Page 2 of The Devils of Raven's Gate

I make my way inside the admissions office, shuffling ahead of a group of girls who are prattling on about all the parties they can’t wait to go to. The door swings open as I reach for it, and I walk straight into a wall of solid muscle. I gaze up only to lock eyes with the beautiful asshole from earlier. Fuck.

“You, again. For fuck’s sake. Didn’t anyone show you the proper way to walk through a doorway?”

I can feel that same heat rising to my cheeks again. His arrogance is astounding. “Seems like you walked into me.”

Valentin clenches his jaw. His eyes darken while his nostrils flare. “Are you calling me a liar, freshman?”

The girls behind me gasp and stop talking. They are clearly afraid of him as much as the mystery girl from outside is. But I’d dealt with my fair share of monsters this summer. The things I’ve done…

I tilt my chin up. “I’m simply pointing out that maybe you should also watch where you’re walking.”

One of the girls behind me literally whimpers.

He cocks his head to the side and a strand of shiny black hair falls over his eye. It makes him look sexy and provocative and dangerous as hell. I hold my breath and wonder if I should have just kept my mouth shut. Fuck, I’m always taking things too far. Why can’t I be more fucking docile?

When he takes another step closer, I almost stumble back. Looking up, I notice just how square his shoulders are, the flex of his chest as it stretches his T-shirt across his pectoral muscles. He’s lean but strong, chiseled and carved like a piece of stone. And as my breath catches in my throat, I get a whiff of roses and cedar mixed with embalming fluid. When your best friend owns a mortuary, you become familiar with that scent.

Valentin licks his lips as his dark eyes flicker with something hungrier—feral. “I’ll be watching a lot more closely now, freshman.” He tugs on the hem of my skirt, and I bounce forward. Butterflies swarm my belly as he leans down and whispers in my ear, “I’ll be watching your every move. No one disrespects me and gets away with it. Not even needy girls with pretty mouths and hard nipples.”

Holy fuck. I glance down my shirt to see that my tits have indeed betrayed me by way of two stiff peaks poking out from under my thin cotton blouse. But before I can fire back or even process what he said, Valentin Erebus has brushed past me, leaving me and the entire office speechless. And judging by the pale faces and looks of terror, I have a feeling that I just pissed off the one person I shouldn’t have.

Fucking great. Off to a smashing start.

The line moves rather quickly and within minutes I’m at the front. “Maureen Blackwell.” I shove my ID across the counter toward the pale lady with jet-black hair. She narrows her dark eyes at me while typing furiously into her computer. I avert my gaze to her name tag, focusing on the sharp letters that spell out Miss Florian.

“Here we go,” she states. I flinch as the printer squeaks. Why am I so fucking jumpy? “This is your class schedule. Make sure you familiarize yourself with it thoroughly. Our esteemed professors do not tolerate tardiness, absences, or insolence.” The lines on her face seem to get sharper the more she talks. “Here is a map of our campus. It would do you well to memorize it. It can be easy for one to get lost.” She pauses and looks up over the rim of her glasses, her eyes narrowing. “Do not get lost, Miss Blackwell. The fog is thick, the shadows are dark, and the ground is hallowed. Not all who wander can be found.”

I swallow down the lump in my throat as goose pimples tickle the backs of my arms. That eerie feeling I had when I first drove through the gates returns. Where I’m from, the dead walk around freely. It’s the devil I know. But Raven’s Gate is disorienting. I nod my head for her to continue because she seems to think I need to acknowledge her words before she’ll go on.

Miss Florian sighs as her hand starts moving around the map again. “Dormitories are on the east end of the property near the Mourning Café and the campus bar. All paths are clearly marked, do not venture off them.”

“Right, got it. Don’t get lost in the woods.” A larger structure catches my eye near the graveyard. I place a pointy, black-painted fingernail on it. “What is this place? It’s unmarked.”

Miss Florian snatches the map off the counter and stuffs it into a folder with my schedule and a few other papers. “A word of advice, Miss Blackwell—keep your questions focused on your studies and you’ll get through this unscathed.”

Get through this?

She smacks the folder into my hands along with a key which I assume is for my dorm room. “Good day, Miss Blackwell.”

Before I can utter another word, I’m shoved aside by the group of girls behind me. Miss Florian throws me one more side glance but it’s so subtle I wonder if I imagined it. I stuff the folder into my purse and spin on my heel, dragging my luggage behind me.

The rain’s coming down hard by the time I make my way outside and back to my car. If I had known how big this campus was, and that I’d be driving to my room, I wouldn’t have lugged all my bags out like an idiot. Another reason why people are staring and snickering at me, I’m sure. I load everything back into the trunk and let out a sigh as I look toward the main hall.

This place has secrets. I feel it in my bones. But so do I. And mine are dark enough to make the devil smile. But I came here to start over. To leave all that behind. So I need to keep my head down and take Miss Florian’s advice—don’t ask too many questions and stick to the designated paths. Because the last time I went wandering, I killed a man. A chill trickles down my spine. No more murder, Maur.

I can barely see through my windshield as the rain turns into a torrential downpour. Through the thick fog, I inch along, praying my old clunker of a car makes it the last stretch. Bailey had insisted on loaning me her Mercedes, but I refused. She’s already paying my tuition and giving me spending money. Best friend or not, I won’t be anyone’s charity case. And I have every intention of paying her back in full.

I pull up to the dormitories and my blood runs cold. More like Dracula’s castle. I lean forward, straining to see through the violence of my windshield wipers at full speed. “Fuck,” I mutter under my breath.

Its stone walls are covered in a thick layer of rotting vines and black roses. As if decay were a living thing and actively consuming the building, piece by piece. If it weren’t for the flicker of lights from some of the windows, I’d think it was abandoned. I gaze up higher, following its sharp lines all the way up to the two points that threaten to stab the heavens. It has to be at least six stories.

A massive iron sign hangs between two posts: The Nest. I blow out a deep breath and pull into the closest parking spot I can find. By the time I reach the entrance, I look like a drowned rat. I’m kicking myself now for not allowing my dad to come along to help. Although, the last thing I want is for anyone here to find out that I’m a phony.

Even though I’ve never met my mother’s family, I decided to register under their last name because they’re fucking rich as hell. But they cut ties with my mom the second she got pregnant with me, so we never saw a penny of it. In Wickford Hollow, I’m just the Sheriff’s daughter. But I can’t be that here. They’ll ask too many questions. Tenebrose Academy is the most expensive school in the country. And I don’t want to have to explain how my dead best friend is footing the bill. Hence why I’m lugging all my shit through the rain by myself—so no one will find out that I don’t belong here.

The main floor of the dormitory is cozier than I expect. On the farthest side of the room, there’s a massive stone fireplace surrounded by brown leather couches. A few students gather around it, completely oblivious to my presence. A knot forms in my stomach. Everyone here seems to know each other already…

“Need a hand?” a tiny voice squeaks out.

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