Charmfall (The Dark Elite 3)

The lights were down and the music was up when we walked back into the party. The place looked phenomenal. Fancy and spooky at the same time, and impressive either way.

Michael didn’t waste any time pulling Scout onto the dance floor. She looked back at me, worry in her eyes, but I waved her off. Just because I wasn’t going to have a fantastic time didn’t mean they shouldn’t. Besides—my ex-boyfriend had just saved my life. That was something, right?

Nicu, having gotten us safely to the tunnels, didn’t squander his favor. He and Veronica were dancing together in the middle of the room. And although the room was filled with people who looked very happy and very smitten—at least for tonight—there was no mistaking the emotion in their eyes. They looked kind of perfect together, and he even looked kind of normal. Just like a guy at a dance, except for the fact that with one good look in his eyes you could see he wasn’t a normal teenager. There was too much knowledge there. He looked like he had an old soul, if that made sense.

I, on the other hand, had a young soul. And a thirsty one. I decided I could use some punch.

I walked around the dance floor to the table with drinks and snacks. There were a few girls nearby, mostly the ones who hadn’t come with dates.

I poured a cup of the punch—but sniffed before drinking it. There was no telling what kind of illegal stuff a bunch of rich sixteen-year-olds would sneak into the Sneak punch bowl. But it smelled like fruit punch and ginger ale. Classic punch ingredients. Not great, but not awful.

“Is there any more of that?”

I glanced back.

Jason Shepherd, the disappearing werewolf, stood behind me in a black tuxedo—black bow tie and everything.

He looked so handsome—and I was so surprised to see him there—I couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I also nearly dropped my cup.

“I’ll maybe just have a drink of yours,” he said, gently taking the cup from my hands and finishing it off in a single gulp.

Words returned. “Thanks for the rescue.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, putting the cup down on the table. “I’m sorry I ran off. I had to get dressed.”

“You look . . . very nice,” I carefully said.

“And you look gorgeous, Lily Parker. But we have unfinished business.” While the rest of the dateless girls looked on, Jason took my hand and led me out the door and into the hallway. He pulled me into a quiet alcove, then looked down at me, his blue eyes intent.

“You scared me,” he said. “I wasn’t sure who to trust. You’re new to this and you have this bravery that the rest of us don’t have. You have different ideas about what’s right and what’s wrong. And that’s a difficult thing to get used to. Do you think you can forgive me for running away?”

His lips were so close to mine—just hovering there, like a butterfly just out of reach.

“I think you should kiss me,” I whispered, and he did.

I felt that kiss all the way from my lips to my toes and back again. His arms were around me, his hands hot against my back, a sharp contrast to the chill in the air. That heat seemed like proof that he was something else. Something not like me or Scout or the rest of the Adepts. No better, no worse. Just very, very different.

“I want to try again,” he said.

The statement scared me out of my wits, my heart beating like a bass drum in my chest.

“What if you change your mind?” I asked. “What if you disagree with something I do, and you run away because of it? How am I supposed to trust that?”

He put his forehead on mine. “I will always come back, Lily Parker. Because that’s who you are to me.”

My heart burst with something unimaginably good, and I took his hand, ready to begin.