Page 154 of Fractured Fate

“Aiden?” she said, making Lukas and Blaire halt ahead of her and turn around at the sound of uncertainty in her voice.

“What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him and then back to the refrigerator units on the wall. “Are those what I think they are?”

His hands tightened on his tray, knuckles turning white. “They are,” he said, voice measured and slow.

Her swallow made her throat click. “You need one?”

“I will, yes.”

Her eyes shifted to Lukas, who watched her with wariness. “And you?”

“I was going to wait until after breakfast, so you didn’t have to see, but yeah.”

Blaire gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s hard at first, but you get used to it.”

She scanned the cafeteria, taking in the students laughing and eating. Some were drinking from blood bags like the ones in the refrigerator units.

“You don’t drink human blood?”

“We do. Through donations received from clinics. We drink from blood bags freely given by humans. It is against our laws to consume blood from a live source…”

The conversation with the headmistress played in her mind, and she looked between Aiden and Lukas. “Do you want me to get you both one? It’s okay.”

“You don’t have to—”

“It’s not—”

She laughed as they spoke at the same time.

Lukas shook his head. “I’ll grab them when we sit down, if you’re okay with it.”

“I’m not going to stop you from doing what you need to live,” she said, letting Aiden guide her to a large round table in the back corner where Riley, Seth, Dominic, and Layla were already seated.

When she put her tray down, Riley jumped up and wrapped her in a big hug. “I’m so glad you stayed!”

She stiffened, taken off-guard. She gaped at Riley. “Did I have a choice?”

“Well, yeah, you did. I just thought…” Riley looked around at everyone and then back at Charlotte.

Aiden tensed at her side.

“I didn’t mean it bad,” Charlotte clarified. “I mean, I thought with the attack and me knowing everything, I couldn’t leave if I wanted to.” She looked at Aiden as he lowered himself into his seat. “I don’t want to, just so you know.”

He slid her chair toward him when she sat down, his arm banding around her waist, fingers tightening on her hip. He leaned over to whisper in her ear, “I wouldn’t let you go, anyway.”

“Not another one,” Dominic grumbled.

“What?” Layla asked, looking at Aiden and Charlotte, then back to Dominic, who focused his attention on them.

“Korrena couples.” He shook his head. “Horny rabbits.”

Layla flushed, poking her eggs with a fork.

Seth smirked. “Don’t be jealous, Dom. Aiden’s twenty. He’s waited long enough.”

Blaire frowned and looked at Seth. “Dom’s also twenty.”