giddy the mere thought of Darius made her, her cheeks began to warm. She quickly turned back to her screen.
Zeke sat on the edge of her desk, arms folded, looking down at her. “How’d your meeting go?”
Grace brought her face up to him, knowing the crimson glow faded. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.”
“Good. That’s good, right?” he asked encouragingly.
“Yeah, it’s good,” she said, unconvincingly even to her own ears.
“Does that mean you’re ready for that coffee then?”
The contrasting look of cool and hopeful in his eyes as he waited for her to say yes pulled at her heartstrings.
“Actually, Zeke, I have tons of homework to do already tonight.” Not entirely true, but sort of. She did have some to do.
“Ouch.” He gripped his chest dramatically. “Shot down again.”
“It’s not like that,” she protested.
“Yes it is.”
“It’s not!”
“It’s alright, Grace, really. I’m a big boy. I can take it.” Eyes focused on his feet, he started for his seat.
Inside, her resolve splintered. She was a horrible person for hurting his feelings. Grace searched for something to say that would make the situation better. Make herself feel better was more like it. Her regret container was filled to the brim at the moment and couldn’t hold any more. Soon it would start spilling over, and that wouldn’t be pretty for anybody involved. “I said not tonight, I didn’t say I wasn’t ever. What about Friday?”
A light twinkled in the depths of his blue eyes at her suggestion. “Hey, don’t do me any favors,” he said with a wave of his hand. His smirk told her he was giving her a hard time.
“I’m not. Besides, it’s just coffee.” She didn’t know why she threw that qualifier in there, but it felt right to say it. “It’d be fun to have a group of us meet at Latté Da’s.”
Disappointment tugged his face down. “So, a group thing then? Yeah, that’d be fun. I can pick you up, or meet you there.”
Meeting him there would be best. She simply wasn’t interested in him like that and didn’t want to give him the wrong idea again. “I can meet you there.”
“Sounds good.” Zeke shuffled a few more feet toward his seat before turning back to Grace. “Now get to work, Miss Morgan. I noticed you didn’t get much done yesterday.” He smirked and winked and continued walking. Because his smile was so infectious, she smiled at his back.
Grace completed both lessons and had ten minutes to spare before the end of class. Ready for the bell to ring, she leaned her head against the back of the chair, and tried to visualize pictures in the holes of the ceiling tile. All she could visualize were eyes, which only reminded her of Darius. Swiveling slightly from side to side, she wondered where he was, if that redhead was with him and, more importantly, if he ever thought about her too. Probably not, she admitted to herself.
Bothered by the thought, she bent over for her backpack when the bell rang and left class. A lingering mental image of Darius’ emerald eyes watching her had her heart picking up its pace as she made her way through the droves of students in the hallway. Beneath her backpack strap, her fingers crossed as she hoped he’d be at Latté Da’s again on Friday.
Quentin found himself parked outside Woods Cross High School on stakeout. Everything about this assignment was different. Sure, none of the other Chosen were female; it wasn’t that. The seneschal band, the bond, what he sensed, all of it was heightened and he wasn’t sure why. He pulled up the left sleeve of his shirt, and gazed down at the band marking him. It had finished changing in the night, which meant Grace was fully Chosen when she woke up this morning. He was out of time to prepare her, and she’d run out of time to come to terms with her new life. The acceleration confused him. She wasn’t eighteen, so this wasn’t supposed to be happening. Not yet.
A sense of alarm kicked in overdrive and had him jerking his head toward the school. Not his internal alarm, but Grace’s. With one hand grabbing for the door and reaching for his blade with the other, he suddenly paused, feeling Grace’s calm wash over him. Quentin hoped this up-and-down thing would get easier. The daily roller coaster ride of emotions was driving him bat-shit crazy. His head lolled back against the headrest