“She’d been crushed against a stone bench, and had managed to work her way beneath it as the snow moved over her, so had the space beneath for air. So lucky. I think every bone in her body is broken, but she’ll heal. Women are so strong.”
“You say that as if it’s a fact that’s been proved to you.”
“It has been.”
He bowed his head, images of his mother coming to mind. Tall, dark, yet regal in the most macabre manner, his mother, Viviane LaMourette. The touched one, as some would whisper behind her back.
But he wasn’t about to divulge how it had been to grow up with an insane vampire mother who would have bitten him on more than one occasion had his father not been vigilant in keeping him safe. He would have given his mother blood, but it wouldn’t have rescued her from the wicked melancholy that relentlessly haunted her soul.
“It’s going to be a gorgeous night,” he offered. “In a few days the moon will be full and bright. I’ve always loved the moon for its bold white light. I bet its shine makes you look like a snow princess.”
She tilted back her head, and the hood shrugged down onto her shoulders to reveal glossy black hair, unpinned and falling straight about her narrow face. A pert nose, soft pink mouth, and porcelain skin competed against those harsh, ever-present sunglasses.
“Do you ever take those sunglasses off?”
“No.”
Too quick, that answer. Protective. And practiced. “It’s cool. You’ve got the whole Matrix thing going on.”
“Matrix?”
Tryst twisted to face her. “The greatest movie ever made? You’re kidding me, right?”
“I don’t see many movies. I’m too busy. And if I have free time, I’d rather read.”
“Seriously? That is so wrong.”
“Reading is good for a person. You learn things from books,” she said mockingly.
“I know, but reading is so … static. I’m the type of guy who has to be moving all the time.”
“Watching a movie for two hours doesn’t sound very active.”
“I agree with you there, but still, it wins hands down over books any day.”
She lifted her chin, but didn’t go so far as to sniff in disapproval. Yet Tryst felt her disdain for what she guessed must be his lacking education. Ah, well, he couldn’t win them all. The invitation to attend Oxford had been offered, but the idea of sitting in a mortal institution had been received with laughter from both him and his father.
“You don’t do anything fun, do you?” he goaded.
“Why do you care?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” he offered. “Fun is a necessity of life. And life, well, life is energy. The world responds to the energy you put out.”
“It that so? Sounds kind of New Agey to me.”
“To each his own.”
He sensed she couldn’t be that much of a stick-in-the-mud. A pretty woman like her must do things that made her happy. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be so beautiful. Tryst believed the way a person led their life was reflected upon their face. It was an unavoidable result of karma. And energy. He’d once fretted over the freckles covering his skin until his mother had said something about them being giggle marks. Every time he’d laughed as a baby a new freckle had appeared. It had changed how he viewed opposition and challenges. Mom did have her good moments, and he cherished them like diamonds.
“You don’t like me very much, do you?” he asked.
Again, the assessing head tilt. Tryst felt her gaze upon him, even though he couldn’t see it, and he liked her curious regard even if it wasn’t necessarily friendly. He loved when a woman looked him over and then decided to touch. Would she touch? Nah, she was one cool chick.
Didn’t mean he couldn’t play with her.
“Go for it, Lexi. I don’t bite.”
“What?”
“You were giving me the eye. I know.”
She scoffed. “You are conceited.”
“Yeah, but I’m also a threat to you in a way I can’t figure out. And that freaks you and surprises me.” He leaned closer and placed a hand next to her elbow on the step. Brushing his nose aside her silken hair, he smelled the faintest citrus sweetness. “You’re freaked, admit it.”
“Back off, Hawkes.”
He sat straight, propping his elbows on his knees and looking over the grounds before them. A wiser unaligned wolf wouldn’t risk sitting so close. Curiosity always trumped his wisdom. And who could refuse a challenge?
“Fine. I get it. You’re the princess. You get to be the choosy one. You always this defensive toward men?”
“Yes.”
That honest answer was refreshing, and also tossed a wrench into this challenge. Straightforward kind of chick, this princess. He’d never met one like her, and everything about her made him want to learn more, to delve beneath her monotone exterior and discover the brightness within aching for release. Lexi Connor harbored a bold and vibrant color inside her, and he would find it.
“My father told me …” she started.
Spine straightening, Tryst immediately sensed what she couldn’t quite say. Hell, the principal had told her about his mixed blood. Of course, if the man wanted to protect his daughter from a nonpack wolf he would use whatever weapon he had at hand.
“What did he tell you? About me?”
He wasn’t about to make it easy for her. For anyone. So he had a chip on his shoulder about his heritage. Anyone wanted to make a big deal about it? He knew how to throw a punch. He had a missing molar, too, because he could also take a punch.
Lexi sighed and smoothed a gloved finger along the seam of her leather pants. “He warned me to stay away from you because …”
“Because why? Because I’m a strong male who knows how to take care of a woman? Because I don’t mind getting my hands dirty to help another pack? Because I respect your father?” Feeling his ire, he flexed a fist.
“Because you’re a half-breed.”
Tryst pulled up his chin and released his fists. The principal had gotten his information messed up. “I’m full wolf,” he said, cautioning the growl on his tone.
“How is that possible? Your father is half wolf, half vampire, and your mother—”
“Is a vampiress. But I don’t have any vampire in me, trust me on that one.”
“Sounds impossible.”
“Yeah?” He couldn’t punch his way out of this one. Damn. “And are you offended by the idea I might have a touch of vampire blood running through my veins?”
