It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. Everything was white. White tiled floors, white walls, white doors, and florescent lighting that made all the white blinding.
“Have we been abducted by the Third Kind?” Lucien cracked. Caia chuckled and then choked on her laughter at Noble’s severe glare.
“These are the candidate floors. We prefer to keep everything clean, simple, and equal amongst the candidates.”
Caia frowned in confusion. “I’m sorry, what are the candidates?”
Noble sighed as if he were speaking to a dumbass and growing rapidly impatient with it. “The candidates are those Daylights in training.”
Lucien twisted his mouth sarcastically. “Recruits.”
“No.” Noble looked as if he’d eaten something rotten. “We prefer the term candidate. Recruit sounds so aggressive.”
Caia smirked at Lucien. “Let me guess—that was Marita’s idea?”
“Yes.”
They grinned at each other behind the pompous factotum’s back as he led them past door after door. Finally, he stopped at one with the number 48 on it and handed a swipe card to Lucien.
“Your room, sir. Marita has taken the liberty of securing a spell within the key cards of non-magiks, so that their fellow magik students can’t invade their privacy with a spell of their own.”
Lucien took the tiny piece of card in his hand, puzzling over it. “Gee, thanks.”
“Am I next door?” Caia was curious as to what the rooms looked like on the other side.
“No. We will be taking that elevator.” He pointed to a white elevator a few meters down the hallway.
“Another elevator?”
“Why?” Lucien frowned again, tensing, and he straightened to his optimum height.
“I’ve been instructed to put the young lady in one of the guest suites.”
“But Lucien’s a guest.”
“Caia, don’t—”
“No! You’re not a candidate.” She turned to glare at Noble. “By the way, sounds like he’s entering into an asylum for the disturbed.”
Noble sneered. “I’ll be sure to pass along your compliments to Madam.”
No. Caia’s heart thumped angrily. They were not going to treat Lucien like some C-list recruit while they pandered to her, just because they wanted something from her. And she needed Lucien close by. This was all so weird, so fast; she needed his strength beside her.
“Yeah, well, while you’re at it, ask Madam to arrange a guest suite for Lucien in close location to mine.”
He frowned. “Together, you mean?”
Caia flushed. “No, not together. Next to one another.”
Lucien was beginning to look seriously pissed off. “Caia, you don’t—”
“It’s not for you, it’s for me, so swallow it or choke on it.”
His eyes twinkled back at her as he gave a stoic nod in obeisance.
“One moment.” Noble turned from them, pressing something behind his earlobe. “Get me Marita,” he grumbled at someone, and it was then she realized he was wearing a small, flesh-colored earpiece and a security headset of some ultra-mod-tech kind.
Expensive.
Her eyes flashed to Lucien and he seemed to understand; his own eyebrows rose in speculation. It was certainly some operation they had running here.
“Madam, our honored guest requests a redress of the accommodation situation for her Alpha.”
He was nodding to whatever reply he was receiving. “Hmm, yes, well, she would like him situated in a guest suite near her own.”
Silence.
“Yes, madam. Of course.”
Noble pressed behind his lobe again and turned to them with a false smile. “The key card, sir?”
Lucien handed it back, and Caia smiled smugly. “To our rooms, Jeeves.”
Her guest room was unbelievable. It was decked out in the plush Louis XIV décor that Marita seemed to favor. Huge canopied bed in the Center of the room, large roaring fire at the opposite end, a massive, marble-tiled en suite, and an insane walk-in closet. And to top it off, the east-facing side of the room was part of the curved glass window that looked out over the river and Paris.
Its beauty was enough to make this trip worthwhile.
And right next door was Lucien. The object of her near-constant thoughts. She’d been excited when Marion had explained about the classes she could inspect while here. But Marita’s warning that not everyone would welcome her had really brought home how much Lucien had done for her.
And of the one thing she hadn’t done for him.
“Hey.” He looked surprised to see her on the other side of his door. “You okay?”
“I need to talk to you.”
Lucien nodded and stepped aside to let her into a room that was much more masculine. It looked like Vanne had gotten his way here with the style.
“If it’s about the room … thanks,” he said, shutting the door behind her and following her in, watching as she took a seat at the fireplace. “I have no doubt that this is far more comfortable than a candidate’s room.”
Caia laughed at the mocking look he gave her. “Do you think it was a test to see if I understood my position here?”
“What … you’re pulling power?” He smirked, sitting across from her, relaxing his big body into the leather sofa. “I have no doubt Madam has been testing your intelligence and mettle since you arrived.”