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Sure enough, Alfredo comes for me at 4:30 for training, but thankfully, he doesn’t try to poison me again. Breakfast with the family passes in silence. I quickly devour my bagel with cream cheese, hoping to excuse myself with the pretense of needing to finish some homework. But it doesn’t wash.
“If you haven’t finished it by now, then it’s too late. You should learn to manage your time better,” says Ms. Fabrici.
It’s hard for me to let this pass without comment, but I have another request, so I refrain from contradicting her this time.
“I’d like to visit my mother after school. I haven’t seen her in a while, and she’s asking if I have time.”
Ms. Fabrici shoots me an icy look. “You’ve put it off this long, so you can wait a while longer. It’s important that you adjust to your new routine and settle in here. Maybe we can arrange that in a few weeks.”
I raise my eyebrows and stare at her incredulously.
“My dear,” Mr. Fabrici chimes in. “Maybe we shouldn’t be so strict. She can make up for lost training time later in the evening. If she’s prepared to accept that.”
He looks at me inquiringly, and I quickly nod. Of course I’m prepared to accept that, although the thought of training makes my stomach clench.
I’m so relieved when I can finally leave the house and make my way to school.
From some distance away, I see a figure leaning against the wall near the entrance, the sight of whom makes my heart leap. I automatically increase my pace and throw myself into Ayden’s arms. He hugs me tight, and his scent wafts over me. It’s like arriving in another world, and I surrender myself to this feeling. It gets even better when I feel his lips on mine. Soft and tender to start with, then increasingly urgent and yearning. I feel the same and bury my hands in his hair, pressing myself against him, longing to run my hands over his warm skin.
“Everything okay?” he asks. “Your message didn’t sound too good. What happened?”
I don’t want to dwell on those gloomy thoughts, but I know I have to talk to him about it. As we make our way to class, I tell him everything, and his expression darkens.
“You should talk to someone from the Council. Surely Mr. Cunningham would help you. I could try my father too. The guy can’t get away with poisoning you.”
I shake my head. “The Fabricis would never do anything to risk losing their rights to me. They must be pretty confident that the Council condones their methods. And I doubt there’s anything Mr. Cunningham can do. He couldn’t stop me from going to them in the first place.” I lean my head on Ayden’s shoulder. “I have to figure out a way of evading that key spirit.”
“Okay, if you’re sure,” he replies, but he sounds hesitant. “I’ll help you.”
The way he looks makes my skin prickle. I feel his breath on my face and stretch up to kiss him again. He cups the back of my head and pulls me closer. I sigh into his wonderful kiss.
When we pull apart, he gives me an enchanting smile. It doesn’t bother him that the other students are giving us skeptical looks. And I don’t care either. But when I hear a locker door slam, I flinch and look around to see Max and Lucia. They look shocked, and Max’s expression is furious. Her eyes and lips are narrowed. She flicks her hair over her shoulder and marches past us demonstratively. I hear her hiss quietly, “Things will never work out between you two. You can bet your life on it.”
“Fortunately, that’s not up to you,” I call after her, prompting her to turn around and shoot me an evil look, which she then directs at Ayden.
“Stay away from us,” he snaps. “If you ever attack Tess again or put her in any kind of danger, you’ll have me to deal with.”
I’ve never heard his voice sound so threatening. And his words hit home. Max stalks off, and Lucia shoots us an apologetic look before following her friend.
Ayden drapes his arm around my hips. His face brushes against my neck as he murmurs, “She’ll never succeed in driving us apart again.”
I tilt my face up to his and seal his lips with a kiss. Damn right she won’t.
He walks me to chemistry class, where Kate’s already waiting for me. When she sees me and Ayden, a smile steals across her face. But then she quickly cuts to the chase.
“How did it go at the Fabricis’? Are you getting by?”
As we take our seats, I quickly fill her in on what happened. Ayden makes the most of the time before the teacher arrives and stays with me, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“It’s tough. But I see it as a small victory that I’m allowed to go visit my mom in the hospital this afternoon.” I turn to Ayden. “Do you have time? Want to come with me?”
It’s not about him getting to know my mom, it’s about making the most of my little bit of freedom to spend more time with him.
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “Sure, I want to make the most of what little time we have.”
The emotion in his voice awakens a deep desire in me that spreads through my body as a pleasurable tingle. I’m sure we can stall for a little more time after the visit. The Fabricis will have no way of knowing how long I was with Mom.
“I’ll be at training today. So we can leave right after.”
