Page 89 of Saints & Sinners

That got my attention. I turned my chair slightly, my gaze narrowing on him. “What?”

“Yeah, I got used to her shampoo.” He sniffed dramatically. “It made the dorm smell... I don’t know...nice. You ever notice that?”

I stared at him. “You’re fucked up, you know that?” Though I was well aware of that scent of hers following me everywhere I went. I was no better than him.

“Yeah, yeah.” He waved me off. “So how do you feel about her being on the top ten list? Bet Matias ispissed.”

I leaned back in my chair, a smirk tugging at my lips. “I’m glad she knocked him off.” But I wasn’t glad she was on the list in the first place.

Silas gave me a look, tilting his head as if he knew something. “You’re not worried she’ll make the top five?”

“She doesn’t want to do the competition,” I said, though my voice was far steadier than my thoughts.

“You sure about that? Because if she does—”

The door opened again, cutting him off as Brandon walked in.

“You know,” I said, gesturing to the doorway. “Knocking isn’tillegal. You both should try it sometime instead of barging in.”

“Relax, it’s not as if you were in here jerking off or something,” Brandon said, dropping beside Silas on the bed. He winced slightly, rubbing his shoulder. “Had to hit the Healer’s Sector after getting absolutely annihilated in training.”

Silas perked up, grinning. “Oh yeah? Who took you down?”

“Matias,” he muttered, and the name alone angered me. “Marnie patched me up, though.”

I didn’t miss the way his tone shifted when he said her name or how his cheeks flushed like an embarrassed little kid.

“Wait a second,” Silas said, sensing what I was too. He grinned suggestively at Brandon. “Marnie healed you? Are you sure she didn’t heal you a littletoomuch?”

Brandon threw one of my shirts at him, which Silas dodged with exaggeration. “Shut up, man.”

“Can’t you two find somewhere else to be annoying?”

“Well, Grace is no longer here to annoy, so it all falls on you now, Cain.”

I rolled my eyes at Silas, not bothering to say anything else as I played with Grace’s ring and my gaze drifted back to the computer screen.

It was past two in the afternoon. I was meeting Grace in the forest at five.

Time couldn’t be moving any slower.

“Looking good, Bambi,” I said, pushing off the tree as she came into my line of sight.

Her lips curved into a smile, the kind that managed to knock the air from my lungs no matter how many times I’d seen it. “Not so bad yourself, huntsman,” she shot back before breaking outinto a run.

I didn’t have time to react before she threw her arms around my neck, and her lips crashed into mine. I held her waist, pulling her closer and grounding her to me. I kissed her back with just as much eagerness as I had done the first time at that motel.

When we finally broke apart, she was breathless, her hands still clutching my jacket like she was afraid to let go. Good, because I didn’t want her to.

“I was in the library earlier,” she said, her voice soft but rushed. “I was trying to find more things on Riftkeeper’s.”

I raised an eyebrow at that, brushing a stray strand of her curls behind her ear. “And?”

“I didn’t find much,” she admitted in disappointment, “but it’s strange. The more I dig, the more it feels like everyone is hiding something.”

My chest tightened. “They always are,” I muttered. “Did you hear anything about the demon that killed Lucas?”

Her eyes narrowed slightly. “No, why? What did you hear?”

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