Page 85 of Savage Hope

Safe.

A word I don't use very often, if at all. Yet, in these moments where there's not even a single breath between us, I feel it.

Following the winding path, the quadrants come into view, and a hint of sadness creeps into my bones at the fact that the night is over, although I'm sure I'll lie awake in bed analyzing everything that's happened tonight.

“I’m sad a lot,” he blurts, his eyes clouding with an emotion I can't quite place under the moonlit sky.

I hum, keeping my stare dead ahead. “I’m lost a lot,” I admit, feeling his raw fact deserves one from me too.

“There's something in you I find in myself,” he admits as we approach the fork in the road leading to the different quads.

“I’m glad,” I breathe as he stops to face me properly.

“To the door?” he asks, and I bite back a smile.

“To the door,” I agree, stepping onto the sandy path that leads to the witches’ dorm.

No words are said. Nothing is needed. And despite the fact that Wylder has done things to my body tonight, on a level of intimacy I've never felt before in my life, I somehow feel just as close to Tatum in this moment. It’s another thing for me to analyze instead of sleeping tonight.

He stops by the door and I turn to face him, noting the rest of his friends and Bryony a few feet away, watching us like a movie unraveling before their very eyes.

“Thank you. You really didn't have to,” I insist, and he smiles, the air thickening in just a way that I know a repeat of last time is in order. Ignoring our audience, I cut the distance between us, placing my hand on his shoulder as I rise onto my tiptoes and press my lips against his cheek. “Goodnight, Tatum,” I murmur, stepping back, and his smile imprints in my mind as he breathes.

“Goodnight. Polaris.”

33

POLARIS

The weekend passed by in a blur. I didn’t leave the comfort of my room as I spent an embarrassing amount of time beneath my sheets trying to replicate what Wylder did to me.

It’s impossible.

That man is no wolf; he’s a wizard. One that twists me in knots only to unravel me in the most unbelievable way possible.

I didn’t see any of them in the dining hall over the weekend, and Bryony said she was busy, probably with her coven, but it was nice to soak in the familiar comfort of my own company again. It’s definitely not as good as the company I kept on Friday night, but it was nice all the same.

Terence and Sian continue to ignore me, a fact I’ve accepted now that it’s become our new norm. However, B’s absence still concerns me. I’m sure if anything had happened to him, we would have been told about it, and something would have happened to someone else, too, since we’re all fighting the blood kin curse here.

The sound of someone clearing their throat pulls me from my thoughts and I quickly focus on the present. Professor Juniper quirks a brow at me and I sit up straighter in my seat.

Daydreaming in my witch classes isn’t the best idea when I’ve got a lot to learn, but ever since I walked through the door, she’s been pretending I don’t exist. She speaks while looking right through me. Even when addressing the other Florentines, I’m seemingly not here.

Until now.

There’s a weird air, one that leaves a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“Must I repeat myself, Polaris?” Professor Juniper asks, and I gulp, acutely aware everyone is staring at me.

“Please,” I breathe, curling my fingers on my lap as I bite back the tingle of humiliation.

She sighs, her lips pursing, and I can’t help but wonder what it is I’ve done wrong. Her soft demeanor from last time is gone, and in its place is a rigid woman inconvenienced by my presence.

“Why is sand so important to witches?”

I blink at her. I have no clue. If she just told us, I definitely wasn’t paying attention.

My jaw hangs loose as I scramble to say something.

---