Tangled Hearts.

~Chapter 7~

~Colby~

I strutted into class like I was on autopilot, mentally checked out and desperately needing caffeine, when I came to a screeching halt.

Someone was sitting in my seat. My seat. At the pair of desks that had basically become my unofficial throne since no one ever dared sit there.

I blinked. Then blinked again.

Nope. Still there. Still...her.

We'd already been on campus since the butt crack of dawn thanks to our hell-schedule. I was on the tail end of my marathon: math at 8, then bio, then English, and business to top it all off like a sadistic cherry. Not to mention the delightful stack of pack reports my father sent like Amazon Prime subscriptions I never asked for. And now this?

I inhaled sharply to ground myself—and instantly regretted it.

What in the name of bad decisions and even worse cologne was that?

Vanilla. Cashmere. Rain. And death.

There was something hauntingly sweet about it, like those cursed candles that smell amazing but give you migraines. I wrinkled my nose. Then I caught it—the distinct, sharp, slightly metallic whiff of vampire.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

My eyes landed on her again. She was sitting at the desk beside mine, acting like she belonged here, as if she didn't just throw my whole sensory system into crisis mode. Silver eyes behind clear glasses, skin that practically glowed like she came straight off a Pinterest moon aesthetic board, and copper-brown hair in a messy bun that somehow looked perfectly imperfect instead of like she'd fought a raccoon for it like I always did.

She was small. Petite, even. Delicate in a way that screamed "ethereal forest nymph" and "definitely not supposed to be in a business lecture." Her heart-shaped face, full lips, and arched brows were unfair, really. Uncalled for.

My first thought? No way.

My second? Nope. Still no way.

A goddamn vampire. Sitting next to me.

I gritted my teeth so hard I could've cracked concrete. I fought the urge to shift then and there. Instead, I fidgeted with my cartilage piercing and exhaled through my nose like a bull seconds from charging.

Why. The hell. Was she here?

I sat beside her, stiff as a board, resisting the urge to sniff again like some creep with allergies. I hated—hated—that I found her even remotely attractive. It made me irrationally angry.

~

The bell rang, loud and obnoxious. I slammed my book shut like I was trying to murder it. The vampire flinched.

Good.

I leaned in, leveling my gaze on her, all intensity and zero chill.

"I've got my eye on you... half-dead," I growled.

She blinked up at me like a deer in headlights.

I grabbed my backpack, slung it over my shoulder, and stalked out of the room like the brooding antihero I absolutely did not have time to be today.

~

~Raelyn~

After my next class, I met up with the girls at the cafeteria. My stomach was doing Olympic-level somersaults, so eating was not on the agenda. I was still rattled.

"So tell us everything!" Tara grinned as she dumped three packets of hot sauce onto her already volcanic burrito.

"Yeah, how was your first day? Anyone try to sacrifice you yet?" Katrina asked casually, sipping her smoothie like she wasn't talking about blood rituals.