“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?”

“I thought there was supposed to be signs or something,” Keely says. “Little clues that point you in the right direction?”He smirks at her. “You have to be looking.”

“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”

“Asmoday slides a finger down Keely’s spine, exposed from the backless nightgown. “I did not do this.”Keely shivers at his unexpected touch. His fingers are like ice and feel good against the painful gashes. “No, you didn’t. This is courtesy of our brother.”“I am not a fan of his art, though he did have a beautiful canvas.”

“I pledged my allegiance to Apophis, but I am only allied with Keely. Whatever she needs of me, I will offer her.”

“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.”

“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.”