she knew what he was thinking. Then, when she glanced up at him again, he felt the impact—heat coursing through him, as real as blood. “So, if you’re really staying in here until morning…”
“I’d better,” Balthazar said, though he had just dramatically downgraded his chances of getting any sleep. This was going to be a restless night.
“Well, the window seat might work. But you’re a big guy; it might not be comfortable for you.”
He glanced at the window seat, the last corner of the room that still seemed to be part of a child’s room rather than a young woman’s. “I wouldn’t want to disturb the sanctity of the stuffed animal graveyard.”
“They’re just my old toys.” Skye looked a little embarrassed, as well she might, but he noticed how carefully she picked up the stuffed bears and dogs to put them on the floor. “See how it’s a daybed, too? My friends used to sleep over on it. But if you don’t think you’ll fit, I could take it. You could stay in my bed.”
That conjured up all kinds of dangerous thoughts. Stop it, he told himself. Her teddy bear is in this room. She was a child not long ago.
She’s not a child now—
Stop it.
His phone chimed at the same moment hers did, covering his momentary awkwardness, he hoped. “Excuse me,” Balthazar said. As he read his message—good, that was a relief—he heard Skye gasp. “What’s the matter?”
“The school sent out an email. Mr. Lovejoy’s alive and everything, but—he’s going to be in traction for weeks. He really got hurt today.” Skye’s fingers tightened around her phone. “It’s still sinking in how dangerous this is. Do you think Redgrave’s going to try coming after me again?”
“I know he will.”
“So I just have to—go around tomorrow knowing they might come after me?”
“Not tomorrow.” Balthazar glanced out her window, wondering if they were already staring back. “They’ll be here tonight.”
Chapter Six
OMG, BALTHAZAR IS IN UR BEDROOM RIGHT NOW?
Skye kept her phone cupped close to her, so there was no chance Balthazar would read Clementine’s message. It’s kind of an emergency. Tell u about it later. OK?
She hadn’t been able to bring herself to text Clem about the second vampire attack or the fact that she had apparently attracted the attention of some vampire clan that was even worse than the others. So little of it made any sense to her yet: Which vampires were evil? Which weren’t? How did Balthazar know any of them? Were they really going to come after her again, tonight?
It was all confusing, and scary, and so she’d told her best friend only about the one thing she did understand for sure, which was that her biggest crush over the past two years had decided to spend the night in her room.
Under any other circumstance, it would’ve been awesome.
“Assuming they don’t leave Darby Glen tonight, they’ll start tracking your movements.” Balthazar kept peering out her window, ever on the watch. “We’ll have to work out some way for you to get to and from school safely. No more wandering out on the road.”
Embarrassed, Skye said, “It seemed safe at the time.”
“I realize that. I didn’t mean to make it sound like—”
“Like you thought it was stupid.” She folded her arms in front of her, trying to make a point, but then it occurred to her that this T-shirt was a little tighter than she’d remembered. Without a bra—yeah, the arms in front felt more comfortable. Definitely. “Which it was.”
“You didn’t yet know they were after you specifically.” When he wanted to be reassuring, Balthazar’s voice became so warm. Almost soft. Coupled with his imposing, broad-shouldered frame, it made for an intoxicating combination.
“I knew vampires were on the loose in town, which is bad news … no offense.”
