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For a moment, I blinked at him blankly as if I didn’t understand English.
But after I replayed his question through my head, my mouth dropped open in outrage. “You think I need atutor?”
What the hell? And here, I’d been proud of all the hard work I’d done for his class so far this semester.
Dr. Thornburg chuckled. “No, no.” He waved his hands. “Not for getting a tutor; forbeinga tutor. All the papers you’ve turned in have been impressive, and I think others could benefit from your skills.”
This time, I was more confused than when I thought he was telling me I needed help. I could understandthatmore than someone telling me that I was excelling and should help others.
“Really?” I blurted, wondering if this was some kind of trick, a ploy to relax and get me into his web before he struck.
“Yes, ma’am,” he was saying before he blathered on about all the opportunities it would bring, even talking about how I could get paid.
Except none of it felt right. I didn’t like this. I needed to know once and for all if he was Thalia’s murderer or not.
So right in the middle of his awesome sales pitch, I blurted, “Did you know Thalia?”
“I…” His words stalled, and he tipped his head as he frowned at me in confusion. Then he answered, “Er… You mean, ThaliaArcher?”
And that was all I needed to hear before being thoroughly panicked. But seriously, after ten years and all the students that had passed through his classes, surely there’d been more Thalia’s than Damien’s Thalia.
Beginning to hyperventilate and see everything through a blackening blur, I surged to my feet, gasping, “I…I have to go.”
From there, I rushed out of the office, determined to escape him.
“Miss Vargas!” he called after me, but I didn’t even glance back.
I ran for all I was worth, streaking past the startled secretary to find the stairs before hustling down them at top speed.
I bumped into other students and apologized without pausing to make sure everyone was okay. When I reached the front door where I was supposed to meet Damien, he wasn’t there yet.
Afraid that Thornburg was going to find me, I kept going, sprinting across campus blindly.
I ran without thought or direction for a good five minutes before I found a copse of trees to duck into between the chemistry and biology buildings.
Then, and only then, did I dare turn back, breathing hard and trembling.
No one was chasing me.
Certainly not my Technical Writing professor.
God, I was such a moron.
The guy was probably as innocent as could be, and I’d flipped out like a scalded cat.
Cringing, I peered out from the safety of the trees, but I didn’t see anything suspicious.
I was truly losing it.
But going out there and meeting Damien back at the front doors of the English building no longer sounded good to me. In fact, staying on campus anotherminutedidn’t even appeal.
With a glance down, I realized I was still holding my phone. So I decided to text him and let him know where to come and get me so he could finally have his way and just take me back to his place.
I fumbled my way into the texting app with trembling fingers. My breathing was loud and harried from running, but I was still able to hear the sound of a twig snapping behind me, letting me know I wasn’t alone in the trees.
Before I could turn, however, something heavy and hard bashed against the back of my head.
As I slumped toward the ground and everything went dark, I heard a familiar voice say, “Caught you, little mouse.”
