Page 20 of Obsidian and Frost

In the next beat, I took his hand, and then he was blurring us away again.

Lazriel stoppedinside the Obscura Common Room.

Thankfully, it was actually empty at this point in time, nobody hanging out or lounging around chatting away. I figured students were either setting up their dorm rooms or still downstairs immersed in that awful crowd situation.

“Nice, huh?” Lazriel commented, gesturing around the space.

There was a soft, dark carpet lining the floor of the vaulted chamber. A hearth crackled on the far wall. In the center an orb of blue magic hovered above a carved table, filtering announcements from the Academy. Bookshelves lined the far walls. At the heart of the space were blue upholstered chairs that looked so cozy, even a couple of couches interspersed among them.

“Yeah. It seems comfy.”

“Comfy.Adorably cute.”

I slapped his arm and he chuckled, then led the way through a gothic-style archway that gave way to a corridor full of doors extending either side—dorm-room central for Obscura Circle students.

“It’s at the far end,” Lazriel told me, zeroing in with his vampiric senses to make out my name in a tiny elegant script right down the other end of the corridor. Away from everyone else and even set back too.

“Perfect!” I cried, forgetting to check myself.

Actually, not feeling like I needed to.

Lazriel beamed out at me.

I spotted something as we got closer.

In all the chaos I’d totally forgotten about my suitcase and bag.

That wasn’t like me at all.

I was very aware of my possessions. Of everything.

But, thankfully, there they were positioned right outside my door.

“Did you do this?” I asked him. “How? I’ve been with you the entire time. I mean, I know you can move fast—faster than other vampires, actually, but I would have at least seen you coming back and forth.”

“I can move faster, yeah. A lot faster than regular vampires. My father was an Ancient. But you would have seen if I’d left you to do this, yeah.” He frowned as he approached my suitcase, and then he bent down and snatched something off the floor. “This fell.”

“What is it?” I asked, walking to him as he held up a folded piece of paper with two words scrawled on it.

Dark Beauty.

A growl escaped Lazriel and he opened it.

That growl only deepened as he read over what was inside, me doing the same as he held it between us.

Velra,

What happened earlier was unfortunate. Don’t allow that to frame this new experience in a negative light. They are fools and their words hold no weight, nor do they deserve your time spent focusing on them.

I recovered your personal items. I hope this helps a little and alleviates some stress.

Enjoy your first night here.

You are truly striking and a force to be reckoned with.

We’ll be seeing each other soon. Count on that, Dark Beauty.

Sweet Dreams—Sylas Morgrave.