Page 72 of Kingdom of Shadows and Wings

Upon spying the jug, Olive wiggles her hips. “Works for me.”

Nick leads us out of the dorms to a small, crumbling building that I never noticed before, situated on the far edge of the grounds. Cobwebs and expensive but rotting furniture from an earlier era populate the interior. Moonlight streams through the windows and missing chunks of roof.

Eyeing the dubious stains on a torn velvet couch, I scrunch my nose. “Wouldn’t outside be better?” Spiders don’t bother me much, but I’m pretty sure I spy rat droppings on the floor, and I’m not a big fan of rodents. Their pink eyes and long naked tails get to me.

“If you want us to get caught, sure.” Nick fixes me with a look that says I’m hopeless as a badass.

“Rat hole it is.”

The others drop to the floor. After using my boot to sweep my area as clean as possible, I sit too. Nick and Abel pull cups from their pockets. Abel fills them with generous pours of whiskey, and Nick passes them around. Then Nick empties his cup first in one huge gulp and holds it out for a refill. After tasting hers, Olive screws up her face like she just stuck her hand in a bucket of poisonous snakes.

“That good, huh?” I laugh before taking a swig of my own drink.

The liquid burns my throat, transforming my laugh into a sputtering cough. I shiver at the bold, smoky flavor, which in my opinion isn’t quite as terrible as eyril or my suppressant. At least the warmth in my belly balances out the not-so-great flavor.

Soon, the whiskey loosens our tongues and we share stories. Somehow, we latch onto the topic of past loves. Olive tells us about the first boy she had a crush on, and how they would sneak into the forest to kiss and hold hands. Abel waxes poetic about an apprentice baker he dated when he was sixteen who made him blueberry muffins every week.

Not to be outdone, Nick boasts about his girlfriend’s talented mouth, making my eyebrows shoot up and Olive screech.

I elbow him in the ribs. “Enough!”

He swivels toward me with his eyes halfway shut, his lips stretched into a loopy grin. Between his relaxed pose and the whiskey dribbling off his chin, he presents as decidedly un-Nick-like, and I notice that his cup is almost empty again. “What about you? Did you fall in love with any of the lords’ sons who came courting?”

My stomach sinks at his question. Mother didn’t introduce me to any lords’ sons. No one ever came courting. I’ve never been in love before. At the castle that served as my prison up until I came here, potential suitors were in short supply.

To buy myself time, I suck down more whiskey. “My first kiss was with the stable boy when I was twelve and he was fifteen. All I can remember is him tasting like the grass he always chewed.” The ridiculous faces Olive and Abel pull draw a laugh from me. “In retrospect, that doesn’t sound nearly as appealing as I thought it was at the time.”

Olive takes a generous gulp of whiskey. Her pink cheeks and glazed eyes suggest that the alcohol is having an impact. “What about after him?”

“After him? I set my sights on the other stable boy who ate cookies.”

Everyone laughs, and the conversation moves away from former loves. Thankfully.

While everyone else refills their cups and grows progressively tipsier, I nurse my drink, biding my time until I spot a lull in the discussion. ‘Hey, why don’t we play a game? Truth or dare?”

Nick snorts so hard, he almost drops his cup. “What’s next? Musical thrones? Pin the horn on the alicorn? Goddess says?”

Olive pokes him in the shoulder. “Hey, don’t make fun of my roomie. She’s the best.”

She leans over to give me a hug and topples into my side. I squeeze her back before pushing her upright again.

Abel rolls his eyes. Besides me, he’s the only one who isn’t acting blitzed. “I’m in.”

Everyone stares at Nick. I clasp my hands in front of me and stick out my lower lip. “Please, Nick? I’ve never played before.”

Olive’s eyes bug out. “Seriously? How could you have never played truth or dare before?”

I fake a casual shrug. “My mother could be a little weird about who we socialized with, so I didn’t always spend a lot of time with my peers.” Talk about an understatement. And since Leesa and I didn’t really keep secrets from each other, there was no point in playing back then. Now, I wonder if I still know my sister at all.

Nick groans. “Fine, I’ll play.”

My shoulders relax a little. So far, so good.

After beaming at Nick, Olive claps her hands. “Yay. Lark, why don’t you start? Since it was your idea and you’ve never played before.”

I tap a finger to my lips, pretending to search my brain for a suitable question while doing my best to hide my growing nerves. “Oh, I know. Nick, have you ever left campus without permission, or do you know of someone who did?”

Nick blinks. “Leave campus?” A furrow dips between his eyebrows, as if my question doesn’t compute.

---