The squawk of girls cut through the air—the other Initiates returning.
I abruptly wadded up the towel and tossed it back to him, hoping he couldn’t read my expression in the dark. “Thanks.” My voice came out way more earnestly than I’d intended.
“Annelise, it’s merely a towel.”
“No, I mean for earlier.” I realized that was what I’d been wanting to say the whole time. “Thanks for what you did on the beach.” That hadn’t just been him being a teacher—he’d been looking out for me. I may not have known why, but I knew. I’d seen it on his face.
I expected him to deny it, to blow me off in his usual way, but instead he shrugged it off. “It wasn’t entirely on your account. The leggy one had it coming.”
He gave me a quirky grin that made me trust him. Made me want to take a risk. I strained my ears, making sure the other Initiates were still far off. I had a minute. Maybe two. Before I could chicken out, I asked the one question on my mind. “What happened to Emma?”
His face shuttered instantly, but his voice was kind. “Emma is gone. Let her go.”
“She was alive.” I knew it now, knew it in my bones. “They took her to the keep. What happened to her there?”
“You have enough to concern you without thoughts of the vampires’ keep. It’s my understanding that Alcántara has given you this term’s assignment. Is that correct?”
“Yes, but—”
“Then that is what you must focus on.” His tone was stern, relentless. “Alcántara’s assassination class is infamous. Many girls have lost their lives not taking it seriously.”
“But I—”
“Let…it…go.” He paused between words, drawing it out, trying to make me hear. “You must. Unless, perhaps, you want to find yourself in the same situation.” His words gave me a chill—and not for the reasons he would’ve thought. Did I want to find myself taken to the keep? He didn’t know just how close to the mark he was—I was desperate to see inside.
“Well…” I gave him a sheepish look. “Actually, I was kind of thinking I might want to. Break in, I mean.”
“To the vampires’ castle?”
At my nod, he laughed. He actually laughed.
“It’s not funny. I mean it, Ronan.”
The smile lingered on his face, but his eyes hardened. “If you think you can simply break in, you’re more foolish than I took you for.”
“I’ll figure out a way. What if I threw a fight? I could lose on purpose, and—”
“Don’t even think it. Don’t even say it.” He stepped closer, lowering his voice to a menacing whisper. “You go into that castle, you’ll never come out again.” Pain bled onto his features, until he looked genuinely distressed by the thought.
“Don’t tell me you care, Ronan.”
He blew out a shaky breath. “Good Christ, Annelise.”
I couldn’t help the smile that popped onto my face. Maybe I wasn’t as alone as I thought. Not nearly. “You do care, don’t you?”
His upper lip twitched—a smile he didn’t want to give me just then. “For one so smart, you’re quite clueless.”
It was a clear night, the moonlight vibrating on my skin, so I sensed the veil of shadow the moment it fell over my shoulder. Carden, standing behind me. I’d been so focused on how close the girls were, I’d forgotten how likely it was that he’d appear. I was still getting used to our connection. He’d probably set out to find me the moment he sensed my distress on the beach.
“Clueless.” My vampire repeated Ronan’s last word, and he didn’t sound too pleased. Great. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see Carden, or that I kept secrets from him. On the contrary, I’ve confided so much more to him than I’ve ever told Ronan. I just wanted to chat with Ronan without Carden misunderstanding…like he was clearly doing now.
I couldn’t see his face, but if Ronan’s utterly blank expression was any indication, Carden was giving him his best death glare.
“Master McCloud,” Ronan said. “We were just finishing up class. To what do we owe this honor?”
Ronan would wonder what Carden was doing there, and sure enough, I heard his thought process in the shifting tone of his voice…at first surprise, then skepticism, and finally the sound of a suspicion confirmed. And of course it was—showing up like this was a pretty bold move on Carden’s part. If Ronan had had a hunch about our relationship before, Carden appearing like this would be enough to confirm it.
“Perhaps you can explain,” the vampire pressed, “about what, exactly, do you find our Annelise to be clueless?”