Chapter 14 14- Do Not Let Him In Your Room
LEXI
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We get up from the table and start walking in the general direction of the dorms. Blake falls into step beside me, close enough that I can
feel the heat radiating from him, but not close enough to crowd me. He wastes no time.
“Do you like water?” He asks abruptly. Straight to business, apparently. I shrug. I assume he isn’t asking if I like the taste.
“I drink it, bathe in it. Sometimes I go swimming. I’m not obsessed with it, if that’s what you’re asking. Don’t hate it either.” I add, trying
to answer the question as thoroughly as possible. He nods thoughtfully, eyes narrowing the tiniest bit as if slotting that answer into a
mental chart. Blake is determined about this investigation, and I get the feeling he won’t drop it until he has answers.
“Not an aquatic shifter then…” He mutters.
“What about fire? Any pyromaniac tendencies I should be aware of?” He questions. I laugh.
“Nope. I like sitting by a fire, and candles are always nice, but I’ll leave the fiery rampages to you.” I tease. He barely reacts to the joke,
just a faint twitch at the corner of his mouth, but he is completely absorbed in his interrogation. His intensity is… Very single–minded. Purposeful. Probably a little dangerous if pointed at the wrong target to be honest.
“Hmm… Okay…. And how do you feel about heights?” He moves on. He definitely sounds like he is reading off of a mental list.
“Well, I’m not afraid of them. I thought we had already concluded I’m not a bird or creature that flies since I’m not in a flying class?” 1
remind him. Blake shrugs, still looking ahead.
“Yes, we did. But I love flying and… Oh, never mind. It was a silly thought.” He trails off, jaw tightening slightly. The way he says it, quiet
and guarded, tells me it wasn’t silly at all. There is something else he wanted to say. I frown.
“But now I want to know. Tell me… Please?” I ask, batting my eyelids playfully. He raises an eyebrow, then keeps walking. Silent. A wall of
golden–eyed stubbornness. Damn it. I huff dramatically.
“Oh fine. I’ll find out later. Maybe.” I grumble. He finally glances at me then, a flicker of amusement in his eyes, mixed with something a
little more calculating. Like he’s already deciding exactly how much he will eventually tell me. If he weren’t so nice to me, I think I could
see how Blake would be the kind of person who terrified people by accident. Or on purpose, if he felt like it. That kind of intensity would be a little scary if focussed on you in the wrong way. Luckily for everyone else, he seems to proter straight up ignoring them.
We continue walking until we reach my door. Except… Something is wrong. My name isn’t there. The nameplate doesn’t say Alexis anymore, it says Ashley. Who in the world is Ashley? I blink. Then I check the door beside it. And the next. My stomach drops.
“My room was here… Right here. I was in the middle of the half. I don’t understand… How can my room Just be gone?” I mumbile to myself. Blake steps closer, studying my expression.
“Is something wrong with your room?” He asks.
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Chapter 14 14- Do Not Let Him In Your Room.
“Yes. Unless I suddenly became Ashley in the last ten minutes, something is very wrong.” I tell him anxiously. He frowns, scanning the hall like he expects trouble. Blake looks half–ready for a threat. I’m guessing it’s instincts, probably. Or trauma from everyone treating him like one.
“That’s weird.” He says slowly.
“Very! What if my room is gone forever!?” I blurt out, a little freaked out. Blake smirks.
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“I don’t know. Maybe we could be roomies?” He teases. The glances down the hallway.
“Is my room still where it should be?” He adds. We head toward the end of the hall. Of course Blake’s room is still there, the solitary door
tucked at the far end like the Academy wanted to keep him contained and separate from anyone else. It’s a little sad, honestly. Great, now
I feel bad. Although he doesn’t seem bothered by it. He stops in front of it.
“Nope, still here.” He concludes.
“Maybe your room has-” He cuts himself off, eyes locking on something behind me. His posture tightens. I turn. It’s… My door. With my
name. Sitting right where his wall meets the rest of the hall.
“But… How? It wasn’t here when I left for dinner. There’s no way!” I blurt out, spinning to check the other name plates again.
“Did someone change them? Why would anyone bother?” I ask.
“Try unlocking it?” Blake suggests. His voice is steady, but there’s something calculating there. I guess that this is another mystery that he wants to solve. I slide my key into the lock. It turns effortlessly. The door swings open and the lights flick on automatically. It’s my room. Exactly as I left it. Books on the shelf. Laptop on the desk. The faint scent of the soap I used earlier. I stand there, baffled, while Blake hovers in the doorway like he’s not sure he has permission to cross whatever invisible line exists between public space and mine.
“Well… This is weird.” I comment as I sit on the bed, still processing, and glance over my shoulder at him.
“Are you coming in?” I ask.
“Am I allowed to?” He questions, an eyebrow raised. The question is oddly sincere, and cautious. Like he’s used to people slamming doors in his face or blaming him for stepping where he shouldn’t.
“If you want.” I answer. He steps inside with surprising hesitance, moving like someone who’s half–expecting the room to reject him on principle. When nothing explodes, he sits in the desk chair, back straight, eyes alert.
“So… I can mark off that you aren’t particularly territorial.” He comments. I laugh, although I’m still a little stressed out. To be honest, I don’t really want to be alone until I am sure that everything is how it should be. Then his gaze sweeps the room again. It feels like he is REALLY looking. Checking the exits, value, comfort, threat. He’s not just looking, he’s assessing
“Is everything where it should be?” He asks.
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Chapter 14 14- Do Not Let Him In Your Room
“I think so…” I say slowly.
“It’s kind of hard to say. Things keep… Changing. Clothes appear in the closet, books show up on the shelf. I have no idea what is normal
here and what isn’t.” I admit warily. Maybe all this magic stuff is a little more intrusive than I thought… Blake nods along.
“Yeah, same here. If the academy keeps up like this, by the end of the week our rooms will probably look like custom–built sanctuaries.”
He points out. A faint smirk lifts his lips.
“My room is different than yours, though. The walls are darker. The bed is less… Fluffy.” He comments. I giggle.
“That fits.” I respond, trying to imagine him with a fluffy pink blanket or something.
“So, there’s magic adapting our rooms to suit our preferences… And I guess it decided I’d prefer to have the room next to yours.” I
conclude. Blake shrugs, a tiny, smug flicker in his golden eyes.
“Or maybe that’s what I wanted.” He answers. There’s something in his tone, casual on the surface, but edged underneath. As if the room shifting closer to his wasn’t actually that surprising to him at all. Interesting…
“Who knows. I don’t mind the move. I just hope this isn’t a regular thing. I don’t want to go room–hunting every day.” I say lightly.
“I think as long as you don’t want your room to move again, it probably won’t.” Blake concludes confidently.
He glances around my room, not nervously, just assessing, like he’s cataloguing every detail. Then he exhales through his nose, a quiet,
deliberate sound.
“I should probably go.” He says, matter–of–factly. Like this is the part where people usually make him leave. I blink at him.
“Why? Are you tired or something? It’s still pretty early. We could hang out for a while. Watch a movie, or you can keep interrogating me about mystery–shifter traits.” I suggest. Blake goes still in that controlled, unreadable way he has. No widened eyes, no awkward fidgeting, just a subtle shift of attention, like the air changed.
“Here? In your room?” He clarifies.
“I mean… Yeah? Unless you’d rather go somewhere else.” I answer.
“Do you have a problem with my room?” I ask. It comes out defensively. I guess I am a little protective of my room after all. Great. Love
that for me. Blake shakes his head once.
“Your room is fine.” He says firmly. A beat.
“You’re just very trusting.” He adds. I frown..
“And what does that mean?” I demand. He lifts an eyebrow, one cool, effortless gesture that somehow carries a thousand implications I’m
not catching.
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Chapter 14 14- Do Not Let Him In Your Room
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“It means, that you don’t actually know me yet. Not well enough to assume you’re safe with me in a private space.” He says, tone flat and
blunt. Oh. OH. Heat punches up my neck and into my face. Fantastic. I’m probably glowing like a tomato–powered light bulb. Okay. I know he means dangerous. Reputation. Dragon. Unknown–variable–him. But my brain? My brain immediately plugs his words into the wrong equation. Is he implying something? Does he think I was implying something? Did I accidentally imply something?? I just wanted to watch a movie. A movie. On my laptop. Fully clothed. Zero hidden agendas, zero innuendo, zero anything. But clearly my brain missed that memo because now it’s doing the world’s fastest catastrophic spiral. Did he think I was inviting him to do something else? Did it SOUND that way? Because I have definitely had misunderstandings with people in the past. I say what I mean, but apparently most people assume that there is some kind of double meaning in things. I do NOT want to deal with that again. Okay, I need to relax. This is not that. Blake is not that guy. Blake is… Blake. Except he DID bring up the whole issue, which feels like a warning. Or a boundary. Or a test. Or maybe dragons have rules I’ve never even heard of where hanging out alone signals something? I feel very out of my depth. My pulse is thundering. My thoughts are tripping over each other in a frantic pile–up. Okay. Think… What do I even do now?
Comments
Heddy Baran
3 Comments >
I’m loving this book just as much as your other books… can’t wait to see if my guess on what kind of shifter she is, is correct
7 days ago
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Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
