“Everybody has a type. I’m not trying to be mean. I’m sure you have a preference. What kind of guys do you like?” He meant to ask the question to get the focus off of him, but as she taps her fingers on the table, clearly in thought, Nick becomes absolutely intrigued with the answer. -Nick to Keely”

“Nick, I have to-” “NO YOU DON’T! I am risking everything for you and you are going to let him kill you, Keely! Please. Please don’t do this. I can protect you. We can go. We can get in the car and just drive away. We can hide.” He takes her hands in his, grips them firmly. “We can go anywhere you want. Just please stay with me.”

“Oh, crap,” Keely breathes. “You were supposed to stay in my room.”Asmoday shrugs. “You needed me.”“I—I did not.”“Why was he in your room?” Nick grumbles.“Why is he in our house?” Kimberly seethes.“Who is he? Who are you?” Kevin redirects his question.”

“You are not afraid of me at all, are you?”Keely swallows. She is, but at this point, what does she have to lose? “No, I’m not. Irritated, infuriated, disgusted, yes. But afraid? No.”He leans forward again. “Those are passionate feelings.”She sighs. “Those are bad feelings.”

“May I sleep with you?”Keely goes very still. Feels as if she is made of stone. Her stomach dips like she took the plunge on a roller coaster. That came out of nowhere. “Ugh, what?”“May I sleep here tonight? I slept so well this morning and I believe you will sleep better with me here as well.” He glances at her and smiles devilishly. “You thought I was asking to have sex.” He laughs. It’s such a wonderful noise to Keely’s ears. “I thought we were not allowed to do that?”

“Why would you do that? I was scared to death. Why wouldn’t you just answer her questions?”“I kept us together.”Keely stares at him in shock. “You really are an idiot. What if they would have sent you to one of the other Academies to imprison you there?”“A chance I had to take.”“Asmoday, you put yourself in jail just to be able to see me. I can’t believe you did that.”

“And if you kill each other in the process, well, that will just work out perfectly.”“You don’t have a chance. Not even then,” Nick says wryly.“It does not mean I am not going to try.”