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I can’t help the way my gaze flitters down to his lips, hating how inviting they look.

“I miss sitting next to you,” he whispers, brushing his thumb over my cheek.

I drag my gaze away from his mouth to meet his gaze. “Then why aren’t you?”

Wait. Do I… miss him? Oh, fuck.

Connor smiles down at me, his expression calm and unconcerned. “Because I’ve done my chasing.”

My whole body tenses. What the fuck does that mean? He doesn’t want to be with me anymore? He’s not going to try to be more with me? Why does that bother me so much? My stomach knots at the thought of him giving up on me, and I struggle to justify my uncertainty.

Connor brushes his lips over mine. “I scared you by going too fast. So, now, I’m…” Connor pauses as if he’s choosing his words carefully so as not to spook me. “Giving you space to come to terms.”

“Come to terms with what?” Connor looks as if he’s about to explain when annoyance surges through me, and I cut him off. “Never mind, don’t answer that. Bye.”

I push out of his arms and move away again, but Connor wraps his large hand around my wrist, tugging me to a stop. He waits until I look up at him and tilts his head when our eyes meet, his smile kind and soothing. “Come to terms with the fact that I’m not going anywhere.” He leans down and kisses me softly, his lips barely brushing mine but lingering. “See you tomorrow.”

He winks at me, and while I’m still stuck in that stupid cloud of confusing desire, he turns and goes back into the canteen. I’ve barely made it into the library when my phone pings in my bag. I pull it free and glance at the message, fighting to maintain my annoyance.

Connor

You’re very prickly when I don’t give you enough attention.

I give in and smile down at my phone like an idiot. There is no one here to judge my capitulation. Well, no one but myself.

Summer

Go away.

Connor

You’d miss me terribly.

I roll my eyes and shove my phone away, relaxing into the dusty peace of the library. Strolling through the stacks, I let my mind wander. Thoughts flow through me as I brush my fingers over the soft leather of the books. My gaze trails over them, taking in every title as I walk. As I move deeper into the library, everything seems to get darker, the shadows taking up more space than the light. The wood of the shelves is richer, and the area smells of old books and pine.

“Come to us.”

It’s a soft croon, brushing against my ear, but there is nothing frightening about it.

The lights are few and far between here, and any sunlight dwindled about seven rows ago.

“Power hides here, find it, use it,”the voice continues.

I walk deeper into the seemingly never-ending room, willing myself to get lost. I long to be forgotten like the ancient tomes that line these walls. It is so quiet here, and it feels like I’ve entered another realm.

“Don’t you want to be strong? Dangerous? Deadly?”

It’s like a secret world, protected from light and noise. The only sound is my breathing and the echo of my heels against the wood floors.

“You have so much to learn. There is so much you don’t yet know.”

I slow as I come to a particularly dark shelf. Shadows cling to it differently than any other, and it intrigues me. Slowly, I reach for one of the barely visible books. My fingers anticipate the feelof the old, worn leather, but I pause. The hair stands on the back of my neck, and my muscles ache with tension. Whatever lured me to this part of the library has gone silent. The beckoning voice that whispered of forbidden power is gone. My breath fogs in front of my face, and my fingers ice over where they are resting on the shelf, locking me to the wood.

My heart pounds in my chest, but not because my fingers are stuck. Someone is watching me. I can feel the eyes on me from somewhere in the shadows. The need to turn and face the stare is perfectly counterbalanced by fear, so I remain perfectly still.

The gaze isn’t kind. It isn’t intrigued. It’shateful. A tremor goes down my spine, and goosebumps form over my skin. It doesn’t feel like the gaze of my hunter. It feels worse. I swallow and slowly turn my head. The morbid curiosity wins out, and I peer into the darkened shelves behind me. Nothing. There is only the yawning abyss of the dark stacks, hoping to swallow me whole. I slowly drop my hand, surprised to find the ice gone. My fingers burn slightly from the cold, the only indication that it ever existed. I twist my shoulders, searching deeper into the shadows.

“Hello?” My voice is shocking, and my heart is pounding so hard in my chest that I can barely hear the oppressive silence.