28. HOPE

28

HOPE

T he quiet walk across the darkened academy grounds and up the stairs to his—now their —dorm room set Aiden on edge. Charlotte remained silent after they left the staff building, eyes darting everywhere the lights around campus touched. He didn't like it.

Once on his floor, she hesitated in the doorway leading from the stairs, eyes scanning the different doors lining the hall with apprehension.

"I won't let anyone hurt you." He moved to stand in front of her, his back to the hall. Meeting her wary eyes, he added, "No one will lay a finger on you." It felt like barbed wire raking his throat as he swallowed and forced out words he didn't want to say, but she needed to understand. She needed to know she wasn't in danger with him, despite what she saw. "Not even me."

He turned before he could see the look on her face. He didn't want to see her revulsion and rejection. While she may have accepted a place at Blackthorn Academy, it didn't mean she accepted his species. At least not on a romantic level.

It didn't mean she didn't fear him.

He couldn't shake the terror he felt radiating from her in the alleyway when she looked at him. He caused that. No explanation of Vasirian being civilized would quell her natural instincts to run from a predator.

She followed him. Her footsteps echoed his. Better the monster you know. He wanted to cringe as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

Opening the door to the dorm room they would now share, he stepped aside and let her enter first, flipping on the light switch.

How did Lukas do this?

When Blaire woke up in the dorms after fainting at the sight of Headmistress Velastra's fangs, Lukas had Riley and Aiden with him. It helped with the transition. The way Lukas put it, as soon as Aiden and his sister left the room, everything went to hell. He acted like an asshole, and Blaire retaliated. It laid the foundation for a long, drawn-out tug-of-war between the two of them. Blaire didn't fear their kind, but she and Lukas experienced their own problems.

He sighed. He wished his sister was here to act as a buffer. He didn't know how to act around Charlotte anymore.

He closed the door behind them and locked it to add an extra layer of security for her. He didn't think the students would attack her, but he wouldn't take any chances. If it helped her feel at ease, then all the better. That her stalker had been one of his kind probably didn't help her acceptance of everything. At least he was dead. They couldn't even celebrate her freedom from the man because it would force her to recall the awful things she saw. He didn't want to remind her of his latent monster.

"The bathroom is through there, if you want to take a shower or anything," he said, breaking the silence.

Standing in the middle of the room, as though reluctant to touch anything, Charlotte turned to face him, gaze following to where he directed with his hand to the ensuite off the entrance hall of the dorm. "So this is what you meant about the school being okay with girls and guys sharing rooms," she said. With how low she spoke, he thought she said it to herself, but he answered anyway.

"Yeah."

She looked at him. "And you've never had another girl in here?"

His head angled to the side, and his brows tightened. "No. Well, other than visitors like Blaire, Layla, and Riley." He looked up. "Oh, and Seth's flings before he and Riley discovered they were Korrenas."

"Wait. Seth and Riley are mates?"

"They are," he said in a halting voice. He wondered what she thought of that. She had to know that Blaire and Lukas shared a bond, but it surprised him no one had mentioned Seth and Riley.

"That makes so much sense. The tension between those two before they started dating seemed so intense." She laughed. "I guess dating isn't the right word. Boyfriend and girlfriend, either. I've been calling Lukas Blaire's boyfriend for months."

"It's similar."

"Is it?"

She walked to the side of his bed, looking across it out the only window to the courtyard below. He moved to stand at the head of his bed after moving a pair of dumbbells from the floor near the foot of his bed so she didn't trip. He wanted to give her space, but he felt uncomfortable too far away, as if she'd disappear if he looked away a second too long.

His Korrena stood in front of him, and he didn't know what to do. If he touched her, would she scream and run away? He never thought a pair bond would happen for him, and even now, it wasn't guaranteed, not with her fear so potent.

"Aiden?"

He blinked. She stood staring at him, no longer focused on the window.

"I asked you a question."

His hand ran over his face. "Yeah, it's similar. But it's also not. It's more." Not able to stand any longer, he sank onto the edge of the bed and clasped his hands together in front of his mouth, putting his elbows on his thighs. He stared ahead at the opposite wall where his TV sat, video games strewn around the stand. She probably hated how untidy his space looked.

"I don't know what all they told you, but sometimes Korrena pairs connect right away. Either they were former lovers, friends, or had some strong connection that made it easy to accept the bond. Then whatever relationship they had going into the awakening grows into something more. Pairs who develop romantic relationships could call themselves boyfriend and girlfriend, but it's deeper than that."

The bed shifted as Charlotte perched on the edge of the mattress at the foot of his bed, which formed a corner with the head of the second bed. She still wore the slinky outfit from the club, which looked out of place in the dorm room. He'd need to get her something else to wear soon.

"Sealing the bond is similar to what you experience with marriage, except there's no divorce. Not without a lot of pain. We didn't know it was even possible to break a bond until it happened to Blaire and Lukas when she was kidnapped."

"What?" Her voice pitched high, and he looked over at her again.

"Remember the psycho TA who kidnapped her? Everything we told you was true. He was obsessed with her, but the former heads of the academy covered his actions because he was stealing her blood for them to experiment on."

Charlotte's hand flew to her mouth when a gasp escaped.

"He ended up severing their bond in some fucked-up ritual."

Charlotte lowered her hand from her mouth. "So they don't have a bond now?"

"They do. It's restored. It's a long story, and I'm sure Blaire will fill you in on it, but that tattoo on their neck is a symbol of their sealed bond."

"So they are sort of married?"

"It's the closest thing I can compare it to in human terms. Our kind marries. My parents are married. It's the same thing you would do. The sealing of a bond is an extra layer of commitment. Where marriage has rings as a symbol, the mark shows the binding of souls."

"That actually sounds incredibly romantic."

He scoffed. "Think so?"

"Binding yourself to someone forever? The headmistress said you live for hundreds of years. To have someone who loved you and connected with you on that level always by your side? That's a hopeless romantic's dream."

When she put it like that, it sounded wonderful. It was how he felt about it. But he didn't think she considered the long-term ramifications associated with binding her soul to another's; to his.

Charlotte toyed with the tip of her thumbnail. "What if you get angry with each other, though? What if you get tired of one another? What if the other person cheats?"

"You work it out, just like you would in a marriage."

Charlotte shook her head, the curls that had fallen from the bundle on her head swishing around cheeks still stained with black tears. "Not everyone works out their problems. "

"I've never heard of a Korrena pair not working through their issues. As for cheating? It's unheard of. The intense yearning for your other half is too great."

Silence descended as Charlotte looked down at her hands, flicking her thumbnails against each other. He didn't know what was going through her mind, and her feelings weren't strong enough to give him any insight into her emotional state.

With both sex and blood passed from one side of their pair, their connection had already surpassed that of others. After speaking with Seth while Charlotte was being treated by the medical team, he gained greater insight into how close their connection had come to a fully sealed bond. It wasn't far off at all. All she had to do was drink his blood while he was buried deep inside of her. While he claimed her body. Stop. She's not going to do it.

He didn't need to get his hopes up.

When he stood from the bed, her gaze snapped up at him and he gave her an apologetic look. He didn't mean to spook her with the sudden movement.

"Uh…" His hand cuffed the side of his throat as he rubbed at it. "I know it isn't ideal, but until they can bring you your clothes and stuff, I'll loan you something to sleep in, so you don't have to stay in that." He motioned to the outfit she wore, unable to resist letting his eyes roam over the skin on display.

"Yeah, thanks. I don't think I ever want to wear this again."

He shook his head. She looked phenomenal in the outfit, but he didn't blame her; it probably wasn't comfortable. He retrieved a pair of boxers and a T-shirt from his closet and returned, passing them to her when she stood. "My regular shorts would swallow you. These are going to be big as it is, but it's better than anything else I have."

"It's okay. "

"You can shower or take a bath and get some sleep. The door's locked from the inside so no one can get in." He nodded to the bed on the opposite side of the room. "The bedding is new, added while you were in the staff building. That whole side of the room is yours. The desk and all. You also get half of the closet. Before the summer is out, they'll provide you with a uniform and all the things you need."

She laughed. "I still find it so weird you wear uniforms in college."

"It's just the policy. I don't understand it, but I know some religious and military schools have similar things. I guess it's the Blackthorn Clan's way of keeping the elite appearance to discourage humans from applying."

"Yet they still try."

He chuckled.

She looked down at the clothing in her hands and then up at him. "Thank you, by the way. Not just for the clothes, but for everything else. You saved me. I didn't thank you for that."

His fingers twitched at his side with the need to touch her. Instead, he gave a tight nod and clenched his fist. "I told you I wouldn't let anything happen to you."

Stepping forward, she used the arm not holding his clothes to wrap around his waist, resting her cheek against his chest.

His heart lodged in his throat, and it took swallowing several times to force it back into his chest cavity. He couldn't take it anymore, he had to ask. Her actions since they entered the room made no sense. "How are you not afraid?"

She tightened her grip on the back of his shirt, and she sighed. "Because none of you have ever hurt me, or even Blaire, and she's been with the academy for over a year." Her head tilted up, her chin resting against him like she did when he first arrived in Athens—it felt like a lifetime ago. "And you've always kept me safe. No matter what, you didn't let anyone hurt me. You've never hurt me."

His hand lifted slowly, giving her the chance to step away, but she didn't move. He cupped her cheek, and she leaned into the touch. "I would never hurt you." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes against the burn in his eyes. "I will never hurt you as long as I breathe."

Charlotte didn't say anything to his words, giving only a small nod as she separated from him. He hated the loss of her warmth.

"Take your time," he said. "I'll be out here if you need me."

When she disappeared into the bathroom, he collapsed onto his bed and pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. It boggled his mind how she wasn't afraid of them. It gave his fearful heart hope, and that was a dangerous thing.

He couldn't deny the ever-present demon in the back of his mind reminding him that to her he was nothing more than a monster once his canines descended and his true hunger showed itself.