Page 7

Raito

“W hy can you not hear our thoughts?” I demand softly after Colton, Aubrey, and I are seated at one of the library tables.

“I can now,” he responds with a whine.

I feel the movement of Aubrey’s signing.

“I don’t know, man,” Colt responds to whatever Aubrey signed.

Usually, he translates for me automatically, but I don’t intend to press him while he’s under duress.

“No,” Colt continues, “that’s a lie. It was her. Mira.”

My body stills at his admission.

Aubrey signs again, and this time, I ask what he said. This is too important a discussion.

“He wants to know if it’s her curse that suppressed mine.”

“No,” I say immediately. I feel them both turn to me, question in the air. “I was there at the end of her assessment yesterday. She turns living things into solid ice at the touch of her skin.

We’re all in silent thought a moment. If her curse wasn’t responsible, how did she stop Colton’s curse?

“Tell us, quietly, what happened.”

I feel the table shift as Colton leans in. “First, I thought I just couldn’t read her mind. It was all static. But then I realized that when I was close to her, the thoughts around me were muted. I almost couldn’t hear them. And I think…” He trails off, then shifts his body again. “I think the longer I was near her, the more my curse backed off. And as soon as she left, it came back in full force.”

I frown at both what he’s described and his complaint that she left. “Perhaps if you hadn’t demanded that she look at you like some caveman, she would have stayed longer.”

I can feel Aubrey’s nod as Colton turns into a statue beside me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“You...you heard that?”

“I’d be surprised if the entire cafeteria hadn’t heard you,” I say, feeling movement on my other side as Aubrey must agree.

“But…” his breathing grows shallow and fast. “But I didn’t say that out loud.”

My lips part to protest, but the clock tower chimes for our next class.

“Shit,” Colton whispers, mirroring my sentiment.

“Let’s meet tonight.” I rise to my feet, sidestep my chair, and push it back in.

“Yeah,” Colton mumbles absently.

I turn to make my way to my History of the Alpha Wars class, using, as always, memory, sound, and my sense of movement around me to navigate.

Mira Amato. I must speak with her again. I must learn about her.

I didn’t need to wait long to encounter Mira again.

Her sweet, fresh rose and earthy myrrh scent envelops my senses a moment after I sit at my desk at the back of the classroom. And, as luck would have it, the only empty desk in the room is right beside mine, and the professor instructs her to be seated there.

If I believed in fate, I’d attribute her close proximity to it.

She is quiet on her feet, something I’d already noticed. When she settles into the desk, her soft, velvet voice whispers, “Hello, Rai.”

That she remembers my name pleases me beyond expression. That she speaks to me elates me even more.

“It’s good to hear your voice again, Mira.”

It’s like I can feel the heat radiating from her face. But I couldn’t have made her blush. That’s just the newfound hubris rising in my chest.

“Yours as well.” Her voice is still quiet, but I hear it clear as the bell that tolls the start of class.

When the Beta professor pairs me with Mira in a study group, I can barely contain my joy. But I do my best, fighting against the smile threatening to stretch across my face.

“I’ll move closer.” Her voice makes my ears twitch and my neck heat. Something moves beneath my ribs that has me scratching my chest.

I don’t know what is happening...but I like it.

Once the shuffling of all desks in the classroom dies down and I feel Mira close beside me, I ask, “Have you studied the Alpha Wars before?”

“Not formally,” she replies. “I’ve seen some stuff on TV about it. Documentaries.”

The corner of my lip ticks up. “That could be helpful. We’re only a month into the semester, so we’re all just learning this part. We’re at the end of the Second War when Alpha Morozov slaughtered the eastern villages of Old China before expanding westward. Section Four of the course text.”

“Okay.” Her quiet response holds a bit of question. “Um...do you get a physical textbook...with braille?”

A small laugh escapes me before I shut it down. “I do receive course printouts, but I’m not blind,” I explain. “My curse keeps me from uncovering my eyes around anything technological. I read and write alone in my dorm where there’s no tech.”

“Oh!” Her surprise is apparent. “I understand.”

I’m sure she does. She cannot touch anyone. That builds up similar barriers.

“I have excellent memory recall, so don’t worry about me not pulling my weight.”

I feel the slight surprised jerk of her body, and before she can protest, I say, “I’m only teasing.”

A soft exhale and her body relaxes.

I’ve never wanted to look at someone as badly as I crave to see Mira. I want to see her face, watch her body move, look into her eyes. I know she’s beautiful. To me, at least. This sense overwhelms me.

As I cannot look at her, I frown instead, and we get to work reviewing the details of the section until the bell rings again to signal the end of class.

Another first: I’ve never wanted to stay in class this badly.

To stay with her .

“Have lunch with us again tomorrow,” I blurt.

She pauses gathering her things, then says, “I’d like that.”

Tension leaves my body that I didn’t realize had been there. I give her a closed-mouth smile, turn and leave the room, and Mira, behind.

I can almost taste the approaching danger.