Page 41 of Dark Possession
But she shakes her head, chin lifting slightly. “I’m doing this the old-fashioned way. I’ve already sent my application to Chita University.”
I nod slowly, hiding a smirk. “Fair enough.”
She watches me, searching my face like she’s trying to read between the lines.
Later, when she’s not looking, I’ll make sure she gets in.
There’s no way I’m leaving it to chance.
For now, I reach for my wine glass again, lifting it slightly in her direction. “To art school, then.”
She smiles, and something in my chest tightens.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Alina
Six Months Later
THE COFFEE SHOP bustles with the usual lunchtime rush, students grabbing a quick espresso and pastry before their afternoon class instead of a full-blown meal. I sit and pick at my ownbublik, tearing the ring-shaped dough into bits instead of eating it.
The frenetic energy of the place is too much. Too loud. Sometimes I just want to be back home, even though I love it here. I love the program, love my classes and my new friends—
“What is it, Alina?”
One of those friends, Zoya, lays a hand over mine, stilling the movement. I look up from my untouched food and offer a small smile. She sees too much.
“I’m fine.”
Zoya’s laugh rings out, catching the attention of several patrons. She’s a pretty girl with dark, wavy hair, striking green eyes, and a delicate but deceptively strong frame. Although she’s an architecture major and I’m in the arts program, we found ourselves in the same dorm early in the year and became fast friends.
“I’m not a man who’ll let that pass,” she says. “What’s bothering you?”
I lift a shoulder in a shrug, my smile turning rueful. “It’s nothing, really. I just miss home. And Lev. I want to be here, but I want to be there, too. It’s hard.”
“Ah, yes. The handsome Lev. The one who calls you every night and employs Captain Obvious over there.” She tips her head to Igor, the bodyguard Lev insisted accompany me to school. His presence is an irritating but oddly comforting constant everywhere I go, switching out at night with someone else so he can sleep at the same time I do.
“He doesn’t try to be subtle, that’s for sure.”
Zoya slings an arm around my shoulder in a brisk hug and rises to her feet. “I have to go to class. But listen, this is not forever. You will see him soon—break is just around the corner. Cheer up.”
Pressing a kiss to my cheek, she gathers her things and leaves.
I check the time. I have several hours before my next class. I could return to my dorm, but if I did, I think I’d just stew over my homesickness. I head toward the library instead, where I discovered a sweet little west-facing study alcove a few weeks ago. At a certain time of the day, the light streams through the windows in just the right way for sketching. It’s cozy and private and perfect for working on a project I have coming due.
The library is a brisk five-minute walk from the coffee shop, and I pull my sweater closer around me as I make my way across campus. It’s fall, the air turning crisp and leaves just beginning to curl and fall from the trees. I normally love this time of year, but now it’s simply days on a calendar that I’ve spent away from Lev, my mother, and Marina.
Three months. That’s how long it’s been since the semester started and I left home. We’d spent a precious few months together and had just begun settling into a semblance of normality, with Mama and Marina in a cozy new house and me with Lev. They were coming over once a week for Sunday dinner, and Mama seemed utterly charmed by Lev—although who wouldn’t be?
I wonder if they’re still coming over, now that I’m not there?
The thought of them sitting around the dining room table without me sends a sharp pain through my chest. I know the distance between the college and my hometown is too far to practically travel for just the weekend every week, but still. I should do something.
In the library, I settle in the alcove, spreading my sketchbook and books on the wooden table. The walls are bare except for one with a single window letting in a shaft of golden afternoon sunlight.
Perfect.
I sit down, put on my noise-canceling headphones, and select a playlist. Then I get to work.
