Page 45 of Satanic Shadow
Sunlight floods the room then, blinding me as the air shifts, and his entire form warps in front of me until he’s gone. The classroom grows ice-cold, so cold I can see my breath in puffs. I rub my arms, look around, and swear to myself.
Task three has started, but I still need to kiss him four more times before the timer runs out.
Something awakens in me when I’m around him, and I’m not sure how it makes me feel.
Alive, yet dead.
Free, yet trapped.
It’s the biggest confusion, like there are so many questions I need to ask, but I don’t know the words.
13
By the time I reach my dorm, students are crowding the halls to go down for breakfast. No one looks at me, or the mess of my hair from Dane running his hands through it, or my swollen lips from being kissed by one of the most powerful creatures on the island.
The twins spot me rushing into my room, and I already know what they’re going to ask me. If my disheveled appearance doesn’t tell them, my eyes will. Poppy seems to think she can always read someone through their eyes, and so far, she’s been right.
“Where were you last night? I came to your room, and you weren’t there.”
Poppy smiles at me as her sister waits for a reply she isn’t going to get. “Did you find more information on Dane Dalton?” She looks at Mel. “I was helping her last night. I suggested she get to know the person she’s partnered with, so she’ll be more comfortable. Right, Sera?”
I don’t deserve her as a friend. “Right.”
“Orsen said he couldn’t find Dane either.” Mel pops out her hip, eyes dancing with judgment and a little bit of excitement. “Any idea where he could’ve been?”
We all agreed to no secrets, yet the last thing I want to do is tell them where I’ve been—or that I had to go inside a diamond to another world to collect a scroll. I also don’t want to tell them that I was straddling Dane Dalton on a chair in a cult studies classroom and fantasizing about having him inside me.
Instead, I shrug, ushering them into my room and closing the door.
“No more talk about Dane,” I say, pulling off my academy blazer and loosening my tie. It’s already a mess from Dane yanking on it, but neither of them notices. I’m usually well put together with my appearance, even down to my socks staying above my knees at the same height. “He was likely screwing someone.”
Poppy’s nose scrunches. “It’s forbidden to have any intimacy outside of your human relations assignment.”
I sit down on my bed, exhaustion setting in. “Said who?”
“Did you not read the back of the list of tasks?”
I shake my head, get to my feet, and look for the scroll. Once I find it, I see the small printed words at the bottom of the back of the list. “So we can’t kiss or sleep with anyone else?”
Valin nearly messed up my entire year. What is his problem?
“Nope,” Mel says, lying back on my bed. Her brows narrow as I unbutton my shirt and toss it into the pile of dirty washing in the corner of my room, fully intent on showering. “What happened to your neck?”
“What do you mean?”
Poppy comes over to me and turns my body so my back is to them. Sliding my hair away from my neck, she gasps. “When did you get a tattoo?”
“What? Never. I don’t have any tattoos,” I reply, trying to look over my shoulder. “I’d know if I had one.”
The twins drag me into the bathroom and turn on the light, facing me away from the mirror. “Look.”
I glance over my shoulder, seeing my reflection. It’s a struggle to focus from my angle, but from what I can see, it’s a black circle with a design inside, sitting at the nape of my neck. The skin around it is swollen and raw, as if I just got it done.
I frown. “What the hell?”
“I’ve seen this before,” Poppy says, following the ink with her eyes. “I looked through the book you had in the library this morning.”
Mel comes closer to get a better view. “It’s a symbol, isn’t it? What does it mean?”
