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The corner of his mouth curls up, and he pulls his hand back, resting it in his lap and drumming his fingers against his thigh. “You wanted to go to school,” he says, turning attention to the front of the room.
My mouth drops open, and I stare at him. “Are you serious right now?”
His smirk widens, but he doesn’t look at me. “Shh, Calla. I’m trying to focus on the lecture.”
I narrow my eyes and close my legs. “I hate you,” I grumble, crossing my arms.
His soft chuckle is the only response I get.
* * *
After the longest lecture of my life, we stop at my apartment to pick up a few of my things.
I walk around the space and already miss it. I don’t want to give it up. The coffee might be a million times better at the house, but this place… it was mine.
“Lex arranged for the movers to pick up the rest of your things tomorrow,” Kade says, leaning against the kitchen counter.
I nod absently, grabbing a few books off the coffee table and sliding them into my bag. I walk down the short hall and grab a few extra toiletries out of the bathroom, then stop in my bedroom. The twinkle lights on the wall my bed is up against are still on. I’ve never appreciated how small and cozy this space was until now. Now that I have to go back to a ridiculously fancy mansion full of vampires and play house.
I drop onto the end of the bed with a heavy sigh and stare at the wall. I covered it with pictures—mostly polaroids from Brighton’s camera—from parties over the last couple of years. There’s also a bunch of pictures from my travels before school started, and even a few from when I lived in New York City.
“Calla?” Kade’s voice floats down the hall.
I get up and swallow hard, clearing my throat and blinking back the sting of tears that took me off guard. “Yeah, I’m almost ready.” It’s a total lie. I’m not ready to leave this behind.
Kade leans in the doorway, his eyes on me. A muscle ticks in his jaw as he frowns, and then he glances at the wall of photos. “You’re quite the photographer,” he comments, pushing away from the doorframe and walking into the room to get a closer look.
“Memories fade,” I say, “photos are forever.”
He plucks one from the wall, and I peek over his shoulder to see which one he took. It’s a polaroid of me and Brighton at the Lincoln Memorial last summer. Her arm is draped over my shoulder, and she’s kissing my cheek. We’re both wearing these cheap, bright pink sunglasses we bought from a street vendor, and I’m grinning so hard it hurt my cheeks.
A pang of guilt weighs on my chest for what happened to Brighton this morning. Even though she doesn’t remember it,Iknow it happened.
I snatch the photo from him and slide it into my back pocket. “Let’s just go,” I mumble, heading for the hallway.
“I’m sorry.”
His words make me stop. My brows knit as I turn around and look at him. His expression is hard to decipher, but it’s free of the usual arrogance or amusement I’m used to seeing.
“For this morning. Your friend—”
“I really don’t want to talk about this.” Especially if he’s going to be an asshole about it again.
“She can’t know about us,” he says in an even voice, though it’s not filled with the same harsh tone as this morning. He almost sounds… sympathetic?
I nod without meeting his gaze. “She’s all I have,” I say, though I’m not sure why. He must know how important she is to me, considering all of them have been watching me for god knows how long. Still, I keep talking. “Growing up—well, in the years after my parents told me what was going to happen to me—I was careful about who I spent time with and who I let in. I decided very quickly that it wouldn’t be fair to any friends I would possibly make if I just disappeared one day. I also didn’t know what the four of you planned to do to anyone I was associated with, so I couldn’t risk it. Brighton…” I trail off, shaking my head. “I tried to push her away. I was a total bitch, actually, when we met, because I liked her so much. Right from the start.”
“For what it’s worth, she seems like a good friend.”
“She’s one of the best people I’ve ever met. Her family, they have money and power, which in this city can be a dangerous combination, but you’d never know she had that kind of privilege. She’s the kind of person who’d empty her wallet for someone struggling with homelessness and always make sure the people around her are okay.” I can’t help the smile that touches my lips. “She would go to war for me.” I look at Kade. “And she’d sure as hell kick your ass if she knew the truth.”
A ghost of a smile graces his lips. “I don’t doubt that for a second.” He steps toward me. “I’m not saying you can’t be friends with her, Calla, you just can’t tell her about the existence of vampires. People don’t tend to take that very well.”
“Yeah, I get it.” There’s an edge to my voice now. I get to keep my best friend, but I can’t tell her about the biggest, most life-changing thing that will ever happen to me. No biggie, right?
“What does her family do?” he asks, glancing back toward the wall of photos.
I have to give him a little credit, I guess, that he’s at least pretending to show genuine interest in my life—what it was before they waltzed into it a few days ago. “Um, I’m not totally sure. Honestly, I don’t even think Brighton knows. Her parents own their own company and it has something to do with environmental stuff.” I shrug. “I’m into social sciences, not bio and chem.”
