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Thinking about him.

Dreamingabout him.

Long after the screams died and the remains were cleared.

Even as we landed again several hours later.

All I did was think of Cedric. His dark eyes. His beautiful grin—which I’d only seen flashes of during our brief time together.

I would have liked to see you smile more,I told him.Maybe I still will.

But as we exited the plane, I still couldn’t hear him.

Nor did I see him or sense him on our way to our new destination.

Another bus,I told him.This one without a number.

But Six still sat beside me.

A short ride took us to another walled-off compound, this one surrounded by trees and what appeared to be green earth.

Grass, I realized, recognizing it from pictures.

But there was no time to explore or touch.

We were ushered off the bus and directly into a building.

Down a set of stairs.

Into a room lined with metal cabinets.

“Leave your robes here,” a vampire instructed, pointing at the row of lockers. “Then strip and line up there.” He gestured to a door at the back.

Six and I chose to share a locker, as it seemed most of them were already full.

We put our clothes and robes inside and joined the line.

The door led to a shower area, which was full of prospects, many of whom I’d never seen before.From the other universities, I realized.

No one spoke.

No one acknowledged the vampires and lycans observing from the periphery, either.

But I could feel their hungry gazes roaming over us with interest, waiting for someone to break a rule. Waiting for a reason to punish. Waiting for a chance topounce.

I stepped beneath the freezing cold water and forced myself not to flinch.I miss your bathtub, Cedric,I thought.I miss your shower, too.

However, I stopped myself from thinking about it because the thought of Cedric in water brought back too many heated memories.

And the last thing I wanted to do was accidentally arouse myself while surrounded by these dark-minded creatures.

If they chose to fuck me, it would break my bond with Cedric.

Uprooting and killing my link to him.

My last petal of hope.

I swallowed.