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“Sorry,” he murmurs, clicking a button on his watch while checking time.
“It’s fine.”
His eyes dart to mine and he gives me a tiny smile. “Are you hungry?”
As though it was waiting for an acknowledgment, my stomach lets out a loud rumble and I grin. “I could eat.”
Dylan nods, but rather than heading back to the ladders he crosses the balcony to a bare white wall and turns back to me. I walk up to him at a slow pace, my brows rising. “Whatcha doing?”
That little smile morphs into a cheeky smirk as he presses his hands against the wall. There’s a click then part of the wall pops open, and Dylan pulls the previously hidden door open and steps in the dark space behind it. There’s another click before a light sputters on. “Is that a…”
“Yep.” Dylan brushes a hand through his hair, watching me carefully.
“Oh my gods,” I squeal, doing a happy dance. It’s the top of a slide. It appears to be made of heavily stained wood, so the surface has a resin-like shine. A slide that if I’m guessing correctly, goes right to the ground level of the library. I reach out and squeeze Dylan’s hand, grinning like a fool.
He steps aside smiling as he gestures for me to take a seat. I don’t hesitate, plopping down, gripping the sides of the slide loosely as I peer down into the dark hole that is where the slide disappears into.This is going to be freakin’ epic.
As if it can’t get any better, Dylan presses his hand to the wall above the entrance to the slide and his clean laundry scent washes over me as he uses his magic. A semi circle of runes start to glow beside his hand, then the previously dark tunnel lights up like a galaxy. I suck in a breath, in awe. Before I get a chance to comment, Dylan shifts so he’s behind me, hands gripping the sides of the slide just beside mine.
“Ready?” he asks and I nod.
I shuffle forwards and let go of the sides. The moment I do, Dylan’s magic explodes out of him and into the slide, and suddenly it’s smooth and I’m sliding easily. I scream as I go flying, the magic galaxy on the tunnel’s ceiling nothing more than a blur. The scream turns into a cackle of pure euphoria as I’m tilted to the side, the slide walls morphing until it’s a cylinder around me. I end up laid flat on my back for the rest of the trip, still laughing when I shoot out of the end of the slide and land on something soft, body rolling and bouncing a few times before I come to a complete stop. I have to fight to suck in air and shove down my amusement. “I don’t think I’ve ever had that much fun.Ever,” I say under my breath. Then I realise that Dylan’s probably about to come flying out the end of the slide too so I scramble off what I now notice is a huge mattress, covered in dozens of pillows and wrapped in warding to create the perfect landing site. I purse my lips, trying not to break into a fit of laughter again, but Dylan comes flying out of the slide, letting out a bunch of undignified oofs as he rolls a few times, trying to stop, and I crack. I flop down onto the mattress beside him, clutching my stomach as giggles shake through me. All control of my amusement is gone.
After a few seconds, someone pokes my shoulder and I crack open one eye to glare at Dylan as I struggle to not crack up again. He’s braced on his hands and knees in front of me, a foot or so between us. “This is your fault,” I accuse, pointing a finger at him, then think better of that and boop him on the nose instead. He stares at me incredulously, eyebrows practically touching his hairline and of course I crack up again. Sitting up, I fumble around blindly behind me until my hand closes around just the item I was searching for. Then I proceed to smack Dylan with it.
He lets out an oof as the pillow collides with his face and I cackle like a fiend.
“Oh it’s on now,” he growls, lunging for the closest pillow he can reach. I scurry back with a shriek, but he grabs my ankle, yanking me back to him. I go to protest but end up with a mouthful of cotton instead. Laughing, I grapple for a bunch of throw pillows and launch them at his face one after the other until he lets go of my ankle.
I scramble away and dive behind a fluffy body pillow, using it like a shield. Peering over it, I drag any pillows within arms reach closer to me. “I declare this a pillow war,” I say diplomatically.
“To the death,” Dylan adds, his face serious.
I nod. “Or until you decide to surrender.” He scowls and I cackle again, building up my barrier, then launching several more pillows in his direction. He lets out a few dramatic grunts of discomfort as they hit him, before launching a ton of them back at me. I fall back with a hand to my forehead, feigning great injury.
The sweetheart falls for it, getting to his knees and shuffling over to me. When he’s close enough, I spring up and tackle him. He goes down with a strangled sound, clearly not expecting it and it sets off another round of limb weakening giggles that allow him to get the upper hand.
“I surrender,” I say through heaving breaths as he hovers over me, hands pressing my wrists to the mattress gently, a proud grin twisting his lips.
“That was quick after such brazen words earlier.” He quirks a brow and I scowl.
Intending to prove him wrong, I lunge up and bite his throat, teeth clamping around his jugular. I keep the pressure light, barely enough to leave a mark, but it gets the point across. “Bang you’re dead, and I win,” I mumble around his throat.
He shivers, and a guttural sound rattles in his chest. He jerks back suddenly and I bite down in surprise, and wind up nipping his throat,hard. Another sound leaves him and this timeI’mthe one that shivers. When I meet his eyes, I suck in a breath. They’re almost completely black. His pupils are so dilated that only a thin strip of blue is visible around them.
“I wouldn’t do that, Nessa,” he warns, his voice the lowest I’ve ever heard it. It’s also slightly muffled and I cock my head to the side. Then hesmilesand my eyes widen as I focus on his mouth. Two thin fangs rest where his normal canines usually would. I mentally smack myself in the face.Goddess, Nessa. Only you would bite a vampire in a taunting manner.It’s like you want to be bitten. Goosebumps pepper my skin, and another shiver wracks through me as my mind locks onto that while my imagination goes wild.
I swallow so hard that my throat clicks and Dylan zeros in on that movement. He leans forward, tongue darting out to wet his lips, eyes narrowed on my throat, breathing ragged. Then he’s jerking back, and is suddenly in the opposite corner of the room from me. He blinks rapidly, knuckles white as he clenches the back of the chair in front of him. Like it’s a lifeline.
I too blink, unsure how to take that reaction. My gut clenches, and my eyes burn, something inside me writhing around as a feeling of rejection rolls through me. I logically know that it isn’t necessarily a rejection, but it’s like this other side of me has the reins of my emotions right now. But I shake it off. Clenching my jaw and focusing on a spot on the wall away from Dylan, I give myself time to get it together as I push to my feet. Sucking in measured breaths, I bite the inside of my cheek and count back from one hundred to distract my racing mind. My counting doesn’t get very far before the side of my head prickles as Dylan’s burning gaze settles on me and I shuffle my feet, suppressing a groan. Awkwardness blankets the space between us, the silence becoming more and more strained as the seconds tick by.
A knock on the library's main door breaks the silence and my shoulders slump in relief when I feel Dylan’s burning gaze leave me and land on the door. His footsteps are loud in the quiet room as he walks to the door and I fidget, brushing imaginary lint off of my clothing. I don’t excel in awkward situations. It’s almost as bad as me in an overly social setting like a party.
The hinges on the door creak as Dylan pulls it open then a throat clearing draws my eyes to the source. “Ahh, am I interrupting something? I can come ba—”
Dylan grimaces, eyes sliding to me for a moment before returning to the man standing in the doorway. “It’s fine. Thank you.”
Dylan steps back allowing the young man entry and I perk up as he strolls into the room, tugging a cart behind him. How curious. And not at all what you’d expect in a place like this. Then again, neither is this amazing library so I can’t really judge.
