Duke spoke with a tone of lingering fear.
Finished
If he hadn’t run into the injured Maddox earlier and rushed him to the healers, he would’ve been home by now–and wouldn’t have arrived just in time to stop Carmen from being harassed.
“You’re still a student at Ashmoor Academy. Do you have absolutely no sense of safety, walking around the streets alone thiste?”
Carmen listened to his constant scolding with a cold expression. Her response was simple: “Thank you.”
Had she not known that Duke was close friends with Thoe Hale, she might’ve actually thought better of him.
But s.
People flocked together for a reason. Anyone who could get along with someone like Theo Hale was no doubt just as untrustworthy.
Duke frowned. He wasn’t saying all of this to get a thank–you. He wanted her to understand that she shouldn’t be wandering alone at night. It wasn’t safe.
He opened his mouth to say more but paused when he caught her reflection in the rearview mirror. Carmen had turned her head, her gaze fixed calmly on the fleeting lights outside the car window, her demeanor as distant as frost.
The rest of the ride was silent.
Eventually, the car pulled up in front of Ashmoor University of Technology’s gates<b>. </b>
The campus entrance was deserted, bathed in the faint glow of the old streemps. Therge iron gates were locked, and the light in the guard post was already out.
Duke let out a sharp breath. “Out.”
Carmen didn’t react to his attitude. She opened the car door without a word and walked straight toward the campus gates.
Only to find them tightly shut.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
She hadn’t realized she’d missed curfew.
Well then. Time to go home.
She turned and began walking down the road, her long shadow stretching behind her under the streetlights.
Duke remained seated in the car<b>, </b>watching her retreating figure with disbelief.
She’d rather walk all the way back alone than ask him for help?
He was angry–but more than that, worried.
It was already past eleven. What if she ran into trouble again?
Duke cursed under his breath, started the engine, and slowly pulled up beside her. He rolled down the window,
“Get in.”
Carmen kept walking “I don’t need your help.”
He mmed his hand on the horn. The sharp honk pierced the night air and startled her.
She turned, ring. “Are you insane?!”
PM
Finished
“I should be asking you that!” Duke snapped back. “You’re a girl, walking alone at midnight? What if that bastard from earlier had done something to you? Even if you made it back to school, you’re locked out. Were you nning to sleep on the sidewalk?!”
Carmen stared at him with cool, steady eyes, her stubbornness unyielding.
Duke met her gaze, his voice softening. “Just get in. I’ll take you wherever you need to go.”
He was giving her a way out. No need to make things harder for herself.
Besides, her house was over thirty kilometers away. If she walked, she’d end up with blisters.
Carmen finally got in. The rest of the ride passed in silence, save for a few directions she muttered now and then.
Soon, they reached her home.
A rural area, quiet and dark. Only the asional bark of a stray dog broke the stillness.
But when she reached her gate, she realized—it was locked.
“Seriously?” she muttered.
Her mother wasn’t home. She must have returned to the Duskgrave estate again.
And in her rush to leave the dorm, Carmen hadn’t brought her house key.
Now her only option was a nearby motel—except there wasn’t one in the area.
She looked up at the starless sky, utterly speechless.
Duke, still in the car, saw her standing there with that defeated look on her face and couldn’t help butugh.
“Wait, don’t tell me… you forgot your key on purpose, just to find an excuse toe home with me?<b>” </b>
Carmen’s face remained nk <b>as </b>she stared him down.
Duke immediately regretted the joke. After what had nearly happenedst time<b>–</b>after how close he’de to crossing a line -he knew she probably wanted nothing to do with him.
He straightened up, all humor gone. “Alright, I’ll take you to <i>a </i>hotel.”
Carmen didn’t refuse.
The ride felt heavier now.
Carinen stared out the window, her face like still water. Streetlights slid across her features, casting fractured shadows.
Duke nced at her <b>in </b>the mirror. Her expression was emotionless, cold. He sighed.
Yeah. She <b>was </b>still scared of him after <bst </b>time.
Understandable. She was <b>a </b>university student–young, a bit na?ve, and probably not used to men who didn’t know how to joke properly
He made <i>a </i>silent promise to himself:
No more thoughtless jokes.
No more crossing lines.
She already had enough trouble in her life. He didn’t want to be one more.