Page 73 of Dark Embers

“Arya?” Ashlyn’s voice called my attention away from the dragon’s stony face and toward the entrance.

Ashlyn rounded the couches to come to my side. “What are you doing here?”

I considered pulling her aside to talk in private, but I figured everyone might as well know if I had to stay here indefinitely.

“I was hoping I could bunk with you for a while. Cora booted me out of the mer wing.” I even impressed myself with how dismissive and uncaring my voice sounded.

“She did what!?” Tobias snapped, suddenly unable to pull his wide eyes off me.

“That witch! She can’t do that!” Ashlyn’s anger was in full heat. “Did you tell Celeste?”

“No, and right now, I just don’t care,” I said. “I just want some space from them. So… I was hoping you wouldn’t mind letting me stay with you until this whole Letti thing blows over.”

The fire in her eyes cooled, and her face smoothed into a pitying pout. “Of course. You can bunk with me for as long as you need to. And if anyone has a problem with that, they can take it up with me.”

She narrowed her eyes at everyone around the room, but no one said anything. Though Tobias was barely perched on the edge of the couch, a storm of emotions raging on his gorgeous, surly face. We stared at each other for a brief moment, so many unsaid words hanging in the space between us.

“Come on, let’s get you settled,” Ashlyn suggested with a tap to my arm that broke the tenuous connection. “Then we’ll steal a tub of ice cream from the kitchen and we can talk.”

“Thanks.” Flushed with gratitude, I threw my arms around her.

Our hug lingered for a moment, almost like she knew how upset I really was by this situation.

As we excused ourselves from the common room and headed for Ashlyn’s room, Tobias stood.

“I’ll fix this,” he promised, sincere determination shining in his amber eyes.

Despite how he’d avoided me all morning, and this whole tug-of-war thing we had going on since we met, I believed he meant that. But he couldn’t fix this. And I’d be damned if I was going to play the damsel a second longer.

So I turned away and followed Ashlyn down the hall.

Chapter 26

Caesar

It was pretty sad that I knew Shea’s scent so instinctively that I was able to follow the aged trace of it from Arya’s house to Shea’s grandmother’s house. How fucking pathetic was I? But seeing as neither Shea nor her grandmother were listed anywhere public, it was the only thing I had to go on.

I wandered slowly up to Shea’s front door, trying to figure out what my approach was even going to be. What was I going to say? Sorry for getting drunk and letting you blow me in the pub bathroom? And also, sorry for running out before I could return the favor.

Holy shit.I ran my hands down my face.

That could never happen again. It was inappropriate on so many levels, it was unbelievable. Why had I let it get that far? And why couldn’t I stop fucking thinking about her? Andfuck, that had been the best blow job of my life, and Shea was beautiful and smart and funny and—

Knock it off, dumbass!

I checked my wrist watch. It was five minutes after three. Would she even be home yet? It was a school day, and as far as I knew, Shea did attend a human high school. Maybe she wasn’t here yet. Maybe this was a huge mistake. I should have just called her. But then it would have been super awkward, and this wasn’t the kind of favor one asked for over the phone.

Maybe I should’ve just texted her. Like a coward.

As I stood there pacing and slowly going insane with indecision, the door opened. I turned with my heart skipping a beat with hesitant excitement to see her, but the old lady standing in the doorway definitely wasn’t her.

“Can I help you?” she asked, giving me an appraising look up and down behind her spectacles.

I froze for a few long seconds, probably looking every bit as much of a dumbass as I felt. “Um, yeah, sorry. Is Shea home?”

She crossed her arms under her sagging bosom and arched a graying eyebrow at me. This woman may have been short, stout and wizened, but the authority in the look she gave me made me feel about two feet tall.

“No, she’s not returned from school yet,” she replied, disdain thickly lacing her tone.

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