I looked over toward his voice and laughed at the sight ahead of me. Both Matt and Zach were sitting on a bench, looking down at a book they held between them.
Not waiting for Officer M, I ran toward them and knelt down in front of them so I could see their faces. Their eyes were glued to the page, their sandy hair hanging down over their foreheads.
I pushed Matt’s hair back and looked into his eyes, then I did the same with Zach. My heart ached as I saw their blank expressions. No flicker of recognition. No breath. No life.
They were both warm, they were both alive, I had to remind myself, but I suddenly felt like I was living in a tomb.
I stood quickly and turned to look at Officer M. “We have to fix this. They can’t stay like this.”
“I’ll have to call this in. I can’t fix this on my own,” he said. “Back to the office.”
“There’s one more person I have to find,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t be able to go back until I saw Luka.
“They’ll still be here when we get this sorted out,” he said.
“Please,” I said. “I just need to see one more person.”
He frowned. “Fine. But I’m going to consider you a suspect if time starts again while you’re away from me.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Seriously? We’re back to that?”
He shrugged. “I’m just doing my job.”
Badly. I shook my head. “I’ll meet you in the office soon. My friend had gym next, I’m just going to check there.”
He lifted his chin in a weird little nod, then turned away from me.
I darted down the hall, dodging students, a couple of professors, and a rather large cat that I suspected was a student who shifted.
Finally, I made it to the gym. Luka wasn’t in the hallway. Before I could think better of it, I opened the door to the men’s locker room and nearly ran right into a classmate who had apparently been frozen seconds after entering the locker room.
Shimmying around him, I walked around the locker room, attempting - but not really succeeding - at keeping my eyes above the waist.
I had a lot of very good looking and well-endowed classmates.
And two who were not so well-endowed.
I bit down on my lip to keep from giggling like a twelve-year-old. The stress was starting to morph into feeling a bit punchy.
My stomach twisted into knots as worry continued to spike. I had to find him. I turned a corner and ran right into someone.
A tall someone. Who happened to be very naked.
I screamed as embarrassment burned red-hot in my cheeks.
Of all the people to run into while they were naked, Remi was last on my list. Yet here he was, with his trademark cocky grin that made him look so very much not frozen in time.
I pressed my finger into his rock hard peck. He didn’t flinch. Blowing out a slow breath, I backed up so I could walk around him.
But I did glance at the package first.
And I could see why Makayla was enjoying herself. “You go, girl.”
Once I was away from Remi, I saw another group of guys by another wall of lockers. One of them had his tee-shirt over his head, covering his face and most of his upper body. But I recognized that ass.
Just to be sure, I walked around to his front and lifted the shirt. Luka stared blankly back at me.
My knees went weak and I collapsed to the bench in front of the lockers. Seeing him like this was heartbreaking. They were all stuck. All frozen in time. And I didn’t know how to help them.