“Great job, Eryn. Way to play it smart.” I cursed myself as I changed into my warmest clothes and dug under my bed for the duffel I kept packed with emergency supplies in case I had to run.
After a moment’s hesitation, I ripped off Kai’s hoodie and threw it at the window. The soft cotton was a comfort to me, but just the sight of it made me want to throw up now. Kaiden must have laughed at me every time I wore it, seeing me flaunting his ownership with no clue. A final glance was all I allowed of all the things I’d have to leave behind and the memories I’d built with my first real friend.
I thanked the gods Rani wasn’t home tonight but hated to leave her with no explanation. It was easier this way. Dawn was still a few hours off when I made my way across campus for the second time. My head was on a swivel, turning this way and that at every small sound. Kaiden wasn’t going to let me go, and I refused to be caught again.
The student parking lot was stagnant; empty cars lined up as far back as I could see. I quickly scanned the rows for the few older models I kept an eye on, knowing they were less likely to have an alarm. I found one of them tucked in the corner onlytwo spots away from where it normally was. I’d just reached the sedan, my hand curling around the driver’s side handle to check if it was locked when a voice came out of the darkness.
“I told him you were going to run.” Ezra casually strolled up from somewhere to my left and sat on the hood like it was a sunny afternoon, and this was an everyday conversation. “Surprisingly, my cousin wasn’t upset at the idea. He seems eager for the chase.”
I ripped my hand away in case he got any ideas about freezing the door and took a few steps back. There would be no outrunning him, but I’d be damned if I let him drag me back to his cousin.
“I told him you’d likely steal a car since the buses didn’t run for another few hours and…” he spread his arms wide. “Here I am.”
Was this a game to him? I snorted. Of course, it was. If I hadn’t seen him torture and murder a hunter myself, I’d argue he never took anything seriously in his life. He watched me sidestep my way between the cars, like a cat enjoying how its prey panicked before it fled. I was going to have to use my power again. Somehow.
Without skin contact, I doubted I’d be strong enough to break through his mental barriers. But I also didn’t want to get close enough to touch him. A quick peek down at his hands. They were relaxed against the hood of the car, but that could change at any second. Maybe I could trip into him and use the distraction to slip past his defenses?
“I see you plotting, and it's not going to go how you think it will,” Ezra smirked, and the temperature dropped a few degrees. “But I dare you to try.”
Dammit. At my obvious distress, the blond warlock took pity on me. At least, I hoped it was pity and not some sick game. Hehopped off the car and held an arm out to his side, inviting me back toward campus.
“Go back to your dorm,” he ordered with a smile. “Neither of us wants to chase you all night. Well,Idon’t, but my cousin has no plans to whisk you away and lock you in a tower. In case you were worried about that.”
Yeah right.
“Why should I believe you?” I asked, still staying out of reach as I squeezed past him.
“Do you have any other choice?”
Good point. Still, I let him think I’d obey. I’d go back to the dorms, he could even follow if he wanted, but there was a back door that led to the walking paths behind Midnight Hall, which connected to the hiking trails in the National Forest that bordered that side of campus. I had more than one way to disappear.
Ezra did follow me for a bit but stopped in the courtyard when he saw me badge into the dorm. I ignored the night monitor’s annoyed frown and ducked past the elevators to the service hall. There were a few doors back here, mainly to the janitor’s closet and a storage room, but the last one at the end led outside.
A gentle crack of the door, a swift look around to make sure Ezra wasn’t lurking, and then I bolted. I didn’t get far. It wasn’t Ezra standing in the middle of the path, arms crossed, and face set in a scowl. My heart gave a heavythumpat the sight of Kaiden bearing down on me. I froze.
“Go back to your room,” he demanded, stopping a hair's breadth from me.
I had to look up to meet his gaze and wished that I hadn’t. Why did he have to look so good? Gods, it was an effort not to wrap myself around him despite knowing who he was. I wanted to kiss him and punch him in the same breath. Instead, I trembled in silence, trapped between emotions with my mind tooscrambled to act. He gently nudged me with a shadow, and I jumped at the feel of it. It felt like him, but…colder.
“Inside, princess. Enough has happened tonight. We can talk tomorrow.”
Talk? He thought I wanted to talk? Stab, yes. Scream, yes. Run as far away as I could and hide until he couldn’t find me? With every fiber of my being.
“You don’t tell me what to do, Kaiden.” I balled my fists at my sides to keep from touching him. He already proved he was immune to my magick, anyway.
“Wanna bet?” he mocked, and a single shadow left his hand to wind around my waist. “I’m responsible for your safety, and there are djinn scouring this campus for you as we speak.”
More hunters? Fuck, that complicated things but it didn’t make it impossible.
“We’re not bonded, Kaiden—”
“Kai,” he demanded. “It’s Kai to you.”
I glared. “Kaiden. I rejected the bond. You have no hold over me, so let me go.”
His answering chuckle was dark, and he certainly didn’t let me go. He and his shadows backed me up against the brick building and pressed forward until I thought I’d drown in his scent. My knees trembled at the close contact, and I felt his dick twitch against my belly, but he kept his hands to himself. His arms bracketed either side of my head as he leaned in close.
“You act unaffected, but I know you’re attracted to me. I can tell.” I scoffed and his grin grew. “You quiver whenever I touch you.”
