He started at the friendly feminine voice.
Looking up, he saw Cassandra's beaming smile.
Totally dumbstruck, it was a full minute before he could respond to her. "Hi," he answered back lamely.
He hated himself for being so damned stupid. Nick could probably have had her eating out of his hand.
She sat down next to him.
He broke out into a sweat. Clearing his throat, he did his best to ignore her and the light scent of roses that drifted from her over to him. She always smelled incredible.
Cassandra opened her book to the assignment and watched Chris. He seemed even more nervous now than he had at the coffee shop.
She glanced down at his backpack, hoping to see another glimpse of the shield, but he'd concealed it completely.
Damn.
"So, Chris," she said softly, leaning a little closer to him. "I was wondering if I might be able to study with you later."
He blanched and looked like he was almost ready to bolt. "Study? With me?"
"Yeah. You said you knew this stuff really well and I'd like to make an A on the test. What do you think?"
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously-clearly a habit since he seemed to do it so frequently. "You sure you want me to study with you?"
"Yes."
He smiled sheepishly, but refused to meet her gaze. "Sure, I guess that would be okay."
Cassandra sat back with a satisfied smile as Dr. Mitchell came in and commanded everyone to silence.
She'd spent hours on the Dark-Hunter.com Web site after her last class, going through every part of it. On the surface, it appeared to be some kind of role-playing group or book site.
But there were entire sections of it that were password protected. Secret loops and areas that she couldn't access no matter how hard she tried. There were many things about it that reminded her of the Apollite site.
No, this wasn't a gaming group. She had stumbled upon the real Dark-Hunters. She knew it.
They were the last great mystery of the modern world. Living myths that no one knew about.
But she knew they were there. And she was going to find a way into their society and find some answers even if it killed her.
Sitting through that class while the professor droned on about Hrothgar and Shield was the hardest thing she'd ever done in her life. As soon as it ended, she packed up and waited for Chris.
As they neared the door, she saw the two men dressed in black who immediately flanked them while eyeballing her.
Chris let out a disgusted sound.
Cassandra laughed in spite of herself. "Are they with you?"
"I really wish I could say no."
She patted his arm in sympathy. She jerked her chin to indicate down the hall where Kat was standing up and tucking away her book. "I got one myself."
Chris smiled at that. "Thank God, I'm not the only one."
"Nah, don't worry about it. I told you I understand completely."
The relief on his face was tangible. "So when would you like to study?"