Page 163 of Vengeful Princess

Her dress was equally OTT. She’d chosen a dark green creation that clashed beautifully with her newly dyed purple hair. It was as if she wanted us to stand out in a sea of tasteful black and silver designer frocks.

My hair hung loose down my back, artfully pinned up on one side with some pretty diamante clips, and my lips were painted ‘siren red’. Smoky eyes finished the look, and even though I felt like a dog’s dinner, I had to admit, Eden had done a great job as my personal stylist.

Since this was my last night on campus, I figured I may as well go out with a bang. Not literally, obviously.

“Those boys are going to lose their shit when they see you wrapped up like a sexy Christmas gift,” she’d giggled when she’d finished her makeover.

“They hate me, so doubtful.”

“They don’t hate you, Thea.” She rolled her eyes. “OK, so Dario doesn’t seem like a fan, for reasons I don’t understand, but Lan is in love with you for sure, and as for Kyril, I saw him punching Dario in the face this morning.”

“He did?” That was news to me. I’d locked myself in my room since my encounter with Dario.

“Yeah. Not sure what Dario said but Kyril lost it big time. There was blood everywhere. Hope you don’t mind at least one Prince Charming with a black eye.”

“What? Did Dario land one on Kyril?”

“No, but Cassian tried to intervene and got caught in the crossfire.” She paused. “Wait, is Dario another contender for your harem?”

I ignored her shameless digging. I was more concerned about Cassian’s black eye. His father would be furious. Nothing like a black eye to ruin a festive photoshoot. I winced on his behalf.

It was yet another reason why it was time I got the fuck out of here. My presence had caused nothing but trouble, and half of it they had no idea about.

The furore over the drugs bust had died down, thankfully. The story was no longer in the Daily Mail’s sidebar of shame, mostly because nothing had been found and the police weren’t commenting. All the tabloids could do was speculate, which had eventually run out of steam when nothing else came to light.

Cassian’s father had issued a public statement saying his son was innocent and the whole thing had been an unfortunate mistake caused by misinformation. Landon’s father hadn’t commented, which suggested he gave no shits.

Pushing thoughts of the guys aside, I teetered down the stone staircase. Other people emerged from their rooms and joined me as they hurried to the main hall. A few glanced at me curiously, but most of them were too busy chattering to their friends to care much about a girl who wasn’t part of their clique.

It was a frosty night when I stepped outside. Every surface sparkled, adding a touch of festive glitter to the evening. The huge spruce pine tree outside the main entrance twinkled with colored lights under a full moon, and for a moment, I stopped to admire it.

We never celebrated Christmas at home. At least my father didn’t. He usually sloped off with Torrance, probably to fuck some whores and drink himself into a stupor.

Once, he’d held a dinner party for business associates on Christmas Eve. Verity and I had sneaked out of the attic to watch the guests arrive, but they’d all been stuffy men in suits and after a while, we grew bored and left. It was just as well.

When I came downstairs the following morning, a maid was busy scrubbing bloodstains from the polished wood floor in the dining room. At least one guest hadn’t survived the night.

The banqueting hall inside the main house looked unrecognizable. Fragrant evergreen garlands hung from picture frames, and there were bunches of holly and mistletoe everywhere. Logs blazed in the stone fireplaces, warming the vast room. In the corner, a string quartet played a mix of classical music and Christmas songs, but it was hard to hear the music over the excited hum of voices.

It looked as if almost every student was here, plus a few members of the faculty. I scanned the dresses, searching for Eden’s purple hair, and after a few minutes I spotted her talking to Michael.

She hadn’t mentioned him since she got back to campus, but it was obvious from how close they were that she liked him asmuch as he liked her. I hoped she stopped fighting her feelings because he seemed like a genuinely nice guy. And if I wasn’t coming back, she’d need a friend.

I grabbed a glass of something sparkling from a passing server and gulped it down. My plan was to stay for an hour, to make Eden happy, and then slip away. I had my bag packed, ready to leave early in the morning.

Dad had canceled my credit card, but I had money of my own. I didn’t want to dip into my savings, but he’d left me no choice.

Knowing my father’s propensity for ‘training exercises’, this was another test. He and Torrance had probably placed bets on how long it would take me to crawl back home with my tail between my legs.

He knew damn well I would never abandon my sister. She was all I had left.

It was why I’d endured his bullshit for so long.

When I reached Eden, she grinned at me.

“Looking hot, babe!”

“Thanks to you,” I pointed out, and she winked.

---