Chapter 10
Ten
Rose
It’s midnight.
All the grown-ups (and the fake grown-ups, because being real, I don’t feel like one and I’m probably still going to be trying to figure my life out at eighty years old if I make it there) are asleep, except for the monsters in the woods. Which is probably Ash.
The quad is empty, and it’s a freezing walk across it, so I pull my coat tight around me, listening to my steps in the silence, shoes crunching on frozen grass. Every few feet I look over my shoulder, convinced I’m being watched.
The edge of the trees looms up fast, their branches climbing up to the sky. It’s dark tonight, and I can’t see the moon, just heavy clouds promising snow. The night has a strange, muffled hush that happens before a snowfall.
Ash is supposed to be waiting. He’s not.
That ticks me off. This is his idea, and he can’t even show up on time? I hesitate at the tree line for a minute, staying still to try and spot any hint of movement.
Nothing.
Great. Guess I’m just a dumbass standing alone in the dark, freezing my tits off.
Against my better judgement, I take a step into the woods. The path is barely visible, just the suggestion of an opening between the trees, and with every step forward the forest swallows me deeper. It’s even darker in here, and I can barely see a thing.
I don’t want to admit it, but I’m scared. The woods are so black I can’t see my own hand in front of my face, and the silence is absolute. Just a dead, heavy nothing.
I keep walking slowly and carefully, picking my way over roots and rocks.
After another ten steps something moves behind me.
There’s no sound, but I can sense the air shifting, or maybe it’s the way the hair lifts on the back of my neck. My whole body goes rigid, and then I spin around, heart hammering. Nothing. Just trees, rocks, and my imagination working overtime.
I take one step forward. Then, snap. Something grabs me from behind.
I don’t even have time to scream. An arm catches me around the waist, hard enough to lift me off my feet, and my back collides with a solid wall of muscle. For a second, everything in me panics—fight, flight, full-on freak-out—but before I can do either, his hand closes over my mouth.
“Quiet,” Ash says in a low voice, right at my ear.
He’s pleased with himself in a way only a complete bastard like him can manage. I hear it in his voice, feel it in the mark. I twist, furious, and he just holds me tighter, like I’m a kitten trying to claw my way out of a cardboard box.
Asshole.
He waits a beat, then drops his hand. I whirl, fists balled, ready to bash his perfect face in, but Ash is already a step back, smirking.
My voice comes out shaky with adrenaline. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He shrugs those broad shoulders. “You were too easy to catch. Didn’t even try to run. I’m disappointed.”
I really want to hit him.
“That’s because you’re a psycho who gets off on scaring innocent women,” I snap. “Congratulations. You got me. Can we do the part where you tell me why I’m out here freezing my ass off in the murder woods at midnight?”
Ash’s eyes flash in the dark. For a heartbeat, he just studies me, like he’s sizing up prey. “You are far from innocent, Rose. Woman, yes. Innocent? No, I don’t think so.”
I refuse to back down, even though the smart part of me wants to run. “Says the murderer.”
He takes a step closer, invading my space, letting the silence grow, watching me squirm.
Finally, he speaks. “You know why you’re here. You’re here because Jasmine told me to cut you loose.”
I blink. “Yeah, but what does that even mean? Why would she want that?”
Ash’s jaw tightens. “I don’t know. But I know it’s not for your benefit. Jasmine doesn’t help people. She ruins them.”
He steps closer still, so there’s barely room to breathe. “So you’re going to learn to control your magic before she tries to rip you apart with it. You’re not doing this for Jasmine. You’re doing it for you.”
I snort. “So inspirational. Are you going to be my magical life coach?”
He cuts me a look, and I can tell he’s more than a little annoyed. “You think I want to be out here with you? In this cold? I’m risking plenty. Jasmine is insane.”
I can’t help laughing, but it’s bitter as hell. “And I’m supposed to trust you to help me?”
“Doubt me all you want,” he says, voice dropping to something dangerous. “But do not walk away from this. Or from me.”
For some reason, that bothers me, but not because it makes me angry.
It should make me angry. But instead it triggers something else, something I don’t want to name.
Maybe it’s the way his eyes bore into mine.
Maybe it’s the way he crowds me up against the trunk of a tree, arms closing me in on either side, leaving zero room between us.
I try to step past him, done with his games. “You know what? Screw this. I’d rather be in my own bed than freezing to death here with you. Goodnight, Ash.”
But before I can move two inches, his hand wraps around my wrist and whips me back, spinning me until I’m pinned.
“Don’t,” he growls. “Don’t turn your back on me, Rose.”
I glare up at him. He’s so close I can feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. For a second, there’s nothing in the world but his face and my stubborn pride, both refusing to give first.
I realize with something like horror that I want him to kiss me. Not just want, more like it’s a desperate, uncontrollable need. My body goes hot, despite the cold. If he so much as brushes his mouth against mine, I will melt, right here in the cold November woods.
He knows. Ash always knows. I can’t hide from him. The mark makes sure of that.
But instead of doing something predictable, he does something different.
Instead of closing the distance, he lets go abruptly. It’s cold, deliberate.
“Be here tomorrow night,” he says. “Same time. Don’t make me come find you.”
I want to scream. Or punch him. Or something. Instead, I just glare, unable to hide the disappointment burning under my skin.
Ash smirks. “Go on. Run back to your little fan club. I’m sure they’re waiting up for you.”
That stings more than I want to admit. I yank my arm away and stalk off, refusing to look back.
I don’t know if I’m angry, turned on, or just tired of being jerked around, but my head spins all the way back across the quad.
By the time I get to the dorms, I don’t even remember how I got here.
I slam the door behind me, peel off my freezing clothes, and fall onto the bed. I lie there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, replaying every second of the woods until it’s worn down to nothing but the memory of Ash’s mouth, inches from mine.
I don’t sleep for a long time.
And I already know I’ll be in those woods again tomorrow night, shivering and pissed, hoping he’ll actually kiss me this time, and knowing he probably won’t.
Red flags are always harder to see in the dark.