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I catch my breath. The smile on his face is friendly and courteous, but his words say something else entirely.He knows, I think. He now seems certain and is trying to warn me to stay away from the Noctu, to choose the right path, the right side.
“Teresa can take care of herself,” Ayden argues. “She’d never deliberately put herself in danger. It’s ridiculous to suggest that she has.”
“That’s not what I meant. I just want her to be careful. She’s still a student in need of our protection. She needs to remember that. Her actions have consequences – for all of us.”
“You could say that about anyone,” says Ayden, whose mood also seems to be sinking by the second.
“Of course. I wasn’t trying to accuse her of anything. I was just expressing a point of view that comes with experience. And I’m very happy, by the way, that you’ve decided to enter into a committed relationship. I’m sure it’ll do you good.”
Ayden says nothing else, but he looks pretty pissed. I don’t say a word either. I can’t eat another bite of the excellent meal – myappetite has vanished. The principal’s warning gnaws at me. He was trying to tell me they’re onto me, that they can expose me at any time. Maybe he wants to give me another chance because I’m with Ayden. But I don’t understand – why doesn’t he confront me directly? Is it because I have a gift and I’m valuable to the hunters?
I study his face and see that smile again. Yeah, that’s probably it. He doesn’t want the Tempes to lose me, but he can’t tolerate my behavior. So I’m getting this once chance, but if I don’t follow the rules... I can guess what will happen.
I don’t know how I get through the rest of the evening, but at some point, the meal is over. We sit together in the living room, where Mr. Collins mostly talks to Ayden about school, occasionally asking me questions, but without the aggression he exhibited at the dinner table. He looks totally friendly and relaxed, but that does nothing to alleviate my discomfort.
Around ten o’clock, I make my way back to school. I had no opportunity to exchange a word alone with Ayden. But it’s clear to me that I finally have to tell him the truth.
I arrive back at school and go straight to my room, but I can’t sit still for even a minute. I pace back and forth like a caged animal. Then I decide to wait out in the corridor. At least then I’ll know the minute Ayden gets back.
Around eleven thirty he finally turns into the corridor. He looks surprised to see me here.
“Were you waiting for me?”
“I need to talk to you,” I begin cautiously.
“I know – my father. But something was up with you earlier too, right? I noticed before we went up to Dad’s that something was wrong. And then he has to go and act like that.” He runs his hand through his hair, sighs, and takes my hand. “Come inside.”
We go into his room, and Ayden sits down on his bed. Since we urgently need to talk and it’s about to get serious, I pull upa chair and sit opposite him. This doesn’t escape him, and he raises his eyebrows.
“Did something happen when you were out with your girlfriends today? I know they’re not too happy about us.”
There are actually more important things we need to discuss. But maybe this is a good place to start because the whole thing with his ex is really weighing on my mind.
“Max is worried about me. She doesn’t want me to get hurt. I made it clear to her that it’s none of her business.” I look him in the eye and say, “She brought her friend June along.”
Ayden just sits there waiting for me to continue.
I raise my eyebrows. “The June that lived in San Francisco until a year ago and used to go out clubbing with Max all the time?”
Ayden cocks his head and looks at me irritably. “I’m supposed to know Max’s friend?”
I sigh impatiently. “Uh, she remembered you. You guys had a thing.”
“Oh,” he says. “And Max brought her to meet you?”
I nod. “And she was telling me that you saw each other on and off, but that she wanted more commitment, and you didn’t, and you had a thing going with some other girl at the same time.”
I can tell by his expression that he’s trying to remember June. Finally, the penny seems to drop.
“We were never together,” he says. “And she knew that. When she said she wanted more, I told her straight that it wasn’t going to happen. And yeah, I was seeing another girl at the time.”
He stands up and kneels in front of me. He tries to catch my eye, reaches for my hand, intertwines his fingers in mine, and says, “You know what I have with you is different.”
I nod. “That’s not why I’m so angry.”
Ayden caresses my arm and keeps looking at me. “Is it just the fact that Max brought her along?”
“It annoys me that everyone keeps trying to talk sense into meand convince me things will never work out between us. I want to be allowed to find that out for myself.”
