“Whatever you do, don't break my brother's heart. You are his world. And if you leave it, it will destroy him.”

“You always blush when you lie.”“I do not.” I felt the flush spread down my neck.“If you keep lying, I think I will have to leave,” he threatened halfheartedly. “I don’t feel like my virtue is safe.”“You’re virtue?” I huffed. “Whatever.”“I know how you get.” His eyes closed.”

“What's your deal?" I asked in the hallway after class. "I know you did that."He shrugged. "So?" ... "That was rude, Daemon. You embarrassed him." ... "And I thought using your ... stuff would draw them here?" ... "That was barley a blip on the map. That didn't even leave a trace on anyone." He lowered his head until the edges of his dark curled brushed my cheek. I was caught between wanting to crawl into my locker or crawl into him. "Besides, I was doing you a favor." I laughed. "And how was that doing me a favor?"... "Studying math wasn't what he had in mind."That was debatable, but I decided to play along ... "And what if that's the case?""You like Simon?" His chin jerked up, anger flashing in his emerald eyes. "You can't possibly like him."... "Are you jealous? ... Your jealous of Simon?" I lowered my voice. "Of a human? For shame, Daemon.”

“Daemon stomped past them, bumping into his brother's shoulder. "You make my head hurt", he said, scowling. "And you make me all warm and fuzzy inside".”

“No." I backed up, running my hands along my hips. "You told me to not give up on Seth. And now you want me to?""I don't want you to give up on him," he said, voice taking on a pleading edge. "There's still hope for him, but only if you can truly reach him. And being the head of Seth's fan club isn't going to do it."I laughed then. "That was so you when you were... you know, around. You totally had a boy crush on him.”

“One of my Instructors at the Covenant has a tattoo of it on his arm.” His lips pursed. “Minister Telly has one on his arm, too.” “How in the world do you know that?” We cut across the frost- covered lawn to one of the covered walkways connecting smaller buildings to the main one. “Have you been sneaking into his room and cuddling with him, too?” “Don’t be jealous. You’re my only cuddle bunny.”

“Without thinking, I moved again, reaching out and touching the handresting near my thigh. Call it an experiment, but I wanted to see what would happenSeth’s head whipped in my direction. “What are you doing?”“Nothing.” And nothing was what happened. Confused, I wrapped my fingers around his.“Doesn’t look like nothing,” His eyes narrowed on me.“I guess so.” Giving up on my impromptu test, I lifted my hand. “Shouldn’t you be—” Whatever I was about to say died on my lips. Incredibly fast, Seth grabbed my hand and threaded his fingers through mine.“Is this what you wanted?” he asked, ever so casually.It happened. Being so close to him this time, I could see where the markings came from. The thick veins in his handwere the first to darken, branching out before spreading up his arm. Mesmerized, I watched the inky tats cover every piece of exposed skin. Before my eyes, they shifted away from his veins, swirling around his skin. Breaking off into different designs as he—we—continued to hold hands.”