The Mark of Fallen Flame

Chapter 5- Emma

Worry had chased her through the morning, but there had been no other strangers watching her. Rowek had yet to make an appearance by lunchtime, and she relaxed. The tension in her shoulders melted away as she and Adrianna entered the noisy cafeteria, giggling about Ms. Jules's cat sweater. They got their lunches, Emma opting for a chicken patty while Adrianna piled the tray Emma was carrying for her with slices of pizza and fries before they sat at a table near the window.

The sky was cloudy, but the sun was breaking through, casting a single pillar of light in the courtyard.

"So, no Sean today?" Emma asked.

"Nah, I think my eating habits scared him away." Adrianna glanced over at the loudest table in the room, frowning. Guys laughed raucously, with tall cheerleaders either sitting in their laps or hanging off them, arms wrapped around their necks. Emma spotted Sean among them, laughing at something someone said. A rail-thin blond with no curves, in a dangerously short skirt, ran a hand down his chest.

Her gaze fixed on him was less adoring and more...hungry. Possessive. And Sean was either ignorant or impervious to it. He was fickle. Girls were little more than a conquest to guys like him. An ease of boredom. Emma doubted it was Adrianna's appetite that drove him away, but she didn't tell her friend that.

If he had pushed her, Adrianna didn't let on. If he desired something from her, she wasn't willing to give. But the sneer he sent in her direction was a pretty good indicator.

Emma pursed her lips. "Well, screw him then. You can do much better."

Adrianna didn't respond, her gaze flicking to something behind Emma, eyes widening. Before Emma could ask what she was looking at, she felt it. The cold, hard weight in her chest. The discomfort strangled her sharp intake of breath. A tray dropped onto the table beside her.

Rowek's golden hair was perfectly styled. His light gray t-shirt hugged his toned chest, and Emma's eyes snagged on two points of a black tattoo peeking out from under the sleeve on his defined bicep.

Emma hated herself for being unable to stop staring at him in all his flawlessness.

"Don't you have anyone else you can sit with?" Emma asked angrily, nostrils flaring. Rowek's perfect brows rose in surprise at her tone. "It's an open campus, you know. You're free to leave for lunch."

"I know, but you wouldn't come with me," Rowek replied with a wink. "Nice shirt by the way." Amusement shone in his eyes.

She glanced down at her faded Demon Hunter shirt. Her face heating as she snapped, "Because you're creepy."

Adrianna elbowed her hard in the ribs, but she ignored it. Rowek chuckled. The sound made her stomach flutter, which only increased her anger.

"Are you always this feisty?" he asked.

"Where were you earlier?" Emma demanded, ignoring his question. He stared at her for a moment with intense eyes like pools of liquid gold.

"I was taking care of a few things," he replied. Emma made a disbelieving noise before turning her back to him.

Adrianna was staring at her, her expression frozen in incredulous confusion. Emma opened her mouth to speak when Rowek slid into the seat next to Adrianna. She turned slowly to face him, as Emma glared at him.

"Hi, I'm Rowek," he said with a charming smile. Emma could practically hear Adrianna swoon. She rolled her eyes.

"Hi, I'm Adrianna," she said a bit breathlessly.