When Maddie looked up and went pale, I turned around, expecting to see Amari or one of her minions. Instead, I saw Silas walking toward us, looking like he was about to second guess it and run off at any moment.
“Hey,” he said hoarsely, coming to a stop in front of our table. He glanced my way with a nervous nod. He was nice enough, but I could tell I freaked him out, just like everyone else.
“Hey,” Maddie replied, staring back at him. For a moment, they both just stayed like that, neither really blinking, until I cleared my throat.
Silas jolted. “Uh, I was just wondering if I could talk to you. Alone?” he asked hopefully.
Maddie hesitated, glancing my way.
“Go ahead,” I said, unable to keep from smiling. “We’ll talk later.”
She sprang up from the bench like her skirt was on fire and gave me an excited look before going off with him.
I couldn’t help but laugh, even though I was pretty sure I’d be going stag to the formal now. It seemed like everyone was pairing off. I spotted Amari across the room, flanked by three gorgeous guys, all of them vampires vying for her attention. They were all beautiful, but it seemed like they formed hierarchies based on increasingly impossible marks of perfection.
Alistair was an outcast in so many ways, and sometimes, I had a hard time believing he was one of them. If it hadn’t been for his response to tasting my blood, I might still have doubted it. He was much too kind and patient to fit into their world, but as much as he claimed to dislike his own kind, I knew his pariah status had to hurt. After all, he was born a vampire. Dean had been turned recently, and I didn’t even know what I was, let alone have an attachment to my identity. For all I knew, I was the only one in existence.
That was a sobering thought, and it shot the rest of my appetite. I dumped my half-empty tray and headed out of the cafeteria, deciding to take a walk around the grounds to clear my head before my next class.
The sun was shining, making the castle grounds look almost inviting, if not for the looming walls that surrounded us. I now knew the barbed wire at the top was enchanted, as if anyone getting out was the biggest problem. Apparently, we had more than enough to worry about when it came to who got in.
I touched the collar around my neck instinctively. I’d never grown used to it, and since I was living with a vampire, I was even more aware of my neck than usual. The attack was just another reminder that no matter how kind some of the faculty were, or how much they tried to project the illusion of freedom, I was still in captivity. Given the nature of my most recent resurfaced memory, it wasn’t the first time.
“There you are.”
I stopped walking along the trail wrapping around the Academy grounds and turned to find Dean watching me, holding a bouquet of blue-and-yellow flowers in his hands. They were wrapped in paper, so I knew he’d actually bought them somewhere. Plucking them from the school garden seemed like something he would do.
“Hey,” I said, looking down at the flowers in confusion. “What are those?”
“They’re for you,” he answered, clearing his throat as he stepped toward me. I was used to everyone else being wary around me, but it was the first time he’d been that way. He thrust the flowers out suddenly, and I took them into my arms, startled.
“They’re beautiful, but what’s the occasion?” I asked, sniffing the bouquet. The light floral scent that filled my nostrils was pleasant, but it brought a strange wave of nostalgia I didn’t understand. Where had that come from?
“I wanted to ask you something,” he said, running a hand through his hair.
It took me a second, but when I realized he was about to ask me to the formal, I felt a mixture of excitement and worry. Admittedly, I didn’t relish the idea of going alone, and since both the guys had been so scarce lately, I wanted to jump at the opportunity to spend more time with them. It was unnerving just how quickly I’d not only grown used to their presence, but come to enjoy it and miss it in its absence.
“Yeah?” I asked hoarsely, knowing that whatever I answered, I’d be hurting one of them.
“The formal’s coming up Friday, and I know shit’s been kind of crazy, but I was hoping you’d go with me,” he said, meeting my gaze with determination. It was rare for him to seem unsure of himself, and this new side of him was endearing.
I couldn’t help but smile. “And here I thought you’d forgotten.”
He gave an awkward laugh. “Nah.” He frowned, his expression taking on a familiar jealousy. “He didn’t get to you already, did he?”
I knew who he was talking about, and I sighed. They might have put their interspecies rivalry on hold for my sake, but the one that revolved around me was still in full swing.
“No, he hasn’t,” I admitted. I had no expectation that he would, either. Alistair had acted like he was imposing something on me from the moment he’d confessed to imprinting, and I couldn’t imagine him lowering himself to something as common as a dance, anyway. He fit in more with the faculty than he did the other students, and since his reputation was the only reason I still had my memory intact, it was obvious they viewed him the same way.
“Good,” Dean grunted, without bothering to hide the relief on his face.
I gave him a half-heartedly scolding look. “You know, you could at least try to pretend like you don’t hate him.”
“What would the point be in that?” he challenged.
I sighed. “Never mind.”
“So… is that a yes?”
