Void(42)

“What just happened out there? It was like Render couldn’t keep his hands off you,” he said. There was a sharp edge to his tone that made me pause.

“I cut my lip, and he attacked me with a kiss. Maybe the almighty Vamp Paragon is weaker than you think,” I replied coolly before scrubbing the material some more. I felt like such an ass, ruining the waitress’s dress. She’d been nice enough to lend it to me, and now it was wrinkled, bloody, and sopping wet.

Quade watched me in speculative silence, adjusting his black tie as I worked. I could feel his gaze on my panties and bra strap, his gaze crawling up the backs of my bare legs and back. He was wearing an all black suit that complimented his dark skin tone, his black hair swept back, but I didn’t want to think about how beautiful he looked. I didn’t want to get sucked into his charm and be so damn attracted to him. I hated that I couldn’t shut off my body’s responses to him. Render, Quade, Gritt, Hyde. They all did something to me inside, and I needed to learn to shut it off. Those paragons were dangerous for me.

Once the stain was finally gone, I moved over to the hand dryers, prepared to hold the dress there for the next hour to get it dry, and then get the fuck out of here. The girl who let me borrow the dress was the first person to show kindness to me here, and I didn’t want to make her regret helping me by ruining a dress that she probably saved up her hard-earned money to buy.

“Here, let me,” Quade said before stepping forward.

I eyed him warily as he took the dress in his hands. With a flick of his hand, he used his elemental magic to draw the moisture out of the material, and then he called on the air to dry it. Elementals could usually only control one, maybe two, of the elements, but since he could use all four, he was an elemental prodigy. When we were kids, he’d had a hard time controlling all of them. There had been more than one instance when he’d accidentally filled bathtubs with soil and the garden with fire. But now, he was all man, and I could sense the control in him.

Within seconds, he’d used his ability to take every last drop of moisture out until the dress was completely dry and he was handing it back to me. His dark eyes held me in a trance as he watched me step back into it. When I struggled to zip it all the way up, I felt him step up to my back, and then his warm hands clasped over the zipper, slowly dragging it up my skin. I shivered.

“Why are you here?” I asked in a small voice before turning around and combing my fingers through my pale blonde hair.

“Headmaster Torne wanted me to make sure you didn’t...bother...any other students. I think you’ve made enough enemies for the night, yeah? I’ll walk you back after you return that dress to whoever gave it to you.”

“How’d you know this wasn’t mine?” I asked.

He gave me another once over before shaking his head, like he didn’t like the thought he’d just had.

“I saw you walk in. Besides, you never liked pink.”

My chest panged, but I had to tell myself that him remembering little details about me didn’t mean shit. Quade still didn’t like me. He didn’t even really know me anymore. “A lot has changed over the years. I happen to like pink now,” I lied with a smirk, hating how his face didn’t even react. He didn’t believe me one bit.

“Liar,” he replied before heading toward the door, not giving me a backwards glance, just assuming I’d follow him. And I did, only because the alternative was staying at this damn ball that I had no business attending. I was worn out and needed to recover from the hunger that my Void now held over me, and the confusing kiss I’d shared with Render. I had a feeling that Blaire was going to be my new best enemy.

We headed down the halls in uncomfortable silence, back toward the coat check so that I could change clothes and give the dress back. We were almost there when a high-pitched, shrill voice startled us. “Quade, darling! I almost missed you!” I cringed at the sound as I turned my head to look at the source of the voice. When I saw who it was, I forced a grin on my face as Mr. and Mrs. Sandwood, Quade’s parents, walked up. Behind them, my mother shifted into view, too. So she was here. Of course she hadn’t bothered to stop and see me.

Quade’s shoulders tensed slightly before he recovered, putting on his mask of friendly warmth. His broad grin was a bit too bright to feel authentic though. He started walking toward them, and I followed dutifully behind. I’d never liked them much, even when I was little. They’d always been overly controlling, keeping their son to a strict schedule and not giving him much time to be a kid.

Mrs. Sandwood was wearing a teal gown that accentuated her spelled breasts, putting them on full, perky display. Her pale pink lips curled up into a snarl the moment she noticed me. Mr. Sandwood was wearing a tux, and unlike his wife, he started rubbing his hands together in a greedy, excited gesture when he spotted me. It nearly made me stumble at the sight of their conflicting motives. Mother kept her expression neutral. I guess the maternal nature from inside Judge Braxton’s office had disappeared again.

“Devicka, I’m surprised they let you attend,” Mrs. Sandwood said while looking me up and down, her eyes zeroing in on my combat boots in disdain. Like my mother, she was all about image.

“Yeah, well, Quade is being a good babysitter, making sure I don’t accidentally drain any of the students,” I replied with a fake smile before wrapping my hand around his bicep. I wasn’t sure why I did it, but her reaction at seeing me so comfortably touching her son had me grinning.