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"If she likes me, it'll be fine," Kayra promises, probably seeing my question in my expression. "But it means you'll have to bring her to the next ball, that way she can meet me and realise I'm not a threat."

"Were you ever a threat?"

A small smirk lifts the corners of her mouth. "To certain people."

Ah, of course. It's easy to forget that the twenty-year-old blonde in front of me has already completed one of the toughest trials known to shifters, and deposed the previous monarch.

"Anyway, I have to get going. But it was good to see you," she says. "I'll message you about the ball."

"See you later, Kayra." I wave at her as I think through the advice she's given me.

I hope I haven't messed things up too badly with Krissi. For now, I'm going to do exactly what Kayra said and respect Krissi's wishes. Maybe things will change in time, but I don't want to ruin our friendship over a relationship that may not even happen.

12

Krissi

I sighand dump my bag on the bench in front of the rows of uncomfortable fold-down seating. I hate lectures in halls like this, it's almost always hard to hear, and the seats are all connected together, meaning that the whole bench shakes if someone has a nervous twitch, making it virtually impossible to make any notes.

I glance longingly at the door, wishing I could escape and go do anything other than sit through an hour and a half of the lecturer droning on about the reasons the existence of vampires is good for the economy. The advantages of having an entire workforce that is nocturnal isn't lost on me, but it seems to be a simple concept being heavily over complicated.

"Can I sit here?"

I look up to find Jeremy standing at the end of the bench.

My mouth goes dry. I've been avoiding him ever since our kiss. "Mmhmm."

He shuffles in and sits in the seat next to me.

"I didn't realise you had this lecture." I've never seen him at it before, but then we never bothered to compare schedules. I always assumed his would be different.

"I didn't take this module last year, so I thought I would this year," he answers. "I'm starting to regret the choice."

I let out a soft snort. "You're not alone. But I know this is the kind of module that employers really like."

"Because it's imperative that we all understand the ins and outs of international economies, even if we're going into a completely unrelated field."

"That's the way the world works," I point out.

"So true."

We lapse into silence. I reach out and grab my coffee cup. I take a drink, mostly for something to do, but the sweet chai tea is a welcome distraction from Jeremy sitting beside me. I know we need to talk about what's going on between us, but it's difficult to find the right words to.

"Oh well done on the win on Wednesday," I say. "You played well."

"Thanks." He smiles reassuringly. "I was surprised, I thought the Sabre Woods team would be more of a challenge. Maybe it's the magic of being cheered by the best cheerleaders in the country." The grin he flashes me shows just how seriously he means the words.

I shake my head in bemusement. "If you say so."

"You don't think you're the best?"

"We don't have the trophy to say so."

"Isn't that because the competition isn't until next month?"

"You've got me there," I admit. "Zara's been pushing us extra hard because she thinks we're going to fail."

"That doesn't sound very inspirational."