Chapter 39: We are Miles Apart

"They’re gone now."

Blair slowly peeked through her fingers. Daemus was crouching on the ice beside her, a relaxed, easy smile on his handsome face. To her immense relief, he was now wearing shorts.

She let out a shaky breath and sat up, frantically tugging at the hem of her uniform skirt to smooth it down. As she moved, her eyes caught sight of his hand resting on his knee. Blood was still slowly welling from the deep cuts where his own claws had pierced his palm.

"Your hand," Blair whispered.

Daemus glanced down at his fist, then waved it off dismissively. "Don’t worry about it. I heal fast."

Blair averted her gaze, staring at the scuff marks on the white ice.

An incredibly awkward silence settled over the empty rink. The adrenaline from their performance was beginning to fade, leaving Blair hyper-aware of the quiet, echoing space.

"You have a really high tolerance for the cold," Daemus noted, breaking the silence. His silver eyes swept over her thin uniform. "It’s well below freezing in here, but you’re barely even trembling."

Blair looked down at her hands. Her skin was pale, but he was right. She wasn’t shivering. Her teeth weren’t chattering.

"It’s just the adrenaline," Blair said quietly, though even she was confused.

Adrenaline or not, a normal human in her flimsy clothes lying flat on a block of solid ice should be experiencing the early stages of hypothermia by now. Yet, she felt perfectly fine.

"Do you want to get out of here?" Daemus asked, flashing her a smile.

Blair quickly nodded.

Daemus stood up, his tall frame towering over her, and offered her a hand. Blair reached out and took it. He hoisted her up with effortless strength, pulling her to her feet.

The momentum brought her a little closer to him than she anticipated. As she steadied herself, her gaze accidentally brushed past his waistline. The thick fabric of his shorts was doing absolutely nothing to hide the very prominent erection tenting against his thigh.

Blair gasped softly, her eyes widening. She snatched her hand out of his grip like she had just touched a hot stove, instantly looking up at the ceiling.

"Are you... aren’t you going to do something about that?" Blair stammered, her face catching fire all over again.

Daemus looked down, then smirked. He took a slow step toward her. "Do you want to help me do something about it?"

Unbidden, a line from one of the trashy romance novels she used to read flashed through her mind: And then, the alpha pushed his fifteen-inch cock down her throat.

Blair’s eyes went round, her face draining of color before flushing to an impossible shade of violet.

Daemus took one look at her terrified, deer-in-headlights expression and burst into deep, booming laughter.

"I’m joking, Bunny," he laughed, holding his hands up in surrender as he stepped back. "I’m just messing with you. Come on, let’s go."

Blair let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding, power-walking toward the exit tunnel to put some distance between them.

As they left the freezing arena and stepped out into the cool evening air of the campus, the tension finally began to dissipate.

"So," Daemus asked, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked beside her. "Why did you come to find me anyway?"

Blair bit her lip. She had come here to ask him to meet with Heather’s vulture-like friends. But looking at him now, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Despite how nice he was, they were not equals. They were not friends. He was a Prince, and she was a human lesser. Asking a royal to parade himself around a bunch of giggling, shallow human girls just to do her a chore felt incredibly out of line. She didn’t want to trouble him anymore than she already had.

"I just wanted to tell you what happened the other night. With Professor Feron," Blair pivoted smoothly, keeping her eyes on the cobblestone path.

She recounted the horrifying events, the long, disjointed limbs, the sickly gray skin, and the terrifying lack of eyes. She told him how Jack had swooped in, saved her and taking a poisoned hit in the process.

Daemus stopped walking. His brow furrowed in genuine disbelief.

"Professor Feron saved you?" Daemus asked, sounding baffled.

Blair frowned. "Yes. Why is that the part that caught your attention?"

"Because Jack Feron hates everyone," Daemus pointed out dryly. "Especially humans. I’m just surprised he didn’t let it eat you."

"You don’t believe me," Blair accused, her shoulders slumping.

"I do believe you," Daemus swore, holding a hand up. "I’ve just never heard of anything like that before. Nobody has ever reported seeing monsters in the woods."

"Well, maybe that’s because no one ever survives seeing them," Blair responded grimly as they finally reached the steps of Dormitory G.

Blair turned to face him, chewing nervously on the inside of her cheek. She was running out of time.

"Daemus... how long do you think it will take for your client to get back to you with the favor?" Blair asked, her voice tight with worry.

Daemus shrugged. "Who knows? Could be tomorrow. Could be next week. Depends on how fast word travels."

Blair’s heart sank. She definitely couldn’t wait a week. If Heather was out there with those things, she might already be dead.

She looked at Daemus. He was right here. All she had to do was ask him to meet the girls. Just a quick favor.

"Well, I’ll see you later, Bunny," Daemus smiled, taking a step back toward the main path.

"Wait," Blair blurted out.

Daemus stopped, turning back with a questioning look.

Blair opened her mouth. The words were right there on her tongue, but the invisible wall separating their statuses felt a mile high. She couldn’t figure out how to phrase the request without sounding like a demanding, entitled pest.

She chickened out.

"When... when did you want to start the math tutoring?" Blair asked instead, wincing inwardly at her own cowardice.

Daemus smiled. "We can start on Sunday. I actually have a big math test next week, so that works perfectly. Have a good night."

He gave her a small wave and turned away, his tall figure quickly disappearing into the evening shadows of the campus.

Blair let out a long sigh, her shoulders dropping in defeat. She slowly climbed the steps to her dorm and pushed the door open.

The room was quiet and empty. She walked over to her bed and sat down, staring blankly at Heather’s side of the room. Daemus couldn’t help her fast enough, and she was too much of a coward to demand more of his time.

If she wanted answers, she was going to have to find them herself.

"They were out at night," Blair whispered to the empty room, her mind racing as she formed a reckless plan. "Maybe they’re nocturnal."

She grabbed her small, ticking alarm clock from her nightstand. She couldn’t go back into the dark; she would be a sitting duck. But if she went right at the break of dawn...

She twisted the dial, setting her alarm for the earliest crack of sunrise.