Page 11 of Forged in Blood

“Doesn’t mean we can’t fuck with her though. I mean, when those cheeks get all pink with indignation and then she opens that pretty little mouth…” Xavier grunts. “Yeah, I’m gonna have a lot of fun.”

“And he never said we couldn’t fuck her, right?” Malachi adds, a wicked glint in his eye.

“No, he didn’t,” I agree. “And I have to agree with Xavier for once. Pissing her off made me hard as fuck. Such a bratty little mouth she had on her.”

Xavier moans, and Malachi shakes his head like he disapproves. Pity he doesn’t get to make the rules. No biting is our only boundary. Still plenty more fun we can have without breaking our oath.

Yeah, Ophelia Hart is going to regret the day she ever met us. I’ll make damn sure of it.

Chapter

Seven

OPHELIA

Everything looks exactly the same as it did yesterday. There are still groups of students studying on the lawn. The same black-haired senior, wearing artfully torn jeans, stands beneath the maple in the quad and recites his poetry to a crowd of awestruck bystanders. Everyone laughing and talking and walking to class the same way they did the past few days, like they have no idea that vampires exist. That all those TV shows and movies aren’t fiction after all. And not only that, but they’re here on campus. Pretending to be students while preying on their peers and feasting on our flesh.

Are all the Ruby Dragon Society members vampires? Unlike most college sororities and fraternities, students have to be invited to pledge the societies. Which will never happen to me. I’m simply a nobody who ended up here because of a weird clause in the trust that was set up before I was born. For the past several years, I dreamed of escaping Havenwood, and now I’m stuck here for four more years.

A shiver runs down my spine as the memory of the girl from last night burns fresh in my mind. I recall her name now too—Rachel. She sits in the back of my English class with the popular kids, but I recognized her pigtails. Shame burns my cheeks at the realization that I didn’t think to check on her after I got back to my dorm last night. I was so relieved to be away from those blood-sucking creeps that I barricaded my door and crawled straight into bed. Not that I would have known where to find Rachel’s dorm, but I could have asked around.

I search the mass of students hurrying to class, trying to catch a glimpse of her. This campus is huge, and we only have the one class together. Dammit. What if she’s not okay? What if Axl hurt her or made her disappear? My stomach rolls, and I’m considering abandoning class to find Rachel with the pigtails when I see her up ahead.

Relief washes over me. At least she’s alive. That’s something, right? She’s surrounded by a group of girls, and they’re all talking animatedly. I wonder if she’s telling them about what happened last night. Will they even believe her? I mean, she’s popular and people tend to take note of the popular kids, but it’s pretty far-fetched to be bitten by a vampire.

I jog over, clutching my books to my chest. “Hey, Rachel.” I blow a strand of hair from my damp forehead.

She turns at her name, her brow pinched in confusion.

I take a deep breath. “I saw what happened last night.”

She blinks at me.

“With Axl? I totally saw everything. I can be a witness if you need one.”

Her top lip curls into a cruel sneer while the two girls on either side of her hold their hands to their mouths like they’re trying to suppress their laughter. “Ew! Were you spying on us? You freak!”

“What? No. I just…” My eyes drop to her neck, looking for evidence of Axl’s bite. What the hell? Her skin is completely blemish free.

“Perverted little freak!” one of the other girls says.

“No. I saw him bite you. I…”

Rachel’s cheeks turn pink. “Ugh. You were spying, you disgusting little pervert.”

“I wasn’t. I heard you scream, and I saw you behind Hermes Hall?—”

“Ugh. Screaming behind the fine arts building,” the other girl says with a snort. “Real classy, Rach.”

Rachel’s skin darkens to a mottled red. She marches forward a few steps and presses her pretty face up close to mine, her bubblegum-scented breath warm on my lips. “I don’t know what you think you saw, freakazoid, but Axl and I had a perfect date. He walked me to my dorm and we kissed. End of story, you lying little bitch.” She draws her arm back and slaps me across the face hard enough for tears to prick at my eyes.

I rub my stinging cheek while she and her friends strut away. They shoot me a final look of disgust over their shoulders before disappearing. Staring after them, I wrestle with my confusion and block out the people staring at me like I’m some kind of freakish circus act. I’m used to the insults they mutter as they pass me—or say outright if they’re particularly mean.

Tears burn behind my eyes, and I scrub at my cheeks with the sleeve of my sweater. How stupid was I to think that Montridge was a new start? There are no new starts for people like me.

Keeping my head down, I hoist my backpack up and stumble toward my first class. A fat droplet of rain lands on my eyelash and rolls down my cheek as I focus on how lucky I am to be here at all. College is usually only a dream for a foster kid with slightly higher than average grades. And it was a dream I never imagined coming true until my social worker discovered a college trust fund that had been set up by my parents before they died. There’s enough to pay my entire tuition to Montridge, as well as room and board. As soon as I have my degree, I can go somewhere completely new. Somewhere far away from Havenwood, where nobody knows or cares about ‘Opeelia’ Hart.

My college algebraclass lets out, and I head for the library. Keeping my head down like I always do, I swear I feel his presence before I hear his voice.

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