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8

DANGER

Blaire found her way out to the hedge maze past the main courtyard, where she dropped her backpack and leaned against the base of a large, beautiful black marble replica of Nike, the Winged Victory of Samothrace, which stood guard over the entrance to the intricate labyrinth.

She put her head back and closed her eyes as tears poured down her face. With Lukas’s rejection, the entire situation finally became too much for her to handle. The urge to run riding her for months reached a fever pitch. To run away from the academy, from Lukas, from her stepbrother, from life. She had never felt so defeated, so resigned to giving up before. She’d always made a plan, focused on the future, endured, and pressed forward, knowing it wouldn’t last forever. But the pain she felt in the cafeteria ripped into her and shook her foundation, and this anguish wasn’t something she wanted to invest a future in experiencing.

“What the hell am I supposed to do? I don’t want to give my future to someone who hates me so much…” She sniffled, trying to calm down before her afternoon meeting to choose her major. “No, I’m not going to deal with this farce of a pairing. I’ve had enough.”

Blaire would give Lukas one final piece of her mind, and then contract be damned. She was getting out of the academy. No way were they destined to be together; the concept was silly to start with, only written about in books and movies. No one found the one person written in the stars to be their soulmate.

A male voice startled her from her internal war with herself.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here, Phillip? It’s the academy’s human experiment.”

Blaire glanced toward the courtyard. Two male students approached her. The shorter of the two reminded her of a porcelain doll with his pure white skin, pink lips, and the mess of platinum curls atop his head.

The other scared her, grinning like he wanted to eat her. He was roughly Lukas’s size and stature, but had short, black hair slicked back on top and shaved on the sides, showing off his multiple ear piercings and tattoos that crawled up his neck and into his hairline at his sideburns.

“It seems the little lamb has lost her way and doesn’t want her Korrena.” The taller one gave Blaire a faux pitying frown, mocking her and laughing as he stepped toward her.

Blaire pressed herself as close as she could to the statue, looking around for an escape. Before she could consider escape, he got in her face, cupping her cheek with his long, slender fingers.

“Oh, don’t be afraid, pet. I can take care of you,” he cooed, leaning in.

“Now Aryan, don’t play with your food,” Phillip, the short one, chastised.

Aryan pulled away and scoffed. “I was serious. She’s quite lovely, and while I’m sure she’s delicious,”—he licked his lips—“I can also enjoy her in other ways.”

Phillip rolled his eyes; he didn’t seem like he relished the idea of toying with her like his counterpart, but he came along for the ride.

“Now…” Aryan stepped into Blaire’s personal space, wrapping one of his hands around her forearm, moving the hair on her shoulder from her neck with his other hand. He leaned in, pressing her against the base of the statue, squeezing her arm tight enough to cause her to whimper in pain. “Ohh, that is a sweet sound, pet. I wonder what other sounds you’ll make as I provide you pleasure to go with your pain.”

He moved his hand from her hair, trailing it down her side to the hem of her skirt, where he slid his hand under the edge of her thigh-high stockings, tugging one down to expose more of her bare skin.

“Stop…” she whispered. She wanted to sound brave, but her wavering voice betrayed her fear. Blaire struggled against him, pulling her leg away from his hand in an effort to get away.

“Now, now.” He grabbed her face in a firm grip and looked deep into her eyes, his blue irises glowing brightly.

Blaire gasped as the strangest sensation washed over her. She felt like she was floating, but her body remained firmly on the ground.

A diabolical grin crossed Aryan’s lips, and he tilted his head as he studied Blaire’s face, dropping his hand again. He released her from his hold and looked at her expectantly.

She tried to move, to take the opportunity presented to her to get away, but her brain wasn’t sending signals to her body. She couldn’t move. Her body remained frozen in place. Her eyes widened as panic seized her chest. She wanted to scream, she wanted to beg him to let her go, but other than her eyes, nothing worked.

Aryan’s eyes lit up with glee. He looked like he thoroughly enjoyed her helplessness. “That’s better. Now, to the fun part…”

“Aryan… you know it’s forbidden,” Phillip chastised.

Aryan didn’t care. But his friend appeared to have lost his nerve at the reality that Aryan was serious. Aryan opened his mouth and his fangs descended, causing her heart rate to spike. She squeezed her eyes shut as he dipped his head toward her neck.

Suddenly, the air grew colder. The hold on Blaire’s body released, and she collapsed forward into a pair of strong arms, unsteady as her control returned to her. She looked up at Lukas. He looked down at her, breathing heavily, his face a mix of concern and anger.

She looked past him to see Aryan in a smaller fountain at the corner of the courtyard, with Kai pulling him up from the water. How did he end up over there? Did Lukas do that? She hadn’t asked about things like strength, speed, or other supernatural powers they might possess. She focused on silly things like garlic and sunlight and important stuff like whether she would be a meal, but the rest completely slipped her mind.

She heard scuffling to their left, so she peered around Lukas to see Aiden grappling with the smaller Vasirian, Phillip, who had tried to run as Mera and Riley approached.

Aiden met Blaire’s gaze, frowning.