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He parted his lips, revealing the barest glimmer of fang. “Yours is the only nectar I’ve a taste for. ”
Vertigo spun my brain as I began to fall into those eyes. They were golden brown, like honey.
I gritted my teeth. I would not lose myself. I was Annelise Drew, and I was stronger than that.
“Does that line generally work for you?” I turned from him, and it took everything I had. “Look, I’ve gotta go. ”
With a gentle hand on my shoulder, he stopped me. “Little one. ”
“I told you not to call me that. ”
“Ah, but if you’d asked…”
Maddening. Why didn’t he act less like a cocky guy and more…vampiric?
“Fine,” I said. “Please don’t call me that. ”
“As you wish, my wee dove. ” He pressed on before I could get out more than an outraged squeak. “But before you go, for the record, I do not savage young women. ” He gave my shoulder a final squeeze. “At least, not without their consent. ”
I stormed off, the sound of his rumbling laugh at my back.
All I wanted was peace and quiet, and I couldn’t get back to the dorm quickly enough. As much as Lilac’s empty bed creeped me out, at the moment, I was thrilled at the prospect of a single room.
Carden’s scent lingered in my head. I exhaled sharply but couldn’t rid myself of his memory. He was branded into me.
I jogged up the stairs, anxious to get back before I ran into anybody. I didn’t even want to see Emma. If I saw her, I’d have to pretend nothing was going on for me. I didn’t think I could do it.
I passed her room without event. The hallway was oddly silent. Of course. It was lunchtime. The thirst for Carden was so consuming, I hadn’t even realized I was missing a meal.
His eyes were in my head, staring. One minute playful, the next minute smoldering. I knocked my head against the doorframe, resting it there as I slid the key in the lock. I actually shuddered with relief as I turned it.
Almost there. I’d crumple onto my bed, roll into a ball, and wait for the throbbing in my belly to stop.
I opened the door, and for one surreal moment, I thought I’d entered the wrong room. But no. It was Lilac’s bed, with its gray mattress ticking and neat stack of white and gray linens.
Only now a slim figure sat at the edge. I registered a sheet of shining black hair. Slim shoulders.
The figure turned.
My new roommate.
CHAPTER THREE
Dammit to hell.
She was here. My roommate. I’d known this day was coming. Was actually kind of relieved it had. But still, I made it a general rule not to trust girls on principle.
As she turned, I sized her up. Asian. Pretty. Young looking. Younger than me. I tried to guess what flavor of badass she might be.
I muttered, “How young do they take them now?” Even though she was new, part of me braced for her to pull a weapon on me. But nothing happened.
Her cheeks were blotchy. Crap. “Are you crying?”
She gave me a curt shake of her head. Perfectly cut layers swished into her eyes, and she swept them away again.
“Oh, okay. Because it looked like you were crying. ”
She cleared her throat and said firmly, “I wasn’t crying. ”
“Fine. Got it. Not crying. I’m Drew. ” I waited, but she just looked at me blankly. “Well? What’s your name?”
“Mei-Ling. ” I watched her slim throat convulse. There’d been some definite crying. “Mei-Ling Ho. ”
“Pretty name. ” I slung my bag onto my desk. Making idle chatter was the last thing I felt like doing.
Carden preoccupied my whole mind and body—I didn’t have time to deal with anyone else, much less some kid.
I realized it was past time for her to speak. I probed. “Mei-Ling. That a Chinese name?”
She nodded.
I was getting impatient. “What’s it mean?”
“Beautiful and delicate. ” She turned her back on me.
Great. “My advice, best change your name. What’s Chinese for ruthless and savage?”
She ignored the question. Was she in shock? I thought she’d been crying when I came in, but she seemed utterly emotionless now. I watched her long fingers repeatedly smooth the sheets, the nervous gesture the only thing telling me she was in there somewhere.
I could not deal with this right now. I had to sort out my bond with Carden.
Carden. My breath caught, just remembering the feel of him.
I fisted my hands and shook them out again. I needed to get ahold of myself. There was no way I could function in this place with all the obsessing I was doing. I had to figure this bond out before someone figured me out. Which meant I couldn’t trust anybody in the meantime. Especially not a new roommate who could be in my face—and maybe even in my stuff—24-7.
I looked at her, trying to figure out how to go about laying down the ground rules, and took a step closer. Was she even sixteen? “How old are you?”
“I just turned fifteen. ”
“Damn. ” No wonder she was proving hard to read. She must’ve come from a seriously messed-up place to land here so young. “So you were in, what, ninth grade?”
“I just started at the performing arts school,” she said in answer. “My parents relocated to Long Island so I could go. ”
“Fancy. ” How I would’ve loved parents who supported me. What a different world I’d live in now. “Does that mean you’re some sort of prodigy?”
To my surprise, she nodded. I wanted to snark that I was smart, too. On this island, special meant nothing. Special got you a shooter of blood and a knife in the back.
“I’m a violinist,” she said, “but I can play a lot of things. ”
Was that why the vampires had placed her with me? Put the musical genius in with the genius-genius? Because my room wasn’t the only one with a sudden vacancy. “Well, now you’re an Acari. Fights to the death seem to be the only performing art we’ve got going around here. ”
She gave me a flat look. “When do we receive our syllabus?”
“Our syllabus?” I choked back a little laugh.
“Yes. ” She looked at me like I was a moron. “Otherwise, how will I know where I need to go?”
Oh God, the poor thing was being serious. She had no clue what she’d agreed to, and it dismayed me. “Don’t worry—they’ll let you know. The vamps go for drama. They’ll probably slide some ancient piece of parchment under the door at some ungodly hour, and if you can parse the old-school calligraphy, that’ll be your syllabus. ”
I watched her riffle through her stack of books, even though I was sure she’d done plenty of riffling before I came in. What weapon had she been assigned? Because surely there was a weapon hidden in one of her dresser drawers.
Would Mei-Ling be a threat to me? Maybe smother me in my sleep? Most important, would she find out about me and Carden and narc on me?
I had no clue, and knew I needed to get one fast. I rested my foot on my desk chair to unlace my boots and kick them off. “So why’d you wanna up and leave your fancy new school for a place like this?”
“I didn’t want to leave,” she said.
“Wait. ” Surely I misheard. The vampires recruited us onto the island. Maybe they sometimes used little hypnotic tricks to persuade us, or seduced us with fancy private jets and hot Tracers, but they didn’t resort to outright kidnapping. “Back it up. What do you mean, you didn’t want to leave? You’re here, aren’t you?”
Her jaw tightened. “He made me. He killed my boyfriend and said if I didn’t go with him he’d kill my parents and my sister, too. ”
I could say that I sat on the chair, but it was more like my knees gave out. I dropped. Thankfully, the seat was there to halt the progression of my butt onto the floor. “You didn’t come of your own will?”
“I tried t
o fight back, but he was too large. ” Her expression changed, and she looked at me like I’d just told her I drowned kittens as a hobby. “Why? Did you?”
“Yeah. ” Her tone had put me on the defensive. “The guy was pretty persuasive, though. ” I thought back to that day—Ronan, sexy Ronan, in a Florida parking lot. He’d used his hypnotic touch to help convince me. But honestly, the guy was so good-looking and my world had been such crap, it hadn’t taken much.
I bristled at the memory. Suddenly, I felt eager to explain this to Mei-Ling and her judgmental eyes. “I had no place else to go. I had nothing but thirty bucks in my checking account and an abusive dad waiting for me at home. ”
She gave me a look that said she didn’t fully understand me, and worse, that she found me pathetic. My defenses locked even more firmly into place.
It made me think with cold reason. “Hold on. ” She was brought in against her will—which Tracer would do such a thing? “You said he made you come. He who?”
She shrugged. “He…he had an accent. ”
“Scottish?” I held my breath.
“Not like that,” she said.
Not Ronan, then. I felt more relieved than was good for me. “You mean English was his second language? Could it have been a German accent?”
She shrugged again.
The one-sided interrogation was tiring me. “Blond?”
Finally she nodded, and I said, “Sounds like Otto. ” I could picture him doing it, too. He was the badass Tracer who’d been strong enough to bring my pal Yasuo in.
Mei studied me, and it made me uncomfortable. She looked like she was evaluating me, and evaluations made me feel vulnerable.
I struck out in defense and said, “If you were taken against your will, that means your parents are probably looking for you. ” I regretted the words the moment they were out.
An expression of acute misery flickered in her eyes then was gone again. “You’re right. ”
I’d noted the tiniest waver in her voice. “Damn,” I whispered, aghast. Why had they kidnapped this girl? This nice, normal, fifteen-year-old girl?