Page 76 of Cruel Destinies

I tucked my wings like Ms. Heather had done and flared them again as I neared the floor. My landing wasn’t nearly as graceful, but I managed to stay on my legs, my wings helping to compensate for my stumbling talons.

I beamed at her once I’d found my balance. “I did it!”

“Very good!” She clapped. “Now, it’s time for your final lesson of the day.”

I cocked my head at her.

She winked. “Putting the harpy away.”

Chapter 25

Shea

I tapped my toes as I sat in the kitchen, my legs bouncing with the nervous movement. I kept glancing at the clock, at my phone, and then picked at my nails for something to distract me.

I finally responded to Caesar’s text an hour ago, and he immediately replied, asking to come over. Seeing as Gram was having dinner at Aunt Jeanette’s to meet her new boyfriend, I figured I had a long enough window for him to say whatever it was he wanted to say.

But what could it be? If he wanted to end this…whatever we were, he didn’t have to do it in person. And I doubted he’d be so eager to end it in person that he would immediately leave the school and come right over. No one was ever that determined to dump someone.

Maybe it was about getting me into the school. Maybe he had news. A new ally among the professors, perhaps?

Or…what if he was coming to tell me that he had spoken to them, and the answer was a big fat fucking no?

Ugh, my stomach wouldn’t stop churning and twisting into knots! Why couldn’t we just do a phone call? Save me from all this agonizing catastrophizing?

The doorbell rang, making me jump so high that I practically fell out of my chair at the table. Even though no one saw it, my cheeks still burned with embarrassment as I righted myself.

I shook my head and stood, smoothing my hands down my shirt as I straightened my posture.

Keep it cool, Shea. This is no big deal. Just another Monday evening.

With slow, casual steps, I made my way to the front door, taking my time like I had better things to do. He didn’t need to know that I didn’t.

When I opened the door, the sight of him made my heart flutter even faster. The stubble on his jaw looked even darker in the shadow of the porch light, and even against the dim backdrop of the night sky, I could clearly see the outline of his sexy, cut-from-stone figure.

“Are you going to invite me in?” he asked after I’d apparently been staring at him for a beat too long. There was a hint of humor in his voice.

“Why, you’re not secretly a vampire, are you? You need an invitation to cross the threshold?” I teased.

My joke did the opposite of my intentions, his facial features hardening into an unreadable mask.He must really hate vampires. Oh well, I still thought my joke was funny.

With a frown, I stepped to the side and waved him in. He trudged past me with almost angry steps, and my stomach did a weird somersault as I closed the door and followed him to the living room.

He perched on the left side of the couch, his rigid posture making him look very much the douchey professor I’d nicknamed him after. Maybe hewashere to break up with me.

Clearly reading the “don’t get too close” sign his aura was giving off, I sat on the armchair across from him.

“Okay, what is this all about?” I asked when I couldn’t take the tense silence or his intense stare any longer.

He leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and lacing his fingers in the air between them. “That night I saved you in the alley—”

“Umm, you mean the night you assaulted a poor old homeless man who was probably just going to ask me for spare change?” I interrupted because I was not about to let him think I needed saving that night.

He scoffed. “Whatever. That night, you mentioned having an encounter with a vampire.”

My heart thudded in my chest. I definitely didn’t expect this conversation to take that particular turn.

I swallowed but shrugged like his non-question was a non-issue. “Yeah. So?”

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