Chapter 1 #3
“In the Lysander auditorium. My boyfriend’s bestie is the senior production coordinator for the theater, and that means she’s basically allowed to do whatever she wants in the building, including throwing the occasional party.
As long as they don’t get too wild.” He winked, digging his phone out of his pocket.
“Anyway, she always goes all out with these things. Props, decorations, themed foods and drinks. This one’s theme is Midsummer Night’s Dream.
But there’s no pressure to dress up. Especially for the people who aren’t total theater geeks. ”
“That sounds really fun. My sister was—” I stopped abruptly and cleared my throat. “Is a total theater geek,” I continued, not wanting to burden a guy I’d only just met with my sad story. “She actually chose theater production design as her minor, even though her degree is in economics.”
“Oh, is she here too?”
I swallowed. “No, uh… she goes to a school in North Carolina.”
I felt bad for lying, especially because Jeremiah was being so nice to me, but I figured I could confide in him if we actually became friends. Until then, I preferred to keep my cards closer to my chest.
“Ah. Cool.” He nodded and lifted his phone, waggling it. “Anyway, let’s add each other on Insta or whatever. That way I can send you the party details. And if you get lost on campus again, you have at least one person to ask for help.”
Once we’d swapped contact details, he smiled and gave me a quick wave before striding off in the opposite direction. I slung my bag back over my shoulder and headed across the quad, the cold air cutting sharper now that the fog had thickened again.
The walkway on the opposite side was empty and silent except for the sound of my boots against the stone tiles. Halfway through, I paused. I could feel something prickling along the back of my neck; a strange sense of being watched.
I turned to look, but there was no one there. Just the empty walkway and a few dead leaves blowing across the tiles.
Shaking my head, I started walking again, a little faster now. I was just a little jumpy from the earlier collision. That was all.
Just as I reached the far end of the colonnade, I heard a faint dragging sound, like a shoe scuffing across stone. I whipped around again, but I still couldn’t see anyone. My heart thudded, heavy and fast, as I forced myself to exhale. “Get a grip,” I muttered to myself. “It’s just the wind.”
When I turned to walk forward again, someone was standing right in front of me. My heart stuttered. It was the guy Jeremiah had been arguing with. Julian something-or-other. Valentine? Valmont?
No. Valcourt.
Julian Valcourt.
He stood only a couple of paces away, half in shadow. The mist curled around his shoulders, softening the edges of his black coat, and the faintest hint of amusement flickered in his eyes.
Where the hell had he even come from? I thought I’d left him behind in the quad, and no one had passed me in the walkway just now. So there had to be another much quicker way around. Either that or he was capable of teleportation.
“Sorry,” he said, voice smooth and low. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
The glimmer in his eye and the faint curve of his mouth told me that he had actually intended to scare me, and that he’d greatly enjoyed seeing me almost jump out of my skin.
He held up his right hand. Between his fingers dangled my missing earbud. “You missed this,” he said. “It landed at my feet.”
For half a second, his last three words tangled in my head, and my brain conjured an image that made heat curl low in my stomach.
Me. Kneeling there at his feet. Looking up at him, breathless and waiting for his command.
I blinked hard, mortified by the direction of my own thoughts. “Um… thanks,” I murmured.
Julian took another step closer and held the earbud out to me, his gaze never leaving my face. “Violet, right?” he asked as I took it from him.
I blinked again. “Yeah. How did you know?”
“I overheard your conversation with Jeremiah.”
“Oh. Right.”
“That seems to be today’s theme, doesn’t it?” he said, raising a brow. “People overhearing conversations.”
I lifted my palm. “Don’t worry, I was listening to music earlier, so I couldn’t hear what you guys were arguing about.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and my stomach instantly dropped. If I really hadn’t heard anything, how did I know he and Jeremiah were arguing?
I usually didn’t make such stupid mistakes, but Julian’s dark magnetism and striking good looks had turned me into a flustered mess.
“I mean… I could kind of hear raised voices, so I figured it was some sort of disagreement. But I couldn’t make out any actual words,” I went on hurriedly.
“Right.” Julian’s mouth curved faintly again. “I’ll see you around, Violet.”
He started to turn away, but then he looked back and dipped his chin toward the earbud still resting in my palm. “You should be careful with those things,” he said. “When you have them in, you can’t hear if someone’s sneaking up on you.”
“Oh, um… thanks for the tip,” I replied, brows furrowing. What a bizarre thing to say.
I watched him stride away then, the fog curling around his shoulders like a shadow he carried with him. He was undeniably attractive, but there was something else there too. Something dangerous that whispered of power and control. Maybe even chaos.
With that realization, my mind was filled with a sudden, chilling certainty.
I needed to stay the hell away from Julian Valcourt.