Page 10

Chapter 10

Nova

N ova sat on her bed after a hot shower, hand resting on her mouth as she dropped her phone so it bounced against her thigh and spun back up into her hand, over and over.

The space heater made the room comfortable enough she could wear shorts and a tank top, but she preferred to sleep naked. It was her first night in a new city though, and after everything that had happened that night, she wasn’t comfortable with it.

Bounce.

Spin.

Bounce.

Spin.

Just look at the fucking picture already.

Nova glanced down at her phone as it spun end over end for the thousandth time.

She couldn’t decide what was more embarrassing: the way Dex made her feel or the way she sounded around him.

When was the last time she’d felt anything for anyone other than her family? She couldn’t think of one.

Stupid boy.

Bounce.

Spin.

It wasn’t like she’d never seen a hot guy before. Fucking hell, every hunter at the university had been walking around with eight-pack abs, broad shoulders, and nice arms that made every girl’s knees weak.

She’d seen them all naked at some point since the hunters all lived in the same dorm. Sharing a house like that had really opened up every sexual opportunity for her and after a lifetime of homeschool…

Well, Nova wasn’t a good little girl anymore.

But all guys were the same whether they were human, hunter, witch, or shifter. After a while, she got bored and moved on. Their good looks and muscles were nothing more than a pleasing aesthetic.

Dex though…

He was something else.

She rubbed her hand over her mouth and sighed, tossing her phone onto the bed.

A rough workout hadn’t helped distract her either, but at least the gym was decent. The Council had provided a secure apartment complex with all the amenities.

And now she needed to text her mom, but Nova was terrified to open her phone and see his picture in there.

Would it be the same as looking at him?

After getting a general idea of the city, she’d picked out the paranormal hotspots. It had been easy enough. Not many had access to magic except witches and it was unusual for people to hide their scent like she did without knowing the right people.

Dex didn’t smell like anything she’d ever come across before. Most of what she got was the leather from his coat, the shampoo he used in his hair, and the sharp tang of vodka. There was something underneath all of that, but it was…

It was a siren call and she knew it would pull her down so deep there was no chance she’d ever be able to breathe again.

Why she wanted that was a whole other problem. Her instincts should be screaming at her to run away, take him out – something. But none of that was on her mind when she looked at him, even when his hands were covered in blood.

Nova pulled out her laptop and ignored her phone. She typed up her report, mentioning her plans for the next night and then hesitated.

Her orders hadn’t said anything about what to do if she had to kill or not. Would the Council even care? It wasn’t like murdering other paranormals was illegal. Only if she got caught by humans would the Council mind.

Nova hit send.

It was almost sunrise based on the grey light in the room. She closed the blackout curtains and picked up her phone again.

Should she look at it?

Climbing into bed, she tapped the passcode and wrapped the down blankets around her, adjusting the pillows so she could snuggle against them. Two seconds to let her mom know she was alive and well.

Then her thumb hovered over her contacts.

Just fucking look at it already.

She hit the app before she could second-guess herself.

His info popped up with the picture and she selected it.

Dex was grinning into the camera, showing off his canines. One hand was up in a finger gun pose, framing his sharp jawline and gorgeous smile that promised so much trouble. She inspected those golden-brown eyes and his floppy blond hair that had a tendency to fall in his face.

Nova tossed her phone on the nightstand and buried her head under the pillow.

She was in so much trouble.