Page 45 of Vicious Knight
I’m nearly back at the dorm.
Glancing cautiously around my surroundings, I make my way down the path.
There’s no one around but I keep thinking Thorne is going to jump out from the shadows, or I’ll turn the corner and crash right into him.
It’s been two days since I last saw him. Two full days as of one hour ago.
That should be good. It might even suggest that he’s had his fill of me and I might not have to worry about him anymore.
But I made the mistake of thinking that before and look what happened to me. I was so wrong.
After our last encounter, I know there’s no way I’m off his radar. And Thorne said he wasn’t done with me.
As today was the first day of classes I managed to stretch out my practice time with Francois, my music tutor.
I had a great day making more friends, pairing up with two other students with a similar style to me, and I got my schedule nailed for the week.
Dare I say it, things felt like they were coming together here at Raventhorn. I even felt that sense of comfort you experience when you’re exactly where you should be.
When Francois and I got talking after class to set up my sessions with him, I instantly became wildly fascinated when I learned he’d trained under the great Martha Argerich, one of the best classical pianists of all time.
He went on to tell me about his musical career where he traveled worldwide, and he even set up a meeting for me with a contact from the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.
If he thinks I’m good enough by the end of freshman year he promised to put my name forward for the spring internship in my sophomore year. That is the kind of benefit you receive when you attend a college like this.
Francois already likes my music, so I can only hope to earn such an opportunity when the time comes.
We stayed in the auditorium for five hours. I was so engrossed by what he was teaching me that I hardly noticed the time pass.
More importantly, during that time I wasn’t thinking about Thorne.
It wasn’t until I left that he reentered my mind like a ghost, so I went to the ice cream parlor—a place he hasn’t seen me before. I stayed there until they were closing.
Twigs crunch beneath my feet when I take the shortcut across the garden.
The wind rustles through the trees. It’s subtle but my senses are so heightened that to me it sounds like banshees howling through the clouds as they sweep across the sky.
Any moment now I expect the gargoyles sitting on top of Raventhorn Hall to come to life and join my host of mythical creatures.
God… I must be more tired than I thought.
My wild imagination is totally spurred on by lack of sleep, stress on stress, and the worry over keeping my sanity.
I don’t know what I’m going to do about Thorne but I have to do something. I just don’t know what yet. It would be easier if he weren't an Ivanov.
No one is exactly going to come to my aid if I tell them he’s harassing me. I thought of talking to Eilish but that idea died in the water when I remembered how Lucian caught me with Thorne in the labyrinth.
He would have heard my stupid moans of pleasure, which didn’t exactly sound like I wasn’t having a good time.
You can’t explain natural bodily reactions to guys like that. Especially when I’m not entirely sure if it really was a natural bodily reaction or just me.
I allowed Thorne to touch me. I can’t lie about that.
I actually allowed him to touch me. And I kissed him. Twice.
Shit. I didn’t even remember that.
Surely, if I didn’t want his touch or his lips anywhere near mine I would have kicked and screamed and tried to save myself.