Page 37 of Caelum

I kicked his foot. “If that were a prerequisite, Dre would never graduate,” I joked, and Stefan and Nestor laughed with me.

“Doesn’t he like to read?”

Stefan snorted out another laugh. “Nope.” Then, at Nestor, he groused, “Do we have to watch this shit?”

“I like it,” Eve declared. “It’s quieter than all those guns you like to watch.”

Nestor extended chocolate-covered fingers toward her. “Want my last one?”

Her eyes rounded. “You wouldn’t mind?”

He grinned. “Nope.”

I knew for a fact he wouldn’t have shared that with Stefan or me, but I wasn’t pissed. I was glad, actually. It was yet more proof of the effect Eve had on Nestor, which was all for the good. He could be weird around girls, but Eve seemed to relax him. Enough to share his last treat with her,apparently, and I watched as she took the chocolate truffle covered in brown sprinkles and raised it to her lips.

Nestor’s sacrifice was more than worth it when she released a soul deep moan as she savored the treat.

“That tastes so good,” she purred, her voice smoky. When she saw we were watching her, her cheeks turned pink, but her smile was bright. “That was delicious. Thank you, Nestor.”

“You’re more than welcome,” he stated, his tone so heartfelt I was hard-pressed not to laugh out loud.

Instead, my lips curved and I lifted my arm and curled it over the back of the sofa. Nerves filled me, wondering if she’d move away from the touch. Hell, I wasn’t even sure if she’d recognize what the move technically meant!

When she did nothing but open the book and begin reading, I averted my attention to the screen, but not before I glowered at Nestor and Stefan who were smirking at me like the douches they were.

But they were the ones who were left hanging when, after five minutes, she turned into me, leaned against my side, then curled her legs up so the book was on her lap.

Did she recognize what that meant?

I didn’t think her Succubus was in charge today, but some days, she didn’t present. Unlike the rest of us. It was pretty easy to sense which soul was taking the lead, but Eve’s weren’t that discernible. She kind of went from zero to a hundred where that was concerned. All or nothing.

Swallowing, I felt my Adam’s apple bob at her proximity, at the scent of chocolate that lingered in the air from her treat, as well as from her scent. It was clean and fresh and delicious too. Inside, I was tense, uncertain, but when she relaxed, I did as well.

There was something about her, something that eased an internal ache I’d never known I had.

Whether that was for good or bad, we’d find out eventually.

ELEVEN

EVE

Settling into Caelum was surprisingly easy. It helped that most people ignored me. Well, save for Stefan, Nestor, and Eren. I had a feeling that when their friend finally woke up, he’d hang around me too just because they were close, but otherwise, the rest of the students seemed to go out of their way to avoid me.

It made me grateful for whatever it was that linked me to Stefan. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. I felt like I’d been alone all my life, and now I was here, with the promise of a community, but it was only being followed through by Stefan and his friends.

My major complications stemmed from not understanding what people were saying. It didn’t matter that everyone spoke the same language. What they said was what confused me.

I had no idea how someone could throw shade, and harshing someone’s mellow? What on earth did that even mean?

It wasn’t that people went out of their way to confuse me either. But references to movies went over my head, I had no idea who Sheldon Cooper was, and when it boiled down to it, I got sick of asking why He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named couldn’t be named so I’d read the full series to catch up.

Of course, I read the books, watched the shows, and sat back with the boys and viewed the movies, but I only had so much time in a day.

Despite housing all these souls within me, they didn’t extend time and make it easier to multi-task.

“You’re not concentrating.”

I blinked at Merinda. “I am.”

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