Page 147 of The Black Witch

Randall narrows his eyes at Jarod. “Out of here.”

Aislinn’s expression turns deeply conflicted, and I notice that she has the same book of poetry tucked under her arm that Jarod has sitting underneath his Chemistrie notes.

“Maybe I’ll see you later?” she asks me hopefully, her eyes flickering toward Jarod and then to me again.

“Of course,” I says encouragingly. “I’ll be around.”

We watch as Randall pulls her away. Aislinn glances back longingly before she’s led from our sight.

I turn to Jarod. He’s staring after them, his face newly tense.

“Is that who she’s wandfasting to?” he asks me, incredulous. “Please tell me that’s not him.”

“That’s him.”

“But...she’s repulsed by his touch.”

“Yes, well...” I pause, frowning at him. “How do you know that?”

Jarod shrugs as he gathers some papers together. “I can smell it on her.” He looks off in the direction they’ve gone, his blond brow furrowing. “He’s not repulsed byher, though,” he grinds out, surprising me with the level of disgust in his tone.

“No, unfortunately.” I stare hard at Jarod. “Can you tell that, too?”

He nods.

“That’s an interesting skill to have.”

“What? To sense attraction?”

“Mmm. But it must complicate life in your societies, everyone knowing everyone else’s romantic secrets. Everything completely out in the open.”

“On the contrary,” he replies thoughtfully, “I think it simplifies things. It makes it easier to find the right life mate. Your people have to go around guessing how you feel about each other.”

“It is a bit frustrating,” I agree.

“I can’t imagine.”

“So, what do you do if you fall in love with someone and they aren’t interested in you?”

“Well, it’s immediately apparent, so you back off before chasing after a lost cause.”

“But what if you really like someone?”

“If they didn’t reciprocate, it would all feel...wrong. Their scent, their emotions, their body language. It would just be too off-putting.”

“So if Randall and Aislinn were Lupine, he would stop chasing after her?”

“No,” Jarod says after considering this for a moment. “He seems...special. I think if he were Lupine, he’d still be an idiot.”

I laugh at this, and he smiles at me.

Jarod resumes transcribing where he had left off, but I’m having a hard time concentrating. “I wonder where he took her,” I say, thinking out loud.

Jarod doesn’t look up from his writing. “They’re still in the archives. I can hear him lecturing her.”

I listen closely, straining my ears for sound.Nothing. “You can hear them?” I say, disbelieving.

Jarod continues to write. “He’s warning her about staying away from me. Thinks I’ll attack her, do what he wants to do...”

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