Free Vamped by Lucienne Diver

stuttered, what if the council vamps used their “mind tricks” on those two? Wouldn’t they spill the beans? I risked a peek out of the curtains, moving them just the tiniest fraction and almost buckling in relief to see that James and Roman were Things One and Two, the studs who’d pulled me out of general population the other night. They hadn’t been in the room when the gemstone flared, and with luck they wouldn’t know that Bobby was the boy they were supposed to be looking for. But they did know about Mellisande’s teen army—unless the dragon lady had somehow been able to wipe their minds, in which case she was way tougher than I’d given her credit for. It freaked me out that right at this moment I was glad we were on the same side. But if she tried anything with Bobby—
    I was still frozen behind the curtain, shut in with the dragon lady, when her office door opened and closed again. I could spy only a sliver of the room, a direct path to the door, but it was enough to see Connor slip in. And for him to totally catch my eye. He’d have to be blind not to see me peeking, and I could tell by the widening of his eyes that there wasn’t the faintest hope of that. My whole body tensed, ready to spring into action, even if I didn’t know what that action would be yet—jump out the window after the boogeyman, or fight my way to the door to warn Bobby that Melli-noma wanted him as some kind of pawn.
    Then Connor did the unexpected. His gaze slid away, like there’d been nothing to see. “Teams Alpha and Beta are well away, playing the war game they call ‘paintball,’” he reported in that delicious unplaceable accent of his. “Their facilities have been sanitized.” I wondered what that meant. “Your new boy toy is likewise elsewhere.”
    “Very good. Once the council lackeys are gone and everyone is back, we’ll dole out Rick’s punishment. After kowtowing to the council, I feel the need for a good bloodletting.”
    Connor bowed and motioned for Melli to proceed him out of the room. But as soon as she was out, he shut the door behind her and turned on me.
    A chill went straight up my spine as his eyes met mine.
    “Front and center,” he ordered.
    I wondered if it was too late to jump out that window. But he hadn’t ratted me out to the dragon lady, so maybe I should hear him out. Besides, if I wasn’t going to jump, I was going to need to find allies somewhere. No one in the dorm was clamoring to be my new BFF.
    I slid out from behind the curtain, feeling a little like I was facing the principal after cutting school, but detention wasn’t the worst that could happen. Not with someone who’d reacted so casually to orders for a bloodletting.
    “What?” I asked, trying to sound unconcerned, like I lurked behind curtains all the time and no one else had ever seemed to mind.
    “You don’t belong here,” he said sternly.
    “Well, since you’ve mastered the obvious, you totally don’t need me. I’ll just be on my way.” It wasn’t the thing to say if I was looking for friends, but it just slipped out. And anyway, if he was going to respect anything it wouldn’t be fear.
    “No,” he answered firmly. “You won’t.”
    I stared straight into those wicked green eyes of his and threw my shoulders back, but his eye wasn’t as easily drawn as Rick’s had been. “Look, if you were going to sound an alarm, you would have done it. So, chances are you’re operating outside the system here, which means you don’t want me kicking up a fuss.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “In which case you should probably just get to your point and not try anything funny.”
    He laughed, a short bark of humor. “You’re so like her. Both of you scrapping at the world with no idea what you’re up against.”
    “Wow, you sure know the way to a girl’s heart.” Had that accent really made me gooey that first day? Go figure.
    “You’re missing one thing,” he continued, matching my sidestep as I tried