Page 18 of Caelum

I wasn’t even sure why.

I had no rights to her, but the way she looked at him, I knew something was going on. Something I hadn’t seen yet.

A part of me wondered if he’d marked her, but I wasn’t sure that was possible without there being some kind of sexual contact. Maybe because Stefan was an Incubus today, and she was most definitely a Succubus, that changed the rules? I’d never heard of that before, but the thing about creatures was things changed. Constantly. Our species was always evolving, and it helped keep us safe, but it also made us more powerful.

Humans might outnumber us, but we were the wolves walking among their flock of sheep, and we could and would kill them if they threatened to stampede us. That was the only way they could get at us. Stampede. But their masses could hurt us, so they were worthy opponents in that alone.

Walking through the common rooms appeared to set her at ease, and I was glad for that. She radiated a tension that made me inexplicablyuncomfortable. I didn’t know her, didn’t particularly want to know her either. I wasn’t good around girls. My souls always ended up acting out.

I might have wanted sex, but having my souls fuck around on me was the last thing I needed so close to graduation. With the way Stefan was looking at her, though, I had a feeling I was going to be hanging around Eve whether I liked it or not.

She particularly appreciated the library, and Stefan was smiling as he tugged her away from all the books. Considering she was from a cult, I had to wonder if she’d ever read before. I mean, did cult leaders allow their people access to books? Any books except their sacred texts?

The way Eve was gaping at the room, I had a feeling that shehadread, just not so much.

It figured that fate would make Stefan interested in a bookworm when he loathed studying. My lips quirked at that. Sometimes, destiny had a way of amusing you.

When we approached the first set of dorm rooms, Lori was seated at her desk, waiting on us. Her eyes scanned over us before she locked onto the possessive hold Stefan had on Eve.

“You going to let her go?”

Stefan beamed at the Were. “Nope. She likes holding my hand, don’t you, Eve?”

The girl shot him a look and then gave Lori a hesitant smile. “It does feel nice. Even if his palm is sweaty.”

That had Stefan scowling and the rest of us snorting. At least she wasn’t a total drip. The last thing I needed or wanted was to have someone who’d hang off our every word and roll over like a puppy to have her belly stroked.

Stefan went to detach their fingers, but she didn’t let him. I saw hers turn slightly white as she squeezed his digits, and when she smiled at him, his cheeks were burnished with heat, and Lori cocked her brow at the interplay between the two of them.

“Eve,” the housemistress stated, “this is to be your new home. You’re allowed to bring boys back here, but there is a curfew. Boys aren’t allowed to spend the night?—”

Eve frowned. “Why would they want to?”

Lori rolled her lips inward for a second to hide her laugh. “Our souls have needs,” was all she said. “There’s no shame in that.”

Eve looked redder than a tomato, but she nodded, and I knew that even though she looked more innocent than a baby lamb, she’d experienced those needs just like the rest of us.

We were sexually active from our mid-teens. It was the way of it unlesswe were denied access to other people. I often wondered if Frazer and Reed were such bastards because they’d been locked up in a mental health facility before Damon had released them and brought them here. Being denied fucked with the souls and made them harder to control.

“Just remember, until you’re eighteen, there’s a curfew,” Lori warned.

“When’s your date of birth?” Stefan mumbled under his breath, making Lori snort and Eve turn even redder.

“I-I don’t know,” she admitted.

“How do you know how old you are?” I asked in surprise, drawing her attention to me.

“We know our years because when we reach them, our lives change. When I was sixteen, I no longer attended school but began helping out there, for example.”

That had me narrowing my eyes. “You went to school?”

“Yes.” She bit her bottom lip. “I imagine it was a lot different than your schools.” Her body twisted, arching back slightly. “I’ve never seen so many books. If you have to read all of those for your classes, then my schooling will definitely be lacking.”

“I didn’t mean to make you feel bad,” I rasped uncomfortably when I saw the misery in her beautiful amber eyes.

God, those eyes. They would haunt me forever. They were dark chestnut on the outer rim, but near the pupils, there were bright gold threads that danced around the small black circle.

They were enchanting, enough so that I felt like I could stare into them forever and never get bored.

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