Page 30 of Caelum

My lips curved as I turned to Reed and said, “First one to tap her?—”

He held up a hand. “Bets can only be discussed when Sammy’s around.”

“He likes her too?” That surprised me. Sam had a thing about blonde-haired girls, not dark ones.

“He has a cock, doesn’t he?”

Sheepishly, I nodded, but Eve was that kind of woman.

She’d turn any man’s head, and even though we were a thousand times more than just ‘men,’ we were no different where it counted.

EIGHT

EVE

“You don’t look overwhelmed.”

I frowned at Nicholas. Or, as some called him, the principal. In the end, he hadn’t asked me to come to his office the day after my arrival, he’d given me some time to settle in, which only made me even more relieved that the boys had taken me under their wing or I’d have gone crazy waiting on him for more information.

“Why would I be?” The list in my hand was kind of long, about as long as my forearm and the text was quite small, but I wasn’t about to complain. “I need to know all this, I assume.”

His lips curved. “Yes. It would come in quite handy.”

I shrugged. “Well then, what’s to be overwhelmed over?”

“It’s a very long list,” he said gently. “But there’s no rush. You have a year to power through this.”

I didn’t say anything, but inwardly, I snorted. I loved reading and after a lifetime of reading only the Bible, the dictionary, and Father Bryan’s endless ream of nonsense that he spewed out on the pulpit and that one of the Sisters wrote into the books that filled the compound’s library? I was ready for more. Ready to devour anything that was thrown at me.

Plus, I hated feeling like I was in the dark on a warm, sunny day.

Everyone was looking at me like I was an idiot here, and maybe I was, but the second I knew what was what? They couldn’t look at me that way, could they?

“You’ll be having classes with Damon and Merry mostly,” he tacked on. “But you’ll have to start using the gym more, and you can work that out with Justin—he’s the coach. Speak with him when we’ve finished. It would be best to get started as soon as possible.”

Nestor, Eren, and Stefan had shown me the gym, and it looked like some kind of torture chamber.

Now,thatoverwhelmed me.

But this list of books?

No.

They excited me.

Those books contained information that would enlighten me about what I was, aboutwhoI was. Why wouldn’t I be excited?

“Yes, I’ll speak with him.” Eren was waiting outside so I felt sure he’d guide me to this coach person.

Nicholas smiled. “I wish all new students were as calm as you, Eve.”

I shrugged. “I finally have an answer. If the books and the lessons guide me, why would I complain?”

“Most do.” His lips twitched again. “You can find all the books in the library. If you have any issues, Merry and Damon will help. I won’t be a part of your education until you’re more comfortable with the basic workings of our race. I don’t want to overwhelm you further with information you’re not ready to handle. Does that make sense?”

“Yes. Perfect sense.” And it did. I was beginning to see that speaking with the older people was easier than to the younger ones. They didn’t drop words in like ‘freak’ and ‘shook’ in the most random parts of a conversation.

“Good.” He drummed his fingers against the desk. “If you have any issues though, you can come and speak with me, but Lori is useful too.

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