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The group remained silent for a while longer before Aiden sighed loudly, standing. “We need to get off campus to get away from everything.”
Riley looked up at him. “What do you have in mind?”
“We could go to the movies again and then check out this new Mexican restaurant that opened up in Valley Center Plaza recently.”
“What about Caleb?” Blaire looked at Aiden and chewed on the inside of her cheek.
“That’s a non-point now. We’ll have to talk with the professor to find out what they did to his mind, but they said the situation between you both was going to be handled to avoid any further incidents.”
Blaire sighed. “As long as we don’t go back to Ricky’s Diner, I’ll go. I don’t want to see my old boss, knowing he had a hand in all this.”
Lukas shrugged his acceptance, still staring at Blaire.
Riley got off the bed and stretched. “I need to go get a packet, because I skipped breakfast, but then I’ll be ready.”
“I’ll let everyone else know, and we can all meet in the courtyard in fifteen,” Aiden said as he walked to the door. “Call my cell if anything happens.”
Once they left the room, Lukas sighed and moved from his bed to sit next to Blaire on the edge of her bed with his back to her.
“I meant every word I said about not letting them kill you,” Lukas whispered.
Blaire dropped her head to rest against his back. He startled, then closed his eyes, and when she breathed in his scent to calm herself, he relaxed beneath her.
They sat in silence for several minutes. Everything was catching up to Blaire, and all she wanted to do was crawl under her covers and sleep until it was all over.
“I’m just so tired, Lukas… I hate that everyone is getting dragged into this mess because of me.”
Lukas scratched at his palm and sighed. “You haven’t forced anyone into anything. Besides, you couldn’t keep Riley away if you tried.”
Blaire laughed softly and Lukas stood from the bed, holding his hand out to her. “I’m hungry for actual food. We should get going. Everyone is probably already waiting for us.”
She reached out and took his hand, and he pulled her up before leading her out the door to meet everyone.
36
RUNNING
The rest of the weekend, and the following three weeks, passed smoothly. Blaire returned to classes without incident. The only real difficulty had been waking every morning to Lukas pressed against her backside. She’d spent her teen years not caring about things like that, unlike others her age, and then avoiding it with Caleb, but during the months spent at Blackthorn, she’d had a sexual awakening. That long-haired Vasirian set her body aflame.
On Friday, Riley finally talked Blaire into leaving Blackthorn to visit the Valley Center Plaza to go shopping at the store she had mentioned last month. Blaire was apprehensive to go, even though she’d been assured by Professor Velastra that the Wilcox family would no longer be a problem. She was still fighting an internal war with herself about bonding with Lukas and the suggestion to give up her humanity to protect herself. But leaving the school’s grounds got her away from the administration, and things had been going so well, that she gave in without much pressure from Riley.
She wasn’t sure she could afford anything the upscale store had, but the outfits were gorgeous, definitely the kind of thing one would wear clubbing. She picked up a pair of wedges, turning them over to see the price. Yeah, she definitely couldn’t afford anything here, even with the allowance the academy gave her.
Riley huffed. “You know, if I don’t ace the makeup final next week, I’m going to be in such shit.”
“That bad?”
“Oh yeah, and once again, Mera and Kai ranked in the top five of the class.” Riley rolled her eyes.
Blaire put the shoe down and stepped far away from it. “Do they always score that way? Couldn’t they help you study?”
Riley laughed. “Oh hell no. The last time I tried to get Mera to help me study, I wanted to pour bleach into my eyes. She had me start after class and not stop until sunrise on the morning of the test. My brain was complete mush! And Kai? Well, if Mera knew I asked him, she’d help.”
“Oh… wow.” Blaire frowned as she looked through the racks of clothing. She did well on her final, after Aiden’s help with all of her catch-up work, and was ready for July’s summer break. “What about Seth? You share a lot of classes together, and Aiden said he’s pretty smart.”
Riley froze, holding a dress in front of her on its hangar, her face turning pink.
“Are you okay?”
