A knock came from my door. “Come in,” I said.
Dastien opened the door and leaned against the doorjamb. “You ready?”
My mouth went dry as I took him in. Well-worn jeans hung low on his hips. His white T-shirt had a bright colored map on it that looked almost like the London Underground but wasn’t. I wanted to get a closer look but he distracted me with his smile.
Shit. He could lean against things so well. I cleared my throat. “What’s on your shirt?”
He started to blush a little. “It’s a bus map. For Westeros.”
“You read George RR Martin?”
He grinned.
Why did we have so much in common? It was weird. “Let’s go,” I said as I tugged on a pair of gloves.
“You two crazy kids have fun,” Meredith called after us.
“Goodbye, Meredith,” Dastien said as he closed the door.
“God he’s hot,” Meredith said from behind the door.
I grabbed Dastien’s hand, linking our fingers together. “We heard that!” I said.
He winked at me and my heart stuttered.
Before we got to the parking lot, Mr. Dawson stopped us. Faint shadows under his eyes showed his exhaustion. “You’re needed.”
Imogene stood next to Mr. Dawson looking pretty satisfied with herself. All the hairs on the back of my arms stood at attention.
“Can any of the others handle it?” Dastien asked.
Mr. Dawson’s lips thinned. “Afraid not.”
Dastien squeezed my hand before letting go. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He didn’t spare me a second glance as the three of them took off. Every time I thought I was getting a handle on us, he disappeared. I swear I saw his back receding in the distance more than I saw his face. All the little doubts in my head telling me he was too good to be true reared their ugly heads.
It didn’t help that he was leaning down close to Imogene as she talked to him quietly. Or that she looked back at me and grinned like she’d won this one.
I wanted to stomp my foot, to scream and kick something, just anything, but I didn’t. Sinking to her level would be a mistake. If Dastien was really my m-word, then I’d have to trust him at some point, but the fact was that I didn’t. Not fully. Not yet.
When I got back to my room, I plopped down on my bed. Something was going on. And where were Sebastian and Donovan? I hadn’t seen them since yesterday afternoon. I had a funny feeling about it, but didn’t know what to do.
I yanked on the ends of my gloves as I thought. I couldn’t take them off and try to get visions. Could I?
“Back so soon?” Meredith said from the doorway.
“Something’s up. Mr. Dawson said that he needed Dastien. So he left…with Imogene.”
“Yikes.” She sat next to me. “Well, I’m sure it’s nothing big. I mean when your Alpha says shift, you say woof-woof. I’m sure he’ll make it up to you.”
“I know it’s completely stupid, but I’m just having problems figuring out what to do.” I sighed. “I guess I don’t trust him. He bit me and ran. He ignored me. And when he finally gives me the time of day I swoon?” I punched my pillow. “Am I really that pathetic?”
She squeezed my leg. “You’re not pathetic. Imogene is trying to mess with your head. You can’t let that evil bitch win.”
We sat there in silence for a minute while I stewed. The dorms were eerily quiet, but it was still early. And the weekend. And with Imogene gone…
“I have a crazy idea,” I said. “But we could totally get caught and it might be a really, really, seriously bad idea.”
Meredith rubbed her hands together. “This sounds like it starts with ‘t’ and ends with ‘rouble’ and that is just my speed.”
“Let’s search Imogene’s room.”
Meredith laughed for a second before she realized I wasn’t kidding. “You’re for serious?”
“Come on. Everyone is asleep. Imogene is gone with Dastien. They’re going to be at least a little while. I just want to look.”
“That is a terrible idea. She’ll totally know you were in there.” She tapped her nose. “No way can you fool this.”
She had a point. “Thing is, I really don’t care if she knows I was in there. I just want to know what’s going on. The girl tried to get me killed. And she’s trying to take my ate-may.”
“You know that ‘ate-may’ is just another way of saying ‘ma—”
I slapped my hand over her mouth. “Don’t say it.”
She pulled my hand away. “Fine. But it’s the same thing.”
“Whatever. You going to watch my back or what?”
“Not doing anything else right now.” She shrugged. “Why not?”
I threw my gloves on the bed. “Let’s do this.”
Imogene’s room was on the third floor. The door wasn’t locked. “You wolves sure are trusting,” I whispered to Meredith.