Nightworld Academy: Term One(Nightworld Academy #1)(62)

At least Jamie’s open and transparent. I'm positive that day at the cottage he was about to tell me how he feels, and I screwed up by blurting about the vision. Will he get over the shock and help?

"I'm not leaving," I tell Ash.

He sighs. "I know. I can see you're enjoying yourself. Who's the guy you were talking to earlier?"

His eyes darken as they hold my gaze and we're in another of those moments I find confusing. He talks as if he's jealous, as if I'm his date. I'm suddenly aware how close we're standing, the way personal space shrinks without either person noticing. Until we do.

The heat radiates from his body in a way I've never come across. He once told me the high body temperature is a shifter thing, and most are the same. I've never been close enough to another to notice.

Shifter thing.

The guy who weaves a spell around me as readily as if he were a witch, the one whose arms I fantasise about being around me and encompassing me in safety. Who I imagine kissing? One day I'll see him in an animal form. How will I react? The only shifter I've seen is the one who lured me around the corner, the day I swore allegiance to Walcott.

The evening the supernatural people around me tonight saved my backside.

I almost reach out to him but stop myself. "Bradley. He's Tessa's boyfriend and not the one we're looking for."

Ash raises an eyebrow. "And a flirt. If I were a girl, I wouldn't put up with that."

I chuckle. Bradley has been friendly to all the girls, not only Tessa. "No. I wouldn't want a guy who spreads himself thin."

Ash cocks his head. "Is that a pointed comment?"

The awareness how close he is grows and butterflies flutter in my tummy. "I don't understand what you mean."

"About me, Maeve. Do I spread myself too thin? I don’t spend much time with other girls, so that’s not true."

The fluttering grows and a hope my stupid fantasy might come true. "You can spend time with whoever you want, Ash. I think it's necessary for you to hold the position you love—popular guy who's cream of the crop but still has time for others. Some in your position would be arrogant jerks."

He steps back and my breath rushes in. "Is that what you think? That I abuse my position as the guy everybody wants to be friends with?"

"I think it stops you getting close to people, Ash."

He takes a deep breath and looks over my shoulder. "I don't have time for other people's problems. If I get too close to others, they want to spill their secrets and learn mine. I need to stay focused on my goal."

"I understand, Ash." I reach out to take his hand. "But—"

My heart sinks further when he snatches his hand away, still gazing over my shoulder. "Him."

"Who? Jamie? We're not a couple."

Ash throws me a confused glance and nods behind me. "No. Him. There's a dark-haired guy not in costume over there. Is that the one you're looking for?"

I crane my head to the side and study the guy who stands in the school entrance. Tall. Dark clothes. The hairstyle is the same. "I won't be sure unless I see his face, and I can't march up to him and stare."

"Find an excuse."

I chew my lip. But what? As I move to walk away, Ash touches my arm. "I'm sorry I questioned your visions."

"That's fine. We need to act on this. I want to get Tessa home and soon. I'll let Amelia know—she's with her."

The guy twists his head from side to side and rubs his cheek. He pauses before stopping to ask one of the parent supervisors something. He's still too far for me to see, and I'm worried the guy will walk into the hall before I'm sure.

The woman he speaks to replies with gestures, directing him and he nods and turns to continue our way.

"Shit!" Ash grabs my arm and pulls me backwards. "Turn around."

I oblige and he wraps an arm around my waist and shuffles us from the guy's line of sight. I'm blocked from view by Ash's frame and his broad back and shoulders create a barrier.

"What's the matter?" I ask.

Ash isn't touching me, nor is his behaviour predatory like Andrei's was, but he's close enough for me to smell his cologne and for his leg to touch mine. He strokes hair from my ear and leans closer. "I know him."

If I couldn't sense Ash’s panic, I'd consider myself in a more charged situation than I am. I've wanted him this close, of course, a lot of girls have. Something in his shifter nature creates a powerful body and a physical drive, which he channels into his sports. There's a less demure part of me that would like to experience this side of Ash, even if it's just a kiss.

"How?" I tense and hold my body away from him as much as possible.

"I've seen him around the pub, at home." His warm breath hits my neck as he exhales in annoyance. "I told people there were hunters hanging around recently, but nobody believed me."

"A hunter wouldn't follow you here." I tip my head to meet his worried eyes. "Would he?"

"If he thinks he can get an easy kill, yeah, he would."

Kill. I curl a hand around Ash's broad forearm. "Are you safe?"

"None of us are." Ash darts a look to the left then moves closer, obscuring me from sight with his body. He doesn't move for half a minute, head cocked, as if listening. My heart thrums, senses engulfed by the awareness of how near his body is to touching mine