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ChapterTwenty
SUNDAY
Eight weeks without Alek
“Are you sure about this?” Noah asked, his voice pitched low as we watched Moira and Ash set out seven crystal pillars to create the circle we would need for our spell.
“Sure about bringing Alek home? Uh... yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Is it really fair to ask them to perform such powerful and potentially dangerous magic just so you can get what you want?”
Guilt instantly wormed its way through me. “Moira promised me it was safe.”
“Would she tell you anything different knowing how badly you want this?”
My gaze traveled from his face to Moira’s. “No...”
“Just remember, he chose to go back to Novasgard. He can choose to return on his own.”
I hated how right he was, but I grabbed his hand and slid his palm over the small belly I had just recently noticed. “Wouldn’t you want me to find you and tell you?”
His expression softened.
“Don’t forget the dreams,” Kingston interjected.
“Dreams?” Noah asked.
“The berserker is getting more insistent. She wakes up a few nights a week, coated in sweat, eyes fully black. It’s scary as fuck. She needs to talk to someone who understands what she’s going through. If only to learn how to control it.”
“Why didn’t I know about this? I’ve been with you every night too.”
I pushed back the anxious trembling in my gut. “It always seems to happen while you’re hunting.”
“And you’re sure it’s Alek?”
Kingston snorted. “Of course it’s Alek. He’s the one who hulks out and goes literally berserk. You didn’t see his eyes, Thorne. They looked exactly like hers do.”
Noah’s frown deepened. “Just what we need. Something else to worry about.”
“Stop making her feel like shit, and let’s get the Viking back so we can help her. She’s better with all of us. You and I both know it.”
“If that’s the case, why isn’t the priest here? He’s been noticeably absent lately. Are we just letting him off the hook?”
“Who says I’m not here, Mr. Blackthorne? I’m never far. It’s my job to keep an eye on errant students, and you five are as errant as they come.” Caleb appeared out of the shadows, climbing the steps of the observatory to join us on the rooftop. My stupid heart fluttered.
I hadn’t seen him again since that night in the church. My neck tingled with the memory of his fangs sinking into my flesh. Before realizing what I was doing, I reached up to feather my fingers over the small raised scars where his teeth pierced me. My pulse raced, nipples tightening to painful points, and when he caught my eye and I saw the answering heat in his, desire pooled low in my belly.
He noticed. There was no way he didn’t. And the slight flaring of his nostrils, the shift in his posture, that adjustment he made to his stance—crossing his hands in front of his crotch—all spoke of unwanted arousal.
Unconsciously, I bit down on my lower lip, swaying toward him, my body eager to go to its mate. But no sooner had I taken a step to do just that than Caleb’s eyes hardened, his expression cold and detached as he looked away.
It would have gutted me if not for the sweet message I’d discovered in the journal he’d given me for my birthday.
Even if we are apart, you’re never far from my thoughts.
The meaning behind those words hit harder after he’d fed from me. I could only assume his callousness was his attempt at keeping up appearances. Only last week, an announcement was made reiterating the no fraternization policy after a student and professor were dismissed for breaking it. It made me wonder how much of his speech the other night was true and how much a performance to protect me.
I was nothing to him because I had to be—for both our sakes.
