“And you should too. What’s done is done between us, Elise," Kallias said. "I never had feelings for you, nor will I ever do.”

She smirked and leaned close, her tongue licking the other side of my face. “What if I don’t want to?”

And then she pulled away and walked back to the path to the Betas’ Hall. Even when she was out of his sight, her taunting and her words lingered as if Elise imprinted them into his core.

“—Kal?” Evadne’s voice drifted him back to where he was. He blinked. He was holding a spoon and he was in the dining hall.

“You were—are you okay, Kallias?”...