O

lt. Stone walls, dark and massive, cut into the hillside at an angle that meant the sun on

beat at a controlled sixty, and her face doing the thing she'd practised in

licant, placed by the regional merit exam. You've

s who'd grown up being told they were the best thing in any room they walked into. Their scents hit her like a wall. Pine and

ion table along the far w

teps in when

ecific sound of a bod

tu

nd, the other arm pulled in tight against his ribs. Young. Lean. Breathing careful

him without th

ked his arm. "Hey. Yo

at her. Ope

r around t

hs everything else in it walks through the door. The back of her neck went tight. Her wolf stirred once, low a

tened slowly

one hand, dark pants low on his hips. Not especially tall. Just built with a kind of density that made the

was the

mouth that sat in a natural line that wasn't quite a frown but wasn't anything friendlier. Dark eyes that were curren

h deep personal irritation,

vation in a box and b

pletely unbothered. Like he'd ans

boy on the ground.

hy

e." The corner of his mouth pull

lling attention toward them. The small gravitational

ck," Nova said. "That's

anger. Curiosity. Like she'd done something un

all and took one sl

w, I guess

ne here

slightly and moved closer to her, trying to dominate the space between them. Something moved thr

tomach w

ayed comple

" she said. "I probabl

ared

tared

onds. Neither

thing, that smile, and it didn

" he said. "

lked

e ground and helped him up without saying anything be

ds were

ignificantly less steady, and she was