Chapter 215: The Mysterious Friend

It was supposed to be just one dance with Luther, but Trisha ended up spending far more time with him than she anticipated. If the guy turned out to be a vampire, she would have no trouble believing he’d put her under some kind of compulsion.

Right now, they’d wisely avoided the actual seating areas, most of which had been taken over by couples who were more interested in making out than sitting. Instead, they were seated on one of the lower stone tiers overlooking the party, where there were considerably fewer kissing couples, still talking as if Brittney hadn’t abandoned her with a complete stranger in the first place.

"So you’re trying to tell me you’ve been to the human city?"

"Yes, quite a few times," Luther answered.

"Interesting." Trisha lifted a brow in an exaggerated manner. "You won’t tell me what kind of beast you are, yet you’ve been to the human realm more than once. That’s not something every beast can boast of."

Luther rolled his eyes at the suspicion written all over her face. She’d been like this throughout their conversation, listening to everything he said while silently picking through his words for anything that didn’t add up.

"Come on, you know some beasts work in the human cities, right?"

"Yes, I know. Certified beasts. The ones who obey the rules and are trusted enough to behave." Trisha watched him carefully. "Are you one of them?"

"No, I’m not."

Trisha released a long sigh.

Earlier, his mysterious act had been entertaining. Now it was becoming downright frustrating. She knew his name, knew he wasn’t a student, knew he had snuck into the party and apparently, he’d visited human cities several times. Yet every answer only seemed to create another question.

"However..." Luther said, finally tossing her another morsel. "My parents are in charge of those soldiers."

Trisha’s brows shot up. "All of them?"

Luther nodded.

"And who exactly are your parents?" She shifted toward him. "They must be powerful if they can get you into human cities whenever they please."

"Curious, are we?" His lips curved into a smirk. "Don’t worry. You’ll find out in due time."

Trisha made an irritated sound in the back of her throat.

Luther looked even more amused. She was quite cute when she was annoyed.

"So does that mean you don’t want to hear what happened to me on one of my earliest trips to Nova City?"

Trisha perked up at once. "Of course I want to."

She might not be able to force the truth out of him tonight, but Trisha was patient. He could keep feeding her these little pieces if he wanted. Eventually, she would fit them together and figure out exactly who he was.

"So what happened?"

Luther leaned back on his hands. "Have you ever used one of those electric scooters humans leave all over the city?"

Trisha was stunned. "A scooter?"

"Yes."

"So you’re telling me whatever happened to you involved a scooter?"

"I was quite young."

Trisha’s lips twitched. "Continue."

Luther glanced away like he was already reconsidering telling her.

"It was one of my first proper trips into Nova City without someone watching my every move. I’d seen humans riding those things everywhere. They’d walk up, scan something with their phones, and suddenly the scooter would unlock."

"It’s called an app."

"I know that now, Trish."

Trisha’s brow rose. Trish?

Luther conveniently ignored her questioning look, cleared his throat, and continued. "Anyway, I wanted to try one. The problem was that I didn’t have the app."

"So you downloaded it."

"No."

Trisha stared at him.

Luther immediately became defensive. "I didn’t know I needed to."

"Oh my God."

"Our technology is different. I thought the phone merely communicated with the machine somehow."

"It does. Through the app. But like you said, you know that now." Trisha fought back a laugh. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how this had gone.

"So what did you do?" Now she was curious as hell.

"I forced it to unlock."

Trisha’s smile disappeared. "You what?"

"I forced it."

"With what?"

Luther paused.

The silence lasted just long enough for realization to dawn on her.

"You used whatever mysterious beast strength you’re refusing to tell me about to steal a scooter?"

"I didn’t steal it. Not when I intended to return it."

"Sorry, Luther, but that is exactly what people who steal things say."

Luther let out an aggrieved sigh. "I really didn’t steal it. I even left some of the human currency my father had given me."

"Where?"

"On the scooter."

Trisha stared at him for two seconds before bursting into laughter. Somebody help her. This had to be one of the funniest stories she’d ever heard. This guy could probably make a fortune touring human cities and narrating all the ridiculous things he’d done in them.

Luther dragged a hand down his face. "This story was much less humiliating in my head."

"No, no." Trisha was already wiping beneath one eye. "Please continue. What did the scooter do with its money?"

Luther gave her a flat look.

She grinned.

"Fine. I got it unlocked and started riding."

"You mean illegally."

"Do you want to hear this or not, Trisha Thorne?"

"Very much. Go on, Luther. I’ll do my best to control myself during this very serious and completely humorless story."

Luther caught the sarcasm easily but continued anyway.

"For the first few minutes, everything was fine. Then I saw a human boy ride past me much faster. He looked at me, and I looked at him."

"Oh no..." Trisha already knew where this was going. "Please tell me you didn’t."

Trisha waited.

Luther’s expression became grave. "It was clearly a challenge."

Trisha face-palmed. "Oh, you idiot."

"He was younger than me and could handle the thing better than I could. It was a hit to my pride, and I couldn’t take it."

Yep. Whatever came next had definitely ended in disaster.

Luther continued with what little dignity he had left. "I didn’t understand that those scooters had speed restrictions, so I removed it."

Trisha’s mouth fell open. "You fucking removed the speed limiter?"

"I didn’t know that’s what it was."

"What did you think it was?"

"Something preventing me from winning."

Trisha stared at him.

Luther shrugged. "Again, I was young. I didn’t understand what I was doing."

"You keep saying that as if youth explains your attempted suicide."

"It wasn’t attempted suicide. I knew what I was doing."

"Clearly." Trisha gave him a look. "So, Mr. Know-It-All, what happened next?"

Luther drew a breath. "The scooter accelerated enough that I caught up with the boy."

"Congratulations." Trisha gave him a little clap, although that wasn’t nearly disastrous enough to be the ending she’d anticipated.

"Thank you."

"That wasn’t sincere."

"I’ll take it anyway." He shifted slightly. "Actually, I passed him. And that was when I discovered something else."

Trisha was almost afraid to ask. "What?"

"Humans put stairs underground."

For one confused second, she merely stared at him. Then it clicked.

"No."

"Yes."

"You rode it into a subway entrance?"

"I didn’t know what a subway was!"

Trisha doubled over.

Luther waited with wounded dignity while she laughed so hard she could barely breathe.

"I went down the first three steps, but the scooter went down considerably more. I, however, did not."

"What happened to you?"

"There was a railing, and my body met it..." He paused. "Quite intimately."

Trisha’s entire body shook with laughter. She knew she shouldn’t be laughing this hard at something that had obviously hurt him, especially when he’d been unfamiliar with the human city at the time, but it was his fault for telling the story like this.

Luther’s mouth betrayed him with a reluctant smile. "I landed on the stairs, broke two ribs, dislocated my shoulder, and had what the healer later described as an impressive amount of bruising."

Trisha’s laughter died immediately. "Damn. I’m sorry."

"Don’t be. They healed. I’m a beast, remember?" Luther waved it away. "Except the worst part wasn’t the ribs."

Her eyes widened. "There was something worse?"

"The boy followed me. He stopped at the top of the stairs, looked down at me, and asked if I was okay."

"Aww, that was nice of him."

"Then he asked if he could have my scooter."

Trisha lost it.

Her laughter rang loudly enough that several students nearby turned to look, but she couldn’t have cared less. She bent forward, one hand clutching her stomach while Luther sat beside her with the long-suffering expression of someone deeply regretting the decision that had brought him to this moment.

"You’re lying," she managed.

"I wish I were."

Luther watched her, his embarrassment gradually giving way to amusement. "I’m glad my suffering entertains you, Trisha Thorne."

"It really does." She wiped beneath her eyes.

When she looked at him again, however, Luther wasn’t laughing anymore. He was staring at her.

Trisha’s smile slowly faded beneath the intensity of his gaze.

"You’re quite beautiful," he said.

She froze.

Until now, everything between them had been easy. A dance that had lasted longer than intended, his ridiculous stories, teasing, and the occasional spark she’d deliberately ignored whenever she felt it. Luther was a beast with a mysterious identity. She was human. This thing would not last.

Yet when Luther leaned closer, Trisha didn’t move.

Her heartbeat quickened as the distance between them disappeared. His gaze dropped briefly to her mouth before returning to her eyes, giving her every opportunity to pull away.

She didn’t.

His lips barely brushed hers, the contact so light it sent an unexpected tingle down her spine. Luther lingered there for a second, close enough that one small movement from either of them would turn it into a real kiss.

"There you are."

Trisha jerked back. She looked up to find Valerie and Variant standing a few feet away.

Valerie’s eyes narrowed. "We’ve been looking for you everywhere."

Variant’s gaze moved from Trisha to Luther, lingering on him with immediate curiosity.

"Care to introduce us to your friend?"