Page 163 of House of Lilith

I find her stalking towards me with amusement on her face. “Oh I like that,” she drawls in this mocking little voice. And she comes to lean in and whisper with this devious little look on her face, “Do it again, justharder.”

“You fucking animal,” I snap at her at the same moment she starts laughing like crazy, as if my face is so terribly amusing right now.

“For fuck’s sake,” I yell, slamming my fists into my head and starting to let all the pent-up anger come crashing through the gates. “Everything’s a joke to you, isn’t it?” I demand as I swing my arms back down and throw her a nasty stare.

I see her quickly turn serious. “And you know what your problem with Blood Magic is, girl?”

“What,” I hiss as I use my mind to get the marbles off the floor, fling them into the air and make them burst into a million fucking pieces, seeing Vasilisa’s eyebrows shoot up before having to shield my eyes from the tiny shards.

But once it’s safe, I just lunge at her, and I make her take a step back even though she doesn’t have to because she’s some kind of fucking ghost, and I say through gritted teeth, “My problem? Idareyou to tell me what it is.”

For a second, she just squints at me. “Too many scruples and not enough anger,” she says flatly. Then she throws me a weird little smile and says, a mix of amusement and pride in her voice, “But I see you’re working on that.”

“Well,” I blurt out, starting to feel my anger dying down and my breathing getting back to normal, “sorry.”

And she lets out a little scoff, making it clear that I’ve justunearned myself that little look of pride.

But I don’t linger on it, because my eyes dart straight to my lunch lying on the floor. And I let out a dragged out moan and I shake my head, saying, “I can’t fucking believe you. Now, if I want to eat, I have to go to the fucking cafeteria.”

And I turn to throw her a nasty look. “Where there’speople.”

*

I breathe a sigh of relief when I walk through the archway and see that the cafeteria is only moderately crowded, most students having their lunch out in the gardens.

But when I take my seat and start digging in, I soon realize I’ve found myself a listener in a private conversation between a buff fae guy and a gorgeous shifter girl at the table next to me.

“Just one more date, that’s all I ask,” I hear as I stab a couple of fries with my fork.

“I’m being serious, James. I just don’t think I’m in the right headspace.”

“And yesterday you were?”

And I try not to listen, but they’re being too loud for their own good. So I start thinking about switching seats, glancing around to see that there are quite a few empty tables.

“Well, things change,” I hear her tell him. “I have a busy life. No time for fooling around right now.”

Letting out a sigh, I move to start packing up, but then I hear them start getting up and I breathe a sigh of relief, slumping back into my chair.

“You won’t even eat with me?” he asks as they both come into my line of sight, the serving counter with the queue of incoming students right behind them.

“No,” the girl tells him as she raises a palm between the two of them. “Just… don’t.”

And she goes to stand in line, alone, while the guy goes back to the table, seemingly seething.

I tear my eyes away, making myself focus on eating so I can get the hell out of here as quickly as possible. It’s not without reason that I’ve been spending these first summer days locked up in a dark tower with Vasilisa.

I can’t stand being around people right now, listening to them talk about the finals, the food, the sports, the clothes, the concerts and all the other shit that doesn’t sound utterly pointless and grating if andonlyif you’re not on the very brink of unraveling.

So when I hear the already familiar banter, laughter and confident footsteps coming from the Entrance Hall, signaling the arrival of the Pack…

I instantly freeze, my heart throbbing like it’s trying to get out of my chest and fly away.

Please, I think as I grip my fork and close my eyes shut for a moment, please don’t let him be among them. I’ve managed to avoid him so far, just two more weeks and that’s it. Please, I almost start muttering to myself.

But when I open my eyes, who do I see but him, sauntering into the cafeteria at the head of a dozen boys and girls from his pack, all looking as if they’re having the time of their life.

And I rush to lower my eyes, but I still catch his for a second, and there’s a flash of a frown on his face before he looks away as if he hasn’t even seen me, going straight for the queue for the serving counters.

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