Page 146 of Mortal Shift
“Could have fooled me,” she said with a grin.
“Don’t you have exams or something you should be doing right now?” I asked.
“Or something,” she said, waving me away. I rolled my eyes, fully aware I wasn’t going to get any answers from her, and fully aware that it would be a waste of breath trying.
“Anyway, I’m not addicted to him. It’s not like I crave his...his bite, or anything.”
“Methinks the lady doth protest too much.”
“I mean it. It’s not like that between us. I’m just doing this until he can find a way to wean himself off.”
“And then?” She arched a brow, and my stomach clenched.
“And then nothing,” I said irritably. “And then I can get on with my life, without him in it.”
“And you won’t miss him at all?” she asked softly.
“No, I won’t miss him—it—at all. What is it you’re trying to say?”
“Nothing.”
“Cole is mymate, Ling.”
She held her hands up in surrender, and I slouched back in my seat. Trouble was, I couldn’t get him out of my head. Thaden. Not since that night he’d fed while Cole held me, and then…watched us. Some part of me had wanted him to join us. The same part of me that still wanted him to join us.
…And it could keep wanting.
“If you grind your teeth together any harder, you’re going to break one.”
“I care about Cole,” I said. “I do. It’s just…”
“You care about Thaden, too?” Ling suggested softly.
“But how can I?”How can I want them both?The thought echoed round my skull, unvoiced, and I couldn’t help but remember the human from the feeding den, Melody, and her three vampire lovers. A shiver ran through me…and it wasn’t a shiver of revulsion.
“All first years report to their common rooms immediately.”
I jumped at the sound seemingly coming from the walls themselves, and then realized it was coming from a small speaker set high into the walls.
“Best get going,” Ling said, and then squeezed my shoulder lightly. “I’ll catch up with you later, promise. And Cali? Whatever you’re feeling, it’s not wrong.”
I gave her a stiff nod and then hurried from the room, her words playing over and over in my head, and not making any more sense each time I heard them. How could it be possible for me to feel anything at all for Thaden? How could it be possible for me to feel anything at all for anyone other than my mate? Or worse, as well as him? What sort of a person would that make me?
I shook my head, scattering the thoughts to the four winds as I reached our common room and pushed through the large double door. I was one of the last to get here, I could see at once from the number of people already gathered. I scanned the room, and it took me only moments to pick out Cole. Swallowing hard, I hurried over to him, searching his face for any signs of fear or worry. I found nothing.
“Well,” I asked, peering up at him. “How did it go?”
Cole smirked. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were worried about me.”
“As if. More like worried you’re going to get me kicked out of the academy.”
He ducked his head and pressed his lips to mine, and for a moment I forgot about the assessment. I forgot about Thaden, and Ling, and Darkveil Academy. There was nothing but me and my mate. The feel of his lips against mine, the touch of his hand on my back, the possessive rumble in his chest as he devoured my soul from the inside, and I devoured him right back.
“Oi, you two, give it a rest,” Jax’s voice interrupted us. “Some of us are feeling sick enough already after that assessment.”
Cole’s hand came off my back long enough to flip his friend off, and my lips curled into a smile against his. Reluctantly, though, I ended our kiss and leaned back a fraction in his embrace, so that I could look up at him.
“Why were we called here?” I asked.
