The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,121

for her loss and letting her know he was there if she needed anything. It was a lovely, classy message, especially considering that the last time he’d seen her, she’d freaked out over their kiss and then sprinted out of the building.

“Of course. I’m glad to see you. Where are you going? Can I walk you somewhere?” Mason said.

“I have a class at ten in the science center, but you’re welcome to walk me the—oh, what do you think?—ten yards if you want.”

“How about we live on the edge and walk around the quad instead?”

“And risk being only five minutes early to class instead of ten? I don’t know . . .” She trailed off with a smile and fell into step next to him.

“How have you been holding up? I still can’t believe all the news. Dahlia and Tiffany . . .”

“It’s pretty shitty, but I’m managing.”

“I’ve been thinking about you a lot.” He paused for a moment, then said, “I also texted Scarlett. We have such a long history, and I know how much she loved Tiffany.”

“It was the right thing to do,” Vivi said earnestly.

“Okay, good. I’m glad you girls all have each other right now. I’m sure it makes it easier, in a way.”

“Yeah, in some ways. But it also makes their absence so much clearer, you know?” It was strange to gather in the living room without Dahlia’s benevolent, commanding presence. No one seemed to know who was supposed to speak first or what to say. The sorority felt rudderless without its leader. “But at the same time, it has kind of brought the rest of us closer. It put a lot of things into perspective. For me, and for Scarlett too.”

“That’s good . . . right?”

“Really good.”

They stepped in a pile of wet red and gold leaves, and Vivi went momentarily rigid as she remembered the dry leaves blanketing the clearing in the woods. And the candles, and the bones, and the blood. “Are you cold?” Mason asked, then, without waiting for her to answer, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders. “Is this okay?”

“More than okay,” Vivi said, feeling safer and warmer than she had in a very long time.

“Good. I just . . . I don’t want to . . .” He grinned and shook his head. “I’m not normally like this, you know.”

“Like what? Unable to speak English?”

“Not normally, no.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, you should know that Scarlett and I talked and she gave me her blessing. She gave us her blessing.”

Mason stopped in the middle of the path and searched her face. “So . . . you’re saying she’s okay if we . . .”

Vivi nodded and his smile stretched wide enough to show off the dimple that always undid her. But then he caught himself and his expression grew serious. “What about you, Vivi? What do you want?”

She considered this. She wanted a lot of things. She wanted to learn everything she could about magic. She wanted to find her academic passion and settle into life at Westerly. She wanted the type of romance she’d always fantasized about—dates in cozy cafés, browsing through bookstores, walking hand in hand across the quad at twilight when the gas lamps in front of the brick buildings glowed yellow as the moon. But she didn’t want it with just anyone; she wanted it with Mason. She wanted to joke over his badly prepared waffles, and learn about the history classes he was taking, and hear about all the wild European adventures he’d gone on last summer. She wanted to be with him.

But she wanted her sisters, too. She wanted them happy, healthy, safe. She wanted them united, no matter what.

So she placed a hand on his arm and said, “One rule: my sisters come first. If Scarlett changes her mind and decides she’s not okay with this after all, then it’s over. Agreed?”

Mason nodded quickly. “Of course.”

She smiled, unable to hold it back any longer. “In that case, you ask me what I want, Mason Gregory?” She reached up, slid one hand around the back of his neck, and drew his face down toward her own. “I want you.”

This time when his lips touched hers, nothing held them back. His hands slid around her waist, pulled her up and against him so tightly, her feet lifted off the ground. Vivi knew a spell that would allow her to levitate, but at the moment, this felt