Page 121

Blaire lifted her hand to touch her neck, and then Lukas turned his head to expose the same side of his neck, moving his long hair away from his skin. She gasped and covered her mouth. The mark on Lukas’s neck looked similar to the moon glyphs for Blood and Will she’d seen on a poster in Charlotte’s bedroom, but like they’d combined into one unique symbol. She didn’t know what any of it meant—if it was a real thing, or just some New Age, mystical stuff like Charlotte’s family gravitated toward, but she remembered the poster because she found the art interesting.

Lukas clenched his jaw as he took in her reaction.

Blaire ran her fingers down the side of his neck over the faint marking, and he shuddered at her touch, his eyes falling closed.

When her hand fell away, he stared into her eyes, taking her hands in his.

“It’s not a mistake…” he whispered, swallowing hard. “I was so fucking foolish to ever act like it was. I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”

Blaire looked down at Lukas. This was so unreal. Something tangible lay between them, something more than this bond. To see concrete proof of it, physical evidence, overwhelmed her. She got up from the bed and rushed into the bathroom. She needed to see what it looked like on her skin.

Once dressed, Lukas came to the bathroom door she left open and stopped, watching her look at her neck in the mirror. She strained to find the right angle.

“We should grab breakfast on the way over from the canteen, since we missed the weekend breakfast service already. You need something to replenish your strength after last night.”

Blaire turned from the mirror with a sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t see it,” she whispered, and then looked at Lukas as he ran a hand through his hair, exposing his neck. She frowned. “It’s gone…”

Sighing, Lukas nodded. “Until we bond fully, it won’t show permanently like it does on other Korrena pairs, like Kai and Mera. And you won’t be able to see it on yourself until that happens, either.”

“You mean until we have sex, and you drink my blood,” Blaire muttered, pushing past him into the bedroom.

“…and you drink mine.”

Blaire gasped and rounded on Lukas, horrified.

“Did you miss that in the handbook?” He ran both hands through his hair, looking at her with concern as he leaned on the doorjamb.

Blaire fidgeted with the string of her hood. “I… I thought it was only because it was two Vasirian. I thought you just had to drink my blood only.”

“Yeah, I already asked Professor Velastra about that, because I wasn’t sure either.” Lukas sighed and looked anywhere but at Blaire’s face. “And yeah, we have to share lifeblood to fully connect.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know if I can do that.”

“Then what?” Lukas stepped away from the doorjamb, his voice rising. “First, you don’t want me to bite you, then you don’t even want to have sex with me—which I’m finding really hard to fucking believe considering the way you were wrapped around me this morning, practically begging for it.”

Blaire’s mouth dropped open. She couldn’t believe he was speaking to her that way after everything they’d been through. She finally thought they had worked out their differences and she was finally seeing the true him, but here he was acting like an asshole yet again.

“What? It’s true. I know you want me as much as I want you.” He raked his fingers through his hair and swung his hand down in frustration. “I’m dying to claim you, and it’s not because I want to get laid. I want you. I want everything about you!”

Blaire wrapped her arms around herself and turned away from him to stare out the window at the falling rain that cast the entire academy grounds in a depressing gloom, reflecting her mood.

“Look, I know this is something you’ve never done before, but I would never fucking hurt you. How many times do I have to say that before you’ll believe me?”

Blaire shook her head. “It’s not that…”

“What? Is it because I’m a monster?” Pain threaded Lukas’s voice as he spoke the words.

Blaire turned and glared at him. “That’s not fair.”

“I don’t know anymore, Blaire. I don’t know if you believe it or not. One minute you act like you want me, and the next you act like you’re afraid of me.”

Lukas once again dragged his hand through his hair. He did that when frustrated, and the more agitated he got, the more he did it. It made her want to glue his hands together and trap him in the silky strands.

“I don’t think you’re a monster… I’m scared,” Blaire whispered. “Yes, I’m scared of my first time, but it’s more than that. What if you can’t stop when you do bite me? They said my blood would be addictive to you because you’re my Korrena. What if you drain me dry? What if I die?”