Page 42 of Obsidian and Frost

I’d finally had her right there with me, wanting me, relishing being with me. Every moment of it had been incredible, more than I’d even imagined.

And then it had all been ripped away when she’d begun to spiral.

I didn’t fucking care that her magic had hurt me.

I didn’t care about any of that.

It didn’t take away anything from her, it didn’t make me want her less. In fact, given the way I was, it kind of turned me on, to be honest.

But for her it was different, far more complicated.

I scrunched up my nose. I could still smell her so strongly—that lavender, her marking me as she’d drenched my hand. Hell, I could still fucking taste her on my tongue.

And it was driving me crazy knowing she was currently lost to me, that it could be the first and last time all at once. She was deeply ingrained in my fucking psyche now.

I couldn’t walk away from that.

I clenched my fists, chest heaving, heat rolling off me like a storm I could barely contain.

Fuck, I couldn’t go to her like this, even if I found a way to breach into Obscura Circle.

Not while I was in this state.

Teetering on the edge.

That instinctual urge through pain and upset to unleash my inner beast and demon all at once in a grandiose fucked-up display of rage and violence.

I needed to head to Graverun.

A couple of fights should quell things enough for me to think straight, to not explode all over her the moment I stepped across the threshold of her dorm room.

I was still half an acre away from the main building after searching for Velra.

But I couldn’t risk vamp-speeding again, or employing any of my abilities.

I was already barely holding on as it was. Tapping into either my wolf or vampire side would push me over the fucking edge and all control would be lost.

Walking in the slow-ass way like a human it was then.

You know what?

I’d send her a quick text.

Just one.

Just… because I had to.

I pulled my phone from my pants pocket and swiped it open.

I didn’t get any further than that when it was suddenly batted out of my hand as a blast of cool air whipped around me.

I spun to see the vampire I’d punished the other night at Graverun standing there, his long brown hair slicked back in a ponytail as he stood there in some hella tight navy jeans and a matching sports jacket, his chest bare beneath.

Derek… something.

He eyed my phone and tossed it across the grass. “Messaging your hybrid whore, were you?”

I snarled and stepped forward.