31. Evalee

EVALEE

A fter I’ve showered and changed into a pair of pajamas, I head back to my room. I don’t know why, but I expect Hunter to be there waiting for me. He’s not.

I consider hopping into bed, because holy sleepy spells I’m exhausted. However, curiosity gets the best of me, and I decide to try to do a little bit of eavesdropping.

Tiptoeing out of my room, I pad down the hallway and toward the top of the stairs. As I pass by Opal’s room, I hear murmuring coming from the other side, so I stop and press my ear to the door.

“Hunter, I seriously have no idea what the hell is going on in your head,” Opal hisses with frustration. “Kissing her like that—that’s completely against the rules.”

“I know what the rules are,” Hunter bites back. “I don’t need you to remind me.”

“Obviously, you do,” Opal says. “Since you kissed her twice that I know of. God knows how many other times you’ve done it.” When Hunter says nothing, she lets out a sequence of curses, sounding very un-Opal-like. “You’re going to get in so much trouble.”

“No, I’m not,” he states. “Because you’re not going to tell anyone.”

“Please don’t put me in that position.”

“If you care for Eva and me at all, you won’t say anything.”

Silence lingers in the air.

“Why is this so important to you?” Opal finally asks. “Do you really care about her? Or is this just another one of your flings where you’ll use her then dump her? It’s not worth getting into trouble over if it is. And I don’t want you messing with Eva’s heart like that. She’s too sweet.”

More silence.

“It’s not like?—”

I let out a banshee scream as Peyton’s pet bat swoops down the hallway and dives at my head.

I realize my mistake a squeal of a second later and make a mad dash for my bedroom. Then I dive into bed and pull the covers over my head, feeling a little silly. At the same time, I don’t want them to know I was listening. If they do find out, they might be more careful about what they say, and I need to find out as much as I can.

What I really want to know is why Hunter isn’t allowed to kiss me. Because of the society?

I really need to find out more about this society. I mean, I know nothing about them or what they do. Why work so hard to protect me when they supposedly have no clue what I am?

As I lie in bed, waiting for someone to check in on me and teeter-tottering between sleep and consciousness, my thoughts drift to what else Hunter and Opal said. Am I just a fling for Hunter, like a lot of the girls he’s dated? A while ago, I would have never doubted him. Now … I don’t know anything. About him. My life. This world.

I’m completely lost and alone. I worry I may never find my way to a place where anything makes sense again.