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“Er…no thanks,” I said, remembering how the disastrous Good Manners spell had gone.Megan had incredible power, but until she worked on her “little magic” a bit more, I didn’t want to be a guinea pig for her.She might put me to sleep for a hundred years and I’d wake up with a long white beard like Rip Van freaking Winkle or something.

Griffin seemed to have the same thought because he murmured, “Darling, perhaps it would be better just to let Avery go to bed and try to rest naturally.”

Megan frowned at him.

“I just want what’s best for him!”

“I know,” Griffin said dryly.“So do I.”He looked at me.“Good night, Avery.I hope your night is restful.”

“Thanks.”I got off the couch, still feeling like crap.Hopefully Saint was asleep already so I could avoid the cold silence he’d been giving me most of the day.That way I could go to sleep and try to forget what had—and hadn’t—happened between us.

I was pretty sure that was the best I could hope for.

23

AVERY

Istepped into the dark room, trying to be quiet so as not to wake my roommate.I could barely see him, lying on his side on his bed with his back to me, apparently already asleep.

Well that was good, I told myself.We clearly had nothing to say to each other anyway.I moved around as quietly as I could, taking off my school uniform and getting into my pajamas.

I was just trying to sneak into bed when I stumbled over something in the dark—probably a shoe—and fell.I would have hit the ground pretty hard—and let me tell you, those flagstone floors were no joke—but there was a sudden movement to one side of me and then Saint had me wrapped in his arms.He stood me gently on my feet but kept his arms around me.

“Oh!”I exclaimed, too startled to protest.“What—I mean, thank you for catching me.”

Though how he had moved so fast, I’d never know.It must be part of being supernaturally fast and strong and having a Drake inhabit him, I guessed.At any rate, it was time to disengage.

“Excuse me,” I said, struggling to get away and into my own bed.But Saint didn’t let me go.

“Please,mi Corazon,” he murmured in my ear.“Just let me hold you a little while longer.”

“Um…what?”I felt utterly confused.

“I said I need to hold you—to feel you near to me,” Saint told me.His warm breath against my ear sent a shiver down my spine.“I’ve been longing for you all day.”

“Well you certainly have a funny way of showing it!”I exclaimed.But somehow, I wasn’t disengaging from the hug.I wasn’t about to let this go, though.“If you’ve been ‘longing’ for me, then why did you treat me like some kind of leper all day?I mean, you wouldn’t comenearme except if another Drake was encroaching on your territory,” I pointed out.

“I had to protect you,” he said and I could hear the confused frown in his voice.

“Yes, well, you could have at least come tositwith me afterwards,” I pointed out.“You came to all my classes but you wouldn’t sit anywhere near me—at mealtimes, either.Here I am, wearing your Mark everywhere I go and the guy who marked me is acting like he doesn’t want anything todowith me!”

“Avery,” he said hoarsely.“I wanteverythingto do with you.But I didn’t deserve to be near you today—not after the way I treated you last night.To be honest, I thoughtyouprobably wanted nothing to do withme.”

“What?”I twisted around in his arms so that I was looking up into his face.“Seriously?You’ve been avoiding me because you thought I was angry at you?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?”he rumbled, looking down at me.“Look at what I did to you.”His long fingers brushed my forehead and the side of my neck.“I hurt you,mi Corazon.I forced my Mark on you.”

“Look, thingsdidget a little rough and crazy last night,” I said, frowning.“But I know your Drake…” I trailed off.“Hey—is this right now about your Drake?Your ‘longing’ for me?”I demanded.“Because if it is?—”

“He’s asleep,” Saint said quickly.“Though he cares for you deeply, I am speaking for myself now.I have been longing to hold you…to touch you…all day.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that.Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady myself—to keep hold of my heart.Did he really mean it?He wanted me for himself—not just his Drake?Goddess, this was turning out to be an extremely complicated three-way relationship!Which I supposed wasn’t surprising, considering one of the people in the relationship was a cursed, obsessively jealous Drake.

“Look,” I said, hoping he couldn’t hear how hard my heart was pounding.“Let’s sit on the bed and talk about this for a minute, okay?I think we need to lay some ground rules here.”

“Ground rules?”Saint asked, as we settled on the side of his bed, side by side.

“For being together,” I told him.“For beingboyfriends.”