Page 9 of Vengeful Princess

“I can delete the video she has on you. That would help, yeah? Or is there another reason you have to dance to her tune?”

I looked up, bleary-eyed.

“I’ll hack into her computer and see what I find.”

“You can do that?” My head spun, the whiskey finally having an effect. If I finished the bottle, I’d pass out. It seemed like a fantastic plan, so I drank some more.

“Yeah. Leave it with me.”

“Thanks. I love you, bro,” I hiccupped.

6

Thea

My first week at Abernethy College flew by. While classes had officially begun, and our professors were already piling on work, I’d settled in better than expected.

There was something freeing about knowing Torrance couldn’t wake me up in the middle of the night for a ‘training’ session. I’d slept better in the last few days than I ever had in my entire life. My bed was comfortable, and I loved looking out of my window and seeing the mountains looming over the college every morning.

It had even stopped raining. Sadly, that wasn’t quite the boon I expected. The weak late summer sun heralded the appearance of swarms of midges, and I was having a fun time fighting them off. Luckily, I’d packed a lemon-scented spray to discourage the fuckers from treating me as an all-you-can-eat buffet. It worked most of the time.

One thing I hadn’t thought to pack much of was warm clothing. While I had a couple of sweaters and some jeans, I needed way more cold-weather-appropriate clothing. It looked like a shopping trip was in order this weekend. I just hopedthe nearby town had a few decent stores that sold clothing in my size. The alternative was shopping online, and I hated that because I was an odd size: petite, but busty.

But that was a problem for tomorrow’s Thea. Tonight was the party Landon had told me about. I’d never been to a party before, but if I was to complete my father’s mission, I needed to get close to Cassian Forsyth.

And since I hadn’t run across him so far, this was my only option.

I scanned the meager contents of my small closet. Absolutely nothing in there screamed sexy party girl. How on earth was I going to capture the attention of a guy like Cassian if I dressed like a wallflower? I had a feeling my usual jeans and a hoody wouldn’t cut it.

Ugh.

But since jeans were all I had, and there wasn’t time to put in an express order at some online fashion store, I’d have to make the best of it.

I spent ages curling my hair with the help of a YouTube tutorial and then applied some makeup. Again,thanks YouTube. When I looked in the mirror, I almost didn’t recognize myself. Blood and gore were my usual aesthetic, not winged eyeliner and siren-red lips.

But at least I didn’t look like a five-year-old after raiding her mom’s makeup bag.

That was a win, right?

Now all I needed to do was pick something to wear.

With so few options, I went with a pair of skinny jeans that hugged my ass. A red lace push-up bra and a cropped tee completed the look, which I accessorized with my favorite leather jacket and boots.

To be on the safe side, I tucked a small but vicious switchblade into my boot. The college was supposedly safe, but I wasn’ttaking any chances. If some asshole tried to rape me, he’d learn the hard way not to touch me. Pretty sure there were plenty of remote locations around here to dispose of a body.

Not that I wanted to test that theory, but I’d learned from bitter experience that it was safer to account for every possibility. If anything could go wrong, it invariably would.

I could hear the party before I reached the top of the north tower. Small lights illuminated the stairwell, and there were narrow windows set in the thick rock walls at intervals.

This far north, the days were longer than I was used to, so it was still light outside.

I followed the sounds of music and laughter until I reached a door. Just as I was about to open it, a girl fell through, nearly knocking me back down the stairs.

“Oops,” she giggled in a cut-glass accent. “Sorry!”

I ignored her while she stumbled past me on ridiculous heels. A guy soon appeared, obviously looking for her.

“Carla! Wait!” He shot past, brushing against me. Eww.

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