Page 42 of Zodiac Hybrids

It’s not that I was falling in love with him. Despite everything, he made it extremely clear he wasn’t an option. But… if I had to lose my virginity to someone, I was starting to feel okay with it being him.

I was sure I’d feel differently about my bad decisions the next time his transformation got triggered, but for now, I wanted to ride this high as long as I could.

I grinned over at Marcus, wanting to share the little bubbles in my smile, but he was acting strangely all of a sudden. He was flighty, and kept backing away from me whenever I got close, and I didn’t understand if I’d accidentally offended him somehow. He’d not come to the baths at all earlier, and now he was avoiding me. Maybe Adrian said something to him.

Or… was he picking up on the attention I was giving Professor Karras? Did that make him jealous? I didn’t want there to be any confusion. While I admired the professor, Marcus was a more realistic match, and I loved spending time with him.

When we finished stargazing, and Adrian started packing up his telescope, I ran over to Marcus and caught him by the wrist, before he could head back to his room.

“Do you want to stop by the pools before you go to bed?” I smiled as sweet as I could. That was as close as I’d ever gotten to flirting, and my heart picked up a few beats just thinking about the boldness it took for me to even say that much. I’d never been the one to ask a guy to spend time with me. I’d never believed there was a chance of them saying yes before, either. But Marcus would. He liked me, right? He kissed me, he talked to me, and he was always making me feel good about myself. If even Linda and Evelyn could see it, then I wanted to believe it too.

Any other time, I would have been embarrassed that going to the baths with him meant he would see me in such a skimpy swimsuit, but maybe it was because of the pep talk I’d gotten from my classmates that I felt a little extra brave right now.

“W-well…”

“I think it would be kind of nice.” I wanted to say romantic, but while we’d kissed once, he was the one who initiated, and I didn’t know if I could read him well enough to make that move first. He hadn’t made a physical move since, even though we hung out on weekends and spent every meal and club together, but I still wanted to believe we were building something real.

“I do but…” Marcus’ gold eyes were unfocused and looking everywhere but at me. He seemed distraught. His wrist jerked slightly in my grip, and I released him immediately.

My heart sank at his sudden avoidance. Had I done something wrong?

No. To be fair, I still didn’t know if he was human or monster, so maybe he was having a bad reaction to the full moon and couldn’t stay out late. I needed to be accommodating to the Graves denizens on a night like this. For all I knew, he could be a werewolf or something, and he might be on the verge of losing himself right now. The little sparkles in his gold colored eyes definitely didn’t leave me to believe he was human.

“But you’re too tired?” I asked in a tone that was more offering an out than it was thinking that was the genuine end of his sentence.

“Yeah. Exhausted.” He bit into his lip, and it looked like he may have broken skin before he turned his head away. Actually… something in my brain knew he had, as his normal sage cologne was suddenly tinged with the sharp metallic fragrance of blood. Fragrance of blood? What am I even saying? “Not feeling that great after dinner. I’m just going to get some rest.” He mumbled.

“No worries.” I assured him. “But let’s sit together on the bus on the way home?”

“Sure thing.” He offered a strained half smile, and I frowned as he headed back to the hotel.

Well, that was weird. I hoped I didn’t offend him somehow, and it was just, like, magical hormones acting up or something.

With a sigh, I turned back to the professor who was finishing up his packing. The rest of the club had already returned to their rooms, and it was just me and him on this dark hilltop now.

“Professor Karr—”

“Fuck. Lila.” He jumped at the sound of my voice, as if he’d forgotten I was there. “I thought you headed back to your room already.”

“Not yet. I wanted to see if you needed any help first.”

“No, I’ve got it. You can get some rest.”

“Alright.” I paused as a sense of tension settled between us. “So… you really won’t transform tonight, huh?”

“No.” He cleared his throat. “No, I won’t. Not without hitting the right trigger. Which, I’ve experienced this one enough times to know what it is this month, so I know how to avoid it. I told you there was nothing to worry about.”

“I guess there wasn’t.” That came out much more disappointed than I’d intended it to.

He laughed—surprisingly lighthearted. “Were you hoping I would? Curious as to what it might be like to get fucked mid-flight by a horned water bearer?” His playfulness was welcome even if his words weren’t.

“More like I was curious if you were capable of being professional despite being a monster. Clearly your form doesn’t have any bearing on that inability.” I pursed my lips in his general direction.

“I’m officially off the clock. I don’t have to be professional right now.” He shrugged, and I pondered on that for a minute.

“I guess you don’t.” A silence fell between us, so he continued folding up his tripod. I was always around him in a classroom setting—I still kind of was, considering this was a club fieldtrip—so I really had no idea who he was outside of my own dumb fantasies and assumptions based on our very limited interactions. I was stupid to think that I was even vaguely acquainted with him just because we’d been together physically.

But in this quiet moment, away from the confines of Graves Academy, that disconnect was more apparent than ever. The way he avoided making eye contact was pronounced and obvious, considering I was usually the one avoiding his gaze.