Page 19 of Mortal Shift
Lessons. Right. A shiver ran the length of my spine. Lessons in an academy for supernaturals. What would that mean for me, a human? And, I wondered wryly, would they prove as dangerous as my time outside lessons had been? Well, there was only one way to find out.
I started to sit up, then remembered I’d only had one nightshirt in my bag, and it hadn’t exactly been designed to cover everything up. Also, it had pink unicorns on it. Cole continued to watch me.
“Hey,” I said. “You wanna look away there, Fido?”
“Nope.” His smug grin widened. “I’m enjoying the view just fine.”
I scowled at him, wrapping my blanket around myself as I sat.
“I’m going to see everything you’ve got sooner or later,” he drawled. “Might as well just get used to it.”
“Yeah, well I’m going with later. Much later. Like when hell freezes over.” I stalked to the wardrobe on my side of the room and yanked it open. “What the hell is this?”
“Your uniform,” he said.
“Uniform. Right.” I trailed my hand over the coarse fabric in dismay. Pants and a t-shirt, both pale gray, and the t-shirt had a familiar yellow wolf’s head emblem emblazoned over the heart. I plucked them from the hanger with a grimace. At least there was no skirt, I supposed. Could have been worse. Not much, but some.
I stalked into the bathroom and shoved the door shut behind me, then slid the lock in place, just in case his alphaness was getting any ideas out there. Then I discarded my blanket and the pink unicorns, and slipped into the shower, breathing a sigh of pure pleasure as the warm water eased the tension from my tight muscles. It wasn’t enough to work the knot of anxiety from my stomach, or banish the worries about my mother, but today was my first proper day here, and I intended to make the most of it. A fresh new start. Okay, granted, this hadn’t been the way I’d envisioned my life going forty-eight hours ago…but that had been before I knew people could turn into wolves, and compel people, and who only knew what else. And yes, it sucked to be the only human here, but Iwashere. I didn’t think magic could rub off on people, but I sure as hell was going to find out. I was, as far as I knew, the first human to set foot in this place. That had to count for something.
I got dried off and pulled on the uniform with another grimace of distaste, then headed back out of the bathroom to find Cole was gone. Guess I’d been in the shower longer than I realized.
And then I had another realization. I had zero clue how to get where I was supposed to be. Or where it actually was I was supposed to be, come to that.
Crap.
No need to panic, though. I had my schedule, not that I’d looked at it yet, what with all the mental torment that had been going on yesterday. I turned to my dresser, and my stomach contracted when I saw the completely empty surface. I yanked open the drawers and checked inside them, but the sinking feeling only got worse with each empty drawer, and even as I hunted around the room, I knew I wasn’t going to find it.
Cole had taken it. Asshole. Now how was I supposed to find where I was going? I guess that was exactly what he wanted, since his little stunt last night hadn’t gone the way he planned. Maybe he was counting on me getting kicked out for missing class…which might actually be a valid concern. Dammit.
I hurried out of the room, hoping I’d see some of the shifters from last night—the ones who hadn’t been giving me a hard time, few though they were—to follow, but no joy. The hallway was deserted, aside from a couple of students in darker uniforms, all of whom were busy pretending I didn’t exist. Whatever. I could deal with a few people giving me the cold shoulder.
I sucked in a breath and marched the length of the hall, pretending I couldn’t hear the low whispers that followed me. Fresh new start, my ass. The door swung open under my touch, letting me back into the academy hallways. There were more students here, some in pale gray, some in various shades of green, and a couple in red. After my confrontation with Davorin yesterday, I was more than a little reluctant to approach any of them, but they all seemed to be going in different directions, and I had no idea who I was meant to be following.
“Mm, someone smells divine.”
I jumped and twisted round to the source of the voice, uncomfortably close over my shoulder, and leaving me wondering how someone had managed to sneak up on me…and why.
Those thoughts fled my mind the moment I laid eyes on the guy clad in a red uniform, with long dark hair and shadows around his eyes, and the most breathtakingly handsome face I’d ever seen. His pale skin was the perfect contrast to his black hair and eyes, which were like deep pools threatening to swallow me whole, and drown me. And some part of my soul wanted to fall into them, and never emerge.
His lips curled up as he took in my reaction, and I realized I was holding my breath. I sucked in a lungful of air, and his scent danced across my taste buds, sparking a hunger inside me. I caught myself leaning in towards him and pulled back, suddenly lightheaded and dizzy. Goosepimples raised along my arms, my body screaming danger while my mind screamed ‘devour me’.
“You’re new here.”
It wasn’t a question, but I nodded in response, utterly unable to speak.
“So am I,” he said, and bent his lips to my ear. “And that’s where the similarity between us ends.”
I jerked back, but he closed the gap between us again, tilting his nose to my neck and tracing along my artery.
“What…what are you?” I finally managed to ask, my voice breathless and raspy.
“Oh, you’ll find out,” he chuckled, and then nipped at my throat.
“Ow!” I clamped my hand over it, feeling a drop of wetness—blood?—but before I could check, he caught my wrists and pinned my arms above my head. “Get off me!”
I squirmed in his grip but he held me effortlessly, watching my face with his head canted in dispassionate amusement. Then he ducked his head back to my throat. I cringed away, but instead of biting me again, his tongue darted out and lapped at the cut on my neck.
“What the fuck?” I demanded. “What are you doing?”
