I sucked a breath in through my mouth. Arched my back. I felt languorous, like a cat. I wanted that hand higher. Lower. Something.
Why was he teasing me like this? I wanted him to peel away my blankets. Why didn’t he?
The frustration made me angry. My body pulsed now, needing him. I tried to speak. I wanted to tell him. Why couldn’t I—?
I sat up, clutching the blanket to my chest. My heart pounded, its pulse echoing through my body until I throbbed with it.
Carden—where was he?
I widened my eyes and looked around in the darkness. Mei-Ling was in her bed, her breathing deep and even. The clock read 3:02. It was the middle of the night. A dream.
No Carden.
I flopped back, breathing like I’d just sprinted a mile. It was only a dream. I pulled the covers tight under my chin, but it didn’t make me feel any less vulnerable.
I measured my breathing, forcing myself to calm down. A dream, stupid. Carden was out there somewhere, but he wouldn’t know I’d dreamed of him.
Would he?
No, he wouldn’t. It was a silly notion brought on by the vivid sensuality of it. There was a simple explanation: I was coming off the bond and it was giving me fever dreams.
I rolled onto my side, clutching the blankets snugly at my chest until I felt cocooned. It was no good, though. I’d never feel safe.
My throat felt so dry it ached. Hunger clawed at my belly. I curled into a fetal position around the cramping.
My bedside clock ticked. No digital readouts for us, just old-fashioned clock faces with glow-in-the-dark hands, and I watched their slow progress. Tick: 3:12 a.m.; tock: 3:47. Time crawled, but I was too jangled to sleep. And way too uncomfortable.
I tried to think peaceful, meditative thoughts to relax, but it was no good. My mind raced.
Mei-Ling. I needed to help her, but I couldn’t get a bead on the girl. Did she hate me? Or was she just too proud to accept my help? Maybe it was that she somehow knew more than the rest of us about the island, and her stoicism was actually disdain.
Was she shy and longing for a friend? I could think about it all night, but I wouldn’t be figuring that one out anytime soon. So around 4:14, my mind skittered on to the next topic.
The killer. Who was killing girls on the island? A rogue vampire? A Draug? A clever and vengeful Acari?
But all the girls had been drained, and only a few creatures could manage that. Could Trainees do it? Or had one of our vampire enemies come from another island to terrorize us?
Whatever was going on, I had the sinking suspicion that I was getting pulled into the drama. Alcántara was overly curious about Carden, and to know Carden was to discover our bond.
I had to find the killer.
And why not? I was a walking, talking weapon. In several short months, I’d learned sabotage, secrecy, and worse—I’d become one of the world’s most elite killing machines.
I lay there with the thought, trying to muster up fear for my own safety. Investigating the murders would be stupid and dangerous. But it would be even more dangerous for me if something were to happen to Carden. We were tied together now, whether I liked it or not. The need clawing at my belly told me as much.
I rolled onto my side, curling into that empty feeling. At the very least, looking into the murders would be a good distraction.
Planning soothed me, and the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake. I peeled open my eyes. My alarm was ringing. Mei-Ling was saying, “Acari Drew. Wake up.” I’d have sworn I’d been awake just fifteen minutes ago.
My head was throbbing. A dull ache, like a caffeine headache. Or a Carden one.
I moaned. “All right, all right.”
I remembered my dream. It came back full force, bringing with it the ghost of a throbbing between my legs. I threw back the covers. The room was freezing, but I embraced it. Anything to get rid of this heat in my body.
Carden had been right. I needed to stay away from him. I needed space. We needed to sever the bond, because any more dreams like that and I’d be walking in my sleep to find him. I had no doubt I’d be able track him down with my eyes closed.
Scowling, I swung my feet onto the floor and tried to push away the last of my sleep and focus on my day. Monday morning. I’d survived my first weekend of the fall term, and, man, it’d been a rough one. But I had a plan now, and plans were good.