{IRIS}
I'd grown used to the cold touch of beings in this academy… but his touch was different.
Far too gentle and cold.
Well . . . he was a ghost and all.
"There," he murmured.
He stepped back only slightly, his eyes wandering over me with quiet intensity. Under his gaze, my skin prickled, my breath caught, and I had to look away—my face warming in a way I despised.
No one ever looked at me like that.
Certainly not with gentleness like his.
I gasped softly when he reached forward again, took the pendant between his fingers, and pressed a light kiss to the blue crystal.
The crystal shone like it reacted to him.
"It looks good on you," he said.
I stumbled back a step. "T-thank you. But really… you don't need to—"
"I insist." His expression slid back into that lazy, half-bored mask. "And do not avoid me anymore. Come back to the library."
". . . I-I will." I cleared my throat. "Just… right now, I want to read here. In peace."
