Page 95 of Obsidian and Frost

He was staring at me.

Again.

Of course, normally I would delight in that.

But it wasn’t lust or playfulness, or the good kind of smoking hot intensity that I was used to him bringing to the table when it came to me.

It was a worrying intensity.

There was a heavy edge to it.

Upset, concern, and suspicion seemed to lace those stares he was throwing my way, which he’d been doing for the last couple of weeks.

I’d accounted for him being unnerved during this new exploration of his sexuality with me, him opening up to that aspect of himself finally. And it certainly wasn’t that. It had most definitely been ruled out when we’d spent that entire night in my dorm room devouring one another. He’d taken to it well and with delicious enthusiasm. He’d reveled in our sexual connection and my teachings.

“Death Sense.”

I shifted my querying gaze from him opposite me to the left where Velra sat beside him at our end of the table in the Dining Hall.

We’d spent the last two mornings having breakfast together before classes, and it had been such an enjoyable time that we’d now extended it to lunch for today. A couple of times a week, all our class schedules worked out seamlessly where we could take lunch at the same time.

I munched on my roast beef sandwich on pumpernickel with spicy mustard that I enjoyed, moving between that and sipping at my blackcurrant tea. I’d also brought some of my homemade jerky from my dorm room stash, only managing to eat one of them before Lazriel had nabbed the rest and shoveled them down.

I watched as she and Lazriel chatted away while she ate her flatbread with roasted garlic and goat cheese for her lunch.

Lazriel’s plate was piled high as usual with a steak sandwich, stacked with arugula and red peppers, along with spicy sausage bites and crispy sweet potato wedges.

He was also sipping from a glass of whiskey. Something he’d taken to doing for the last few days ever since it had been revealed that his mother had sent along protection in response to an ominous and yet to be revealed threat.

As they continued talking about Velra’s idea to useDeath Senseto track down the homebase and commander of the group of vampires Rhyza Thaine had employed to safeguard her son, I finally intervened. I’d been hoping that they would both realize the inherent dangers in going that route to gather intel on this unknown threat. But the fact that they continued to discuss it had me concerned that it wouldn’t just remain in the theoretical or planning stage.

“You’ve never usedDeath Senseto track before, have you?” I spoke, eyeing Velra.

“No. But I was able to ascertain the death essence from three different people.”

“Drawing that out is a far cry from using it to track them viaDeath Sense. We’re talking about vampires boasting centuries each—millennia between them. The speed alone, the ground they can cover—it would be overwhelming on your psyche to seek them out that way. It takes experience and a steel trap of a mind to be able to withstand the process, let alone succeed at it.”

Velra took note, nodding along, and absorbing my warning. “I’d have to practice beforehand. On someone easier.”

“On me,” Lazriel said. “I’m only part vampire. The intensity might be muted.”

“Incorrect,” I cut in. “You have Ancient vampire blood. But what could make it easier on her is if you don’t employ your vampiric speed, move more easily, so when she practices tracking you it’s not like a swirling vortex of insanity running through her mind.” I took another sip of my tea. “Or you allow somebody who is already well-acquainted with this ability to handle it.”

“You can do it too?” she asked me.

“Master of Death Magic at your service, little Wraith.”

“Master of Death,” Lazriel muttered, leaving off theMagicpart. “Interesting.”

I frowned at him. Did he—had he… no he couldn’t sense anything on me. I’d made sure nobody could before I’d even set foot inside the Academy. I’d ensured it the moment I’d fallen sick. I had a lot of enemies—most from my vigilante work—and if they sensed weakness it would be open season on me.

“Interesting?” I queried.

He merely lifted a shoulder, then looked at Velra in that starry-eyed way of his. Not that I wasn’t doing it also, let’s be frank about that. “It’s the better bet. Let Sylas do it. He already has full command of that ability. And you’re pushing yourself sohard with your frost and shadow magic, expanding your usage and understanding.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” She eyed me. “But I’m the one who read those vampires.”

“I can extract that from you with a simple, targeted spell,” I informed her. “Access their signatures for myself.”