Free Pure by Jennifer L. Armentrout

a little bit better about things by the time I showered. But I still worried about Caleb, feared that the events in Gatlinburg had damaged him.
    After I’d changed I was hit again by that weird tingly sensation. Heat crept over my skin right before the intense ache started in my belly. Really, I tried to ignore it. I even picked up my trig book, but I couldn’t focus. I turned on the television, but the force of whatever affected me made it nearly impossible to think about anything other than not having a boyfriend. Maybe this was the way my body was telling me I needed to find someone—someone who was actually available and wasn’t a pure-blood.
    When it finally did ease off, I fell into a restless sleep that lasted only hours before I shot straight up in bed, heart racing. I scanned the dark bedroom, trying desperately to rid the image of Daniel’s face from my mind, his touch from my memories.
    I rolled over and looked at the window. A second passed before my brain processed the dark shadow behind the blinds. My heart leapt into my throat. Jerking up, I threw the covers off and crept over to the window. The shadow was still there, sending shivers over me. Was it Seth trying to peep into my window?
    If so, I was going to beat him over the head.
    Or it could be the daimon—since they hadn’t caught it yet. Hell, if it was, it wasn’t going to sneak into my room.
    I drew the blinds up and jumped back. A pale face—clearly not Seth’s—stared back at me. In the pale light of the moon, I almost thought it was a freaking daimon.
    But it was a Sentinel. I think the icy blonde was named Sandra. Still, what was she doing staring into my bedroom window? Something about that creeped me out majorly. Without further ado, I unlocked the window and pushed it open. “Is everything okay?”
    Sandra’s eyes dropped to the tags on my bare arms before she dragged them back to my face. “I thought I heard screaming coming from this room.”
    I flushed as I realized I must’ve been dream-screaming. “I’m sorry. Everything’s fine.”
    “Make sure this window is locked.” She smiled. “Good night.”
    Nodding, I closed the window and threw the lock. My cheeks still felt bright red as I climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over my head. Although my childish screams had brought a Sentinel and not a daimon to my bedroom, the creeped-out feeling lingered all night.
     
     
     
     
    I stumbled through the day, feeling out of it and sick. Not throwing up sick, but nervous sick. I dozed off beside Deacon in class. He woke me up before the teacher spotted me sleeping. My hands trembled when I picked up my soda at lunch, which earned me a slew of concerned questions from Caleb and Olivia.
    Maybe I was coming down with something. Or maybe it was the nightmares I’d had for the last two nights. I really didn’t know, but all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep.
    In Gutter Fighting, it was hard for me to follow the movements of my sparring partner. Luke took it easy on me, only knocking me to the floor a couple of times. And my day wasn’t anywhere near over.
    Practice with Aiden immediately followed, and I sucked at that, too.
    I feinted to the left, but my movements felt jerky and too slow. Aiden’s leg came around viciously, striking me in the calf. The impact knocked me forward, face-first into the mats. Dropping very real blades, I caught myself awkwardly. All my weight landed on my wrists and I let out a sharp gasp.
    “Alex! Are you okay?” Aiden came to my side and reached down.
    Ignoring the pain, I pushed myself up. “I’m fine.”
    Aiden’s arm was still extended, as if he’d forgotten he had been reaching for me. He just stood there, staring at me. “What’s up with you today? You’re going to break your neck at this rate.”
    Fire scorched my cheeks as I grabbed the blades off the mats. “I’m okay.”
    I wanted to apologize for accusing him of being like other pures while we had a few