Guardian Of Fate (Fate Series) by L.J. Kentowski Page A

grin to take over his expression. He let go of me and I stood there limply, my composure not ready to take control yet.
    "Goodbye, Cassandra," he said softly. "I look forward to your next lesson."
    I opened my mouth to speak, not really knowing what to say, but it didn't matter because he walked away without giving me the chance.
    I don't remember seeing another soul throughout the entire scene with Hunter, so luckily, there was no one around to witness me stumbling back and melting into the bench. My energy was drained. It could have been because my heart rate had been on overload the whole time I was with him. Or, who knows? Maybe he was so powerful he sucked it right out of me. With everything else going completely helter-skelter in my life, I wouldn't be surprised. I certainly felt powerless against him.
    As I sat there, lifeless, on the bench, I thought about how relieved I was that he was gone. But in the next instant, I wanted to kick myself for wondering what lesson number one entailed.

 
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    I don't know how long I sat on that bench in the park, or how I even got home, for that matter. My thoughts were consumed by Hunter's lips on mine, his tongue taking complete control of my mouth and my senses, his hard, powerful body pressed against me, and his promises of more to come.
    Still in a daze when I got home, I checked the clock and realized how much time had passed. I wanted to take a long, hot shower and rub away the effects of Hunter's touch from my skin before I had to be at work, but as my luck would have it, there was no time. I was in and out before the water even had the chance to heat up. Ten minutes later, I was out the door.
    Park Hill Hospital was about a half hour ride from my apartment. It was a smaller community hospital, so it wasn't overwhelmingly busy, needing fewer personnel than the metropolitan hospitals in the bigger cities. Most of the staff, including the doctors and nurses, had grown up in town, so there was also a sense of hometown pride and camaraderie at work. That was one of the reasons I put in to intern there.
    After high school, I realized that, like my dad, I was drawn to the science of psychology. I figured if I were going to be saving souls anyway, I might as well save their minds too. So I attended the local university, majoring in psychology, and found out I was a natural at it. Now I was interning in Park Hill's Behavioral Health ward as part of my second year requirements for Waitling's PsyD program. In three more years, I planned to be a doctor, just like my dad.
    Most of my time was spent shadowing the psychologists and psychiatrists at Park Hill. I would go with them through their daily routines of seeing patients, researching, and diagnosing. Some days, I attended seminars or workshops as part of both my curriculum and the doctors' normal activities.
    There were five interns in the Behavioral Health ward, corresponding with the number of doctors that worked there. We all rotated between doctors from week to week in order to get a feel of the different methods of practice. I had my favorites, but I got along with all of them. I didn't mind the seminars, workshops, or research either. Even though it felt a little more like being in school, these sessions were geared more towards advanced methods in the field. I loved working at the hospital. Watching the way the doctors helped the patients, seeing therapy sessions in a live setting, instead of merely reading about it; it was my dream career. I was grateful for being able to get a taste of living it.
    When I was at the hospital, I really put my mind to watching and learning. There wasn't a lot of room for daydreaming, so I counted on my shift to get my mind off the morning with Hunter. My brain had completely surrendered to the memory, and I needed to plow myself into my work studies to bring me back to reality. Fate, however, had another plan.
    When I checked in with my intern supervisor, Grace, she informed