Page 19 of The Book of Blood and Roses

“I’ve seenyoulooking atme,” she says, crossing her arms.

“Pretty hard not to,” I say.

“Oh, I know,” she says with a sigh and runs her fingers through her hair. I realise then, horrified, that she thinks I’m complimenting her.

“Because you’re a fucking exhibitionist,” I snap, and Astra’s expression drops, colour rushing to her cheeks.

“What? No, I’m not. You were the one spying on me.”

“You were having sex in the library!” I hiss at her.

“Yeah,” she smirks. “You should try it sometime. It’s exhilarating.”

“Why didn’t you tell me we were roommates?” I ask, ignoring what she just said, and the way she looked at me. My heart’s beating too fast.I can’t do this.I take a deep breath, and instead of handingher back her cardigan, I put it on, shivering. My hair is still damp.

Astra narrows her eyes at me, sitting on her coffin again. “You’re not exactly the most approachable person in the world, are you? Every time you look at me, I think you want to kill me,” she says.

“Well, you’re right about that,” I say. Astra glares atme.

“I don’t know your name,” she says.

“Cassie,” I say, and her frown stays exactly where it is, measuringme.

“I’m Aliz,” she says.

“Yeah, I know,” I say a little too quickly.

“Well, Cassie.” She crosses her legs. “I’ve got good news for you. There’s a room in Iolairean Hall that you can move into tomorrow morning. I’ll even help move your stuff, and we can act like this never happened.” Adrenaline slowly leaves my system as I steel myself. She wants me to leave? “Your new room is bigger than this one,andI’m positive your new human roommate is lovely.”

I take her in. Every time I’ve set eyes on her, Astra’s been wearing a perfectly tailored three-piece suit. Tonight, she’s in a billowy cotton shirt, with a matching pair of white shorts, which just about cover her toned thighs.

“Should I help you pack?” she adds. Every new word of her privately educated English adds to my building frustration. Who does she think sheis?

“Why should I be the one to go?” I ask.

Her smile, which didn’t seem entirely genuine, tenses. “I’ve stayed in this room for half a decade. I’m not sharing it with a human.”

“You own the hunting lodge. Why aren’t you sleeping there?”

She falters. After clearing her throat, she says: “That’s none of your business.”

I’ve always been the first to look away. Aliz Astra has made me feel weak again and again. There’s no chance I’m stepping aside this time. “Well, I like my room,” I say, running my hand down the curtains protecting my bed. I feel her cardigan, so soft and warm, getting wet as my hair sits against its fibres.

“But you’re scared of me,” she says.

I snort. I’m a little too sleep-deprived to be thinking straight. I may feel a myriad of emotions towards her. Butfear? “Definitely not.”

“You were freaking out just a second ago.”

“You threatened to bite me,” I say.

“That was a friendly vampiric greeting,” she says, swirling her paper cup. “And it wasn’t a lie, Iamhaving dinner.” She takes a loud slurp through her straw, the synthetically red liquid vanishing down her throat.

“I’m not leaving.” I wanted to leave from the moment I saw her coffin. But I willnevertake orders from a vampire. Much lessher.

“You can’t stand me,” she says, exasperated.

“We’ve been able to avoid each other until now,” I remind her, crossing my arms. The bite wound stings against the cardigan. Something doesn’t quite make sense. Astra has been living here for five years, yet Ife said she lived in the hunting lodge. “Why does no one know you live in Tynarrich?” I ask.