Page 31 of Savage Hope

He drinks me in just as much as I absorb him, and then I have the unfortunate opportunity of experiencing him open his mouth.

“Are you a vampire?” he asks, tilting his head as his eyes sparkle with a sense of dark mischief. I can't find my tongue, but I manage to shake my head, making his teeth appear in a fake smile. “You lost your friend when you had the misfortune of being announced as whatever the fuck you are. The moment you’re not a vampire is the moment our ties are cut. Do yourself a favor and fuck off.” His chair scrapes along the floor as he stands, the smile turning to a sneer on his face as his gaze goes from me to Sian. “Come now, Sian, we don't fraternize with the enemy,” he adds for good measure, but there is no need. I already got the message. But it seems I’m not done experiencing the wrath of his tongue. “Especially not ones with dirty silver hair. It seems it’s a good thing you don't remember your past because wherever the fuck that came from can't be anywhere good,” he snarls before turning away and storming towards the exit.

His words cut deep, a jab at me unlike any I’ve heard before, and I feel like I might pass out. My breathing is ragged, my skin tingling with panic as my gaze snaps to T for a split second,but gone is the guy who has irritated me for as long as I can remember, and in his place stands the man now known as Terence. He tries to mimic the rude guy’s walk as he saunters after him, and S quickly rushes to her feet, trailing after them.

Gaping in horror, I feel a hand on my arm and turn to find Bryony staring at me with a hint of sympathy in her eyes.

“Ignore Blaze. He's a cunt, and I don't use that word lightly, but with him, it definitely freaking counts.”

I nod, despite the ache in my chest and the lump in my throat. Since when have I become the enemy? Since when have I become a target?

Bryony waves a hand toward the exit and I move with her instantly, desperate to get out of here since I can feel a few people still staring my way after that little performance. With every step, I sink deeper and deeper into my head as I overanalyze whatever the hell that was. It’s impossible not to replay the moment repeatedly, feeling my cheeks heat more and more with every flash of it in my mind.

It doesn’t matter how many times I recount everything from start to finish, one reality remains: the people I thought I knew, the people I took for granted, are gone, just like everybody else I've known, and once again, there is nothing I can do about it.

This time, my hand slips into my pocket, the imprint embedding itself in my palm as I bite back the emotions threatening to consume me.

How am I supposed to survive the blood curse if I can barely survive breakfast?

13

POLARIS

Bryony tugs me up the stairs and down the corridors as we head to our first class, my mind foggy from the aftermath of my first encounter with my old friends since they were declared vampires. The word friend always felt weak before; now, it somehow holds no weight at all. I wonder if B has turned into an ass too?

I stumble over my feet as I’m dragged from my thoughts and launched back to reality as a familiar face comes into view. I can’t bring myself to step over the threshold and enter the room as I gape at the man who knocked me to the ground yesterday.

A man. That’s what he is. That's the ultimate difference I've surmised when comparing him to the guys I attended Florentine’s with. Terence included.

He’s fully dressed this time, in a pair of black shorts and a matching tee, and I can’t decide whether that’s a good or bad thing. Seeing all of him yesterday—feeling all of him—was more fun than I care to admit.

My bubble of awe-inspired ogling quickly bursts when I look at his surroundings. He sits in the center seat in the back row, girls flanking either side of him, with another one perched on the desk as well. He's basking in their attention. It’s like he wasmade for it, leaving me with the startling realization that I'm nothing more than a wisp in the wind as he dotes on them in return.

Of course, the first hot guy I have a reaction to is surrounded by all of the girls. It’s the reality check I need. I’m not here to be distracted by anyone, not when the chance of survival burns so brightly in my future now.

Thankfully, Bryony tugs at my arm, pulling me from my one-way stare-off toward the middle row of seats. I grab the chair at the far left, and Bryony drops down beside me. If she notices my weird behavior, she doesn’t mention it.

I take a shaky breath as I nervously look around the room. It's nothing like the classroom back at Florentine’s. There is an array of posters all over the wall, a vibrant color scheme working its way around the room. Combined with the chatter, laughter, and joy that radiates from every corner, I’m left with a weird sensation.

No one made those kinds of noises in the classroom back there, mostly because if they did, they would likely receive some sort of punishment. But to experience it now, even though I’m not technically taking part, feels completely foreign.

The paint on the walls is a pale sage green. It’s hidden deep among the posters, but it’s there. It’s a slight contrast to the darker wood furnishings that fill the room. Instead of a chalkboard with different-colored chalk splashed all across it, there’s a whiteboard with a digital screen projected onto it.

As my gaze casts over the door, my breath shudders once more, only this time, it's from watching Sian and Terence walk into the room with Blaze right behind them. As if sensing the deathly glare the latter gives me the second he enters the room, Sian and Terence look anywhere but at me.

I quickly drop my gaze to my desk, heat burning at my cheeks as my fingers twist together nervously in my lap while nervesgnaw at my insides. I try as hard as possible not to sink into my sudden new surroundings, praying for the teacher to come and distract me. Instead, I feel tingles on the back of my neck, a sensation I know comes from someone staring intently at me.

I shouldn't look.

I know I shouldn't, yet it's impossible not to.

But when I turn around, I don't know who is causing the intense heat against my skin because it's not just one set of eyes I find. Quickly whipping my face forward again, I try to keep my breathing even.

‘Mr. Hot Wolf, and he knows it’ gave me half a glance but quickly dismissed me for the girls still vying for his attention, while the guys who fill in the rest of the row seemed a little more curious about the weird new girl. I think they’re the same few guys he was sitting with yesterday, but I can't be certain. Not when I refuse to turn back and look again.

The spot that was generating the intense burning at the back of my neck came from the farthest seat on the right—the guy who seems to have labeled me his newest enemy.

Blaze.

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