His hot breath huffed over my face as the vein in his forehead throbbed. “Your parents and the presidents want to keep you safe. They have asked me before if I thought you were ready for a solo mission, and you know what I told them?”
“I have an inkling.”
“I told them you could be the best hunter out there if you didn’t have a connection to the Durands.”
My eyes narrowed. “Iama Durand.”
“Precisely. We need hunters, not little princesses pretending to play at one. You might have the highest kill count of our hunters, but you’re not one of us. No matter how much you try, you’ll never be one of us. You’ll always be…” He stepped back, gesturing at me. “Different.”
My pulse jumped in my throat. My fingers curled tight into fists, and rage and hurt filled my chest. “You’re such an asshole.” Not waiting for him to berate me further, I swung around and stalked away. “I don’t need a babysitter. You search your way, I’ll search mine. I’ll let you know if I find anything out.”
“Billings! Jack, you’re not dismissed.” His voice chased after me as I threw open the door.
A figure blocked my path, and I jerked to a stop, blinking up at Tate’s master. Shoving my bag up my shoulder again, I sucked in a breath. “What do you want?”
Those dark intense eyes watched me for a moment, taking in every detail of my face. “You’re upset.” I caught a slight accent in his low voice.
“No, shit.” I shoved a hand over my face, hoping to catch any angry tears that snuck their way out.
He glanced at the door behind me before locking back on my face. “Do you need assistance?”
I shot a look over my shoulder at the closed door and shook my head. “No, it’s fine. The new professor is just a dick.” I lifted my voice at the end, knowing Julian could hear me through the door. “You’re Tate’s master, right?”
Shifting to the side to allow me to pass, he nodded. “Kyren.” He rolled his r as he said his name.
My feet started down the hall, ready to be anywhere but near the biggest mistake of my life. When I realized the vampire was following a few steps behind me, I figured it was probably a good idea to get to know my roommate’s master. It certainly wasn’t because I was intrigued by those dark eyes that seemed to burn across my skin every time they looked in my direction.
“Oh, right. I’m Jack.” I paused and offered him my hand. “We’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other, considering I’m Tate’s roommate.”
Kyren stared at my hand for a moment before taking it with his own. The palm that cupped mine was rough, calloused, as if he spent all his days working them rather than lounging around like most vampires did. Instead of shaking my hand, Kyren lifted and turned it over.
I tensed, my other hand reaching for the small knife I had in my pocket.
When no fangs flashed, I loosened my hand on the knife. Kyren’s nose pressed to the pulse of my wrist and inhaled. A second later, something wet flicked over my skin, and I jerked my arm back, startled.
“Did you just… lick me?” I lifted my arm up, staring at it in confusion. There was a strange tingle where his tongue had touched.
Kyren licked his lips, the edges twitching.
Resisting the urge to wipe my hand on my jeans, I abruptly turned, so I wasn’t looking at his devastatingly handsome face.
Kyren and Tate were night and day. Where Tate was all sunshine and ready to talk my ear off, Kyren had this intense quiet vibe to him that made me half-afraid for his attention and half-begging for it. I currently couldn’t decide in which category I was right now.
“Are you going to the party tonight?” I threw over my shoulder. When he didn’t answer, I stopped and looked back.
He was gone. Only the faint scent of dark cloves was left behind.
“Son of a bitch,” I muttered, looking around for the vampire. Very few could sneak away from me like that without me noticing. That Kyren had just put me even further into the scared category. Okay, and I’d admit it also made him a bit hot.
Shaking off the tingly feeling that Kyren left behind, I made my way through the campus and back to my room. Tate hadn’t come back yet, so I tossed my bag down and headed back outthe door. Xinyi asked me to meet her after class in her mistress’s room.
I hadn’t been to the vampire crypt just yet. I had to go through the common room to get to the vampires’ dorm rooms. It wasn’t sure if they decorated it in a gothic style to be ironic or because the vampires felt more comfortable with it.
Either way, I could do without the ornate European rugs and stiff-backed couches.
Unlike the human servants’ wing, the vampires’ dorms were through a door that led downstairs. The set-up was much like my dads’, who kept a room in the basement for them to rest during the day, even though they each had their own bedroom in the upper part of the house. I figured that’s mostly so they all had somewhere to — gag — have relations with my mom.
“Jack!” Xinyi saw me in the hallway and waved from an open bedroom door. “Over here.”
