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“Knowing the principles will get you a C, at least,” Deus pointed out. “Professor Farrious said you could pass the class without being able to do even a bit of practical alchemy.”
My lips thinned. “I don’t get C’s.”
I scowled at him as I took a bite of the croissant he’d insisted on buying for us to share.
“Right.” Deus laughed. “How could I forget you’re hardcore?”
“If I recall correctly, you were quite willing to do the extra work to get an A in the marine mythology project,” I teased, bumping our knees together.
Deus’s leg slid along mine, sending tingles up my whole body. “Sure, I like getting good grades. But if I did my best and got a C, I’d be fine with that.”
I tossed back the last of my coffee. “Let’s take a walk.”
With Deus so close, I couldn’t stop my mind from running wild. I imagined pinning him down with my tentacles. Would it be possible to take his shirt off with my teeth? I wasn’t sure, but I was dying to try.
Hopefully, the fresh air would get my mind back on alchemy, and even if it didn’t, it would definitely help get some of this pent-up energy out.
We made our way back to Slaymore grounds. As soon as we went through the gate, he sighed and held out his hand. A small bolt of lightning shot from his palm to the ground, leaving a scorched path of grass beside the path.
“I always need to let out some of this erratic electricity when I come back from the mundane world,” he explained, intertwining his fingers back through mine.
I wished I could slip my bracelet off and dive into the lake to ease the discomfort of maintaining this form around the clock. Every few days, I managed to sneak away to the freshwater pond, but within hours, I was once again hungry for the feel of water on my skin.
Deus must have read the wistfulness on my face. “Do you want to go to the lake? I can watch while you swim.”
“No, thanks.” I pulled him through the arching birch trees. “It’s full of mermaids.”
Leaves rustled as we kicked our way through them, and Deus laughed. “Isn’t that sort of the point? You’ve got to be the least sociable mermaid I’ve ever met. I thought you guys were communal creatures?”
“My clan is… different.” As in, so different we weren’t even mermaids. “We prefer solitude.”
“Well, I’m glad you came out of your self-imposed solitude to hang out with me,” he teased.
“Me too,” I said, tilting my head up to the gray sky. “A distraction is just what I need to de-stress.”
“A distraction?” Deus sounded surprised.
I hesitated, trying to pick my words carefully. What if I admitted it was more than a distraction to me, but he didn’t feel the same? “That’s what this is, isn’t it?”
“Well, we’ve never talked about it…” His voice was carefully neutral, not giving me a hint as to what he was thinking.
I stopped, forcing him to turn toward me or let go of my hand. He turned.
Deus wasn’t smiling anymore, but he wasn’t frowning, either.
“You know my academic learning is important to me.” I swallowed hard. “I can’t lose focus on my reasons for coming here.”
“I’d never ask that of you.” Deus tucked a stray bit of hair behind my ear.
“I like… this,” I admitted, gesturing between us. “I was determined I wouldn’t get distracted by romance, but I’d like to see where this goes.”
One side of Deus’s mouth turned up in a half-smile, and my face blazed with heat.
“But I also want it casual. Poseidon knows my mother has tried to brainwash me into mating instead of chasing my dreams, and I refuse to give up on my goals. We can hang out, we can read, we can…” I wasn’t good at talking dirty or coming up with sly euphemisms. And when Deus stepped closer, I found I wasn’t really all that great at making sentences at all.
“We can study?” he suggested, his hand finding my waist.
He stepped forward again, this time guiding me backward off the path and between the trees.
