Page 4 of Specter Bred

He stood there expectantly, waiting for me to shake it.

I didn't.

His hand lingered awkwardly between us for a moment before he lowered it.

"Okay..." he drawled. "Not into handshakes, that's alright."

"What do you want?"

"Well, uh..." He glanced around the room. "Figured you'd want to know your roommate's name."

I blinked.

"Roommate?"

"Yeah."

"No."

"No?"

"No."

His brow furrowed, and he dug into his pocket, pulling out a folded sheet of paper.

"Hang on."

He smoothed out the creases and scanned it. Then he turned it around so that I could see.

"Dorm 37. Roommate: Maeve Archer."

His eyes flicked up to mine.

"That's you, right? Or do I have the wrong—"

He leaned back into the hallway to check the room number, then looked down at the paper again.

I snatched the document from his hand. My eyes skimmed the assignment. Then I groaned.

Fuck.

I wasn't the only candidate assigned to the dorms. The beta was too. Worse, he was my roommate.

Samuel brightened. "Well, look at that! We are roommates."

I stared down at the paper in disbelief as he brushed past me, a crooked grin still plastered across his face. Before I could protest, he dropped his duffel onto the bottom bunk and began unpacking.

"Wonder why Command even bothered tapping us as candidates if they thought we needed protection from the rest of them." He shrugged. "Oh well. I guess it'll give us a chance to prove them wrong, right, Maevey?"

"Don't call me that," I growled, stalking over to my duffel and unloading my neatly packed uniforms into the dresser.

"Ah, okay." He nodded thoughtfully. "Not a fan of that one. I'll find a nickname that fits. Sunshine, maybe?"

"Not if you value your life."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"Archer," I grumbled. "You'll call me Archer."