Page 39 of Faerie Marked

We chatted lightly as Mike led the way to the school’s parking lot. I didn’t remember much of the walk. My attention was focused on Mike and how closely we walked together, our arms knocking occasionally. Was I supposed to stay a certain number of steps behind him? Was I supposed to address him in any kind of certain way?Your Highnessfelt stuffy after everything he’d helped me through.

He wasstillhelping me.

Mike clicked the keys to open up the back door to the car and then proceeded to drag my suitcase out. “This is large enough to fit a body in,” he grunted. “What did you put in here?”

I watched the way he moved, the way his muscles bunched and flexed beneath tanned skin. The red shirt brought out the startling color of his eyes and put me in mind of spring grasses yet again.

More than a small part of me warmed this time.

Prince Michael Thornwood of Faerie.

No, bad idea, I told the warmth, urging it to disappear and quickly. I didn’t need any other complications, let alone entertaining dirty thoughts about someone like Michael. Someone who was way out of my league on a good day and was in a bad position to rat me out if my secret ever came to light.

“Yeah, I know it’s heavy,” I said at last, purposely turning my gaze to the ground and my dirty sneakers. The most comfortable pair I owned. “I may have brought too many things.”

“You packed everything,” he teased. “Let me guess. You chose some of your favorite rocks from your garden so you wouldn’t get homesick.

“No rocks, but everything of importance, because there’s nothing to go back to.”

Dammit!

Open mouth, insert foot.

Mike stopped and stared at me, leaning heavily on the top of the suitcase. “Tavi, I’m sorry.”

I scrambled to smooth over my last statement. “It’s not a big deal, don’t worry about it.” I’d already said too much. “Let’s just say I’m going to make sure I do the best I can to stay at the academy. This place…” I turned to look at the castle looming through the trees. “This is my future. I have no reason to go home.”

And no one would accept me back if I couldn’t hack it here.

His smile widened. “I’d think nothing less of you.” He kept the suitcase in hand as we walked back up the hill toward the castle, and he didn’t press the issue.

I appreciated that, too. No prying into my past. I did the same for him even when I was dying to know about his presence at the school. He pulled the suitcase along the winding cement path through the trees until the castle loomed before us.

We chatted about the school’s expectations and the point system. We chatted about the weather and what would be done about my car, presumably still on the side of the road. But we didn’t talk about our pasts, and I was pleased Mike left the subject alone.

Everyone else had already gone to dinner by the time we walked into the dorm. Another meal missed. Looking over at Mike, somehow I wasn’t upset about it, no matter how my stomach grumbled for me to fill it.

He hauled the suitcase up to my bunk when I didn’t know what to do with it. “You’re going to have a hard time later,” he warned. “Unless you take everything out. Pretty sure the drawers on the left are yours. The one set into the wall there, you see?”

I followed where he pointed and nodded. “I’d rather have everything up where I can sort through it in my own time than leave it on the floor. Besides, I’m not sure the girl beneath me would like coming back to see a giant suitcase next to her bed.” He continued to watch me and I picked at my shirt, refusing to meet his gaze. “What’s the matter?”

“I’m not sure. You seem different.”

“I’m still just me,” I replied easily. “Besides, this is the first time you’ve really looked at me in direct sunlight. Otherwise it’s been dark.” I held my hands out at my side, head quirked and single eyebrow raised, model pose. Wondering if he liked what he saw and why it would matter so much to me that he did.

“I guess you’re right.” Then he shook his head when the realization struck him. “Oh. Oh, man, I see. I get it now.”

“What?” I asked anxiously.

His gaze went direct even as his mouth smoothed into a tense line. “I get why you’re looking at me like that. Someone told you. About me. Who I really am.”

The knots in my gut smoothed. I’d almost thought he’d figuredmeout. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. My mentor did. She…ah, she showed me your portrait on the wall in the great hall.” I flashed him a sheepish grin.

Mike flinched at the title and glanced left and right over his shoulder before taking a step closer until I felt caged between him and the ladder to my bunk. Leaning toward me until I ached to close the distance. “Tavi, I’m still just me, too. I’m the guy who gave you a ride last night when you needed help. Nothing has changed,” he insisted. My chest hollowed out when he groaned. “Everyone always gets weird when they find out who I am. Maybe can it on theHighnessstuff.”

I pulled my finger across my lips, mimicking a zipper, then snorted for good measure.

I couldn’t tell him I wasn’t being odd about him being a prince, although it had certainly crossed my mind more than once. But if we remained friends, and he found out I was really a shifter, then it could spell ruin for me. I would never get into Faerie. He would be obliged to tell his parents and they would hand me right over to my uncle. Or worse, Kendrick.

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