Read Online House of Korba: The Ghost Bird Series: #7 (The Academy) by C. L. Stone - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: C. L. Stone
Tags: Espionage, love triangle, Young Adult, spies, menage, young adult contemporary romance, multiple hero romance, reverse harem romance
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my back to the door, taking a deep breath. I was excited to explore, but part of me was feeling nervous again. I’d be out of reach of North’s eyes. Did I want to get so close to Silas again? I hated to admit that I did, and at the same time I couldn’t help but feel like maybe North was mad at me for being so close with Silas. He didn’t sound mad about that before. He said to tell Silas to back off if I was uncomfortable. The confusion of everyone being so unclear was worst. What did they want me to do?
I fished out a tighter tank top and a pair of dark blue cotton shorts. I blushed when I realized the shorts were from Victoria’s Secret and had the word Angel scrawled across the hips. I hurriedly got dressed in them, dropping the lower hem of the tank top down to cover the word. It felt a little awkward to wear them around Silas when he called me angel in Greek. It felt like encouraging something I wasn’t sure I was ready to think about.
When I finished, I stuffed the clothes I’d worn back into my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and opened the door. I stopped, looking up one hallway and down the other back toward the living room. Where did he go? I stood alone in the hallway, waiting, listening. Thumping from a stereo sounded below my feet. A car engine started up somewhere close by. There were so many new noises, and I felt the encroachment of other people being around us. I wondered how Silas listened out for trouble.
But then I remembered not everyone needed to. I’d spent years listening to the sounds of my own house to figure out when it was safe to emerge from my room unnoticed. Normal people didn’t have to do that.
A door opened down the second hallway and Silas popped into view. He was barefoot and wore familiar dark blue swim shorts and a Red Sox t-shirt. He spotted me in the hallway, curled his fingers at me. “Come put your bag in here,” he said.
I padded down to him, the carpet smooth against my feet. He held out a hand for my bag. I passed it over, and he dropped it just inside the door. It was a bedroom, and I caught a glimpse of a massive bed in the middle before Silas nudged me back down the hallway.
He headed back to the living room, picking up both of our cell phones to hold in his hand. He disappeared behind a side door and came back with two large towels, picked up his house keys and shooed me out to the front door.
The crisp air cut into my skin in the shadow of the overhang. When he locked the door, he grabbed my hand and we walked together to the parking lot.
“Do you like living here?” I asked him as he led me between two buildings and around a pond. Now that we were in the sun, it warmed my body enough to almost enjoy the weather. I couldn’t believe it was almost November and I could walk around in shorts. “I mean in these apartments?”
“It’s okay,” he said, shifting his hand until his palm met mine in a more substantial grip. “South Carolina isn’t bad. I like the weather. Charleston is nice, but it isn’t Greece.”
“Do you miss Greece?”
He flashed a smile at me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “Not today.”
I stared at some Halloween decorations along a few of the porches. I wondered if Greece had Halloween. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live a million miles away. I’d moved here, but besides the weather and a beach nearby, it was at least the same language and culture. “But you do sometimes?”
“Do you miss Illinois?”
“No.” I felt that was an honest answer. Why would I miss a place where I didn’t have friends and didn’t ever go anywhere to see things?
He tilted his head at me, raising an eyebrow. “I mean besides living with your crazy parents? Wasn’t there something you liked about it?”
It took me a moment to respond. “The snow, perhaps. I know it doesn’t really snow here, right?”
“I’ve never seen snow,” he admitted. “Not in person.”
I popped my mouth open, but I didn’t realize that
I fished out a tighter tank top and a pair of dark blue cotton shorts. I blushed when I realized the shorts were from Victoria’s Secret and had the word Angel scrawled across the hips. I hurriedly got dressed in them, dropping the lower hem of the tank top down to cover the word. It felt a little awkward to wear them around Silas when he called me angel in Greek. It felt like encouraging something I wasn’t sure I was ready to think about.
When I finished, I stuffed the clothes I’d worn back into my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and opened the door. I stopped, looking up one hallway and down the other back toward the living room. Where did he go? I stood alone in the hallway, waiting, listening. Thumping from a stereo sounded below my feet. A car engine started up somewhere close by. There were so many new noises, and I felt the encroachment of other people being around us. I wondered how Silas listened out for trouble.
But then I remembered not everyone needed to. I’d spent years listening to the sounds of my own house to figure out when it was safe to emerge from my room unnoticed. Normal people didn’t have to do that.
A door opened down the second hallway and Silas popped into view. He was barefoot and wore familiar dark blue swim shorts and a Red Sox t-shirt. He spotted me in the hallway, curled his fingers at me. “Come put your bag in here,” he said.
I padded down to him, the carpet smooth against my feet. He held out a hand for my bag. I passed it over, and he dropped it just inside the door. It was a bedroom, and I caught a glimpse of a massive bed in the middle before Silas nudged me back down the hallway.
He headed back to the living room, picking up both of our cell phones to hold in his hand. He disappeared behind a side door and came back with two large towels, picked up his house keys and shooed me out to the front door.
The crisp air cut into my skin in the shadow of the overhang. When he locked the door, he grabbed my hand and we walked together to the parking lot.
“Do you like living here?” I asked him as he led me between two buildings and around a pond. Now that we were in the sun, it warmed my body enough to almost enjoy the weather. I couldn’t believe it was almost November and I could walk around in shorts. “I mean in these apartments?”
“It’s okay,” he said, shifting his hand until his palm met mine in a more substantial grip. “South Carolina isn’t bad. I like the weather. Charleston is nice, but it isn’t Greece.”
“Do you miss Greece?”
He flashed a smile at me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. “Not today.”
I stared at some Halloween decorations along a few of the porches. I wondered if Greece had Halloween. I couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live a million miles away. I’d moved here, but besides the weather and a beach nearby, it was at least the same language and culture. “But you do sometimes?”
“Do you miss Illinois?”
“No.” I felt that was an honest answer. Why would I miss a place where I didn’t have friends and didn’t ever go anywhere to see things?
He tilted his head at me, raising an eyebrow. “I mean besides living with your crazy parents? Wasn’t there something you liked about it?”
It took me a moment to respond. “The snow, perhaps. I know it doesn’t really snow here, right?”
“I’ve never seen snow,” he admitted. “Not in person.”
I popped my mouth open, but I didn’t realize that
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