Page 16

Raito

Electronic locks are usually a walk in the park for me. Unfortunately, the biometric locks on all the dorms are blocked by the same infuriating source our collars are. Meaning my curse doesn’t have any effect on them.

Luckily for me, my brother is a genius and street-smart. O nii-san taught me things I’d never learn in school due to the role I’d been given here because of my curse’s nature. He’d also encouraged me to experiment with my abilities, something the academy almost never does.

It’s with him in mind that I “borrowed” Colt’s tablet after dinner in the cafeteria, where it was just him, Aubrey, and me, and why I stand outside Mira’s door with said tablet in hand after two in the morning.

It’s been nearly a week since that male Omega’s death, and everyone in the academy is on edge at all times. Especially Mira.

She is scarce at social times, and when she is around, her mind is elsewhere.

And I cannot stand it. My heart is ripping apart.

This must work. If it doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.

Buy Colt a new tablet, that’s one thing.

Other than that…

I grip the cool, smooth surface in my fingertips and concentrate. My photographic memory goes far beyond what people read about the phenomenon, and I assume it’s a part of my curse. Perhaps the best part, as I recall with every fine detail Mira’s face when I saw her weeks ago. Some nights, I spend far too much time reliving that memory, my cock aching, the beast in me growling possessively.

The day I saw Mira feels like a lifetime ago, yet every strand of her dark hair, every line in her lips like a fingerprint, each lash surrounding her pale silver eyes flashes in my mind like a vivid still-frame.

I don’t have time to revel in her beauty out in the hall where I don’t belong. My memory zeroes in on her eyes and stays there, concentrating on every detail, every valley and slight deviation of color surrounding black irises, as I pull the cloth just a bit from my closed right eye.

Please, please, please…

I peer at the tablet, just a squint, and push the image into the device with my mind, using so much might I nearly grunt with effort. But I need to stay silent.

The instant the image from my mind appears on the tablet, a life-sized replica of Mira’s eye, I slam my eye shut and cover it again, breath coming hard, excitement mixed with awe. Yet, no time to reflect on what I’d done. Clock ticking, I feel for the lock and its smooth scanner, just as I do when entering my own dorm, only my lock is set to fingerprints so I don’t destroy anyone’s tech in the hallway. I align the tablet with the scanner and slowly move it from side to side, then up and down, not daring to uncover my eyes again now that the first part of my plan actually worked.

As my frustration grows, my teeth clench, and I’m ready to take that chance after all when the quiet chirp of the lock goes off, and I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding.

Heart racing, I turn the door handle and quietly step inside Mira’s room, closing the door with a soft click at my back.

Although the surroundings are foreign, I can feel her presence. I know where she’s sleeping, can hear her breathing. My heart aches, longing to be near her. And I grant its wish.

At Mira’s bedside, I gently put my hand on her leg above the covers, that tingle returning to my eyes that I’d felt the first day I’d touched her, when I learned her touch neutralized my curse. I tear the cloth from my eyes, my vision already used to the darkness. My hand still on her thigh, I place the tablet on her nightstand and sit on the edge of her bed. The movement sends her luscious scent through the room in a whoosh from beneath her covers, and my mouth waters.

The pale golden light from the collar around her neck casts an ethereal glow on her face, and as beautiful as it is, I want to tear the device from her body. The beast inside me that I’d never known existed before Mira Amato entered my life begins to growl in my chest, clawing at my ribs like a caged animal.

It wants Mira, body and soul. But more importantly, it wants her freedom. All of our freedom.

I couldn’t agree more.

I’d made the decision more than a week ago, and now that I’m here in Mira’s room, looking down at her sleeping form, there’s no way I am backing down.

Mira and I are meant for one another. I know it with every atom. And if I have to live the rest of my life never able to touch her, then I’d rather die right now.

If I do die, she may hate me for the rest of her life. I’d be causing her pain. But I know it will work.

I know it.

With great care, I shift to lie on my side on top of the covers, my hand gently sliding upward, never breaking the connection.

When she lets out a small sigh, her head turns toward me. The moment her eyes flutter open, I whisper, “ Daisuki desu,” and place my bare palm on her horrified face.