oe wasn'

ved around him, careful not to step too close. She had felt it in the suffocating w

the most important

challenge

never been h

ever been one

iterature class the next morning,

't know the details. The stares were longer, the whispers more pointed.

before sh

usual seat near the window. She was halfway throug

s curled i

to look up to

ence alone was enough to shift the atmosphere in the room. The mu

d up, meeting his

mouth curled. "Y

pa

iberately, she leaned back in

e aren't assigned

ne ga

n Damien's eyes

gged it with her still in it a few inches to the left. The wooden leg

sage wa

rummed, but sh

e did somet

and flipped a page in her book. "Wow," she mus

ion was i

he air. Someone els

the air between them did. It tightened,

Ravenwood, she saw something flicker in

ment,

so int

ne spoke to

challen

e was doing it

rmured, his voice ba

her word, he took

have felt

d, she fel

n Vale in her short time at Ravenwood, it was t

this

for something far more dangerou

as usual-or at l

ld feel him

Just existing in a way tha

ined on her book, wil

she

en reached for her notebook, finge

ened. "Ex

g through her notes lik

ience s

erself, she reached out

touched him, ev

m didn'

ers didn'

skin beneath hers, the warmth of his

, neither of

d. His voice, low and amused, sent

ldn't do

ze. "Then don't

ed. Not quite a smir

arn

chal

closing the space between them inch by i

touching w

tightened ar

ew exactly wha

weight of

moke, slipping through the cracks,

wrong about

she wa

t

ev

st and shoved his no

ith a sharp thud,

fell into st

her for one lon

en he

t the kind meant to hu

Deep. Amused

ow, that

Vale never la

t something had just

wasn't sure sh

ed, Ivy felt like she

as she packed up her things, and could still hear

ep into the hallway, a

g a dangerous

tu

he doorway, arms crosse

e here to tell me to b

ment, then huffed a dry laugh. "

ned. "Th

faded. "Just.

row. "Because Dami

e hes

han before-"Because

stil

meeting Damien Vale, true une

ane didn't

unded

rrifying than any threat

e truly like

never sto