Corvina blew out a breath, holding her notebook against her chest for life. ‘Holy shit.’
God, she felt heady, intoxicated, aroused beyond belief from a simple look and those words. She imagined him speaking in that low tone at night, his words rasping over her skin from above her, around her, and closed her eyes, shaking it off. She shouldn’t. She couldn’t.Whatever lust he’d ignited in her could never come to fruition. But that probably wouldn’t stop her fantasies.
Just that morning, she had closed her eyes in the shower and imagined him there with her, just watching her with intensity, and she’d come harder than any other time, grasping the wall to keep from falling. She didn’t know what it was about him. There was an animal magnetism there, certainly, but there was something else, an undercurrent she was feeling for the first time but didn’t have a name for. Maybe it was a facet of lust that romance books hadn’t warned her about.
She needed a distraction.
Walking out after collecting herself, she passed through the corridors of the academic wing. This part of the wing had the tallest turret she’d ever seen, some classrooms and staff rooms on the higher levels, a library she had yet to visit in what had once been the dungeon, and beautiful, high windows that let in all the natural light. All her classes — World Politics, Language and Literature, History, Global Justice, Environmental Studies, Basic Economics, and her elective Psychology — were on the first and third floors. Except on Mondays Mr. Deverell was usually her last class of the day, on the first floor, so it didn’t take her long to exit out into the fading autumnal sunshine.
A beautiful garden was nestled between the academic wing and the Main Hall, a long open corridor connecting the two on the right side, a steep incline on the left leading into the forest.
Corvina cut through the garden, feeling the warm rays of the sun on her face. Sun, as she’d realised over the last few weeks, was a rare guestthis time of the year. Others said it would get better in the summer when the skies would clear, even though it would always be cool this high up in the mountains. The sunlight on her skin reminded her of her hometown. A small town in the middle of nowhere, Skarsdale had been a mostly moderate, sunny place to live, at least weather-wise.
Enjoying the warmth, she made her way across the garden where a few students were loitering, heading toward the left of the Main Hall where the cobblestoned path began on the edge of the incline. That wide path started on the side, ran to the residential towers, to the front of the university and the driveway where the car had dropped her, curving back from there toward the faculty and staff residences, and ending back at the academic wing. It was a semi-circular path, one she’d not travelled over the previous days since the other side of the university didn’t have anything for her. Even though there were indoor paths to cross between the buildings, she preferred the outdoors with its exquisite view.
She found Jade and Erica sitting out in the gardens in front of one of the boys’ towers, along with Troy and Jax and another of his friends she’d never been introduced to.
‘Please tell me Mr Sexy Eyes had a delicious reason for keeping you back,’ Erica spoke in the way of greeting, making them all look up at her. ‘We won’t tell.’
It struck Corvina sometimes, how much older she was than the kids in her class. They were eighteen-year-olds just coming to college forundergrad, the seniors being either nineteen or twenty, and she was almost a twenty-two-year-old first-year. Sometimes, she felt a century older than the new friends around her.
Troy, with his light good looks, grinned at her. ‘Mr Deverell usually isn’t such a hardass.’
‘Oh, he’s a hard something, alright,’ Jade muttered from her side, and they all snickered.
Corvina plopped her bag beside Jade and sat down, folding her legs under her long skirt. ‘He’s a teacher.’ She shrugged the topic off and focused on the other two guys she’d always seen with Troy. ‘Hi, I’m Corvina.’
The brown-haired boy from the class nodded with a nice smile. ‘Jax. Sorry if I offended you earlier.’
Corvina shook her head, turning to the other boy.
‘Ethan,’ he said, a blond like Troy, but wearing glasses without frames. ‘I’m a senior with Troy. His roommate.’
‘Great, introductions are over.’ Jade turned to her. ‘Now, what did he want?’
Corvina shrugged, leaning back on her hands and raising her face to the sun. ‘Just to tell me not to zone out in class.’ Among other things she’d never say.
‘That’s it?’ Jade asked, disbelief in her voice. ‘Just… I know I keep saying it, but be careful with him. He’s skirted the rules before, and it didn’t end well. He’s still too unknown to be trusted. Don’t bring his attention on you.’
Exactly what he’d told her, which made her wonder why he would even do that if his intention had been to hurt her.
‘Damn, you’re way too serious about Mr Deverell, Jadie-girl,’ Troy’s voice came from her right. ‘Chill.’
Corvina watched Jade’s face tighten and remembered that these guys didn’t know about Alissa and her hook-up with the teacher. They probably thought Jade was being weird. Corvina gave her a soft smile, telling her she understood her concern silently, and saw her relax slightly.
‘Anyway, so what are we doing for Black Ball?’ Ethan piped up from the side.
Corvina’s interest perked up, but she tilted her head back and stayed in the same position, keeping her ears open.
‘Staying together, what else?’ Erica voiced from her opposite side. ‘My roommate told me about what’s been going on with it. I don’t see how anyone can disappear if they stick with a group of people.’
‘Yeah, but it’s easy to get lost with the masks,’ Jax pointed out.
‘I don’t even understand what the point of the masquerade ball is,’ Ethan huffed. ‘Like sure, it’s a ball but you know there have been incidents every fucking time. Why not make it less easy for people to vanish?’
Slight silence ensued after that. Corvina looked at the clouds, at all the shapes they made in the blue sky. The one she was staring at looked like a squirrel with a nut in its hand. She smiled at the image.
‘Have any of you gone into the woods yet?’ Ethan asked after the pause.