Forbidden (The Seeker Saga, #2) Read Online Free PDF

past six days,” Rob said.  “I know you’re tired, so I’m not expecting anything tonight, but just promise you’ll take a break from… whatever it is you’ve been doing… and come hang out with us tomorrow.”  He gave me what he surely assumed was his most winning smile.  The light in the hall reflected in his eyes, causing them to glitter mesmerizingly.  I couldn’t say no to that.
    “Sure,” I promised.  “I’ll make time for friends.”  I knew I had been working a little too hard on the crystals. Time with the girls – and with Rob – would be a welcome way to end the week.
    “Great,” Rob said, and smiled again.  We had reached the entrance of the building, where the doors were open wide to allow students through.  A draft of cool outside air greeted me, and I found myself feeling glad that I had picked up a warmer jacket that morning.  We were already into the first week of November, and while there were still those rare warm days more reminiscent of autumn, more often than not, I found my breath fogging in front of me whenever I was outside.
    Students streamed out of all the buildings around us.  At the end of the day, the main yard was always packed, and already a sizeable crowd had formed in the middle of the walkway.  Everybody was moving more or less in one direction: toward the dorms.  Rob and I stepped into the flow and were quickly swept along.
    Half a street down, Rob touched my arm.  “I think I just spotted one of my friends,” he said.  “I haven’t seen him for a while.  You mind if I go catch up?”
    “No, not at all,” I answered.  “You’ve got no obligation to me.”
    “Alright,” he said.  “You know the way back?  You sure you won’t get lost?”  Recently, he had taken to making jokes about me being the new kid, and pretending that I barely knew the lay of the land on Traven Island.
    “I’ll try my best,” I replied drily.
    “Well, if you have any trouble, I’m sure following the crowd won’t be too bad a move,” he teased.  Before I could think of a reply, he had disappeared into the small flow of people going the opposite way.
    I felt a small pang of loss once Rob left, but, I shrugged it off.  Even if I had decided to put my feelings for him on the side, it didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy having him around.  And as I had gotten to know him more, I started to see why maybe Liz would have been so possessive at first.  Apart from his impressive physical features – which didn’t hurt his case in any way – he had a fun, easy-going personality. It was kind of contagious.
    Suppressing a little sigh, I continued toward the dorms.  The sun had already started its descent toward the horizon, even it was just after four.  This was only the start of November, but the days were already getting shorter. Most of the branches of the deciduous trees around here were already bare.  The sun’s rays held little warmth now. You had to make sure to bundle up to go outside.  But at the same time, there was a crispness to the air, a cool edge that seemed perpetually capable of invigorating you, albeit in a much different way than sunshine might.  Every ocean breeze carried the scent of the seawater.  That was something that would delight me to my final day on Traven Island.
    I passed a few people I recognized but didn’t really know, and aside from giving them a quick hello or a curt nod, didn’t stop until I got to the dorm.  There were groups of students dotting the courtyard already. In one corner, I noticed a few guys tossing a baseball around.  Absently, I wondered if those were the friends Rob had mentioned.  Giving it no further thought, I climbed the short flight of stairs to the entrance, waited to hear the click of the lock that meant my ID card had been accepted, and pulled the doors open to walk in. 
    As I stepped through the doorway, an unexpected blast of heat slammed into my face.  The change was so sudden that I had to stop