Page 29

“Come on, let’s take this trash to the administration building.” Aiden dragged a squirming Phillip away.

Kai climbed out of the fountain, pulling Aryan along as Mera rushed to his side.

Riley started to approach Blaire but stopped, brow wrinkling with indecision, before she finally turned away and followed her brother.

Blaire returned her gaze to Lukas as the group left them alone. He dragged his eyes over her body as if inspecting her for damage. He looked like a spring coiled tight and ready to snap.

Lukas slowly reached up and placed a shaking hand on her face, holding her jawline with his thumb wrapped around her chin, turning her head to examine her neck. He must be checking for a bite mark. She swallowed hard.

He jerked his hand away as if her skin burned him, and where he touched her turned warm and tingly.

“Are you hurt? Please tell me he didn’t hurt you.” Lukas’s voice was tight. His expression shuttered when Blaire stepped back from him.

“No… He didn’t hurt me.”

They stared at each other in silence. Blaire started to tremble and wrapped her arms around herself. Lukas sucked in a breath and reached for her, but she pulled back, shaking her head. She didn’t want to be touched, not after what just happened. She still didn’t know what to make of what happened. She needed to feel in control of her own body.

Lowering his hand, he balled it into a fist, looking at her with concern in his eyes. “I thought you said you weren’t hurt…”

“I’m not. I—he… I couldn’t move.” Her voice quavered, her last words cracking as she struggled to explain. A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Why couldn’t I move?”

Lukas lifted a hand to reach for her again but stopped. His expression turned pained as he clenched his fist at his side. “What do you mean, you couldn’t move?” Lukas spoke softly, as one would speak to a frightened animal.

Blaire took a steadying breath and looked up into his eyes. “I tried to get away from him, but his eyes… they glowed. I didn’t imagine it. They got brighter. After that, he let me go, but I couldn’t run away. I didn’t have control over my body.”

Lukas’s jaw clenched and he glared over his shoulder in the direction the others had gone.

“Lukas?” Blaire reached a hand out to touch his arm when she thought he might leave her alone there, only to gasp, startled by the anger in his eyes when he snapped his gaze back to her.

He squeezed her hand tightly in a reassuring gesture as his features softened a fraction. She discerned he wasn’t angry with her. “Mental manipulation… a form of hypnosis.”

Blaire’s eyes widened.

“Did anything else happen?” he asked. “Did you do anything against your will?”

She shook her head quickly. “No. After I couldn’t move, he tried to…” She swallowed. “Bite me. But you stopped him.”

Lukas closed his eyes, a look of relief overtaking the remaining tension in his expression as he exhaled a heavy breath.

She narrowed her eyes. “Are you able to do that to me?”

He opened his eyes and shook his head. “No. Not all Vasirian have that power. Even if I did… I would never do that to you.” He let go of Blaire’s hand and moved a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “I won’t force anything on you. I won’t hurt you.”

Blaire looked down at her feet.

“You said in the cafeteria…”

“What?”

“You said I should leave before someone gets hurt.”

Lukas rubbed his face. “No. I didn’t mean I would hurt you.” He paced in a circle in front of her. “I meant this world… it’s not like yours. You could get hurt. I could—” He stopped in front of her, pushing his hair back from his face. He looked worried.

Blaire frowned. “You could what?”

“Nothing.”

“No. Tell me. You just said you wouldn’t hurt me.”