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Blaire looked down at her guidebook. She figured as much, seeing the professor’s fangs and hearing her explanation, but she had to be sure. She needed to approach this stuff delicately, but her curiosity, and need for information, won over her fear of the unknown.

“Do all Korrena pairs really share rooms? Even the younger ones?”

“From what I know, yes.”

“That’s not normal…”

Lukas glared at her.

“I mean…” Blaire chewed the inside her cheek. “Isn’t it kind of bad to put guys and girls together in a room like that? That’s amoral where I come from.” She wasn’t a prude, but this kind of thing wasn’t normal.

Lukas sat back against the head of his bed, resting his hands across his flat stomach, bending one knee up to rest his foot on the bed, leaving his other leg outstretched. “It’s all we’ve ever known. Our world isn’t like yours. In some ways, we’re much like your kind, but in others, we’re not. We’re brought up from an early age knowing to expect our pair. To bond with them when we meet. There isn’t a taboo around it. We’re careful though. We don’t procreate young, but we do bond.” He glanced over at her. “I mean, you can’t tell me you humans don’t have sex as teenagers. I’ve seen enough movies to know better.” A faint smile ghosted his lips.

Blaire’s heart raced. “Well… yeah, they do, but sharing rooms and all that… what do your parents think?”

Lukas scoffed and shook his head. “It’s something we’re brought up to expect. It’s part of our culture. There’s nothing odd about it. Is it really going to be a problem for you?”

“I don’t know…” she said quietly. She twisted the ends of her hair around her index finger, looking down, unable to meet his eyes any longer.

Lukas sighed.

“Wait… We’re not expected to have sex, are we?” She turned quickly and began thumbing through the guidebook.

Lukas laughed.

She glared at him. “I am not having sex with you.”

He stared at her blankly. “Never said you were.”

“Good. Not happening. I can’t do that. We just met.”

A shadow of an emotion she couldn’t place crossed his face. Blaire lowered her head and resumed reading. After several minutes of silence, she spoke aloud to the book again, asking questions to the air, debating every point she disagreed with or didn’t understand.

“Can you just shut up?” His frustrated voice broke through her studies.

“What?”

“You. Need. To. Shut. Up.” He enunciated each word as if she were slow in the head.

Blaire stared at him in shock. What the hell was his problem all of a sudden? His entire demeanor had changed. He’d done a complete one-eighty. She set down the book and glared at him. “I’m just trying to figure this out. It’s a lot of information, and this is all new to me.”

Lukas clenched his jaw and moved to sit on the edge of his bed, resting his elbows on his knees, leaning forward as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“There’s nothing to understand. This is a mistake.” He swallowed hard and forced the next words out. “Humans, they don’t belong here… and certainly not with me.” He dragged a hand through his long hair and closed his eyes, grimacing as if in pain. “Just… pack your shit and go, alright?”

His expression slipped and hurt briefly flashed in his eyes before he schooled his expression. Blaire didn’t know what to make of his sudden change in mood, but he wasn’t going to run over her. She’d had enough of that from her stepbrother.

“You know what? Fuck off. I don’t want to be with a monster, anyway.” The waver in her voice betrayed her hurt.

Lukas looked as if she told him his favorite pet died, but then his features shifted from the pained expression to something angrier, and she thought he wanted to throttle her. A chill of unease went up her spine to the back of her neck. Blaire wondered if she made a big mistake and was about to meet her maker. Instead of tearing her apart and making a meal out of her, Lukas moved off his bed, grabbed his leather jacket from his desk chair, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Blaire dropped back on the bed and let out a heavy sigh. Should she leave and go back to Caleb before he realized she left? Maybe she could hitchhike to the next town over before anyone realized she was gone and get a job there; there would be no paper trail, or anyone to tell Caleb’s grandparents. She could stay in a women’s shelter. They would protect her and not let Caleb know where she went.

The problem was the consequences of running away if anyone found her. She didn’t want to die. One misstep and that would be the end of her. The other potential problem was the contract she signed and not knowing the legal repercussions for breaking it, but this situation was beyond reasonable.

She crossed to the closet and stepped inside. Lukas’s scent had infused his clothes, a mixture of apple, subtle citrus, and spice. She remembered it vividly from the other day, and it made her lightheaded.

Running her fingers over the uniforms hanging on her side of the closet, she pulled the garments apart to study them. The theme of burgundy and black carried into the uniforms with the short plaid skirt, a tie around the neck of a white button-down blouse, and a lightweight black cardigan with the school insignia embroidered on the chest. A pair of black thigh-high stockings hung over another hanger next to the skirt, and a pair of cute black loafers sat on the floor.