Page 46 of Soul of Shadow #1

His pupils moved over her face. “As am I.”

“You said you had information that could help our search,” she said, trying to ignore the heat radiating from his gaze. “Why not just tell me? The more minds we put to it, the better.”

Slowly, like doors inching shut, his eyes narrowed. “Why are you so desperate to know?”

Shit . “I’m not,” she said quickly. “I just don’t like being kept in the dark. And you promised you would tell me.”

His eyes narrowed further. “I’m not keeping you in the dark. I’m holding on to the information until I can share it with you in a more private setting. I mean, here?” He glanced around the crowded gymnasium. “Now? What can you possibly do while we’re at a school dance? ”

Sweat began to bead on Charlie’s neck. “Right. No. Of course. It was a stupid question. I just…” Stop pushing , a voice in her head whispered.

Pull back. Yet all she could see was the dire necessity in her sister’s eyes, the weight in her tone as she asked Charlie to do this for her.

“Why didn’t you tell me back at your house? ” she asked. “When I was—”

“When you were in my bed?” he filled in. “That’s what you were going to say, right? When you were nearly dying from your draugar wounds, and then I kissed you, and you kissed me back like you were desperate for it? Like you would die if I let you go?”

“I didn’t—”

“No, Charlie,” he said. “I didn’t tell you then. I had a few other things on my mind.”

His words did something funny to her stomach, like ripples of tension flowing steadily outward. I had a few other things on my mind .

No , Charlie chastised herself. Now was not the time to get sucked into this strange attraction between them. Now was the time to focus. To get the information she needed without setting off any alarm bells in his head.

And just like that, she had an idea.

Exhaling, preparing herself for the show she needed to put on, Charlie lifted her arms and wrapped them around Elias’s neck. Elias went stiff, his eyes widening. She smiled wryly up at him. The fingers of her right hand toyed with his hair.

“Let’s talk about something else,” she said.

“What—” He cleared his throat. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, your dancing skills, for one,” she teased. “I must admit I expected more. ”

A devilish smile lit up Elias’s face, and before Charlie knew what was happening, he had swept her off the floor, tossing her into the air and spinning her in a full circle before she came back down, landing with his arms wrapped around her. She laughed breathlessly, clinging to his shoulders.

“Where on earth did you learn to do that ?” she asked.

“There’s plenty about me that you don’t know,” Elias said as he spun her into his arm, dipping her low.

“Plenty that would surprise you.” Then, just as the acoustic song ended, Elias unrolled Charlie.

He grabbed her beneath her shoulders, raised her into the air, and swung her to either side of him, her legs dipping past his body like a pendulum.

She couldn’t help it; she squealed with childish delight.

The sound echoed through the quiet murmurs of the gym.

When he finally set her onto her feet, she was beaming up at him. A real smile, not the pretend flirtation she had smeared onto her face moments before. The next song started, another upbeat pop song. The couples split away from each other, melding back into chaotic groups again.

“Now that was a dance,” Charlie said, and she meant every word.

Elias smiled down at her, still holding her in his grip.

Her hands rested on his chest, her head tilted backward to look straight up at him.

They were the only ones not dancing. They stood, pressed together like two lovers hiding beneath an umbrella in a heavy rain.

His eyes scanned her face, searching for something—she couldn’t say what.

They traced her eyelashes, her cheekbones, the ridge of her nose and down to her lips, where they lingered, as if transfixed .

This was her moment. Her chance to exploit the desire burning in his gaze.

She pushed up onto her toes and kissed him.

Elias’s lips were gentle. As they pressed to hers, she realized that she had never kissed him before.

Not in his human form. The kiss they’d shared the night before had been between shadow and skin.

This was different. It was raw, skin on skin.

She could feel the weight of his body below her palms, could taste the ChapStick he’d applied on the ride over.

She wasn’t sure if it was because they were in public this time—in the middle of a dance floor filled with other students—or if Elias didn’t feel as confident when he wasn’t in mare form, but whatever the reason, his kiss felt softer this time.

Quiet, more reserved. As if he wasn’t even sure why Charlie was kissing him in the first place.

Panicked, fearful that he wasn’t buying her act, Charlie pushed up even higher on her toes and raised her hands to cup his head, pressing her lips more urgently to his. Elias froze beneath her touch. For a moment, she thought he might even take a step backward.

Then he grabbed her around the waist and dove into the kiss like a shark tasting blood-infested waters.

Charlie gasped as he lifted her from the floor, pulling her body in until she was flush against his chest and torso.

Her toes dangled several inches off the floor.

She had an unhinged desire to wrap her legs around his waist, even though they were completely surrounded by students and chaperones, teachers serving punch from a giant glass bowl.

For one flash of insanity, she didn’t care.

She didn’t care about her mission, her dignity—anything. All she wanted was him .

It couldn’t last. Like lightning splicing open a tree trunk, Charlie’s senses crashed back down upon her. She was not here to kiss Elias, no matter how good it felt. She was here to get information out of him. She was here to betray him, because he had betrayed her first.

With a breathless inhale, Charlie broke away.

She tried on a sheepish smile, hoping it would hide any of the nerves now bubbling in her stomach.

Elias blinked blindly at her, as if he couldn’t even remember where he was.

His hooded eyes followed her lips as she untangled herself from his grasp, sliding back down to the floor.

She had to play this exactly right.

When her toes touched the ground, she glanced over her shoulder at the gym door. “Should we…” She looked back at Elias. “Maybe go find somewhere more private?”

Elias’s eyes flickered with doubt. For one breathless moment, Charlie thought he was going to say no. To reject her, or else call her out on what she was doing—taking advantage of the unspoken connection between them.

But then the doubt cleared from his eyes, and they filled with a smoldering intensity so certain that it scared Charlie a little bit.

“Yes,” he said, releasing his hold on her hips. “Yes, let’s do that.” He glanced around at where Lou and Mason were dancing, a few dozen feet away. “Let me just tell them that we’re stepping away for a minute.”

Before Charlie could reply, he turned and wound through the crowd.

She watched as he ducked between friends and couples, making his way to Lou and Mason.

When he reached them, he whispered something in Mason’s ear.

Her brother nodded, then turned around and wove toward the punch bowl.

Once he was gone, Elias placed a hand on Lou’s shoulder, leaning in to speak directly to her.

She couldn’t see Lou’s face, but she thought her best friend was nodding.

With a final squeeze of Lou’s shoulder, Elias turned and worked his way back toward Charlie.

“What did you—” she started to ask, but Elias took her hand and yanked her through the crowd. He didn’t even glance at her. Just tugged her along, eyes intent on the gym door.

“Elias,” she said, stumbling along behind him. “ Elias. Where are we—”

The minute they exited the gym, Elias spun her around and pressed her back to a row of lockers. She inhaled, caught between fear and thrill. The lockers clattered behind her. Elias hovered above her, one hand cupping the skin between her neck and collarbone.

“Ask me now,” he whispered.

“What?” she asked, head spinning. What was going on? She couldn’t tell if Elias was angry, suspicious, or just intent with desire.

“Ask me.” He leaned closer. “What you wanted to ask in the gym. Ask me now.”

“I…” Her voice faltered. What I wanted to ask him back in the gym.

The investigation. Yes. Sophie’s task for her.

She couldn’t lose sight of why she was really here, no matter how distracting Elias’s behavior was.

She swallowed, steadying her gaze on his.

Whispering, she asked, “What was that wolf creature you told me to look out for?”

She knew it was a mistake as soon as the words left her lips. Elias withdrew immediately, straightening to his full height and dropping his hand from her neck .

“I knew it,” he said, shaking his head.

“Knew wh-what?” Charlie asked, head still spinning.

Instead of responding, he grabbed her hand again and dragged her down the hallway.

His grip was stronger than before, his movements jerkier.

There was no tenderness left in his touch.

She tried to yank her arm away, but his hold stayed firm.

She always forgot how impossibly strong he was. His fingers were like metal clamps.

“Elias,” she said, beginning to panic, “I—”

Then, as abruptly as he started to walk, he stopped, spinning her body around and pulling her into a darkened classroom.

He slammed the door behind them and thrust Charlie forward so hard that she tripped and fell to the ground.

She grunted when she hit the floor, its cold tiles unforgiving beneath her.

When she looked up, it was just in time to see Elias lock the door, flick on the lights, and lower the blinds.

“What are you—” she started, but then she glanced over her shoulder and realized that someone was there. Someone was standing in the corner of the classroom, just to the left of the door. Someone Charlie hadn’t noticed when she first walked in.

Lou.