My heart leapt and Caleb’s fingers knotted in my hair as his other hand gripped my waist, dragging me against the hard lines of his body. My own hands had made it to his arms, the tight press of his biceps unyielding beneath my fingers. It was almost like we were locked in an embrace, if I could just ignore the teeth which were lodged in my throat. Which I really couldn’t.
“Sorry,” Seth said with a smirk, taking a step back.
Caleb relaxed marginally as he finished feeding on me and finally stepped away.
“Don’t touch my Source while I’m feeding,” Caleb muttered irritably, shooting a dark glance at Seth.
Seth grinned at the challenge in his tone and I felt like a bone being fought over by a pair of dogs. The idea of it made me grit my teeth in anger.
“I’m still here, assholes,” I snapped, though I instantly wondered why I’d thought that drawing their attention back to me was a good idea.
“You know I’m not going to bite her, what’s the big deal?” Seth asked innocently, ignoring me.
Caleb flexed his muscles for a moment and I felt like I was looking at the raw essence of their differences. They may have been bonded like family but rubbing along together despite the differences in their Orders was obviously an issue now and then. I wondered if there was any way that I could use that against them but before I could give it any real consideration, Caleb cracked a smile.
“I just don’t want your paws all over my food while I eat,” he teased, bumping his shoulder against Seth’s in a way that was mostly playful but still knocked him back a step.
“Wanna go finish this lesson with a contest?” Seth asked excitedly, his eyes flashing with a challenge.
“Only if you don’t mind getting your ass whipped,” Caleb countered.
The two of them ran off through the tunnels without even sparing me another glance and I stared after them in surprise as Seth’s howls echoed off of the walls around me.
Somehow I’d managed to escape that interaction fairly unscathed and I could only hope that I could say the same next time.
IT WAS OUR first Friday night at Zodiac and it felt like the entire school had plans. I watched from my floor-length vertical window in Aer Tower as students wound along the paths, laughing and talking as they headed who-knew-where for the evening. Probably somewhere better than here.
Sofia was sat at my desk re-reading her lesson notes from the day while Diego sat against a wall playing some depressing music on his Atlas. Tory was slumped on the bed, looking as bored as me.
“I wish we could go out,” I complained. “I feel like all we ever do is avoid the Heirs.”
“Agreed.” Tory sat upright with a sigh. “Plus they've probably got better things to be doing on a Friday night than hunting us down so it's not like we have to hide tonight.”
“So where can we go?” I pleaded, bouncing on my heels at the idea.
“The Orb?” Sofia suggested, looking up from her Atlas.
Tory threw herself back down on the bed with a dramatic groan in answer.
“We could go off campus?” Diego suggested, killing the morose tune which had made me wanna jump out of the window since he’d started it.
“Off campus?” I asked, my stomach fluttering at the idea.
“How?” Tory demanded, her eyes bright.
“I have a car.” Diego shrugged and I jumped up and down.
“Yes! Let's go.” I ran forward, grabbing his hand and leaning back as far as I could to make him get up.
He grinned, adjusting his beanie hat as I released his hand. His unusually blue eyes glinted with excitement. “I'll go get the keys.”
“Give us like…half an hour?” Tory said, springing to her feet and hounding toward Sofia. She pulled her dark blonde hair away from her shoulders and grinned conspiratorially. “Make-over time.”
“What?” Sofia squeaked.
I beamed, moving to the wardrobe where the beautiful clothes Tory had ordered me were hanging.
I tossed out some jeans and tops as Diego shook his head at us and opened the door. “You’d better mean half an hour and not two hours.”
We were so excited to go, we were knocking on Diego's door twenty minutes later. Tory and I both wore jeans and heels – hers were way higher than mine. I was as clumsy as a brick but the occasion called for the slingbacks and besides, it felt like summer had returned for one last evening before fall and I wanted to go all out for it. The floaty black cami I wore and lacy bralette felt so good after a week in uniform.
Tory's deep blue cami was low cut and she had a grin on her face that said she was in party mode. Sofia was smiling from ear to ear, her slim figure looking incredible in a navy maxi dress I'd leant her. She'd kept her school pumps on as I hadn't had shoes in her size and she'd let us style her hair. It was flicked edgily about her shoulders and her wide eyes looked even bigger now they were painted with eyeliner.
Diego opened the door dressed in a blue flannel shirt and jeans, his beanie hat still in place. His fair eyes bypassed Tory and I, landing on Sofia instead. His mouth hooked up at the corner and she turned bright pink.
I shared a look with Tory and we started grinning as Diego cleared his throat and stepped into the corridor. “Let's go then, chicas,” he said, leading the way.
We headed across campus and I soaked in the last of the sun as it sank toward the horizon, casting amber tones across the entire sky.
Someone whistled at us and I glanced over my shoulder, spotting a group of guys grinning at our asses. “Hey Vegas, wanna come sit on my throne?” one of them called.
Tory put her middle finger up and I snorted a laugh, turning away from them.
“This school is full of assholes,” Diego muttered, shooting a glare at them over his shoulder.
“What does that make us?” I teased.
“Losers?” he suggested and a laugh escaped me.
“Well I’d rather be a loser than an asshole.” I shrugged.
I’d never had many friends in my old schools anyway. We’d moved around too much when we were younger and I’d learned not to get close to anyone after a while. It was always a doubly whammy. Our foster parents would give us up and we’d get hauled out of school and dumped in the next town over. Tory had always dealt with it better than me. But my heart had been on lock-down for years. I didn’t want to get too comfortable in one place, knowing I’d be ripped away from it soon enough.
We wound down the path toward The Orb and a squeal announced Geraldine's arrival before I saw her.
“Oh no,” I breathed.
“Don't tell her we're going out,” Tory hissed.
“Jiminy Christmas!” She pounced on us and her hair flew about her in a fan – wait, is that blue dye in the end of it???
“Are you going out?” she asked excitedly. “I was just about to catch the shuttle, we can all go together!”
“Er…actually we were just going to The Orb,” I said, feeling a bit shitty about lying.
Her eyes cast down our clothes to our high heels. “Oh, well you look amazing. Maybe I'll catch you tomorrow? Breakfast at seven thirty?”
“Well-” Tory started but Geraldine waved a hand.
“It's no bother, see you then your majesties!” She jogged away along the path and I sighed.