Page 7 of Strength of Desire

“Yes,” I said, voice deadpan, which made Ash cackle. “Yes, I can.”

I waited until he got his breath back, then asked, “Do all freshmen get their own rooms?”

“God no,” he said. “Felix just got special dispensation, and I guess they didn’t want to make you feel awkward, shoving you into a triple or quad with other freshmen who already knew each other. Your room would normally go to an upperclassman.”

“Where’s your room, then?” I asked, putting one hand on the bannister of a set of old wooden steps, leading up to the fourth floor. “I don’t think you’ve said.”

“Some things aren’t worth a mention,” Ash said darkly. “Besides, we’ve got more important things to talk about. Like thatsecret bundlethat Noah gave you that you’ve been clutching all afternoon. What is it, his letterman jacket? You guys going steady now?”

The words hit so close to home that it took me a second to realize Ash was just joking like he always was. His tone was sing-song, and he was batting his eyelashes outrageously, but he wasn’t looking at me like he expected a serious answer.

He has no idea about you and Noah, I reminded myself. Not that therewasa me and Noah. Noah had made that brutally clear. And not that I would even want that, anyway.

As far as I could tell, Noah was a jerk. So what if he was gorgeous? He’d never been nice to me. So there was no reason to flush like Ash had caught me out in some schoolboy crush. Definitely no reason for me to respond like I was embarrassed.

“Yeah,” I said. “We exchanged purity rings and everything.”

“I can’t wait to be your maid of honor. Felix will be the best man, obviously. As far as anyone knows, Noah has no social life, so it’s not like he’d contribute to the wedding party.” Ash snorted. “But you have to both wear baby blue tuxedos, though. That’s my one condition.”

“Sorry,” I said with a shrug. “We’re pretty committed to white taffeta and ruffles. My dress will be tea length, with lots of lace, and Noah’s will have an empire-waist, to show off his ample bosom.”

I’d learned all those words from Franny, who’d helped with costume design for our high school’s drama department. Ash laughed so hard, he stopped in the middle of the stairs.

“Oh God, can you imagine?” He shook his head, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. “The worst part is that he’d probably make it look good. His pecsarepretty well-sculpted.”

“Every man wants to look his best on his wedding day,” I said, proud of myself for sounding so nonchalant—and for remembering those fashion terms.

“So which one of you will be wearing the garter?” Ash asked, still laughing.

“What’s so funny over here?” A new voice cut in before I could answer.

Ash and I turned around to see Sean, Tim, and Rekha coming up the stairs behind us. Sean wore the same arrogant smile as always. Was it just my imagination, or did he leer when he reached us on the stairs?

I swallowed, then stiffened my spine. I didn’t want Ash to know Sean had any effect on me. Besides, I had just been laughing about Noah. Surely if I were capable of that, I could face down Sean and his little group too.

“Oh, just the way you looked in class earlier,” Ash said, his smile malevolent. “I never thought I’d find out what a soaking-wet puppy-dog holding a sword looks like, but then you had the grace to display that for us today. The world is full of wonders, isn’t it?”

“We’re not puppies,” Tim growled.

“It’s called a metaphor, dear,” Ash said, his voice saccharine. “It’s a literary device used to make a point. I wasn’t saying you were actual dogs, but rather that you were over-eager, inexperienced, rather pathetic-looking creatures, hoping for a treat in exchange for ‘helping’ bring in the groceries. Do you understand now?”

“That’s rich,” said Rekha, her voice a thick drawl. “Youcalling someone a creature.”

“I call it like I see it.” Ash grinned.

Her eyes narrowed and she muttered something, making a little ball of light appear above the fingers of her right hand. It looked a lot like the ones Professor Kazansky had our class working on—except this one had little sparks and crackles of lightning around it. She raised her hand in front of her chest, her fingers tightening into a fist as the little ball spun in place furiously.

I took a step back in spite of myself. I’d seen magic since I’d gotten to Vesperwood—lots of it—but I couldn’t do any myself. From what I understood, freshmen weren’t supposed to be able to do much with it yet, but maybe Rekha was the exception.

I caught Sean smiling at me, and my cheeks burned. Of course he would notice any sign of weakness in me. What the hell had I been thinking, hooking up with him?

“Oh, by all means, attack a pair of students in Vesperwood’s halls,” Ash said, still smiling. “I’m sure that will go over real well with the dean.”

Rekha’s eyes narrowed, like she wished she could shoot lightning out oftheminstead of her hand, but she let her fist fall.

“We were going to use those weapons to help fight,” Sean said, his voice full of contempt. “More than I can say for you or your demon buddy. You left poor Cory to face that moragh all alone, shivering and quaking. He had to cry out for Noah to help him.”

“I’m sure you would have done loads better,” Ash said. “It’s a lot easier to talk shit when you’re not the one the moragh was after.”

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