All Chapters of The Guardian's Mate: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Sophia POVBlackwood University felt different that morning.The corridors were quieter than usual, students moving in smaller clusters, voices lowered as though the walls themselves might be listening. Word of the vampire incident had spread fast, the way anything dangerous always did on this campus, twisting into a dozen different versions by the time it reached the last person in line. Some students whispered about blood on the gymnasium floor. Others swore they'd heard screaming near the east wing at midnight. I didn't correct any of it. I couldn't, not without revealing more than I was willing to explain, and honestly, the truth was strange enough without embellishment.I stood near my locker, pretending to sort through textbooks I didn't need, my eyes drifting toward the main entrance every few seconds. Emma hadn't been to class in almost a week. Nathan had been vague about the details, only saying she needed time, that she was working through something difficult, his jaw tighte

Sophia POVWe started talking more after that day by the fountain. Nothing planned about it — I'd catch him in the library between classes, or he'd fall into step beside me on the walk to the dining hall, and somehow twenty minutes would pass before either of us noticed. I told myself it was curiosity. Maybe it was.One afternoon we ended up on the roof of the old chemistry building, a spot he apparently used to sneak up to when he wanted to disappear for a while. The city sprawled out below us, and Damian sat with his back against the vent housing, picking at a loose thread on his sleeve like it required his full attention."My father used to lock me out on nights like this," he said, out of nowhere, not looking at me. "If I lost a fight, or came home with a mark on me that made me look weak. He'd say the cold would teach me faster than words could."I didn't move. Didn't say anything, in case saying something made him stop."I was seven the first time," he went on. "I remember count

Sophia POVI didn't even see the punch coming until it was already too late to duck.It started small, the way these things usually do — a girl named Priya blocking my path outside the cafeteria, arms crossed, a small crowd already gathering behind her like they'd been tipped off in advance. I recognized her vaguely from one of my afternoon classes, but we'd never actually spoken before today."So it's true," she said, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "You're the one all the freaks are fighting over. Wolves, vampires, whatever else is crawling around this campus at night. Guess it makes sense you'd end up cozy with someone like Damian too. Takes one to want one, right?""I don't know what you've heard," I said, trying to keep my voice level, "but I'm not interested in this conversation.""Nobody asked what you're interested in." She stepped closer, close enough that I could smell her perfume, something sharp and floral that didn't match the ugliness in her expression. "You kno

Sophia POVIt happened in the middle of study hall, of all places, over something as small as a paper cut.One of the freshman boys sitting two tables over nicked his finger on the edge of a textbook, hissed under his breath, and pressed the cut to his mouth without thinking twice about it. It was nothing. The kind of small, forgettable accident that happens a dozen times a day in any classroom.Emma went rigid beside me.I noticed it before anyone else did — the sudden stillness in her, the way her hand froze mid-page-turn, her whole body angling almost imperceptibly toward the smell. Her eyes, when I glanced over, had darkened, the warm brown gone glassy and sharp, fixed on the boy across the room with an intensity that made my stomach drop."Emma," I whispered.She didn't answer. Her breathing had gone shallow, quick, her fingers curling into the edge of the table hard enough that I heard the wood creak faintly under her grip."Emma." I put my hand on her arm, and she flinched like

Sophia POVThe new students showed up on a Tuesday, four of them, enrolled midterm under circumstances the administration never bothered explaining to anyone. Nobody questioned it out loud. Blackwood had gotten used to strange arrivals over the past year, the kind of thing that would have raised alarms anywhere else but barely earned a second glance here anymore.I noticed them before I understood what I was noticing. A girl with dark red hair sitting alone at lunch, watching the cafeteria like she was cataloguing every person in it. A boy in my chemistry class who never took notes but somehow answered every question the professor asked, his eyes flicking toward people rather than the board whenever he spoke. Small things. Nothing that would have meant anything, if the past few months hadn't taught me to pay attention to small things.Then the accidents started.A junior named Colin fell down half a flight of stairs during a fire drill, breaking his wrist, insisting afterward that he'