The words sank in my gut like a stone in a deep well. I didn’t think he was coming back. And I’d known that what time we had together was going to be super short, but I guess I’d thought at least a few more hours.
“Oh, he’s coming back alright,” Charlize muttered.
I frowned at her. “Why would you say that?”
“Never mind.” Hunter cut in. “Did your guy happen to bite you in the middle of things?”
Okay, what the heck? “How could you possibly know that?”
Hunter ignored my question. “And he didn’t mention anything? Anything, maybe, unusual about himself? Maybe something that you thought was a joke or a line you didn’t understand?”
What the heck was she talking about? “No? He… we didn’t really get a chance to talk about much.”
Okay, that hadn’t come out right. But I didn’t regret grabbing for a bit of happiness when it fell into my lap. Whatever else happened, I’d gotten to spend a freaking amazing night with a really amazing guy.
Who’d lied about who he was. Or, at least, heavily edited. But then, I probably never would have gotten to meet Prince Ruslan, not like I had Bash. So I couldn’t even really be mad at him for that.
Hunter looked frustrated. She and Charlize had another of those silent conversations that seemed to be made mostly out of eyebrow motions and rolled eyes.
“Okay, not loving the super-secret meeting you’re having while in the same room as me, guys.”
“No, sorry, it’s just…” Charlize made some vague hand gestures. “We’re not sure how much we’re allowed to tell you.”
“Allowed to tell me?” Saying the words back to them slowly didn’t actually help.
“That, and we don’t want to freak you out,” Hunter chimed in.
“Yeah, that ship sailed, crashed, and sank to the bottom of the ocean already.”
Charlize made a sympathetic little pout. “Just know that we one hundred percent believe that your guy will be coming back to you. And try to keep an open mind.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s good advice.” Hunter grinned. “This is going to be so exciting.”
My head hurt. I was tired. The delicious aches from last night were starting to fade into just the regular kind, and I wanted to go home, eat some ice cream, and drown myself in my new romance novels. And if I started imagining Bash in the place of every book boyfriend in the pile, well, no one had to know it but me.
“I’m sorry, guys. I don’t think I’m up for a study session. Maybe tomorrow, if you can meet before work.”
The sudden roar of an engine outside made me almost jump out of my skin. A chorus of woops and howls tore through the late afternoon, and we all ran to the window to see what the heck was going on.
There were a bunch of jerks on motorcycles out in front of the library, bringing their bikes up onto the sidewalk, circling on the lawns and tearing up the grass as they went. They looked like bikers too. Big guys, though some of them were more lanky than anything, dressed in leather jackets and no helmets.
There was something written on the back of their jackets, and I squinted to make out the words. Fur and Fangs? Weird name for a motorcycle group.
One of them had something like a baseball bat, and as he drove by, he took a swing at the Dire Wolf statue on the green. A hollow boom echoed across the campus as the bat hit home, and he cackled and drove on, leaving one bronze ear curled in.
I sucked in a shocked breath, seeing red. The Dire Wolf was our mascot, the pride of the school. Who the heck did those jerks think they were?
I grabbed my bag and bolted out of the room, heading for the stairs. Hunter and Charlize were hot on my heels, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the pounding of blood in my ears.
There was a crowd of people all bottled up in the doorway, trying to see what was going on. Eva hung back, looking unsure, until Professor Rojo came striding out of one of the side rooms, an impressive scowl twisting his face.
“What is going on here?”
No one had a chance to answer him before another chorus of howls and shouts rose up outside. Professor Rojo pushed his way through the crowd, his face grim. He turned, glancing through the faces until his gaze landed on Eva.
“Take everyone to the back of the building, away from the windows. No one goes outside until I give the all clear, understand?”
Eva mostly looked relieved to have someone with a plan, and she started ushering everyone away. The crowd left, moving deeper into the library.
