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He ruffled my hair for good measure and if it hadn’t made me so dizzy, I’d have hit him. “I don’t know how to do that.”

“You trust me to take care of that?”

Did I? I didn’t have any reason not to trust Carter. He’d been nothing but kind to me. And damn it, being in my weakened state made me less likely to argue with him. “You think it’s a good idea?”

“I think it’s the best idea, and not because I came up with it.” He gestured to the bowl I’d set on the table, having wiped it clean and still staring at it like it was going to magically produce more food. “And there’s more Korean food in it for you if you agree.”

That banished the last of my hesitation. “I’m in.”

Chapter 8

LUC

Tension grew in the next couple of weeks, and it had little to do with the approaching blood moon.

I’d made Tate come in his pants with nothing more than a kiss. Granted, that was the best kiss of my fucking life, but I hadn’t actually laid a hand on Tate’s cock, and he’d still blown in his pants—almost entirely untouched.

So had I.

But before I could do anything to comfort him, he’d panicked and rushed out of the house.

In the days since, Tate had hardly looked in my direction, despite Carter’s reassurance that I’d done nothing wrong. In class, he didn’t shift closer to my chair anymore, despite the energy radiating off of him that he desperately wanted to. He only talked about the class material, showing up right at the start of the lecture and being the first one out the door–even though he often looked like he wanted to say something else.

We still had sort of a… routine. I would bring him a coffee, he would silently thank me for it with a smile or by drinking it without a word outside of what was necessary–rinse and repeat.

Those brief interactions became the highlight of my day. Well, those and the shameless moments I would steal late at night, watching and waiting on that gargoyle perch positioned outside his bedroom window.

Pathetic, I know, but it let me know that he still wanted me, because in those stolen moments, he would still touch himself for me.

And he would still come with my name on his lips.

I could see when he did it in his bedroom, hear when he did it in the shower, and even once in the living room when he was alone… except for the demon waiting in the shadows while the weather turned cooler and the colors of the leaves changed.

By late September, the tension of October’s rapidly approaching blood moon was more than evident. Monster DNA of all types would be affected. Shifters experienced uncontrollable changes, and all monsters felt the mood swings, high anxiety, and unexplainable rotten luck.

In the days leading up to it, my nerves seemed to be firing like a rave. I was constantly looking over my shoulder, feeling like my skin was prickling. Something was about to happen, and I had no idea of knowing what until it was right on top of me..

With the heightened emotions all over campus, I often found myself in one of two places: simping outside of Tate’s window, or sulking in the library. At least in the library, grumpy beings of any species were forced to grouch quietly.

I was sitting at my usual table, reading through an old copy of Dracula, when I began to hear noises. A book fell one way, and a shelf wobbled to the other.

Damn ghosts playing their stupid games.

I returned my attention to my book in front of me and tossed it into the air, biting into my fist in an attempt to not disrupt the entire building by shrieking like a child.

The black cat on the table watched me with a smug look on its face.

Yes, cats can look smug. Anyone who says otherwise has clearly never been intentionally frightened by a house cat shifter who knew your deepest fears.

Heart pounding, I let out a breath and managed to find my words. “Which Kim are you, and what do you want?”

I swore that damn cat laughed at me as it leapt off the table and sauntered off behind one of the shelves.

Carter emerged, twice as smug now that he was in his human form. His inky black hair was testing the restraints of its ponytail, and I wanted to knock the cocky grin right off his stupid face.

I shook my head to clear it, heart rate only coming down now that Carter wasn’t taunting me with his cat form.

I was terrified of cats.