Free Feros and the Underworld Prince by A.L. Bridges Page B

and some on my cargo shorts. I stand up and follow her, still feeling like a shell. I’m a little surprised when she walks up the walkway and through the door of a sorority. She leads me upstairs, getting several looks from other girls, and into her room.
    “ Take off your clothes… so I can wash them” Katie commands.
    I strip off my shirt and shorts while Katie observes, and then I unwind my bandage. I hear Katie gasp slightly in response to my arm, but she doesn’t say anything as she grabs my clothes and leaves her room. I sit down on her bed and wait. Katie’s room is simple; just a dresser, desk and bed with the mandatory minimum of five pillows on it to symbolize that it belongs to a woman. I also notice that the room has a small bathroom as Katie comes back in and sits down next to me.
    “ Your clothes should be washed in about thirty minutes and then it will take another thirty for the dryer. So I guess she didn’t tell you about Jarrett, huh?” Katie gently asks.
    “ No, but I knew about him… it was hearing him call her Cheza that really hit me.” I respond.
    “ How could you hear him from across the courtyard?” Katie asks with a perplexed expression.
    “ I have amazing hearing. It’s how I knew who you were, by the sound of your voice; I’ve overheard a few conversations that you and Cheza have had. Cheza doesn’t know about it… I had prepared myself for the fact that seeing them together was a possibility when I decided to transfer here, but I never expected that she would allow him to call her Cheza…” I say quietly.
    “ Now that I think about it, you are the only other person that I have heard call her Cheza. Hey Cole, if you don’t mind my asking, what happened to your arm?” Katie inquires.
    “ I lost it fighting a fifty foot snake that was trying to eat Cheza two nights ago. I made a new one to replace it.” I bluntly answer.
    “ How do you mean, you made a new one?” Katie asks, not bothering to be shocked by the ‘fighting a fifty foot snake’ part.
    “ What is your favorite animal?” I request.
    “ Pandas,” Katie replies.
    I hold my left hand out and use the hole in my palm to draw out my blood. I swirl it around in the air a few times before I have it take on the shape of a cartoon panda that has a black and red color scheme, because I can’t do white without bleeding all over Katie’s floor. I solidify it and hand it to her.
    “ Like that.” I say as she stares at the panda in amazement.
    “ Cole, this is amazing! What is this made of?” Katie asks.
    “ Silicon carbide nanotubes as far as I can tell.” I reply.
    “ How can you make silicon carbide out of your blood?” Katie inquires curiously.
    “ It’s not just silicon carbide, I can make various types of explosives as well. It seems that I can completely bypass the laws of chemistry and form molecules, so long as the raw elements are in my blood, without having to worry about balancing charges or anything of that nature.” I answer.
    Katie keeps giving me this look that is either saying that she really wants to throw me down and have sex with me, or she really wants to study me in a traditional lab setting.
    “ I’m just going to make it clear that I’m not all that okay with you studying me, mainly because it would put you in danger.” I explain. Katie looks disappointed for a moment, but her expression doesn’t fade entirely…
    “ Katie! I heard you had a guy in here…” I hear Cheza say as she starts to open Katie’s door.
    Right, I should have guessed that Cheza lives here too when Katie said that they live together. Then something even more unexpected happens: Katie pulls me on top of her and presses her lips to mine, just before Cheza enters to get the full view.
    “ COLE!?” Cheza shouts as Katie breaks off our kiss.
    Katie gives me a look that seems to indicate that she set up the shot, but now the ball is in my court. My gut instinct is to explain the situation.
    “ Chezarei!