Page 15 of All Saints: Pledge

“Nah, my shift was up.” I offer him a sunny smile, feeling Kendall’s eyes on me. I can prove he has no impact on me. Maybe that’s the test. Maybe someone assigned Kendall the task of trying to scare me into leaving. Too bad for him. Helena 2.0 is here to run the world.

“Want to stay here or go to the party?” The kindness in Dominic’s eyes melts my heart, and I’m amazed at how he can sense thatsomethingsignificant occurred, even though I tried to brush it off.

“Let’s head out,” I say.

“I’ll see you later,” Kendall calls at my back, as if he can read my mind. Or as if he’s listening to our exchange.

Goosebumps break out because God help me, it doesn’t sound like a casual sendoff.

Itsoundslike another threat.

8

As many things that differ here in England, parties aren’t one. Okay, sure, the number of people drinking flat beer is higher here than in America. More high-roller cocktails and fewer jello shots. But the atmosphere is the same as the ones Jaqueline and I attended in High School.

But.

This isOxford. Most of the people here are ten times smarter than my entire high school class combined, and we never held parties in the wing of a massive medieval stone building with a view of a river. A couple drinking wine is arguing in slurred tones over whether Tolkien was true British Literature or genre Fiction trash.

God, I love this place.

“Look, a Pimm’s bar!” Li says the moment we pile out of the tiny stairwell. She’s gone by the time Dominic squeezes through the door behind me.

“It’s the Sophomore common room,” Dominic tells me, looking around. Large sofas line the walls, and a pair of doors stand open at one end with a big balcony overlooking a quadrangle. I peek out the door and see a massive stonestair leading down to the quad. Cool air sweeps over us with a refreshing smell of grass and water from the open doorway.

“So these are all finance people?” We’re in Merton College, one I haven’t visited before. I pull my green coat around me as we wade into the room, not wanting to get a drink spilled on it.

“I guess. Not all of them.” He lifts a hand in greeting to someone across the room.

We watch Li flit from group to group, sipping on a beverage, in no hurry to return to us. “Does her drink have…cocktail fruit in it?” I ask the room at large. No one hears me, and no one seems to think her drink is odd. Brits. I shrug and shake my head.

“I’m glad you came to the party,” Dominic says near my ear. Tingles run down my neck and settle in my toes. There are worse things than Li abandoning us at this party.

“Me too.”

Finally, Dominic and I will get to talk. I study his profile and when he turns to me, I smile instead of looking away. The throb of a rock song starting fills the already cacophonous room.

Okay, or not so much talking.

“I’ll go get us some drinks, yeah?” Dominic practically has to yell now.

“Yes, please,” I say with a smile. “And then let’s go outside!”

He gives me a wave and is gone into the crowd.

I press myself back against the wall, just observing. I love it here. Everything about Oxford. The myriad of accents and languages I hear around me. The way the air smells. The quad outside, and beyond that the night-lit spires of the medieval town. Somewhere in the distance, a church bell tolls. This whole place just oozes culture. It’s everything I missed from my boring American upbringing.

And then… there’s a set of shoulders I recognize. And it’s not Dominic’s sweet, wide shoulders under his wool coat. Theseshoulders are angular, reminding me of a shark. Cut in a dark suit. Shoulders I left not an hour ago in a ballroom, and pretty much wish never to see again.

Fucking Kendall.

He’s here.

Of course he’s here. He’s my demon version of Roy Kent. He’s here, he’s there, he’s every-fucking-where.

“Go away,” I growl as he approaches, set to menace me against yet another wall. It’s his favorite pastime now. Life was better back when he ignored me.

“Relax. I brought you a drink.” He says, holding up his other hand like he’s surrendering.

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