Free Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) by Cynthia Brint Page B

myself, I felt a bit calmer.
    Becky
means well, but she just has no idea what's going on right now. How
could she?
    Maybe
I should just go with it tonight and try and have some fun, though.
It isn't like I can really do much else. I'm too tired to go back
and pour over the pages of that giant book.
    The
truth was I really couldn't do anything about my situation, so why not just sink in and enjoy
the change of scenery?
    Letting
the tension release from my shoulders, I opened my eyes with a sense
of freedom. A freedom that was smashed on the virtual rocks
immediately when I saw the person standing right in front of me.
    Nethiun.
    “ What
are you doing here?” I gasped, staring around in a panic.
    Blinking,
he lifted his eyebrows to his hairline. “That's not much of a
greeting.”
    Covering
my mouth, I stared at him in the dim lighting. Even here, his grin
was curved as a scythe. “You can't be here. Becky will see
you!”
    “ Is
that a problem?” He didn't seem worried one bit. Dressed as he
was, that same pair of crisp trousers and his slick, tight button
down, he would have fit right in with the young crowd of people.
    But
I knew better. I knew what he was.
    Stepping
forward, I tried to lower my voice, but the place was roaring with
music and I needed to be heard. “Your eyes,” I hissed.
    Lifting
a hand to his ear, he leaned closer to me. “Sorry, my what?”
    “ Your
eyes!” I shouted, nose almost brushing his temple. When he
turned back to face me, the tip of his actually did touch mine.
    Shocked
at the abrupt contact, the feel of his marble skin, I found myself
looking deeply into those severe orbs of his. Only...
    Only,
this time, they looked almost normal. Still far lighter than any
human eye should be, but they didn't seem to eat the very glow of
the lights away.
    It
was like hot-white silver dollars looking back at me, shiny and new.
I was transfixed, and might have stood there stupidly if Becky's
voice hadn't piped up beside me.
    “ Gale?”
She moved into the corner of my vision, letting me break away. My
face was flushed, I could feel it acutely. “Oh, Becky!”
    Blinking,
she tilted her head, dark ringlets falling over her throat. “And
who is this fine gentleman we have here?”
    I
didn't have time to speak up. The twaelin leaned towards my friend,
tucking his chin in a tiny bow. “Now, that's a greeting. I'm Nethiun, and you're Becky, it seems.”
    Understanding
washed over her face. An awful, gut wrenching understanding. “ You're Nethiun? Oh my gosh, wow, I guess it would take a guy as cute as you
to break Gale out of her shell!”
    I
wondered how many people I could knock down if I ran away right
then.
    Chuckling,
the blonde glanced at me knowingly. “Shell, you say.”
    Giggling,
the busty girl offered me up one of the cups she held. “Here,
I got this for you. Drink up, come join Ethan and I when you're
ready.” The way she drawled the word 'ready' made my belly
seize.
    Then
she was gone, sashaying her way through the gyrating masses like she
was a surfer on the waves.
    Gripping
the glass, I eyed Nethiun, debating my next sentence carefully. “How
are your eyes, you know, not freaky anymore?”
    “ Freaky?”
He mouthed the word, clearly not liking it. “Ah. It seemed
prudent to blend in a bit more, so I simply took note and changed
them.”
    Simply
changed them, as if it's so easy. It does help, though, I suppose.
No one will notice how inhuman he is, looking as he does.
    Lowering
the drink Becky had given me, I studied him warily. “Asking
why you're here, that'd get me the usual answer I assume.”
    “ Correct,”
he replied, grinning that infuriating way of his. “However,
why are you here, my dear Gale?” Arching an eyebrow, he looked me up and
down without a hint of subtlety.
    The
swath of exposed skin across my chest went hot with my discomfort
under his curious stare. Placing a hand over my smear of cleavage, I
frowned. “That...! Look, it isn't your business. I'm just