Stunned by Sarah Noffke

Author:Sarah Noffke [Noffke, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: One-Twenty-Six Press
Published: 2014-11-20T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The lecture hall is quiet except for the soft buzzing of the overhead lights. Words blur on the page in front of me. I must have already read through my notes thirty times in the last hour. The door at my back slides open. Half of me hopes it’s George and the other half prays it’s not. Being alone with him right now is probably not a good idea.

I’m not the least bit relieved to learn its Joseph. His bloodshot eyes barely make contact with me when he sits down.

“You’re hungover?!” I say in offensive disbelief.

Joseph grimaces in pain. “Yes. Can you keep it down?”

“I can’t believe this!” I pound my fist on the desk. “This is ridiculous!”

“Warned you I was gonna screw up again and again.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “This is not the time for screwing up.”

“Joseph doesn’t care if we have a vital mission,” Samara says behind me. I turn to find she’s taken a seat three rows back and appears as angry as I feel. “He only cares about himself, isn’t that right?”

“You’d know better than anyone how I think, Samara,” Joseph says, a cold animosity in his tone.

The door to the lecture hall slides back. I turn around as soon as I spy George. Hopefully there’s enough emotion in this room to occupy his attention. He slips into the seat beside me. All night I tormented myself with guilt for kissing him on the eve of this mission. Now that he’s close, I yearn to reach out and kiss him again, using passion as an outlet from my fears. Just his presence changes the way my heart beats.

My eyes lead my chin up until they find their target. The look on his face undoes something in me I’m certain was fastened tightly in place. Unsurprisingly he’s chewing on his lip. Damn those lips. I’m too accustomed to his probe that I know right now he’s dissecting me from the inside out. George leans forward, a stern expression on his face. I clench my eyes shut, so afraid he’s going to reprimand me for my guilt.

“Good morning, Roya,” he whispers, his breath brushing my ear.

I peel open my eyes, looking at him sideways. He’s all stone. “Good morning, George.” Gracefully he leans back in his seat, never taking his firm gaze off me. The knot in my throat is preventing me from speaking, which is good because I’d probably regret anything I’d let spill from my mouth right now.

“The Grotte!” Ren says, charging to the front of the room. “That’s where you’ll be vacationing tonight.” His laugh is cold. “Everyone loves a good holiday in the south of France, but I’m here to tell you that it’s no picnic. The service at the Grotte is awful, the rooms are dark and cold, and the locals make you want to stab yourself…literally.”

“Why are we just now covering the Grotte? Seems like something we should have gone over before the day of the mission,” Joseph says, lacking decorum.

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