Page 143 of Fractured Fate

“Our dorm room?”

“Yeah. Did you tell her about the sickness?” He looked at the headmistress.

“I did.”

He scratched his jaw. “To curb the discomfort of being apart—the sick feeling—they let us share rooms.” She recalled their conversation about coed dorms. Now it made sense. Somewhat. “We have our own bed each, though,” he added, and she wondered why he felt the need to mention it. It seemed normal for a dorm room to have two twin beds.

“Unless you want a big bed to share,” Blaire said. “After you seal your bond.”

Aiden sighed. “Yeah, or that.” He motioned toward Blaire with his hand.

Charlotte looked at him, unsure why he sighed or why he looked uncomfortable. His cautious demeanor made little sense. Whatever connection she felt before wasn’t working. She couldn’t feel anything. Maybe whatever he felt wasn’t strong enough?

“We can discuss any changes you would like to make to your dorm at another time. For now, it’s late and you need to get settled in. We will get your belongings from your home tomorrow.”

28

HOPE

The quiet walk across the darkened academy grounds and up the stairs to his—now their—dorm room set Aiden on edge. Charlotte remained silent after they left the staff building, eyes darting everywhere the lights around campus touched. He didn’t like it.

Once on his floor, she hesitated in the doorway leading from the stairs, eyes scanning the different doors lining the hall with apprehension.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you.” He moved to stand in front of her, his back to the hall. Meeting her wary eyes, he added, “No one will lay a finger on you.” It felt like barbed wire raking his throat as he swallowed and forced out words he didn’t want to say, but she needed to understand. She needed to know she wasn’t in danger with him, despite what she saw. “Not even me.”

He turned before he could see the look on her face. He didn’t want to see her revulsion and rejection. While she may have accepted a place at Blackthorn Academy, it didn’t mean she accepted his species. At least not on a romantic level.

It didn’t mean she didn’t fear him.

He couldn’t shake the terror he felt radiating from her in the alleyway when she looked at him. He caused that. No explanation of Vasirian being civilized would quell her natural instincts to run from a predator.

She followed him. Her footsteps echoed his. Better the monster you know. He wanted to cringe as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

Opening the door to the dorm room they would now share, he stepped aside and let her enter first, flipping on the light switch.

How did Lukas do this?

When Blaire woke up in the dorms after fainting at the sight of Headmistress Velastra’s fangs, Lukas had Riley and Aiden with him. It helped with the transition. The way Lukas put it, as soon as Aiden and his sister left the room, everything went to hell. He acted like an asshole, and Blaire retaliated. It laid the foundation for a long, drawn-out tug-of-war between the two of them. Blaire didn’t fear their kind, but she and Lukas experienced their own problems.

He sighed. He wished his sister was here to act as a buffer. He didn’t know how to act around Charlotte anymore.

He closed the door behind them and locked it to add an extra layer of security for her. He didn’t think the students would attack her, but he wouldn’t take any chances. If it helped her feel at ease, then all the better. That her stalker had been one of his kind probably didn’t help her acceptance of everything. At least he was dead. They couldn’t even celebrate her freedom from the man because it would force her to recall the awful things she saw. He didn’t want to remind her of his latent monster.

“The bathroom is through there, if you want to take a shower or anything,” he said, breaking the silence.

Standing in the middle of the room, as though reluctant to touch anything, Charlotte turned to face him, gaze following to where he directed with his hand to the ensuite off the entrance hall of the dorm. “So this is what you meant about the school being okay with girls and guys sharing rooms,” she said. With how low she spoke, he thought she said it to herself, but he answered anyway.

“Yeah.”

She looked at him. “And you’ve never had another girl in here?”

His head angled to the side, and his brows tightened. “No. Well, other than visitors like Blaire, Layla, and Riley.” He looked up. “Oh, and Seth’s flings before he and Riley discovered they were Korrenas.”

“Wait. Seth and Riley are mates?”

“They are,” he said in a halting voice. He wondered what she thought of that. She had to know that Blaire and Lukas shared a bond, but it surprised him no one had mentioned Seth and Riley.

“That makes so much sense. The tension between those two before they started dating seemed so intense.” She laughed. “I guess dating isn’t the right word. Boyfriend and girlfriend, either. I’ve been calling Lukas Blaire’s boyfriend for months.”