texts came in a flur

T! OMG DEL

ST MESSAGE

ra stared at the screen, the

s later, his voice smooth,

ned she sent some garbled text. You didn't see anyth

t nonchalance

tral, a shield of ice forming around her heart. "

" He sounded relieved, or perhaps j

p, her han

rdening within her, there was a sharp knock on her dorm room door. Before

ne grunted, gr

d through her numbness. "Who

ragged her out, down the s

g flustered. The men pushed Elara towards a display of expensive handbags. Tiffany, with a swi

rieked, pointing at Elara. "She

guards converged. Elara felt a wave of desp

n, radiating authorit

This is outrageous!" He turned a furious gaze on Tiffany. "

shed. Tiffany mumbled an apology about a "misunderstanding." Julian wrapped his arm around Elara, playing the savior. "Don't worry

h, a deep, instinctual recoi

side Julian's apartment where he'd taken her to "recover fro

's voice was low, furious. "That wasn't the plan! It was suppose

d you're getting awfully worked up about it, Thorne. Starting

it possible? Could he actually be... developing feelings? Or was this just another layer of