Exaltation (Insight #11)(48)
Raven didn’t want to go home. She had to chase this feeling. “But—I.”
“Show me you can get out,” he said with a raised brow.
Out Raven thought with a pout on her face.
As soon as Raven left the Veil the feeling left. She was never a fan of reality before but it had never felt as heavy as it did then. This blows.
She’d lost the sensation she felt near the music and wanted it back—so much so that she was prepared to barter anything to get back there, even skating. She tried after dinner, but Jamison told her she needed rest.
Raven laid awake that night thinking of the sensation, that sound. She thought of it more than all she had learned about her past, her future, all of it. She’d never once become so instantly addicted to something, and it was driving her mad.
The next morning she was still in a haze thinking about it. So it took her a second to realize she had a new schedule to follow now and that she was stuck going to Berries’ class.
Soren was now in Raven’s second, third, and fifth period. So she was on her own for the first hour. Raven hesitated as she walked down the stairs to the hall that ran under the school.
Then she remembered what period she was going to, and once she mapped out her path in her mind she realized that even though she would be in the hall at the same time as mystery boy later today—they would be going the same way—she was sure she could hide in a crowd.
Raven was carefully plotting out a way to persuade her father to take her back to the Veil, to that sound, when she felt a hand slip around her waist and a scruffy cheek against her ear. She may or may not have quietly yelped.
“Can I smell your hair?” she heard a deep, sensual voice say against her ear, his breath skirting down her neck.
Oh my god, Raven thought. Play it cool.
Chapter Fifteen
Nervousness was not something Raven was familiar with; her bliss gave her a calm Zen zone she lurked in which helped her deal with any and every oddity in her life.
Somehow this boy was different. She felt the urge to run from him but at the same time she felt the need to help him.
Magnet, pull, repel.
He had a familiar vibe about him, the same one she felt around all the members of her family, the coven.
“No,” she said finally, to answer his question. God he is gorgeous, she thought as she looked up at him.
She couldn’t help but wonder if it was this dark, enigmatic thing he had going for him or if it was something she could see in his eyes trying to break free. “This is new,” Raven said as she reached for his cheek. The barely noticeable beard he had before was now the real deal. It made him look older, but less like a jock. One point for the mystery boy in Raven’s book.
“You don’t like it?” he asked with a wry smile.
Raven made a face. “Usually don’t kiss boys that remind me of my father, mucks with the vibe and all.”
A warning bell was going off in her head. REGRETTABLE. Hartley Raven BellaRose, you are playing with fire! Maybe so, but she wanted to figure out what that pain and struggle was about which she saw in his clear blue eyes.
“You always kiss boys and run away?”
Not good. Raven knew he either thought she was easy or a tease. She was neither. Right then she could kill River for her wild ideas.
“Do you always feel girls up in the hallway when you don’t know their name?”
“Feel you up?” Rydell said with a dark laugh. There was not a doubt in his mind this girl was as innocent as a summer rain if she thought he had done that to her in the past.
“You know what I mean.”
“It’s a tight hall.” Right as he spoke someone pushed him from behind and his arm clasped around her waist. “See what I mean?” The words breathed against her neck, warm chills cascaded down Raven’s entire body. Fiery prickles followed. She felt them both tense at the close contact.
God he smelled good. What kind of cologne was that?
“I do,” Raven said as she removed his arm. “Look, man, you were a victim of a teenage high, you were in my way when I was in a good mood. I’m not the kinda girl you think I am.”
“What kinda girl do I think you are?”
Bad kisser probably. Raven angled a glare up at him. “You don’t even know my name.”
“Raven BellaRose.”
“Impressive.”
“Not really, you have a rep.”
“I didn’t burn or flood anything. I was just in the area.”
He laughed. Raven glanced up. He looked even hotter when he laughed. His blue eyes shined.
“I’m at a disadvantage, Mr. mystery boy.”
He drew his brow together, clearly questioning if that was a true statement.
“Rydell King.”
Raven pursed her lips.
“What, you haven’t heard of me?”
“Are you on the hit it and quit it list or something?” Raven asked with an arched brow.
I surely am in some dimension of space and time, “One girl at a time.”
“And how many hours does it take you to burn through a girl?”
Raven was almost sure he blushed as a wayward thought seemed to cross his eyes.
“It’s been a minute.”
“Good to meet you, Rydell,” Raven said as they climbed the stairs and she walked double time to her first period class.