“What?” she said, scoffing loudly withalmostbelievable disbelief. “No.” She was absolutely jealous. “So, why is there an angry woman in your room?” she asked, trying to look convincingly focused on her pancakes.
“She wants a new roommate.”
It was RA business. Hailey tried not to sound as relieved as she felt.
“Oh.”
“Badly.”
“Oh?”
“Apparently you’re impossible to live with…”
“Oh!” Hailey’s jaw dropped. She thought she and Giselle were getting along fine!
“‘Impossibly annoying.’ I think that’s how Giselle put it,” he said, chewing his bacon. “Probably because you talk to her—she can’t stand humans. And when I told her she’d have to ask Asher, she went all exorcist on me.”
“I do talk to her a lot,” Hailey pondered, pushing the food around on her plate.
“Yeah, that would do it.”
“And then I hugged her last night…” Hailey said, ducking her head, and Fin choked on his coffee.
“Gross,” he muttered. “Well, congratulations, Hailey,” he said, getting up. “Your roommate hates you.”
Hailey stared at her plate.
“Let’s go,” Fin said impatiently. “And I hope you washed your hands after you touched that thing.”
Hailey hung her head. She actually liked her roommate from Hell.
“Where are we going?” she asked, almost absently, as she imagined the loneliness of living without a roommate.
“To see Jaycen.”
“Oh, I don’t know if I should go see her,” she said, shrugging one shoulder. “Giselle said she—”
Hailey couldn’t bring herself to say Jaycen tricked her into jumping into a glazed in-between, so she stared at her plate instead.
“Relax,” said Fin standing over her. He rubbed her shoulders and brought his head next to hers. “She just wants to apologize,” he said softly, and his cheek brushed hers.
Hailey turned slightly, and he didn’t move away. His lips were so close to hers, it made her heart pound.
“Huh?” she said dreamily, and Fin stood up, smiling and very obviously pleased with himself.
“Come on,” he said, kicking her chair. “Let’s get this over with.”
“What if she gets into more trouble for talking to me?” Hailey dragged her feet as Fin pulled her toward the door.
“I don’t think that’s possible.”
Chapter twenty-three
Orientation
"The less we deserve good fortune, the more we hope for it.” - Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Fin used his master key to unlock Jaycen’s door. They found her lying on the floor, covered in a film of blood and writhing in agony.
