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His voice drifted from a hallway tucked behind what appeared to be the kitchenette. I hurried to reach him, not wanting to keep him waiting and give him another reason to be annoyed with me.
His hulking frame stood in the doorway of a room. When he saw me, he nodded in the direction of the room itself. “You’ll stay here until we can find you other accommodations,” he said, arms folded over his broad chest.
I cleared my throat, moving my bag of clothes from one hand to the other. “Is this allowed?” I asked.
He narrowed his eyes, probably because he wasn’t expecting me to question him.
“If you’d rather sleep in your old room –”
“That’s okay,” I said quickly, brushing past him to enter the room. “It’s fine. I just wanted to make sure you weren’t going to get in trouble.”
“Why would I get in trouble?”
I had my back to him so I couldn’t see if he was frowning, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It was like he had a permanent scowl on his face.
The room itself was about the size of my entire dorm room, with a queen-sized bed and a small desk against the wall perpendicular to the bed. There was a dresser opposite the desk, and a nightstand near the bed with a small lamp on it so I could read at night if I wanted to. Everything was white, a crisp, pure color that was almost too bright.
But my eyes were drawn to the window. It was nearly the size of the wall. The sage-green curtains – the only spot of color in the room – were covering it, but I maneuvered over to the golden astrings and drew them back. There was a beautiful view of the forest. I could see the sun crest over the trees as a new day started to root. I didn’t think I had ever seen the sky this blue in color. White birds dotted the sky, blending in with the full, white clouds. It was going to be a beautiful night – perfect for the full moon.
I dropped my gaze, only to find the fighting quadrant. There was the dirt from before, the stones that formed a circle. I wasn’t sure who I might witness fighting, but if I could see them clearly, they could most definitely see me.
I didn’t think I had ever had a room this nice before.
I turned to look at Byron. “This is mine?” I asked, hoping I didn’t sound desperate.
“Temporarily,” he said. He sucked in a breath. “But yes. It’s yours.”
I bounded over to him before I could stop myself, before I could think about what I was doing and who I was doing it with, and wrapped my arms around him. Byron stood stiffly in my arms, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care because I never expected I would get anything as nice as this, and even though this was Byron and I knew he didn’t like me and I didn’t really like him, it didn’t matter because this was mine – temporarily – and he had given it to me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
I knew he was uncomfortable. And I did intend to pull away because I didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable. But he was warm and even though the planes of his body were hard, they made me feel…safe. I didn’t understand it, especially coming from him, but I let myself enjoy that feeling because I doubted I would feel it again.
Something tapped my head. I pulled my face away from his chest and glanced up, only to see Byron attempting to pat my head. His facial muscles were taut, but the effort he made to return the physical show of my appreciation was enough for me to warm to him, even slightly.
Maybe he wasn’t as bad as I thought.
I dropped my arms from him and took a step back.
I cleared my throat, glancing at the floor.
Neither of us spoke for a moment. It was almost too quiet, which seemed crazy considering I was sure the cicadas were buzzing outside and the students were starting to get ready for breakfast. In fact, I wasn’t sure how long we had been discussing magic and murder in Adrienne’s room.
“You should start getting ready,” he said. “For bed, I mean.”
“Right.” I curled a frizzy curl of hair behind my hair and placed my bag of clothes on the bed.
“There’s a shower in there.” He jerked his head to a door I hadn’t noticed before. “There’s a bathroom. My room is also attached to it but I keep my door locked and I’ll always use the main door to it. Until we get you a new room.” A beat. “I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Thank you,” I repeated.
He nodded once, not saying anything in return. As I grabbed my pajamas and headed for the shower, I couldn’t help but wonder if he had been thanked for anything before, and suddenly, I was sad for him.
I would do better to not be a nuisanceora smartass with Byron. He was doing more for me than I expected, and giving him the respect he deserved was the least I could do.
Kent
The second Kent heard the bathroom door click shut, he all but collapsed on the foot of the bed.
