“I saw you reaching for...” His eyes slid down my form making my body heat as they landed on my concealed pockets.“Are those daggers in your pockets?” His lips twitched. “What were you going to do? Poke them?”
“No,” I grumbled, throwing one leg and then the other over the bench of the table.
I’d told the truth... kind of. Ever since I’d announced who my parents were, I’d felt more eyes on me than normal, an almost menacing presence, so I’d taken to wearing my daggers everywhere I went. While I didn’t plan on using them unless I was in actual danger, just touching them made me feel better.
“Uh-huh.” Tate slid onto the bench next to me, one leg on either side, his elbow on the table like he always did. Except... we weren’t together anymore and having him here, in my space, was making it hard to remember that.
“What do you want?” I sighed, keeping my eyes on a spot on the wall rather than meeting those puppy dog eyes he no doubt had zeroed in on me.
His fingers found the ends of my hair and twisted my dark curls around them. “Can’t I just want to spend time with you?”
“No.”
Those fingers released my hair and pressed against my chin, forcing me to turn my face toward him. “Jack, please. I’m dying over here. You have to give me something. Anything. One day, we’re together and the next...” His shoulders sagged, that delectable mouth of his turned down in such a sad curve that I had the urge to kiss the look off his face.
I placed my hand over his and slowly removed it from my face. “Look, Tate. I know it’s hard. It’s hard on me, too.”
“Then why can’t we be together?” Those big brown eyes of his peered into me like a hand fisting around my heart.
Jerking my eyes away from his, I stared over his shoulder at the blank spot where Kyren usually sat, my voice going low. “You know why.”
“If this is about Kyren—”
“You know it is,” I snapped, irritation filling my chest. “He’s not the only one who was betrayed here. In fact, I was the one who was wronged. Not him.”
Tate’s brows furrowed. “I know that, but you have to understand—”
“No.” I smacked the table. “I don’t. He’s holding me responsible for something myparentsdid because of the wronghissire did tome.I did nothing wrong.”
“I mean... you did sort of lie about who you were.” At my glare, Tate added on, “For good reason, of course, but you could see how Kyren feels betrayed by that.”
I snorted. “I hardly think Kyren cares about me hiding my identity. He’s dead set on punishing me for my parents killing his sire.”
“Aren’t you doing the same thing, though?”
“What?” I stood abruptly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Tate grabbed my hand, keeping me from leaving as he stared up at me. “I know what happened to you was traumatizing,” he said in a quiet tone, “and you have every right to be mad about it. But just like you aren’t your parents, Kyren isn’t his sire.”
I suddenly realized all eyes on us, our voices carrying easily to their supernatural ears. My shoulders sagged, suddenly tired. “I know that, Tate. But doeshe?”
Without another word, I stalked away from him, passing Xinyi and Iris on my way out.
“I’m suddenly not hungry. I’ll see you later.”
Once out of the cafeteria, it felt like a heavy weight had lifted from my chest. I leaned against the stone wall, pressing my forehead to the cool surface. Tate hadn’t followed after me.
I didn’t know how I felt about that. I felt as if I was being torn in two directions. My loyalty to my family on one side and my love for Tate and Kyren on the other.
I didn’t know how things would play out in the future. Only that if something didn’t give soon, I was going to get ripped apart in the process.
“Miss Durand!” an unfamiliar voice called out to me, and I groaned.
Turning to face the new person, I tried to school my face into something resembling... not a scowl. A tanned female and a few others flanking her sides approached me. A quick sniff of the air told me they weren’t vampires or werewolves. They scent of them stung my nose with some unfamiliar herb.
Witches.
“How can I help you?” I tried to come off polite, but I’d already come to my limit today on ex-boyfriends and fangirls. All I wanted to do was hide away in my bedroom. Maybe I should call Mom and see if I can come home for a few days.
