that of a skeleton parrot sitting on the pirate’s shoulder. I studied his features as he worked, fascinated by the joy in his eyes. Art was one of the few things that seemed to anchor him and drive that darkness in him away. He seemed to glow with an inner light, one that enhanced his already handsome features. It was another rare and beautiful glimpse of the intense, passionate nature lying beneath the jokes. It came through in his art. It had come through when he kissed me.
Adrian suddenly glanced up at me. Our gazes locked, and I felt like he could read my mind. How often did he think about that kiss? And if he really was crazy about me, did he imagine more than just kissing? Did he fantasize about me? What kinds of things did he think about? His lips on my neck? His hand on my leg? And was that leg bare . . . ?
I was afraid of what my eyes might betray and quickly looked away. Desperately, I groped for some witty and nonsentimental comment. “Don’t forget the ninja throwing stars.”
“Right.” I could feel Adrian’s gaze on me a few moments longer. There was something tangible to it, a warmth that enveloped me. I didn’t look back until I was certain his attention was again on the shirt. He added the stars and then sat back triumphantly. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“It’s not bad,” I said. In truth, it was kind of amazing.
“You want one too?” The smile he gave me stirred up those warm feelings again. I couldn’t help but smile back.
“We don’t have the time,” I managed to say. “We’ve got to check on Lynne.”
“I’ll make you a fast one.”
“Not the pirate,” I warned. He found a small purple shirt and began painting on it in silver. “Purple?”
“It’s your color,” he insisted. A thrill ran through me at his words. Adrian could see auras, the light that surrounded all people and was tied into their personalities. He’d told me that mine was yellow, a color most intellectuals had. But he’d also said I had flares of purple, which indicated a passionate and spiritual nature. Those weren’t qualities I usually thought I possessed . . . but sometimes, I wished I did.
I watched, enthralled, as he painted a large silver heart with flames edging one side. The whole design was Celtic in style. It was beautiful.
“Where did you get that from?” I asked in awe. I’d seen a lot of his work but never anything like this.
His eyes were on his heart, completely caught up in his work. “Just something kicking around in my head. Reminds me of you. Fiery and sweet, all at the same time. A flame in the dark, lighting my way.” His voice . . . his words . . . I recognized one of his spirit-driven moments. It should’ve unnerved me, but there was something sensual about the way he spoke, something that made my breath catch.
He swapped out the silver paintbrush for a black one. Before I could stop him, he wrote over the heart: AYE. Underneath it, in smaller letters, he added: HONORARY MEMBER.
“What are you doing?” I cried. The spell had shattered. “You ruined it!”
Adrian regarded me with a mischievous look. “I figured you’d be flattered at being accepted as an honorary member.”
“How can I get in?” asked one of the girls.
In spite of my outrage, I took the shirt when he offered it to me. I held it up gingerly, careful not to mess up the paint job. Even through the ridiculous words, the fiery heart was still stunning. It shone through, and I couldn’t stop admiring it. How could someone so irreverent create something so beautiful? When I finally looked up again, I found Adrian watching me. That earlier thrall seized me, and I found myself unable to move.
“You haven’t painted anything,” he said softly.
“That’s because I have zero creativity,” I told him.
“Everyone’s got
I shook my head in protest and tried to hand him the brush. “I can’t draw or paint. I’ll ruin it.”
“Sydney.” He pushed the brush back into my hand. “It’s a pirate skeleton, not the
Maybe not, but I had a hard time imagining what I could possibly add to this. I could do a lot of things, but this was out of my league—especially compared to his skill. Something in his expression drove me, however, and after a lot of thought, I gave my best shot at drawing a tie around the skeleton’s neck. Adrian frowned.
“Is that a noose?”
“It’s a tie!” I cried, trying not to feel offended.
He laughed, clearly delighted at this. “My mistake.”
“He can go to a boardroom meeting,” I added, feeling a need to defend my work. “He’s very proper now.”
Adrian seemed to like that even more. “Of course he is. Proper and dangerous.” A little of his mirth faded, and he grew pensive as he studied me, holding me in his gaze. “Just like you.”
I’d been so worried about the artistic challenge that I wasn’t aware of just how close he’d moved to me until now. So many details came into focus. The shape of his lips, the line of his neck. “I’m not dangerous,” I breathed.
He brought his face toward mine. “You are to me.”
And somehow, against all reason, we were kissing. I closed my eyes, and the world around me faded. The noise, the smoke . . . it was gone. All that mattered was the taste of his mouth, a mix of cloves and mints. There was a fierceness in his kiss, a desperation . . . and I answered, just as hungry for him. I didn’t stop him when he pulled me closer, so that I almost sat on his lap. I’d never been wrapped around someone’s body like that, and I was shocked at how eagerly mine responded. His arm went around my waist, pulling me onto him further, and his other hand slid up the back of my neck, getting entangled in my hair. Amazingly, the wig stayed on. He took his lips away from my mouth, gently trailing kisses down to my neck. I tipped my head back, gasping when the intensity returned to his mouth. There was an animalistic quality that sent shock waves through the rest of my body. Some Alchemist voice warned me that this was exactly how a vampire would feed, but I had no fear. Adrian wouldn’t hurt me, and I needed to know just how hard he could kiss me and—
“Oh my God!”
Adrian and I jerked apart as though someone had thrown cold water on us, though our legs stayed entangled. I glanced around in a panic, half expecting to see an outraged Stanton standing over us. Instead, I looked up into the terrified face of a girl I didn’t know. She wasn’t even looking at us.
“You guys won’t believe what happened!” she exclaimed, directing her words to our fellow artists. She pointed vaguely behind her. “Over across the street at Kappa, they found one of their girls unconscious, and they can’t wake her up. I don’t know what happened, but it sounds like she was attacked. There’s police out front and everything.”
Adrian and I stared at each other for one shocked moment. Then, wordlessly, we both stood up. He held my hand to steady me until my trembling legs strengthened.
But those dangerous and intoxicating kisses faded almost instantly when we returned to Lynne’s sorority. It was busy with frightened people, and campus security moved in and out, allowing us to step right inside the open door.
“What happened?” I asked a brunette standing nearby.
“It’s Lynne,” she said, biting her lips. “They just found her in an empty auditorium.”
Something in the way she spoke made me uneasy. “Is she . . . alive?”
The girl nodded. “I don’t know . . . I think so, but they said there’s something really wrong. She’s unconscious and looks . . . well . . .
I met Adrian’s eyes and vaguely noticed he had silver paint in his hair. I’d still been holding the brush when I’d wrapped my arms around him. “Damn,” he murmured. “Too late.”
I wanted to scream in frustration. We’d been so close to warning her. She’d allegedly left just before we’d arrived. What if we’d come sooner? What if we’d visited her before the other two girls? I’d chosen the order randomly. Worse, what if we’d been able to find her instead of having art time with the drunken sorority girls?
What if I hadn’t been all over Adrian? Or maybe he’d been all over me. Whatever you wanted to call it, I
