Page 11 of These Unhallowed Halls (Equinox Seasons Duet #2)

Seven-Inconspicuous Clues Are Found By Many Sets Of Eyes

Lizzie

M y skin felt raw and alive as we walked out of the tent and past the rides.

All of us had silently agreed that we’d be going right back to the dorms, and for once, I was actually thrilled about it.

I felt strange, something about the carnival and what we saw with the knife thrower was infiltrating my blood like a cold virus.

I was a little off, a little shaky, and more than a little confused by the signals that were coming from everywhere.

While we’d still be inside the tent, the intensity of the crowd’s emotions and thoughts had made it difficult to think, but I’d also been picking up on some strange vibes from the performers.

Sure, the need for attention, craving the applause, that was all normal.

What’d been peculiar had been the way they oozed rapture, this almost holy feeling of being lifted up during prayer.

But it was a damned circus, so that was fucking weird.

As we walked out through the entrance, Temps clung to me on one side. Now, without the omnipresent pressure of the audience, I could sense how she was on edge, the performance having freaked her out. Oddly enough, Professor Harkert was giving off the same energy.

“Didn’t like the spooky theme, Temps?” I glanced over at her, the sound of our footsteps on the sidewalk loud in the silent evening.

“I’m never particularly good at handling the horror things, sure, but that felt…”

“It felt off, is what.” Harkert stared straight ahead, his eyes glued to the darkness in front of us as we walked.

Zeroing in on him, I could pick up on anger. He was angry about something to do with the circus, but he was keeping a tight lid on his thoughts, likely trained in how to keep a psychic out.

“It did, right?” Temps sounded so vindicated, and I couldn’t help but smirk at her as we kept walking.

“It was just a little much. Like, did they really need to go that hard on the horror? I’m still not sure how they even pulled that off.

It seemed too quick to be a typical trick.

Are they…well, damn, do you think they practice? ”

I cocked my head, considering. “You know, that would track with the strange vibes they were putting out.”

Harkert abruptly stopped in front of us, looking me dead in the eye and so intently that I swallowed hard.

“What vibes?”

“Umm,” I narrowed my eyes at him, actually a bit shocked by how aggressive he was coming off, “it’s kind of hard to explain. But it was like…Okay, have you been to a church or rally or ritual where everyone is just buzzing, like they’re high on the energy of the event?”

Nodding, Harkert’s jaw clenched, the muscles visibly straining as we stood beneath a street lamp.

“Well, it was like that.”

“Something was definitely up with the performers. I could tell that—”

Crack!

A massive boom of thunder made us all jump, and within seconds, the sky opened up, pouring down on us like it had a point to prove.

I pulled Temps close, huddling into myself as we tried to rush under the awning of the building right by us.

“Shit!”

Temps pulled Harkert in after us, and the three of us stood there for a moment, eyeing the downpour that had come out of nowhere. A bolt of lightning lit up the sky behind the buildings across the cobblestone street, and thunder quickly followed it, rumbling low.

“We have to get back to the dorms. I’m not staying out on the street until the storm stops. It could be hours,” my stepsister moaned, leaning forward to peer up into the night sky.

I waited for her to slip back under the awning. “Well, unless you have any better plans, that means we’re running.”

Harkert sighed, shaking his head. “That storm felt kind of sudden. I just pray it’s not students fucking with the weather.”

Turning down the corners of my mouth, I smirked at him. Our stuffy professor had just cursed about some students being annoying. I liked that on him.

“So we running for it then? We could get back to the dorms in like, what, five minutes?”

Temps rolled her eyes at me. “I hate this. Ugh, at least I wore boots.”

“You’ll both freeze to death if you let yourselves get drenched.” Harkert took off his jacket, shoving it at Temps before unbuttoning his long-sleeve shirt to reveal a white tee underneath.

He thrust the shirt towards me and then gestured out into the rain. “After you.”

With a laugh, I shrugged on his shirt, folding the halves over my chest. Temps did the same with the suit coat, and then we made eye contact for just a second before darting out into the rain and running straight toward our dorm.

Harkert’s footsteps sounded behind us, and I laughed as the rain came down in sheets, soaking me despite the kind gesture of our spellcasting professor.

“Looks like you’ll be ready for a wet t-shirt contest, Harkert!”

I could hear him grumble even over the sound of the rain. Temps yelped as she stepped into a deeper puddle than the rest, cursing as another crack of lightning and thunder shook the sky.

“My sock! Ugh, so gross!”

Still chuckling and frankly having a fucking ball, I beelined it down an alley that I knew would cut toward campus a bit quicker.

“This way!”

Temps and Harkert followed me, and in a few minutes, we were standing at the front door of our dorm. We all caught our breath, Temps and me still giggling about how ridiculous we must all look. I pulled off Harkert’s shirt, which did fuckall but was a nice thing to do, and handed it back.

“Thought that counts, right?”

Harkert took the soaked fabric, which dripped in a constant stream, and shook his head with a sarcastic chuckle.

“Well, I suppose.” Temps gave back his coat, looking slightly drier than I did. “But you should both get inside and get warm. It’s not good to stand out her freezing in the rain.”

“You worried about us, teach?”

I knew I was pushing it, but the look on both Harkert’s and Temps’ faces was too good to miss out on.

My dear stepsister looked so horrified, embarrassed that I would say such a thing, while our professor simply narrowed his eyes at me, his jaw muscles working again as his aura darkened.

Goddamn, I liked it when he got all huffy, like he was excited to… punish me.

“Did it occur to you that if something happened to either of you that it would be my ass on the line?”

I shook my head, taking a step forward as I looked up into his glacial blue eyes. “Nah, you like us.”

“Lizzie,” Temps yanked on my arm, getting me to back up into her, and the feeling of her slick skin against mine was heavenly, “we need to go in. Thanks for walking us back, Professor.”

“Of course, Ms. Montgomery.” He cast a glance at her, and he couldn’t hide the way his eyes tracked down Temps’ body before swiveling over to mine.

Harkert swallowed hard, and I desperately wanted to get my buddies for the evening to give in to their “more entertaining” sides. The three of us together? That would be something magical, and I meant that in every sense of the word.

Words were on the tip of my tongue when I looked over at Temps. As she stood beside me, I got caught up in the way the raindrop slid down her skin, making little trails that followed gravity down to the gentle curves of her breasts.

Gods damn, she’s gorgeous.

Clearing his throat, Harkert shook his head and took a step backward, nearly out of the cover of the trees and overhang from the dormitory. He glanced between both of us, and there was something about his soaked, dark locks. They hung in his face slightly, and he had to shake them out of the way.

“Uh, I’ll be going.” Harkert shivered, clearing his throat again , and then dropped his chin as he eyed my stepsister and me. “I expect to see you both bright and early for class tomorrow. No passes for late nights.”

“So demanding,” I teased. “You just love being the boss, don’t you?”

My entire body heated under Harkert’s stare. He fucking fumed, devouring me with his eyes even if he would never admit it. Temps yanked on my arm again, pulling open the door and then getting me inside behind her.

“Thank you for walking us back, Professor. I’ll make sure we’re both in class tomorrow. Promise.”

He might have wanted to stop it, but Harkert smiled, breathing hard through his nose as thunder rolled through the sky overhead. We all stood there in a moment of silence, and then Harkert dropped his head in a combination of a nod and a bow, his stare flicking from Temps to me and then back.

“Thank you, Ms. Montgomery. You’re a very go—” But he stopped himself, rolling his lips between his teeth as he blinked slowly. “I’ll see you both in class.”

With that, Harkert spun on his heel and sped off down the walkway. I wasn’t sure how far his apartment was, but something told me that it was a much longer trip than the good professor would ever admit.

“Ugh, you’re insufferable. Let’s go.”

Temps pulled me toward the stairs, and we headed up to our dorm. The thing was, I wasn’t tired in the least. Not with a soaking wet Temps to still feast my eyes on.

B y the time we got up to our dorm and inside, I was thoroughly freezing from being stuck in wet clothes. The adrenaline of running here was wearing off with each second, and I headed directly to my closet while Temps locked the door behind us.

Pulling off my top was like peeling the shell off an avocado, and I tossed the thing into my hamper with a resounding plop sound.

My skirt and socks were next, and with each item of clothing I lost, I just got colder.

The air hit my bare skin, sending goosebumps skittering across me from head to toe.

Shivering, I fished around in my drawers for a pair of sleep shorts and a shirt.

All I could find was the thin long-sleeved sweater I’d had since middle school. It was wildly oversized then and now fits me about right, but it’d also been worn and washed enough times to make the thing feel like silk.

It even had Batman on it.