Daemons in the Mist (The Marked Ones Trilogy: Book One) Read Free Page B

the stranger answered, looking equally confused.
    Mr. Savenrue looked at him for a moment. “Yes—yes of course you are,” he stammered uneasily before broadening his focus to the rest of us. “Like I asked before, what are the three of you doing in the hall?”
    “I was asking Mr. Tammore to stop harassing Miss Galathea,” the stranger—apparently named Patrick—answered as he scowled at Michael.
    Mr. Savenrue fixed Michael with a fiery gaze that could have melted ice. His gaze shifted to me where it cooled considerably to a look of sympathy. “Is this true, Miss Galathea?”
    Without missing a beat I answered, “Yes, Mr. Savenrue. Michael was trying to coerce me into going to the Winter Ball with him. I tried to explain I was already going with someone else, but he just wouldn’t listen.”
    “No one asked you yet; you’re lying!” Michael growled as he narrowed his eyes at me.
    “ I asked her,” Patrick said as he fixed Michael with a deadly glare. “ And she said yes.”
    Mr. Savenrue put his head in his hand and said with an exasperated huff, “Mr. Tammore, if a girl doesn’t want to go with you to a dance that’s her right. You can’t always get what you want, you know.”
    “I usually do,” Michael mumbled under his breath.
    “What was that, Mr. Tammore?” Mr. Savenrue asked, raising an eyebrow at Michael.
    “Nothing, Mr. Savenrue,” Michael answered, looking sideways at nothing in particular.
    Mr. Savenrue didn’t look the slightest bit convinced. “ Hmm . Well, Mr. Tammore, why don’t you accompany me to the dean’s office.” Mr. Savenrue reached into his bag and pulled out two late passes. He handed them to me and Patrick with a strained smile. “Mr. Connolly, Miss Galathea, why don’t you head to class.”

    As I watched the two of them recede down the hall to the stair I tried to decided what I should say next. I mean, Patrick had basically asked me to the dance without actually asking me. Did he really want to go with me, or was he just saying that to get Michael to back off?
    I cocked my head to one side and looked up at Patrick. “ So …I’m going with you to the Winter Ball?”
    “Yeah…about that…” Patrick said as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. “You were just bluffing, right? ‘Cause if you already asked someone else you don’t have to go with me. I just said that to piss off Michael.”
    Wow, someone who liked to mess with Michael nearly as much as I did. This guy was getting better by the minute.
    “No, you’re right, I was bluffing. I hadn’t actually asked anyone yet. But I’ll go with you—if you ask me that is.” I looked up into his eyes and was lost in the beauty of them. They were deep pools of nearly black-brown. Throughout the whole of what had just happened I hadn’t really looked at him until now.
    Patrick had a broad, square-jawed face framed by straight black hair that flared out with a slight curl at his ears. His bangs stopped just short of his eyes, which were almond shaped, hinting at a possible heritage. He was solidly built, not too skinny, but definitely not a bodybuilder either—which I liked. He was 5’ 9” at best, just a few inches taller than me. The more I looked at him the more it made me giddy and restless inside. And I had to wonder how I had managed to miss him these last few years, because he was seriously gorgeous.
    Patrick cleared his throat but kept his eyes down. I could almost feel the waves of nervous energy flowing off him. He finally swallowed hard as he looked up into my eyes. “Nualla, would you go with me to the Winter Ball?”
    I was more than a little shocked that he knew my name, but I hoped it didn’t show in my face. “I would love to.”
    Up until this point he had seemed really self-assured, cocky even, but now he just looked at me for a bit, blinking. Finally he asked in a startled voice, “You’re serious ?”
    “Were you serious about asking me?”
    “Well yes of course