Page 55 of Lost and Bound

He rummages through the offering, moving things out of the way and giving me the chance to see what was left behind. Honestly, it makes little sense—a packet of raw steak, a block of cheese, a bag of bread and a banana. The banana is bruised, and when I reach over to where Bugby threw it, I twist it around and touch the large puncture holes on two sides. I put it back where it was, not solving the question of what happened to it.

Bugby swaggers closer, cawing and clicking his beak the whole time, almost like he’s reminding me I’m not alone. He uses furniture and boxes to climb up until he’s walking past me on his way back to my hip. A package he was holding drops and I see it’s a tiny muffin.

“What if it’s poisoned?”

His response involves him jabbing his beak through the plastic and shaking his head until the muffin falls apart, the unmistakable smell of freshness assaults my senses. My stomach rumbles in hunger, and I forgo the risk of possible poisoning to rip the bag open. For every bite I take, I offer Bugby a piece.

I reach down to the pile of food to see what else I should eat. Waste not, want not, right? I sit up with bread and cheese in one hand, and the holey banana in the other, then make the strangest-tasting sandwich ever. I eat so fast I get the hiccups, and my alarm sounds just as I take the last bite.

I’d intended to get up early, not really knowing how things work in this house and not wanting to appear more of a problem than they already make me feel. But my plan of showering, then studying has been hijacked because before I can do that, I need to return this contraband. The last thing I need is Cane accusing me of stealing from him, yet I have no logical explanation how the food arrived in my room.

Knowing I have a limited window to act, I move out of bed so fast, Bugby makes his weird eep sound again. I stop at the stairs, triple-checking. The house is quiet, and as I race upstairs, I can see the outline of the furniture so I don’t crash into anything. At the fridge, I face a conundrum, because there’s nothing I can do about the internal light, but I need to open it to return the food.

My hand shakes as I reach for the door, and I can hear the race of my heartbeat. No matter how quietly I try to open the fridge, everything in the door clatters and clanks, but I move fast, shoving the stolen food into the back of the fridge before I push the door softly closed. The kitchen plunges into an even deeper darkness, and I wait for a few precious seconds for my eyes to adjust before I creep back the way I came. I think I’ve watched too many scary movies, so I expect a jump scare, but I make it back downstairs without it happening.

The lingering adrenaline means I feel like I’m moving at warp speed. Maybe I am, because as the sun is rising, I’m back in my room, showered and dressed in my training gear, going over the assignments I completed last night. And they’re good.

Sounds trickle from upstairs as I hit submit on my paper for Elder Augustus’s class; they’re having breakfast and talking. The chatter stops, and a chair scrapes before someone walks over the floor, coming my way. There’s a sharp knock on the wall of the stairwell before Cane yells down. “We’re going in twenty minutes.”

Pasting on a smile, I race out of my room but stay at the bottom of the stairs. “I’m ready. I was studying.”

His eyes are more gold than green this morning, and through my recent education on shifters, I know that the color reflects how near to the surface his beast is. It’s close, by the looks of his iris.

I drop my eyes, remembering more of the basics when communicating with shifters, and more particularly, Alphas. As I wait for him to say something, the silence stretches, but I don’t need to look up at him to know he’s assessing me like I’m a threat.

“Get your gear and come eat breakfast.”

“It’s okay. I’ll get another delivery today. I’m fine until then.”

Under normal circumstances, and with a normal person, my response would work. But Professor Cane’s mood shifts, and he’s back to being an obnoxious dick.

“It wasn’t a suggestion, Maya,” he snarls back. “And your disrespect just earned you a thousand-word essay on why you think you have the right to question any faculty member at Thales.”

He storms off before I can squeak out an apology, not that I owe him one considering I didn’t do anything wrong. Still, he makes me feel otherwise. It’s probably good he left in such a hurry, or he’d see exactly what I think of him and his revolving door of hostility and amiability.

I take a second to steady myself before I walk up the stairs. The lure of more food isn’t as enticing as it should be because of the company and the ever-changing rules of engagement. Rounding into the kitchen, I come up short. Professor Cane is sitting at the table with the other two guys he lives with, the three of them glaring at me like I’m intruding. I am, but they’re leaking colorful auras all over the place, which is more distracting than their scowls.

I stand there, staring at the ribbons of energy, until the tension in the kitchen becomes impossible to ignore. Although I’m not great with confrontation, I also can’t stay quiet.

“I don’t want to interrupt your morning, so I’ll wait out front. I’m ready for training.”

Before I can take so much as another step, Professor Cane makes a weird noise in the back of his throat, and it coincides with Emrys standing up suddenly. I jump a mile, then get starstruck again by his vibrant energy which is snaking around the room slowly coming closer.

Emrys waits until I’m looking at him, and I see this morning he’s back to being approachable. But I’ve still got the wounds from the last time he acted like my friend. He smiles and I match it, knowing everyone is watching us. As I don’t trust him, I check my shields, expecting another of the slap downs he’s so good at delivering.

“New girl, get some food, sit-down wherever you want, or use this spare seat. We have a training session that promises to be punishing. The last thing we need is you getting in our way because you’ve fainted.”

At least he doesn’t let me down or prove me wrong.

My eyes jump from him to Professor Cane, sliding over to the vampire I’ve met but haven’t been introduced to yet. He’s wearing a smirk, clearly ready to add something. “She’s not going to miss the chance of getting her fix.”

“Her fix?” Cane asks, his eyes back to shooting laser beams in my direction.

“You didn’t know?” The vampire grins, showing lots of pointy teeth as he does. “New girl is kinky. She has a thing for wanting to be chased.”

The audacity of this vampire has me as wound up as I did the last time our paths crossed. My mouth pops open as waspish retorts start forming in my mind, but I figure surprise is as good a tactic as being a dick.

I lean over the table, my hand held out in his direction. “We haven’t properly met, I’m Maya.”