Chatoyant College Book 9: Sundered

Chapter 69: Surprise Visitor

After the rest of them finished eating dinner, Naomi went back to the art building and Roe headed to the library to work on a paper, so Dawn, Rico, and Edie walked back to Gilkey alone. Dawn wondered if Corrie had talked to Annie about their mutual suspicion that she had a crush on Edie. She would have to find some time alone with Corrie to ask her about it.

But... not now. Because there was something in the bushes next to the entrance to Gilkey. Dawn wasn't sure what, because it was dark, but the thin leaf cover was rustling slightly and it wasn't an animal. She held her hand out to stop Rico. "Wait," she whispered.

He stopped. Edie stopped too, looking around, then frowning to the left of the door, just where Dawn was looking. Someone else brushed past them and went inside, glancing back at them before letting the door slam closed behind her.

As soon as it was closed—and Dawn knew that it was because they were now alone outside the door—a shape emerged from the bush. She barely had time to be terrified, because even in what little light there was from the building, she recognized him immediately: Tom.

Edie, however, yelped. Dawn spoke quickly so the others wouldn't freak out. "Tom, what are you doing here? Lurking in the bushes to scare people?"

He shook his head. With the light coming from above, his eyes looked shadowed and depthless. "Waiting for you."

She sighed. "Do you want to come in?"

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I'm not a student. I can't go into your building."

That didn't seem like a useful explanation to Dawn, but she decided not to push it. "Did you want to talk or something? It's really cold out here." Rico immediately put his arm around her shoulder, warming her, which made her grin.

Tom lowered his head. It seemed like sort of a nod. "Let's go somewhere a little more private, where people won't walk past."

"Is inside really not an option?"

"No."

"Let's go around the left side of the building," said Rico. "Less wind."

Tom lifted his head again, his eyes flashing sharply in the light. "Just Dawn."

"I don't think so," said Rico.

"I know you want to take care of Dawn, but I'm not going to leave her alone even with you," said Edie.

Tom smirked slightly. "All right. As long as you're just there to protect Dawn."

"Of course," said Rico. Dawn looked up at him, but he seemed just as confused as she was. Tom led the way around the corner of the building. It was darker here, but Rico was right—there was less wind.

As soon as they were out of sight of the front door, Tom whirled on her. "What were you thinking?" he hissed. It sounded like he wanted to shout, but didn't want to make too much noise.

Dawn stopped in her tracks, stopping Rico and Edie along with her. "What are you talking about?"

"You were attacked!" Tom hissed. "And you didn't think to tell me about it?"

Dawn groaned and brought one gloved hand to her face to cover her eyes. She'd actually forgotten about that, at least for a little while. But she couldn't tell Tom that—and she had deliberately hidden it from him. She sighed. "It was over. The cops already have the guy, so there's nothing you could do about it. I didn't want you to worry."

"You could have gotten me before it happened! You know how to contact me!"

She dropped her hand and shook her head. "There wasn't time for that! Even if I'd thought of it, we were in the middle of campus, and it only lasted a few minutes. I couldn't have left Corrie and Edie alone to deal with him by themselves, and if I had run to get you, it probably would have been over before you'd been able to get there." She felt guilty, now, thinking about it—if she had thought to get Tom's help, would he have helped? Edie had been the only sensible one, really, calling campus security.

He turned his head in the darkness to face Edie. "You were there?"

Edie nodded nervously. "We were there to protect Corrie. We don't know if he was after Dawn at all."

"But you knew he was going to hurt someone," said Tom.

"No," said Dawn. "We thought he might go after Corrie, because he'd been stalking her, but we didn't think he would try anything with her there. And we didn't know he had that knife."

His head whipped over to face her again. "What knife?"

Oh, great, he hadn't known about the knife. Well, too late now. And maybe he could help them. She took a deep breath. "It was a magic knife." She pulled her arm out from Rico's embrace and held it toward Tom. "It cut off some of my Sight ability."