Page 59 of The Ordeals
‘They’re predators,’ he says, serious eyes meeting mine. ‘All we can do right now is train, be worthy of becoming full scholars, and prove ourselves in the Ordeals. We have to stay focused.Ihave to stay focused. My father …’
‘That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?’ I step towards him. ‘To avenge him. To train, to learn—’
‘And why areyouhere, DeWinter?’ he asks suddenly, and I realise how close we stand as his fingers close around my wrist. ‘Why do you ask so many damn questions?’
I take a breath, heart thumping harder as his thumb traces a slow pattern on the inside of my wrist. ‘I’m here to train, to learn. Just like you.’
He searches my face, those mahogany eyes drifting over my own. ‘Yes, but that’s not the whole story. I can tell you’re hiding something.’
The breath stills in my throat as his hand moves to my collarbone, travelling slowly across it as I stare up into his eyes. He bends low, a shiver dancing through me as he whispers against my ear. ‘You’re a distraction, you’re dangerous and yet I cannot stay away from you. I’ve tried, but …’
His lips graze my throat as he fists my hair, tugging on it gently. I close my eyes, placing my palms flat on his chest as my heart patters faster. ‘Be my partner for the next Ordeal. I don’t want … I don’t want anyone else.’
He stills for a moment, then he’s walking me backwards and I’m up against the wall, his body pressed into mine. ‘Why,’ he whispers. ‘Tell me why, Sophia.’
‘Because we work well together.’ I gasp as his mouth finds my throat once more, trailing hot kisses down to my clavicle. My hands are still on his chest, feeling the shift and pull of his muscles as he moves his own hands to my waist, a flush of heat coursing through me.
‘And you’ll stop asking questions?’ he breathes, moving his hands up my waist, tracing the shape of my sides, his fingers whispering along my ribs.
‘No,’ I say, closing my eyes. ‘Never. I want to know. Ineedto know.’
He huffs a laugh, his hands disappearing from my body, and I open my eyes to find he’s placed them on either side of my head, staring down at me, eyes dark and glittering. ‘You’re stubborn. So, so stubborn.’
I shift my hands up to his face, not wanting him to stop. ‘Is that a yes?’
Then he’s kissing me, hard, opening my mouth with his, claiming me, pressing into me.
His hands move down, skimming my waist then down to my thighs, lifting me against the wall. I straddle him, wrapping my legs around his back, gasping as his tongue moves with mine. He’s everything. My entire world shrinks to the wall at my back, his lips, his body pressed against me, a pulsing ache rising, my body grinding against his, him hard beneath me. I arch into him, wanting him. Wanting this to be more than a kiss, wanting to give in, to pull him into my bedroom and rip the shirt from his chest—
Thumps sound on the staircase, then voices and, just as quickly, he releases his grip on my thighs. I unwind from him, sliding to thefloor. He moves away, breathing hard, leaving me gasping for breath as we watch each other, three hopefuls moving past our half-landing. His lips are red and swollen, dark hair tousled, and I burn for him. All I want to do is pull him into me and quell this ache building at my core. He quirks a smile, as though he knows what I’m thinking, just standing there watching me. As I watch him.
‘I’ll be your partner, DeWinter. But I don’t know if I can trust you. At some point, I’ll find out why you ask so many questions. Why you’re really here.’
Then he’s gone, closing the door of his bedroom, leaving me in an impossible swirl of heat and desire.
Damn him. Damn him and his words and his suspicion. I can’t tell him about the Collector, or my past, or why Ihaveto succeed. The vulnerability of sharing that, of exposing my past, what may happen if I have to leave, it’s too much. I can’t stand the thought of him judging me, that what I’ve done, who I was, would shock and disappoint him.
As I glance along our row, sitting in a room filled with desks in Gantry Hall on the first floor two days later, all I can think about is his mouth, those serious eyes, the honesty he’s shown me and the teasing way his hand brushes my waist sometimes, sending little shocks of electricity all through me—
The door to the classroom opens, breaking my thoughts, and a young man steps in. He casts a look over all of us, his eyes lighting up when he spots Alden, before turning to Professor Lewellyn. ‘Apologies for my lateness.’
‘No problem. Glad you could join us, Knox. Take a seat.’
Knox …
I squint, raking my memories. Now where have I seen him before?
The young man, Knox, strides for an empty chair at the back of the room and there’s a flurry of murmurs as Alden raises his chin in greeting. He’s average height, dark brown hair, ice-blue eyes that are narrow and calculating, sweeping over all of us like he’s cataloguing.
‘I guess we have to do a new tally now Knox has joined us,’ Professor Lewellyn says. ‘Thirty-five hopefuls, and just one of your number is an alchemist.’
I resist turning in my seat to stare at him, but Fion, sitting at the front, doesn’t bother hiding her interest. She turns fully in her seat, looks over my shoulder, and narrows her eyes at the newcomer.
Tessa leans over, whispering behind her hand. ‘She’s not so special now …’
I crack a grin and Fion fixes that scowl on us before facing the blackboard again. An alchemist. Someone with the rarest of magics … but why is he joining us now? And how come Professor Lewellyn seems to know him? How comeAldenknows him? I rip a piece of paper from my notebook and scribble a single question mark on it. I clear my throat and Alden glances over as I hold up the paper, as though covering my mouth to cough. He raises his eyebrows and scribbles a few words in his notebook holding it at a slight angle as he makes a fuss of crossing one ankle over the other.
Wouldn’t you like to know.
