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Blaire pulled from Lukas’s arms. “Please move.”

“Blaire?” He looked at her, and the uncertainty on his face pulled at her, making her second-guess herself. But she couldn’t do this.

“I need you to move,” she said firmly.

Lukas slid from around her and sat next to Aiden while watching her with wary eyes.

“Y’all are talking about me like I’m not even in the room,” Blaire said, her voice shaking, her Southern dialect coming through, her accent stronger in her upset. “I can’t do this. I told you I just can’t accept someone drinking my blood like it’s not a big deal.”

“But it is a big deal!” Lukas raised his voice, frustration evident.

“You don’t mean it like I do. This isn’t pretend. This is my life.”

“It’s my life too! You’re my pair, Blaire! Do you not get how much I want this?”

Blaire stared at him with wide eyes before looking away. “I don’t want to die…”

Professor Velastra pursed her lips. “This is why bonding is important. It can help protect you.”

“No! He could kill me! Don’t you understand that? If I almost died over having a piece of my arm removed, what do you think is gonna happen when he drinks me like I’m a Slurpee? I never asked for any of this!”

Blaire’s eyes filled with tears, and she looked around the room at everyone staring at her with varying degrees of shock. No matter how her feelings for Lukas had shifted, she couldn’t do it. Not only did she not want to die, but she had conflicting feelings about allowing another person to drink her blood. Just because she had a dream where she enjoyed it, didn’t mean that in the waking light she would accept it. She used to read books like that all the time, but it didn’t mean she wanted a vampire to turn her into an undead creature, either. She knew Vasirian weren’t vampires, but the concept of drinking blood was still the same. But if she didn’t do it, she would die. Her mind spun with confusion, and she started to hyperventilate, wrapping her arms around herself.

“Blaire… no.” Lukas stood.

“Just s-stay back,” Blaire stammered, tears slipping free.

The professor clapped her hands once more to bring attention to her and away from Blaire. “Blaire should rest, so everyone should leave for now.” The professor stood from her seat. “She needs to process everything.” She looked at Blaire pityingly. “There are risks with every decision we make in life, but now is not the time to be making hard and fast decisions when you’ve been through such an ordeal.”

Aiden stood up from the bed and ran his fingers through his messy hair.

“I’ll let Seth know what’s happening. He didn’t want to come this morning because he wasn’t sure he could handle it if Blaire still had any active bleeding.” Aiden then looked at Blaire. “He’s sorry, but I know you’d understand. It’s harder for some of us than others. But he was here last night. He helped.”

Blaire bit her quivering lower lip and nodded, unable to meet his eyes.

Riley frowned, and they all moved to exit the room.

The professor stepped up and placed a hand on Lukas’s shoulder.

“Keep an eye on her. Until we know who we can trust on these grounds, I’m relying on you to keep watch over her. Assigning protection in any other form would draw too much attention.”

“I won’t leave her side.”

The professor smiled at Lukas before moving to the exit, leaving Blaire and Lukas alone in the room.

The silence that followed hung awkwardly in the air. Blaire didn’t know what to say and Lukas wasn’t volunteering to be social, which she was grateful for, for once. So often she wanted him to engage with her, but right now, all she wanted was to sleep and forget everything.

After several moments of silence, Lukas let out an unsteady breath.

“I can’t believe I almost lost you…” he whispered, staring at her from his bed.

Blaire didn’t know what to say. The entire dynamic between them had shifted further, but she also had a new reason to fear this new life she had fallen into. Would she even live long enough to see what this was between them? Her life was in danger again. Was this really any different from being under the Wilcox rule?

31

LET’S GO PARTY

It had been two weeks since her attack, and Lukas hadn’t left Blaire’s side since she woke that morning.