Page 36

“Um, Avery?”Kaitlyn said in my ear.“Ari and I just want you to know how really,reallysorry we are about what, uh, happened yesterday.”

“You mean when the two of you were humping my legs and wouldn’t let me go?”I raised my eyebrows at her.

“We felt compelled to do so by Megan’s spell,” Ari said, looking around Kaitlyn, who was sitting on my left, to talk to me.His cheeks were dull red with embarrassment.“And I promise you it will never happen again.After all, the spell is broken and you…” He cleared his throat.“You wear the Mark of another.”

“I certainly do,” I said, lifting my chin to let him get a better look at my forehead.“Good for you for noticing.That Drake eyesight of yours is certainlysharpthis morning,”

“Avery, there’s no need to be so snippy,” Megan said quietly.

I opened my mouth to snipe at her too—possibly to point out that her silly spell had been the start of all this.But then I saw the love and worry in her face and I saw that same look reflected back at me from all around the table—but most especially from my original Coven mates.

It wasn’t fair to be sarcastic and mean to the people I loved just because I was miserable, I told myself.It wasn’t right to take out the angry feelings I had at Saint for being so hard-headed and stubborn on the ones I cared about the most.

“I’m sorry, Ari—sorry everyone,” I said and sighed.“It’s just…I’m anticipating kind of a hard day today.You can probably guess why.”

“We can guess.Almost every Drake in the school hates you now.”Megan looked miserable.“And it’s all my fault.Avery, I’m so sorry!”

“Don’t worry about it,” I told her, reaching across the table to squeeze her hand briefly.“Anyway, I’m not too worried about angry Drakes since Saint has announced his intention to accompany me to every single class—though I doubt he can be bothered to actuallysitwith me or acknowledge my living, breathing presence even though he Marked me last night.”

There—I had gotten it off my chest, I realized.What bothered me the most about this whole situation was the way Saint kept blowing hot and cold.I had always dreamed of one day being claimed by a tall, handsome guy, but now that I finally had been, he wasn’t acting properly at all.

If he reallywantedme, he would sit with me…hold my hand…not leave me to face the public ridicule of being Marked by another male alone, I thought resentfully.In other words, he would act like a proper boyfriend instead of ghosting me and only showing up for a few brief moments to threaten anyone he thought might stand in the way of his crazy Drake having me all to himself.

But he doesn’t want me—only his Drake does,I thought, feeling my stomach twist with unhappiness.That’s the only reason he Marked me.Kaitlyn can talk all she wants about how a man with a Drake inside him can’t separate his emotions from his Drake’s.But clearly, she was wrong.Because the only reason Saint wants me is for his Drake.

I tried to perk up—I really did.But I’m afraid I sat mostly silent the rest of the meal and barely picked at my eggs.

I found I had lost my appetite.

21

SAINT

All day I followed Avery from class to class.I had to threaten several Drakes who had fallen prey to the love spell and made fools of themselves the day before and so wanted revenge.But once I made certain they knew my Drake would kill them if they so much as laid a finger on the one I had Marked, they left him alone.Then I would go to sit at the back of the class, barely listening to anything around me, keeping my eyes on my beloved…myl’lorna.

That was what my Drake called him, anyway.I still thought it was wrong—a male Drake can’t have another male as his fated mate.But my Drake refused all contradictions and called Avery that, as though we were really going to get Blood Bonded at some point and be joined together for life.

That would be impossible, I was certain.But it didn’t stop my Drake—nothing stopped him when it came to Avery.He was completely taken by my small, blond roommate.And to be honest, so was I, though I didn’t like to admit it.I shouldn’t be this attracted to another male—it wasn’t right, wasn’tnatural.And yet, all I could think about was how much I wanted to be with him, to touch him, to hold him.

I didn’t do any of these things.Not because I cared what others thought, though.My main worry about my feelings for Avery was the conflict between what I felt and what I had been raised to believe—notconcern about how I might be perceived by others for those feelings.

No, the reason I didn’t sit with Avery or hold his hand or hug or kiss him in public, as I had often seen other couples doing, was the fact that I didn’tdeserveto do any of those things.After the rough way I had treated him the night before, I didn’t deserve the comfort of his touch.

I had hurt and abused him—I had Marked him by force, giving him no choice in the matter.Why should I be allowed to touch him with gentleness now and feel the pleasure of his caress in return?

Besides, I told myself, he probably didn’twantme to touch him or be near him.He’d said something about sitting with him at breakfast, but he probably only felt like it was the proper thing to do, since we wore each other’s Marks now.I doubted he would want my hands on him ever again and I wouldn’t blame him if he didn’t.

ButDios,how I longed for him!

22

AVERY

Saint gave me the silent treatment all day—only showing up when a Drake, (or often, a group of Drakes)—threatened me.Once he backed them down, he went to the back of the classroom and just sat there, ignoring me, while I tried to get on with my work.

As you might imagine, it was averytense day.

All day long, people were staring at my new Mark—and the ever-darkening hickey on my neck and I swear I couldfeelthem judging me.I couldn’t have felt more conspicuous if I’d been wearing a big scarlet A pinned to my chest.