Chapter 9
~Zayn~
Time was running out.
I had only a few days left now.
And I was still coming up with fuck all.
I stared down at the paper on the ash-wood cafeteria table in front of me, rubbing my worry stone bracelet as I did. I was at the far end, the tables stretching across the length of the hall. The edges were slightly beveled, giving a refined, handcrafted feel.
The walls were polished black marble with streaks of blue and gray that glowed from the reflection of the sconces mounted between the arched windows.
The floors were that same black tile that was throughout the building, and I liked that it all fit together seamlessly—it was kind of comforting.
Each table had bench seating upholstered in a cozy charcoal suede.
At the far end of the Cafeteria was the serving counter framed by dark steel and stone.
It was an hour after lunchtime, so the place wasn’t as packed, maybe half-full.
I had some time until my next class and I’d just had lunch with Evira who’d gone off to her Inter-Realm and Species Relations: Coexistence and Cooperation class with Guest Lecturer Arthur Sterling, an Ancient who worked for the Guardian Movement.
I’d had that class in my first year. I knew Winter was in it with her.
Vaxan was supposed to be too, but I’d seen him leave campus earlier instead.
I’d decided to just stay here instead of walking about campus or heading to my dorm, and take the time to work on this task that was proving impossible.
That task was figuring out the details of this date that I’d promised Evira.
This date that she’d said was my responsibility to plan as the asker.
And in the days since she’d said that, one indisputable fact had really been driven home to me.
I hadn’t ever dated.
Dammit.
I took another sip of my tea—fucking Chamomile. A calming beverage. A weak-ass beverage was what it was, and I shot a look around the space to make sure nobody was picking up on it.
There were mostly only magic-wielders around, but I did see a few wolves hanging out, although they were immersed in their food, all their animal supernatural senses on that.
There was a group of five female vampires over at the far end near one of the exits and I saw two of them smile out at me as they took in the tea, seeming to like it.
Great. They thought I was some sensitive shit or something.
I wasn’t.
Of course I wasn’t.
Now back to planning this date.
I took another couple of sips of my tea, then stared down at what I had so far.
Dancing at The Caverns.
Polaris.
Walk in the woods.
I winced at the first one.
The last time Evira and I had been at The Caverns, things hadn’t exactly gone well.
I mean, yeah, we hadn’t attended together and we’d barely interacted, but it had culminated in me getting into a fight with Keuric and her then intervening—before Vaxan had ended the thing entirely.
So that would probably bring up bad memories.
She was already dealing with the fact that after three days of remaining holed up in his dorm room, Keuric had finally returned to classes.
He hadn’t said a word to her, though, or even sent one nasty look her way or mine.
In fact, he’d even lowered his head at her in submission a couple of times.
Still, it wasn’t nice for her having a reminder of all that shit in him walking around.
And Polaris? Well, that was a good idea on the surface, because she was here outside the Dracoryn Realm to live, be free, experiment, and explore.
But the sexual aspect of that place was what was making me think twice about it.
She might think that was why I was picking it—to get some more fucking from her.
I mean, sure, that would be incredible with her.
But not only that. There was more… more that I wanted to experience from her.
I wouldn’t have gone this date route if that wasn’t the case.
She was honestly amazing. Being with her…
it had stayed with me. She was somehow soft and unsure during sexual interactions, but also strong and dominant.
That was a really rare breed. Outside of any of that, she also had a really cute sense of humor, she was formidable, she could hold her own against me and banter so well with me, she was kind and understanding and… gentle as well.
Gentle? Urgh, why had I landed on that at the tail end? It brought up him—Winter.
It was the fucking essence of him.
I didn’t want my thoughts going there right now. It… it hurt.
It fucking hurt me.
He hadn’t even registered my presence since that lake confrontation with Keuric.
Fine, he had given me a chin lift and a smile during some of the classes we’d shared together. But Winter did that to everybody, even people he didn’t know.
Not to somebody like me who he’d fucked hundreds of times—was it that high a number now?
Somebody he’d known for years. Somebody who’d even lived in his house for a couple of months when all that shit with my parents had gone down.
I might have even slept on the floor in his room for a few nights back then because I’d been scared to be alone during all of that.
But… whatever. The fact that he was treating me as though none of that had—hold up.
Fuck me. Was that how he’d felt with the way I’d behaved toward him before?
I shifted on my seat. Oh, god-fucking-dammit. Was that it?
I clenched my fist, almost shattering my mug in the process, so much so that I had to slide it away across the table.
Still. Even with that, I’d tried to tell him during the Keuric thing as Evira had been kicking that motherfucker’s ass, that I wasn’t going to be like that anymore. But he hadn’t even cared. He’d even taken off in his shadows.
Stop. Stop thinking about it.
I sucked in a breath, and forced-focused on my list.
I crossed out Polaris.
I looked at the last item on the list.
Walk in the woods.
Well, that sounded like a serial killer’s go-to.
I kept my pen hovering there in my hand, while I snatched up the one honeyed churro I had left on my plate from earlier. Sweet and crunchy and sort of like a food version of the tea comfort.
As I munched on it and started gazing aimlessly around the Cafeteria, my whole fucking body went rigid when I caught sight of Vaxan sauntering on in.
Right after him, two vampires walked in.
They were second-year students who’d transferred in from Lotus Academy this year, and I hadn’t spoken with them yet.
It took a while to get to know all the newbies.
Although two nights ago, I had experienced a near-encounter with them when I’d been riding my motorcycle down the created path that veered through the forest grounds and around a mountain, while still being inside the protection of the wards.
The two of them had been loitering, and when I’d noticed them as I’d zoomed on by and given them a chin lift, neither of them had even bothered to acknowledge it.
I’d taken to riding after Winter and his Pops, Lazriel, had taught me how to ride when I’d stayed at their home. On my last day there, Winter had given me a bike of my own, and I’d taken it with me everywhere since. It was currently in the garage set back from the main building here.
The vamps were dressed like each other in khaki pants, white polos and navy blazers.
One of them, Andrew Harkle, had golden-boy hair that was short but swept back.
The other, Pierce Dennins, had chestnut-brown waves that brushed the shoulders of his blazer.
Yeah, they were really preppy. And that didn’t exactly mesh well with my whole punk-rock vibe to begin with. Their attitudes just worsened that.
I narrowed my eyes as I noticed them hanging back and watching Vaxan up at the serving counter.
They seemed to zero in on the white container of food being handed to him, something I’d seen him collect several times before.
He had it specially made. Normally, I’d assume it was him being a regal, entitled prick, but I actually knew about Basilisks and their strict diets.
He had to do it this way. He literally had no choice in the matter.
As he was collecting his food, he thanked the man behind the counter, then pulled out his phone.
He started walking to a table, smiling down at it.
It was that sweet and understanding smile. The same smile he’d had when he’d helped me out in that Synergy class a few days back.
“You continue to shut down in this manner, Zayn, and they’re still controlling you in essence, even all these years later.”
That had been some of his advice to me that day.
And it had stayed with me.
Not just in regard to that class.
I ignored the vampires as they finally moved up to the counter, and I watched Vaxan sit down at a mostly empty table.
He was wearing those black leather pants.
The way they pulled taut around his… don’t.
As if him only having a black tank on this time that showed off those sculpted fucking biceps wasn’t bad enough to…
draw the attention of people who might be into that sort of thing.
Might be.
People. Other people.
Obviously not me.
He touched his crown, frowning to himself for a moment.
He looked worried. Or maybe that was just how he helped himself to think? Rubbing his crown? Like tapping a pencil or pen when you needed to think of at least one fucking viable date venue.
I went to look away and get back to that, but then he abruptly swung his head.
Right. At. Me.
I jolted, unable to hide my stunned reaction.
My eyes were bugging out of my head; I could fucking feel it.
“You are not my prey, despite you trying to demonstrate that you wish me to be yours.”
“I don’t. I don’t think about hunting or pursuing you at all.”
Great. Fucking great time for that exchange between us to rush to the surface.
I saw him scent the air.
Then he smirked.
His eyes hooded, and it had me squirming.
Fuck, I looked away.
I had to.
It was the only way to save even a little bit of face.