Shadow Mate - Jen L. Grey Page 0,57

in the mirror. It almost felt like I was looking at someone else—a girl I didn't know.

She had the same dark hair as I, but the green in her eyes didn't seem quite as bright, and there were circles under her eyes. Even though Bree had expertly covered up the bags, I could still see them. I knew what lay hidden under the makeup.

I opted for blue jeans and a flowy, white shirt. That should be safe and neutral with no school colors at all. I took a deep breath. I had this. I could move on from Liam, just enjoy my night with Kai and my friends. This was the first night of a new beginning. I touched the pendant around my neck.

"Hey, can I come in?" Kai's voice came from right outside my bedroom door.

"Yeah, sure." I’d forced myself to wash my pillow after my run-in with Kai earlier so the room only smelled like me. I'd even hid my pillow from the cleaners and had been wallowing around in Liam's scent from that night so many weeks ago. I hadn't wanted to let it go. It was the only thing that proved he existed lately. It was pathetic and something I wouldn't admit to anyone.

He opened the door and stopped in his tracks when his eyes met mine. "You look gorgeous." He winced. "Not that you don't normally. It's just nice to see you in clothes other than Wolf Moon Academy's red and silver."

"Thank you." He was super nervous, which added to his sweetness. Why wouldn't I want to be with him? He was sweet, caring, and damn handsome too. "You don't look so bad yourself."

He wore a blue polo shirt and jeans. The blue complimented his light olive skin and made his brown eyes seem warmer. "I wanted to catch you before we left."

"Good, I wanted to talk to you as well." I'd been thinking about my brother and the threat the heirs gave me the last time I bothered their precious leader.

"Okay, shoot." He closed the distance between us and took my hand in his.

"Well, the heirs threatened to hurt my brother if I messed with one of them a while back." I hated talking about them, especially with Kai. His eyes darkened with my words already. "And, well, as you know, they blamed me for Liam messing up the last game I went to. I guess what I'm saying, at the game for my brother's sake, can we keep some distance between us?"

"At the game or the whole night?" His shoulders tensed, and he held his breath.

"Just at the game." I chewed on my bottom lip. I didn't know how to make this any better. "Max wants us to go to a party with him, so there it'll be just us … no heirs around."

The light seemed to return to his eyes. "Okay, I understand even if I don't like it."

"I don't either." Hell, if Liam didn't want to be with me, he shouldn't be able to have influence over my life at all. Despite that, I believed he would carry out his threat all too willingly. "And I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." He leaned his forehead against mine and took a breath. "Fate has a way of messing things up sometimes."

"Maybe." I sucked in his scent, needing it to cleanse my mind and erase Liam's from my memory. "How was your lunch with your father?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He lowered his lips to mine, brushing them for a moment before pulling back.

It felt nice, but that was it. Not like... Dammit, I had to stop. "Oh? Is he back to hating me again? That was really strange."

"It was odd. Actually, he wants me to bring you home for a weekend sometime." He shook his head. "He mentioned your necklace. Asked me if I understood what it meant." His eyes landed on it. "I think you should take it off. Whatever made him change his tune is due to that."

"Really?" I'd always found it odd how Mom reacted but never questioned it, thinking it was a family heirloom. I never took it as more than that. "What else did he say?"

"Nothing because," he said as he winced, "Liam interrupted us."

Of course he did. "So your dad wouldn't say anything in front of him?" This still didn't make sense.

"No, he said he’d come visit in the morning so we can continue the conversation. And to ask you if you wanted