I chewed on my lip as I thought. “There was this Above & Beyond show that I went to a few months ago. It was epic. They played for two and half hours and the tracks were sick. They kept turning down the volume to let us sing along with vocals. You know what it’s like when the whole crowd was in sync—dancing. It was just perfection.”
“When was the show?”
I was never fantastic with remembering dates. “Mid-April-ish. At Avaland in LA.”
He grinned. “I was there.”
“Shut up.” There was no way he was there. I would’ve noticed him.
“It was epic. The track they ended on—”
“Amazing, right? Gave me chills.” I shook my head. This was crazy. “What’s your favorite show ever?”
“I saw Apparat play in Munich. It was amazing.”
“You’ve been to Munich?” It seemed weird picturing him anywhere but St. Ailbe’s.
“I’ve traveled quite a bit. My father was from France, so I spent summers growing up there. As I got older, I roamed around Europe a bit.” He shrugged. “I try to go to a new place every year. It’s a thing.”
“Sounds fun.” I always wanted to travel more. “So who is Apparat?”
“You don’t know Apparat?”
No way. He just out weird-music-ed me. “Should I?”
“Yes. For sure. I’ll send you the tracks.”
As we talked, he became more like a real person than an obsession—which should have eased my attraction to him, but it didn’t. Every time he said something, I wanted to know more. He was sweet and laughed easily. Yet I knew from watching him fight vampires that he was dangerous.
When we finished eating, Dastien and I sat among the trees and did more control exercises. I got lost in the sounds of inhales and exhales, the wind softly breezing through the leaves, the chirps of the birds. I could’ve sat with him forever. My hands rested on my knees. It took me a while to realize they were getting hot. Then fingers slowly linked with mine. A lazy smile spread across my face.
“I have to go patrol, ma chérie. And you have to go inside before the sun sets.”
I tightened my fingers around his. “No,” I said, squeezing my eyes shut.
His lips pressed against my forehead.
I flopped onto the grass, tugging him down too.
He hovered over me, his weight on his forearms as he lightly brushed his lips against mine. I growled. That was not the kiss I was going for.
“Come on. I’ll walk you to the dorm.” He pulled me to my feet. “We’re not going to have a repeat of the other night.”
A shiver ran down my spine. Being inside was suddenly very appealing.
When we got to the entrance to the dorm, he spun me in his arms. His lips weren’t soft this time. They demanded more. I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around him, pulling him closer to me. His tongue brushed against mine, and I lost it. I gripped the back of his shirt in my hands, pulling my body flush with his.
By the time he inched back, we were both out of breath. His forehead rested against mine. “I’ll pick you up in the morning for our trip off campus. Go inside. Be safe.” I kept my eyes closed for a second as I leaned back against the door. His heat was gone, leaving me chilled. “Holy shit,” I said to myself. He was beyond intense.
When I opened my eyes, he was already in wolf-form running across campus. A group of wolves waited for him next to one of the buildings. I watched until he disappeared from view, and then slid shakily to the ground.
It took me a few minutes to trust that my legs would work.
Meredith’s room was empty while I got ready for bed. I guessed they were still out, but I wasn’t upset about it anymore. Nothing they were doing could compare to what I’d experienced that day.
I went to bed smiling for the first time since I got to St. Ailbe’s.
***
The next morning, I was already dressed and ready to go on my date-ish thing with Dastien when Meredith stumbled sleepily into my room.
I clicked off my music. “Sorry. Didn’t meant to wake you?”
She waved me off and mumbled something incoherently.
I wore a flowy, short purple skirt and a grey tank top with flying little black birds printed across the front. “What do you think?” I said as I ran my hands down the skirt.
“About?”
“My outfit?”
“Are you going somewhere?”
I lifted my chin up. “Yes.”
“Really?” She yawned and curled up on my unmade bed. “Mr. Dawson lifted the jail-time?”
“Kind of. Dastien is taking me to the bookstore. Mr. Dawson said Dastien would be held responsible for me.”
Meredith laughed. “Wow. So. You and Dastien.”
“Kind of.” I couldn’t stop the blush from spreading. “I guess. We’re taking it slow. Very slow.”
She jumped and swung me into a hug. “This is so exciting. Were we right? About the mate thing?”
“It’s weird that you can just pick me up like that.” I tapped her shoulder and she put me down. “And ix-nay on the ate-may. That word is now verboten. Freaks me out.”
“Ha! Every girl here would kill for the connection that you guys have. Including me. So mate. Mate. MATE.”
I stuck my fingers in my ears and sang loudly as she talked.
She waved her hand in my face. “Okay. I’m over it.” She looked me up and down. “And yes. Cute and casual.”