Silvern (The Gilded Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her.”
    “See you at school tomorrow.” I give her a hug.
    Marc puts his hand on the small of my back as we exit the restaurant. “So back to the protector thing,” he says. “Who was it that found you when you were stuck fighting Haemosu or when you got lost in Kud’s creepy room?”
    “We’ll call it a team effort, since you paid for dinner.”
    “If you insist.” He smiles.
    I can’t resist that smile, and I kiss the dimple on his cheek. “I do.”
    There’s something about Marc that one kiss doesn’t satisfy. Maybe it’s the feel of his body pressed against mine or the way his lips kiss me back softly and desperately all at the same time. But here I am again, wrapping my free hand behind his neck and pulling him in for more. It’s not until a group of students pushes past us that I’m dragged back to reality.
    We step away from each other, but I hold on to his fingers, not wanting to let the moment go.
    “That was an avoidance tactic,” Marc says. “You know how to make a guy forget everything. Including secret meetings.”
    “Where are we going?” I ask, popping the last of the steak into my mouth and wiping my hands down with a wet wipe.
    “Yonsei,” Marc says.
    I freeze. The wipe grows cold in my palms. “The Council meets at the university?”
    “Shh. It’s supposed to be a secret.”
    We duck into the now jam-packed sidewalks where university students are browsing the stalls that line the road. The sidewalk is so full that we have to squeeze ourselves into the throng. It also doesn’t help that almost everyone is going down into Sinchon, while we are going up to the university.
    The neon lights illuminate the night, and the steam from the pushcart vendors curls into the sky. We pass by an odaeng cart, the fish skewers all neatly arranged in stacked rows, and another cart selling fresh juices. People are laughing and shoving themselves into coffee shops, and I can’t help but think how every night feels like a festival in Sinchon. I grab Marc’s hand, wishing we were ducking into one of the karaoke rooms along the street rather than heading to meet the Council.
    It doesn’t take long to make our way back under the pillared entrance and onto the Yonsei University campus. Now that it’s dark, the campus has sunk into a stillness it doesn’t know during the day. The shadows stretch in twisted angles, and the buildings have become looming giants.
    I eye the bushes lining the path, knowing they are perfect hideouts for creatures to lurk. I jump at every noise and shadow as we cut across the diagonal of a garden maze near the back of the main campus.
    We come to a small courtyard flanked by the back of Underwood Hall. The ivy growing along its stone walls reminds me of snakes crawling up its side. I shiver in the cool night air. Marc wraps his arm around me and suggests we sit on the bench for a while.
    “Why are we sitting here?” I ask, trying not to laugh. “What happened to your desperate hurry to get there? Don’t tell me you want to stop for a quick make-out session?”
    Marc’s face leans close to mine. “Tempting, but I think we’re being followed.”
    I peek over my shoulder and spy a shadow before it blends in with the lamppost. “Perfect. What are we going to do? Sit here all night?”
    Marc runs his other hand through his hair until it looks even wilder than before. “Good question. You could beat the guy up.”
    “Funny,” I say dryly. “Why don’t we just run for it? Then we’ll be too obvious for him to follow us.”
    In the end, we decide to backtrack and take a new route. We choose a wooded dirt path that follows a low stone wall bordering the university. It runs along the edge of a pine grove. The damp air clings to my clothes and skin. I can’t stop myself from continually glancing over my shoulder, waiting for dark shadows to leap out.
    I stop and squint in the dark, trying to figure out where we are. If we were to turn right, we’d end up hiking all the