Between Shadows (Shadows Saga bk2)

Chapter 13- Trust

Mara ran around her room trying to get ready in a hurry. She had managed to sleep through her alarm, only waking up when Sasha had appeared and scratched her into consciousness. She had been given the time off from classes, but she wasn't leaving until Tuesday, Torlak and Headmistress Varkov agreed she needed Monday to go to her classes, get information, and give the instructors the notice of her absence. 

She was trying to follow through with that, but everything appeared to be going wrong. Not only had she slept through her alarm, continuing her nightmare once again, but she couldn't find her last clean uniform, her books weren't in their right place, and one of her shoes were missing. 

Cursing Mondays, Mara finally made her way out of the room and down to her first class, looking disheveled. She sighed with relief when she slid into her seat just as the instructor decided to start class. 

The nights of restless sleep were finally catching up to Mara, it had either been the same nightmare she had every time she actually dreamed, or it was a Zander induced dream. Either way, they were not very restful, and that was evident from the dark circles that were forming under her eyes.

The weekend away from the school had been nice for the most part, except for Zander still wiggling his way inside her mind. She now knew he was able to do more all the time, and that worried her. It worried her to the point of lying awake at night, staring at her ceiling, trying to think of ways to possibly end it. 

She hadn't thought of anything yet, but she was determined to not give up. Mara looked at the note she had in her bag, the one the Headmistress had given her to distribute to her teachers. This time, she had left it all up to Mara to inform them seeing how it wasn't just for one day, she would need to gather any work they deemed appropriate for her to complete. She knew most of them would send her with nothing, knowing that the Council work came first. 

School was important sure, but none of this would exist without the High Council, and none of the teachers knew how to handle a situation like Mara's. They would be informed of her absence due to important Council business, and if there was any necessary work to send it with her. 

Mara wondered if she had fallen asleep, because before she knew it, the bell for the end of the class sounded. She went up to the front of the room, handed the sheet of paper over to her instructor, and explained the situation. Well, as much of the situation she was allowed to explain. 

As she expected, she was given no work to do while she was gone, she was only told to go in when she returned for a recap of what she had missed. Mara agreed and went to lunch with her friends. 

She expected to have a similar experience to the last lunch, one where she would really only have Trixle to talk to. When she walked into the room, Marx got up from his seat, she expected him to leave the lunch hall, but he met her in the middle of the large room. 

When they were standing in front of each other, Mara looked up into his eyes, confused. 

"What are you doing?" She whispered to him. Silently pleading with him to just go and sit back down quietly, or pass her and leave the room like she had originally expected him to do. 

"Something I should have done from the beginning." 

Mara had no time to ask what he meant by that. She was instantly pulled into his strong arms, their warmth enveloping her as he lifted her from the ground. Before she had time to process what was happening, his mouth moved her hers, pressing hard. She was frozen by shock, unable to react to what was happening.

The entire lunch hall was silent and staring in their direction, people with eyes wider than Mara thought possible, some with their mouths hanging wide open, some just as frozen as she was.