Page 54 of Forged in Blood

“Mine too.” She bites into one and hums with satisfaction. After she’s done savoring her first bite, she licks the crumbs from her lips and eyes me with concern. “So, tell me what has you in here all alone on a Saturday afternoon.”

I shrug. The last people I opened up to turned out to be heartless douchebags with the emotional intelligence of dung beetles, so I’m not exactly eager to repeat that experience.

She arches an eyebrow. “A guy, right?”

“Yeah.” More like three.

“Ugh!” She takes another bite of her cookie. “They’re such jerks.” Crumbs fly out of her mouth, and we both bust out laughing.

“They sure are,” I say, once I’ve caught my breath.

“I’m swearing off boys this semester. My grades weren’t great last year, so I promised my parents I’d study more.” She holds up her history book and pulls a face.

Cadence ends up getting zero studying done over the next few hours, but she does make me laugh with stories of all the disastrous dates she had last year. And for a few short but wonderful hours, I almost forget about the three vampires who broke my heart.

“Hey,we’re having a party at my house tonight. You want to come?” Cadence asks as we step out of the library. Thankfully, there’s a break in the clouds and the rain has stopped.

“Thanks, but I’m gonna grab some dinner and head back to my dorm. I’m not really a party kind of person.”

She rolls her eyes. “Me neither, but I have to go to some events for the society and all that.”

“You’re in a society?” I have no idea why that surprises me so much.

“Yeah. Silver Vale.” She flashes me a grin. “It’s cool, but sometimes I prefer doing my own thing, you know?”

I walk beside her toward Dionysus Commons. “Why did you join a society? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Not at all. It’s a family tradition. Generations of my family have attended Montridge, and they all joined Silver Vale.”

I recall Malachi telling me Silver Vale was a witch society. If generations of Cadence’s family were members, does that mean she’s a witch too?

“You should come check us out. We don’t make pledges go through the stupid hazing some of the other societies do. You either fit or you don’t.”

I frown. “That seems a little elitist.”

She shakes her head and laughs. “I get that, but it’s not. Some people are right for it, and some aren’t. It’s nothing to do with popularity or grades or who dated the hottest guy in high school. It’s purely based on”—she chews on her lip and looks at me as though she’s wondering how to finish the sentence—“ability.”

“I don’t have any special abilities,” I tell her.

We reach the Commons and come to a stop. She places a hand on my arm and offers me a smile that makes her hazel eyes twinkle. “You’ll never know unless you give us a try, Ophelia.”

I open my mouth to tell her she’s mistaken, but we’re interrupted by a guy running toward us and almost knocking Cadence over. “Jake!” she admonishes him.

“Sorry, C,” he replies with a sheepish grin. “But have you heard what happened?”

She rolls her eyes. “This is my friend Ophelia, by the way. Neanderthal.”

Her friend? Did she actually just call me her friend? A surge of happiness warms the cavernous black hole around my heart.

Jake gives me a quick once-over. “Hey, Ophelia.” I squint back at him as the sun peeks from behind the clouds, glaring directly in my face.

“There was a crash down by the river Thursday night.” He huddles closer to both of us and drops his voice, making me feel for the first time in my life that I belong in a secret conversation. “Two cars were involved, both of them burned-out wrecks. Five students were killed.”

My stomach drops through my knees, and I force my mouth to remain closed. This isn’t the kind of gossip I hoped for.

“Oh my word,” Cadence says. “Who?”

“Madison Cummings from our history class. Some new girl, Penny whatsherface and her boyfriend.” He snaps his fingers. “The football player. Aiden? Hayden?”

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