Page 23 of Ruined Wolfsbane

I awkwardly pat Rory on the hand, hoping she’ll let me go before accidentally choking me. I look to Ronan for help, but he just grins at my discomfort, the bastard.

She finally releases me and bounces over to her seat. Rory’s too excited to sit still. “So, the party starts at nine, but we totally have to get ready together. How ’bout you come over at five? You can sleep over too! Since you don’t have a car, we’ll pick you up. Just shoot me your address.”

The absolute last thing I want is Ronan and Rory anywhere near Patrick. “I can meet you at WHU if that works.” It’s safer for everyone if Patrick doesn’t know I have friends. The fewer people he can use against me the better.

“Sure can! Oh my God, we’re going to have so much fun!” Rory’s practically shouting with how thrilled she is. I smile as she tells me every detail about her party.

I bend over and put my hands on my knees, completely out of breath. My black sports bra and tank top are soaked through with sweat, and my gray joggers cling to my ass uncomfortably.

I took too long trying to figure out what to wear to Rory’s party. So, I had to sprint to get here on time. Thanks to all the extra food I’ve been eating, my running stamina and pace has improved a ton.

Checking my phone, I see that I’m about five minutes early. I shrug off my ratty black backpack I packed with stuff to stay the night, and I look for somewhere to catch my breath. Sitting on the curb in front of WHU’s main entrance, I will my heart rate to slow down.

It’s a few minutes until Ronan and Rory’s black Land Cruiser pulls up. “Get in, boo!” Rory yells from the passenger side. Her hair is wild, probably from having her window rolled down on the way here.

My lips curl in a grin at Rory’s exuberance. I push myself up from the curb reluctantly, releasing a silent groan. My tired legs don’t want to move right now. I open the back door and slide onto the black leather bench seat. Ronan gives me a quick smile in the rearview mirror before smoothly pulling out of WHU.

“Where do you guys live?” We’ve been friends for a couple months, but I haven’t been to their house yet.

Rory twists in her seat to look back at me. “We live near the Wyldhart Mansion.”

Wow.

“Cool,” I respond, trying not to look too shellshocked. The Wyldhart Mansion and surrounding houses make Patrick’s monstrosity look like a peasant shack. Rory wasn’t kidding when she said her parents are mega rich.

The Wyldharts founded the town of Wolves Hollow a couple hundred years ago. They still rule the town today with their obscene amount of money, and they provide a ton of funding to WHU, hence Wyldhart Hall.

Valentine Wyldhart, the current patriarch, does business with Patrick. He has a brutal reputation, so I try to steer clear of the whole family. Although, that can be difficult when there aren’t any pictures of them, so I have no idea what he looks like. The Wyldharts are paranoid about privacy, so they don’t let any photos of them get out. That’s especially true with what Patrick’s told me about Valentine Wyldhart’s depraved tastes in the bedroom.

“Ror! Face forward! You could get seriously hurt like that in a crash,” Ronan admonishes his twin. Rory playfully rolls her eyes before turning back to the road.

“What music do you like, honey bunch?” Rory shouts from the front, like we’re a whole room apart, instead of me sitting right behind her.

I snort at the increasingly ridiculous nicknames. “I’ll listen to anything. I’m not picky.”

“T Swift?”

“Sure,” I respond with a grin. Ava is huge into Taylor Swift. Listening to her songs always makes me think of Ava.

“Awesome sauce!” Rory cranks up the music, blasting “Wildest Dreams.” We both sing along during the short ride to their house. I’m not even a little embarrassed that I know all the lyrics.

Ronan slows to go through towering wrought iron gates. We make our way up the circular drive, past sculpted hedges and dormant fountains.

When I finally get a look at their house, my jaw drops.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the fucking ox and ass, too.

That’s not a house. It’s a fucking castle. At least two, if not three, of Patrick’s houses would fit in the colossal red brick structure. Unlike Patrick’s house, Ronan and Rory’s is beautiful, despite the sheer absurdity of its size. Twisting green ivy crawls up the red brick and wraps around the white columns framing the door. The slate roof has multiple turrets, with chimneys dotted across the roofline.

Ronan drives around the back of their house, where I see a large pool and a guesthouse in the distance. He pushes a button, and a hidden garage door opens. We descend into their underground garage, like something out of Batman.

When Ronan parks, Rory turns around to look at me again. She giggles at the stupefied look on my face. “Yeah, our house will do that to ya. You’ll get used to it.”

I highly doubt that. I’m still not used to Patrick’s mansion, and I’ve lived there for over a decade. While my mom had money, we lived simply before moving to this town. It was nothing like the extravagance most of Wolves Hollow is used to.

Rory hops out of the car and bounces up and down until I get out. “Come on, slow poke! We barely have enough time as it is to get ready!” Not enough time to get ready? How long does it take her? We have like three and a half hours before the party starts.

Grabbing my hand, Rory pulls me inside her house. I briefly glimpse a wine cellar and media room in the basement before heading up a wooden spiral staircase. On the first floor, I see medium-toned herringbone wood floors, a sleek kitchen, and a large family room.

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