Brendan shrugs. "Wear whatever you want. I prefer the sleeping attire personally, but this works too."
I roll my eyes. "Are you really this pathetic? Your lines are killing me."
He flashes me his sexiest smile. And that almost does kill me. Why does he have to be so fricken hot, while still being a dick?
"Lead the way," I tell him, gesturing to the door. Brendan holds it open for me to exit and then follows. "I thought guys weren't allowed upstairs."
Brendan chuckles. "There's a way around every rule, Lana. You should know that."
"Why did you say it like that? You don't know me. You only know what you read when you hacked into the school records."
Brendan stops mid-way down the hall with an eyebrow raised. "You really think I'm a hacker?"
"Aren't you?" I continue past him and down the stairs.
He doesn't answer. I realize after we exit the dorm, that I still haven't seen anyone other than the three people I've met and a couple campus guards. No groundskeepers or teachers. It only heightens the school's unnerving charm. "Doesn't anyone work here?"
"Not many. There's only a couple teachers here for the summer session. And you'll rarely see any of the grounds crew or janitorial staff, even during the school year. They make a point to schedule them so they're not seen."
"That's weird," I comment.
"It's an image thing."
"Still weird."
I try to pay attention to each path he turns down and the specific gardens and benches we encounter, but it feels like Brendan's taking me a completely different way than Ashton and Sophia did yesterday.
"How was the rest of your night?" he asks, encircling a bright red maple tree on a small rolling hill of lush, green grass. I stop. Brendan turns and takes in my glowering expression with drawn brows. "What?"
"You know everything." It's an accusation.
"And?" He says this like I'm slow to catch on. There isn't the tiniest hint of guilt in his voice. I can't read him and it's driving me crazy. Maybe his arrogance is interfering with my ability to detect if he's lying.
"When were you in my room? And why are you fucking with me?" I demand with a bite, losing my patience.
"Umm ... you let me in your room, this morning after I knocked. And I'm not fucking with you, although I would like to--"
"If you say it, I will punch you, and not in the face," I seethe. "Stop being an ass. I'm serious. Someone was in my room last night. And you claim to know everything. So if it wasn't you, who was it?"
"I wish I could say, Princess, but I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I told you not to call me that," I growl.
"Right. Because it's actually Fairy Princess, isn't it?"
Shock cements my feet to the ground. Brendan smirks and continues walking past a small lily pond surrounded by stone benches. My heart rate accelerates. I watch him move with casual-confidence, like he didn't just admit to knowing about Allie. Which means he has access to more than just my school files.
I can't even imagine what he's cursed with, because he doesn't seem to have one redeeming virtue, forget about one that he values above all others.
I storm after him and grab him by the arm. He's stronger than he looks. I might as well be trying to move a tree. Eventually, he relents and glances down at me.
"How much do you know about me?"
"Enough."
"I swear ..."
"You're adorable when you're all fierce and threatening. Like a wood sprite gone all Atomic Blonde."