Chapter twenty

20; Caden;

I walked Billie to her room in the other part of town, confident that after all I had taught her that day, she would be able to resist the thirst for human blood and feeed properly.

I wasn’t planning on coming back to the dorm so early. I had gone out to feed myself, and fed , a little longer than usual, letting the night air clear my head as I knew that it would be a while before i fee on bumsb blood again.

But something felt... off. It wasn’t anything specific,it was just a gnawing instinct that pulled me back sooner than usual.

I pushed open the dorm room door, expecting nothing but the usual stale air and maybe the faint sound of Max’s terrible music choices. Instead, I was greeted by the soft hum of the shower running.

Odd. Max wasn’t usually one to shower this late. He was always changing spells, making rituals or sleeping, weird little guy.

Shrugging it off, I tossed my jacket onto the bed and noticed something unusual, Max’s bag was wide open and its contents spilled onto the floor. I wasn’t one to pry, but a flash of something silky caught my attention.

I frowned as I bent down and pulled it out.

Underwear. Women’s underwear.

I held it up, turning it over in my hand, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. My first thought was that it wasn’t Max’s—it couldn’t be. But then, who else’s could it be?

Had max brought a woman to the room? He didn’t seem like that kind of guy, I didn’t think the guy had ever laid with a woman.

“What the hell?” I muttered under my breath, just as the bathroom door creaked open.

Max stepped out, her brown hair was damp and clung to her neck. She was wrapped in a towel that, while modest, did absolutely nothing to hide what was clearly a very feminine figure.

She froze when she saw me. Her wide eyes filled with panic as they darted from my face to the underwear still dangling from my fingers.

“Caden…”

“You’re a girl,” I said, the realization hitting me like a punch to the gut. My voice came out cold, sharp, as if stating an indisputable fact.

She didn’t deny it. She couldn’t anyways. It was obvious, right in front of me. Anyone could see that.

Instead, she lunged forward, snatching the underwear from my hand and shoving it back into her bag. “It’s not what it looks like!” she blurted, her voice pitched higher than I’d ever heard it, seeming even more feminine now.

I crossed my arms, leaning against the wall with a slow, deliberate smirk. “Oh, I think it’s exactly what it looks like. Care to explain, Max?” O said her name with a drawl, wanting to make her even more uncomfortable.

Her cheeks turned a deep red as she clutched her bag like it was some kind of shield. She wouldn’t meet my eyes and I knew that she was trying to think of a way out of this.

“I…” she started, then stopped, her voice cracking slightly. “It’s complicated.”

“I’ve got time,” I said smoothly, enjoying the way she squirmed under my gaze. “And if you don’t want me to tell anyone, you’d better start talking.”

Her eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape that didn’t exist. Finally, with a defeated sigh, she dropped onto the edge of her bed. “Fine,” she muttered. “But you can’t tell anyone, okay?” “Please,” she added with a hint of desperation.

“That depends entirely on how good your explanation is,” I replied, my tone icy.

She hesitated as she ran a hand through her damp hair before finally meeting my eyes. “I’m not supposed to be here,” she admitted, her voice soft.

“No kidding,” I said dryly. “Try again.”

Her jaw tightened, and I could see the struggle in her eyes. Whatever she was about to say, it wasn’t the whole truth. “I ran away from home,” she said finally. “From my coven.”

“Your coven?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes. “Well, What does that have to do with pretending to be a boy?”

“They wanted to control me,” she said quickly, the words tumbling out as if she’d rehearsed them. “Everything about my life, what I could do, who I could be. The people I meet….everything! I couldn’t take it anymore, so I ran. And this was the only place I knew they wouldn’t find me.”

I studied her carefully, searching her face for any sign of deception. Her story had holes, glaring ones, but there was enough desperation in her voice to make me believe that part of it was true.

“So let me get this straight,” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “You thought the best way to escape your very oppressive coven was to enroll in a human school, in a room with vampire and pretending to be a boy?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” she snapped, her voice rising in frustration. “Do you think this is easy for me? Do you think I want to live like this? And I had no idea that you were going to be a vampire.”

“Frankly, I think you’re an idiot,” I said bluntly. “But that’s beside the point. What I want to know is why I shouldn’t expose you right now.”

Her face paled, and for a moment, she looked like she might cry. “Because I’m not hurting anyone,” she said quietly. “I just... I just wanted to experience life outside of them. To be free. Is that really so terrible?”

When I said nothing, she continued. “I didn’t think you’d understand, you’re free, you haven’t been holed up in a tiny community all your life, seeing the same people, doing the same thing and being forced to marry someone.”

Something in her voice, raw, vulnerable, made me pause. I looked at her for a long moment, weighing my options.

Finally, I sighed, pushing myselfoff the wall. “You’re lucky I don’t care enough to blow your cover,” I said, my voice cold. “But don’t think for a second that I’m doing this out of kindness. If you slip up and someone else finds out, don’t expect me to save you.”

Her relief was visible, although she still looked wary and shaken. “Thank you,” she said softly.

“Don’t thank me,” I snapped. “Just keep your secret to yourself, and stay out of my way. No more witchy business!”

She nodded rapidly and I sighed before walking away.

I turned on my heel and headed for the door, leaving her sitting there with her secrets and her lies. Whatever her reasons, they weren’t my problem. Not yet, anyway.

I wondered how I had missed it when it was right in front of me.

Maybe I had noticed it but didn’t think much of it. There was the way she carried herself, it was different from the way most of the guys in the dorm did. Sure, she kept her posture slouched and her voice pitched low, but every now and then, she slipped, she walked like a woman and there was the way her voice softened sometimes.

Also, there was they way she always avoided changing in front of me. I shrugged it off that she was just being shy or timid as she’d disappear into the bathroom to change when I was close.

And the way her hands were always cleaner, more delicate than a man’s. Her nails weren’t bitten down or grimy like most of the guys’.

Then there was her scent.

As a vampire, i was naturally attuned to the smells around me and had realized that most people carried distinct scents, but hers was... different. It wasn’t overpoweringly masculine like the others. Instead, there was a faint trace of something softer, almost floral. It was subtle, but it lingered, especially when she wasn’t looking.

Thinking about it now, I realized that I hadn’t noticed because I didn’t really care. My only concern was how long she’d be able to hide it before Xander finds out.