Runaway Mortal (16 page)

Studying Loire from beneath my lashes, I wondered if he was my friend. It certainly felt like we were heading in that direction, but I didn’t really know what he really thought of me.

“No, seriously though,” I pressed. “Why are you pretending to be here with me when you could be, I don’t know, doing whatever it is that SRECON agents do in their free time?”

He seemed uncomfortable with my probing. “You never know when the job will demand posing undercover and dancing.”

“So, you’re doing this for work?” His words were disappointing and not the answer I was looking for.

He shrugged again, looking off into the crowd, and didn’t say anything for several minutes. When he finally glanced back at me, he didn’t seem as happy as he’d been earlier on and I couldn’t help thinking that it had to do with my question.

I distracted myself by inspecting the room for any sign of my friends. Anna and Greggy were nowhere to be seen and I hadn’t noticed Misha or Sander coming back into the hall either.

Great, my friends had deserted me.

“I think I’m gonna get out of here,” I said with a sigh.

Loire raised an eyebrow. “You’ve barely been here for an hour. What’s wrong?”

“My friends are gone and I’m not sticking around with this crowd.” I noticed Cedee and Talon sucking each other’s faces off in a corner, and cringed.

Loire followed my gaze. “In that case, let me follow the proper date protocol and walk you to your room.”

I rolled my eyes at him, but didn’t turn down his offer. I wondered if proper date protocol required him to kiss me on my door step. The very thought sent tingles shooting through my stomach.

We weaved through the crowd and people openly stared as we passed them by. I tried my best to ignore them all and focused on Loire who was a few steps in front of me. Even from the back he still looked good.
Dayum
.

Tyrone caught my eye and flashed me a huge grin from where he stood beside Veritas. I rolled my eyes at him in response.

To him this was probably more evidence that Loire had a thing for me, but I hadn’t really seen anything to prove that theory.

Once we made it outside, the night air had become cold, and goose bumps popped up all over my bare arms and legs. As I rubbed myself to keep warm, Loire glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.

In one quick motion, he removed his jacket and slung it over my shivering frame. I protested and tried to take it off, but he clamped his hands down firmly on each shoulder to keep it in place.

“You need it more than I do, considering you’re barely wearing anything tonight.” His gaze wandered over me before he began walking ahead of me so I couldn’t return it.

I broke into a jog until I caught up with him. “Thanks,” I said, as a hot flush crept up my neck. It was a really sweet gesture—he had been full of sweet gestures lately.

We didn’t say anything as we continued back towards the dorms. The silence wasn’t awkward though—it was comfortable. I darted a glance at Loire and saw he had that faraway look he always got when something was on his mind. He only had it when he was around me.

Maybe he thought I was a big pain in the ass and he couldn’t wait to be rid of me. Or maybe he just thought I was immature all the time and couldn’t take me seriously. Once again, I wished I could read minds like Veritas did.

When we reached my dorm room, I cleared my throat and he looked at me, startled. “What were you thinking about?” I asked.

A smile lurked on the corner of his mouth. “How a girl like you can be so much trouble.”

I put my hands on my hips in indignation. “I am not trouble, I’m just-”

“You’re just what?” he asked, leaning towards me in a teasing manner. “Since the moment I met you, you have threatened my Triad with angel hair, been assaulted by eggs, been assaulted by
rocks
, gone to an unauthorized party in some loser’s room, wanted to break a girl’s nose numerous times, and somehow still managed to squeeze in prom.”

“Okay, okay, I get the point,” I said, holding my hands up defensively. “You have a great memory for someone so old.”

He laughed and playfully grabbed for my wrists. There was a glint in his eyes that made my breath catch in my throat. When his skin pressed against me, it was like we were both on fire. A sensation spread through my body as I imagined caressing his smooth face and feeling his lips against mine.

I leaned forward just as he bowed his head towards me. Our foreheads pressed together and he looked at me like he was seeing me for the first time.
Really
seeing me. His stormy eyes, inches away from mine, seemed to penetrate my soul.

Loire’s breathing was shallow and I didn’t move in fear of ruining the moment. I desperately wanted to lean in and kiss him, but I wanted him to do it first. I wanted to know that he wanted me, not the other way around.

I didn’t think it was possible to have these intense feelings again, not after what had happened with Talon. Yet here I was, inches away from a guy that I wanted so desperately.

“What am I doing?” he whispered to himself.

I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to influence him either way. A big part of me wanted him to kiss me, but a smaller, more annoying part was telling me to back away from the gorgeous guy.

“I have to go,” he said curtly, pulling away from me.

Hurt flooded through me as he turned and almost sprinted down the corridor. Dumbstruck, I could only watch as he disappeared. I couldn’t even bring myself to move, like he had cast a spell that had immobilized me.

What the
hell
had just happened?

Chapter Sixteen

The morning after prom, I was called into Delware’s office again.

Loire was a no-show, so I headed down to the office alone. When I got there I was surprised to find Tyrone already engaged in a conversation with the headmaster.

As their conversation ceased, Tyrone wriggled his fingers at me in a wave as I sat down, trying not to smile at the gesture. This dude was my own, personal stalker.

“Good morning, Katerina,” Delware greeted me.

“What’s up?” I asked, reclining back in the chair.

“I wanted to talk to you about the conditions of your return to school,” he said with a warm smile.

Ugh. Great. Had Parlum insisted that more severe action be taken against me?

“Yes?” I prompted, not trusting Delware’s smile. He was always in a good mood, so the smile could be misleading.

“You have shown excellent progress with your school work, and SRECON has been satisfied with your obedience. You will have an eight hour fixed guard as you sleep. I feel it is important to keep you protected, considering the recent attack on you. Otherwise, the SRECON agents are free to guard you as they please.”

“What?” Relief filled me, even though I was a little baffled. “Really?”

It wasn’t hard to figure out who would be guarding me at night. Did that mean that Tyrone and Loire had reported my good behavior and Veritas had disagreed with them? Considering, I was asleep most of the time she guarded me, I wondered what she could possibly complain about. Maybe I’d been snoring too loudly for her delicate sensibilities.

“Really,” Delware confirmed with a nod. “Mr. Warbeck is here to remove your ira bands as a reward for your good behavior.”

This was turning out to be an early Christmas for me. I was freaking ecstatic.

Tyrone bounded forward and gave me a wink. I knew what that wink meant—we both knew I hadn’t exactly been on my best behavior.

“Ah, it pains me to do this,” Tyrone said dramatically, waving his hand over my wrists. “My link to you is broken, but our bond will never die.”

As he moved his hand away, the ira bands disappeared into thin air. In amazement, I turned my wrists over, hardly believing that the ira bands were gone. I’d actually started getting used to them.

“What will you do now that your perve radar is gone?” I asked Tyrone as he stepped back.

“I guess I will have to occupy myself with other pastimes, like braiding my chest hair.” He feigned a deep sigh.

Delware cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him. “This does not mean that you digress back to your former behavior. I want to see you maintain the same standard that you have been achieving since your return. Do not disappoint me, Katerina. I am not the only one counting on you.”

I nodded, understanding the meaning behind his words—my parents were counting on me to behave myself, too.

Since I was already here, I decided now was a time as good as any to ask him about something that was weighing heavily on my mind. “How is the investigation into Mel-Headmistress Melkane’s death going?”

“It’s going,” he said simply.

Yeah, that wasn’t vague at all. “What does that mean?”

“It means that Parlum is taking their time investigating her death.” There was a look of exhaustion on his face as he spoke. He actually looked a lot older now than he usually did. I guess this whole thing with Parlum was getting to him too.

Leaning back in the chair, I studied the fancy hourglass on the desk. “That’s good for me, right?”

“For now,” Delware said with a frown. “As long as you don’t do anything that puts negative attention on you, we can keep you from going to trial before the Headmistress’ death is properly investigated. This is our goal and it should be yours, too.”

With nothing else to say, I left the office. Tyrone walked me to first period before leaving to go and do whatever it was that he did when he didn’t have to babysit me.

The days following prom and my meeting in Delware’s office, I didn’t see Loire at all. Tyrone came to hang out with me on several occasions, while Veritas still abided by her eight hour schedule. Loire, on the other hand, didn’t come to see me at all since the moment we’d shared on the night of the prom.

There were so many times I had wanted to track him down and demand to know if he was avoiding me, but I took Delware’s warning to heart. I was going to stay under the radar. At least for now.

“Kat, are you alright?” Anna’s voice broke into my thoughts and I looked up to find her staring down at me in concern.

We were hanging out in the library as usual; Anna pored over books, while I lost myself in my messy thoughts. It was a comforting ritual.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I said, despite having a hundred things on my mind.

“I have Angel Philosophy now,” she said with a small smile. “What about you?”

“Did the bell ring? I didn’t hear it.” My thoughts were distracting me so much; I couldn’t believe I hadn’t even heard the bell. “Um, I have Martial Arts.”

“I’ll see you at dinner then,” Anna said, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

“Yeah, see you then,” I echoed, slowly gathering up my things as she left.

By the time I left the library, Anna was long gone. Anna and Misha still weren’t talking to each other, and Anna taking Greggy as her date to the prom hadn’t helped their relationship at all. I had to figure out a way for those two to start talking again.

I hadn’t had much of a chance to get Misha alone though. She was always with Sander now, and I couldn’t stand being around him, so I made sure to avoid them when they were together. Sander had this way of looking at me that made me feel like I was stark naked.

I headed out of the school building and made my way across the grounds towards the gym. There were no students hurrying to their classes or standing around talking to their friends, which wasn’t good news for me. It meant I was late to another one of Professor Martin’s classes.

So much for keeping my promise to Delware.

As I pushed open the gym door, I was hoping to sneak in without Martin noticing me. Maybe class had already begun and we were doing group work. I could just join a group without Martin noticing that I was close to ten minutes late.

“Late again, Miss Lyrille?”

I froze at the sound of my name and stared around the gym.

Damn. Professor Martin was standing in front of the class and, once again, he wasn’t alone. Loire stood beside him, dressed in grey sweatpants and a black tank top which showed off his huge arms again.

Great. Not only was I late, but I also had to go through another lesson with Loire and his distracting body.

I placed my bag against the wall and joined the rest of the class, bowing my head a little so I looked apologetic. “I lost track of time in the library, Sir.”

Professor Martin made a ‘tsk’ sound and glanced at Loire. “That certainly won’t do will it, Loire? What do you think we should do about Miss Lyrille’s tardiness?”

Loire locked eyes with me, and I felt my heartbeat speed up. Maybe, now that he was forced to face me, something in his demeanor would acknowledge what had passed between us on the night of prom. If I was feeling this way, he had to be too.

Loire’s gaze moved through me and stared at a spot somewhere to my right. Bitter disappointment shot through me. So he was going to pretend like there was nothing between us. Well, two could play at that game.

“In Academia, we would have been made to do things that someone as undisciplined as
Miss Lyrille
would never be able to do.” The way he said my name, so cold and detached, made my stomach tighten with knots. I couldn’t stand this formality between us.

A few of the students tittered at Loire’s snide remark, while the others looked between us in excitement as they anticipated a witty comeback from me. They all knew that Loire was my guard and they seemed to get a kick out of the hostility we had towards each other. If they wanted a show then that was what they would get.

“Well,” I said, taking a step towards him, “it’s a wonder you graduated then. Did you sleep your way to high marks?”

There were some snickers, but all I could focus on was Professor Martin’s face which was very slowly turning red.

SRECON agents had one of the most respected professions in the supernatural world and I had just made fun of one. There was no way he was going to let me off easy for my comment.

“Katerina Lyrille,” Professor Martin said, his face seeming to swell with each word, “You are out of line. I will not tolerate you speaking to-”

I never got to hear the rest, because at that exact moment Loire stepped forward and placed a hand on Martin’s arm. “Sir, could I say something?”

Startled, Martin nodded at Loire with wide eyes. “Yes, Loire, of course.”

“As I was on the receiving end of Katerina’s rudeness, I would like to deal with her myself.” Loire turned back to me, his eyes still vacant. “Could we be excused from this lesson?”

“Of course,” Professor Martin said with a nod, “You are welcome to return at any time to carry out your lesson.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Loire said, bowing his head before grabbing me by the arm and leading me towards the exit. He stopped to shoulder my bag and then pushed open the door, pulling me outside.

I wrenched myself from his grasp and turned to face him, my hands on my hips. “Where are you taking me?” I demanded.

Without another word, he began walking away. Instead of heading back to the school, he was going in the opposite direction towards the lake and the woods.

Intrigued by his spontaneity, and admiring his swagger as he walked away, I began following him. The winter chill seemed to be creeping under my skin, so I broke out into a jog to get some warmth back into my body and to catch up with him. He didn’t react to my presence beside him and focused straight ahead, his jaw set in a hard line, as he strode towards the woods.

Not wanting to be caught staring, I took in my surroundings instead. The trees were changing from their oranges and browns and becoming dry and bare. Up ahead, the woods were a mixture of barren trees and dark evergreens.

As we passed the lake, the first droplets of rain began to fall, and I shivered as they hit the exposed parts of my skin. I was wearing a long, sleeved shirt and I was cold, so I could imagine how cold Loire was in his tank top. A quick look at his bare arms elicited another shiver from me for completely different reasons.

When we finally reached the edge of the woods, Loire took a few steps into the thicket of the trees and leaned against one. Following suit, I slumped against the tree across from him and glanced back the way we had come.

From here, the back of the gym was visible and the school building looked like a castle in the near distance. The rain fell harder on the grass and the surface of the lake, but under the cover of the trees, it merely trickled through the leafy branches.

I raised my head to look up into the canopy, and shut my eyes as tiny droplets fell on my face. When I opened them, Loire was watching me with deep concentration.

“What?” I asked.

“What you said was really childish.” His face gave no indication as to what was really running through his mind.

“And what about what you said? You really thought I’d keep my mouth shut while you took a dig at me? Especially after...” My voice trailed off, but from the tightening of his jaw it was clear he knew that I was referring to the night of prom.

“This is getting stupid,” he muttered. “I can’t keep doing this with you.”

“Doing what?”

“
This
.” Loire gestured between the both of us like it was supposed to explain everything.

“That’s what you brought me here for? To tell me that I’m childish and make stupid hand movements?” I scoffed.

Loire ran a hand through his dark hair in frustration, and his eyes glinted blue amongst the grey. “You are the most frustrating person I have ever met.”

“And you’re the most arrogant, stuck-up person that I’ve ever-”

Before I could finish my sentence, Loire pushed off the tree in front of me with incredible speed. He pressed the tip of his forehead against mine so that I was forced to look into the swirls of his blue-grey eyes.

“Go on,” he said, his eyes gleaming. “Finish what you were going to say.”

What he was asking me to do had suddenly become impossible. My entire body was frozen and I was acutely aware of how close he was to me. It would only take one step for me to be pressed against him. It would only take one second for me to reach out and touch his solid chest. All I had to do was move.

Damn. Why couldn’t I make myself move?

“It’s hard, isn’t it?” he whispered in my ear; the hairs on the back of my neck stood up in response. “It’s hard to say what’s really on your mind, isn’t it? You’re trying to get me to admit something that you can’t even admit yourself.”

He took a step away from me, and my body thawed out, my ability to speak returning. “At least I don’t act like nothing happened.” There was spite in my voice that I was too exhausted to hide.