Page 74 of Shifting Tides

“Yemen sen, yemen sen, wab ka, yemen sen.” I breathed easy as I repeated the words of the spell, which was thankfully more forgiving than the binding spell I’d used on Julian.

I slowed to a walk, satisfied that the song was doing its job—at least as far as I knew.

I found the subway entrance and skipped down the steps, sending furtive glances to the shadows that lurked behind me. None seemed deep enough to hold a vampire.

Chapter 21

Arya

The Dome was quiet as I walked back from the training room after sparring practice with Ashlyn. She’d been gracious enough to agree to help me catch up, seeing as she was stuck here today, too. And after everything that happened last night, I had more than a little aggression to get out of my system.

I needed to getTobiasout of my system.

It was Saturday. All the other students were likely kicking back in their rooms and enjoying a lazy day. Or maybe some of them went home to their families for the weekend. The thought made my heart ache with longing, but I rejected the emotion before it could take hold.

I didn’t like this empty day. I hated knowing that the only thing waiting for me was an empty room where I’d have no distraction from my sorrow over Mom or my conflicting feelings for a particular asshole dragon.

Deciding against dark and lonely, I veered off and took a sidewalk that led away from the main building. I hadn’t done any kind of exploring since I got here, only going to the places I was expected to be, but today seemed like the perfect chance to do just that. I followed the path, aimlessly looking up at theglass dome overhead and the gorgeous deep blue that surrounded everything.

Looking back down, I saw that there was a garden up ahead. Large pink and sherbet-orange roses blushed at me as they peeked over their bushes. Though I never would’ve imagined there to be anything growing at the bottom of this lake, somehow, it didn’t surprise me to spot this little treasure.

As I came closer, the heady, sweet aroma filled the air. Without the movement of a breeze, the smell hung around the garden as if glued to that patch of oxygen.

I entered the circle of flowers and inhaled the rich perfume, enjoying the tinkling sound of water spilling down the large fountain at the garden’s center. I sat on one of the stone benches that surrounded the fountain and admired it. As with all the other décor at this school, the fountain was made up of different shifters, all climbing on top of each other as if to escape the marble they were carved from.

“Pretty, huh?”

I turned to my right to see Kendall stepping into the inner circle of the garden.

After the way the party ended last night, I felt more than a little awkward around him. All the other mermaids had made it clear that I wasn’t welcome in their presence. I hadn’t stuck around to find out if Kendall felt the same.

“Yep,” I said, turning my gaze back to the fountain, unsure of what else to say.

Kendall sat beside me. “I was looking for you in the common room. What have you been up to all day?”

I shrugged, honestly a little surprised.

“I was getting a little extra sparring in with Ashlyn. I have a lot of catching up to do.” I looked down at my hand, whichrested on the stone surface. “I know mermaids don’t approve of befriending other shifters, but it’s been pretty well established that I’m not your typical mermaid.”

I let my bitterness over the party fiasco slip into my voice, testing what his response would be.

“Maybe that’s what I like about you.” Kendall put his hand over mine, and I was surprised by how pleasantly warm the contact was. “Our people have it pretty much ingrained not to trust outsiders. Mermaids have been hunted since the dawn of time, first by large aquatic predators, then by men and vampires, and even by other shifters. We’re a proud and guarded people, and that pride tends to sour our hearts and turn into prejudice.”

His gaze fell to the hand he put over mine.

“But you… Your heart is open to everyone and everything. I haven’t seen one inkling of judgment in you. You give everyone a chance, no matter their background or race. I admire that, even if I personally disagree with those you choose to open your heart to.”

I was taken aback. Put in that kind of light, I could maybe understand the mentality of my kind. It didn’t make me any more okay with it, but at least I knew where it was coming from. And to know that Kendall wasn’t with the other mermaids, in his opinion of me, made me like him so much more than I already did. I desperately wanted to trust someone.

“Thank you for that,” I said, noticing that his hand was still on mine.

He nodded. “I was wondering if you’d like to take a swim with me.”

I smiled wide, unable to hide my joy at his invitation. “I’d love to. But isn’t the training room closed on weekends? Is there another pool in the rec room?” I only got in early withAshlyn because she’d gotten the key from her dad, who was also the Phoenix Mastery Professor. Poor girl.

“Actually, I had something else in mind,” he said, the corner of his mouth lifting in a secretive smile. “Come with me.”

His hand closed around mine and tugged me after him. We left the garden and headed for the corner of the main building, where it met the bottom of The Dome.

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