Page 26 of A University of Betrayal

Adrian DeLoughrey seemed to have a problem with my presence. There were already two of us, which raised a faint hope in me.

“Get me out of here!” I ordered barely audibly but in a firm voice. “Take me away from here, and I’ll leave you and your family alone, don’t spy on you anymore.”

He looked at me as if he was actually thinking about my offer.

“I’ll do anything you ask of me.”

Even if that was a lie. I had my limits too, even if they had slipped very far with the attractive-looking guy in front of me. I had all my hopes and put them in Adrian. He had to know a way to get me out of here.

He finally said coldly, “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”

“What? Why not?” I asked indignantly. “Don’t tell me you’re not capable of it?”

He didn’t seem to like my last words because he furrowed his eyebrows.

“I just want to go back.”

“In your condition, impossible,” he replied firmly.

“Undoit.”

I hadn’t thought about that, either. Was there any going back from my current state?

“That’s not possible. This isn’t a game, Larissa,” Adrian answered my question sharply.

“You’re the only one I know here.” I tried my best. “Please.” But even his pleading look only earned me contempt.

“Believe me, if I was in charge, you would have left long ago, but that’s not how it works here.”

Even if it was the arrogant Adrian speaking, it hit me. Of everyone here, he seemed to hate me the most.

“If I were you, I’d do as I’m told: listen, learn, and then eventually return to the state you strayed here from.”

Oh my God.Whathad he just said?

I looked at him, stunned.

“You shouldn’t get far here anyway, with your skills, so you’ll be able to be transferred elsewhere in the foreseeable future.”

Every word he uttered didn’t get any better. He really was the embodiment of arrogance.

“Yes, I want to get out of here. That doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that,” I blurted out, annoyed that I was having such a hard time countering this man.

“I know what I’m talking about,” he began. “Freshly turned, untrained, and the faintest idea of the world. I’ll give you a day out there among the uncontrolled Ruisangors.”

He spoke with such arrogance that something began to bubble inside me, but I said nothing because I was speechless. And in that moment, all the feelings I had ever felt in his presence vanished into thin air.

“And even ifBastientrained you, you’d never be able to make up for all the years of training me and my brothers went through.”

I looked at him, just staring. There was no reason for him to put himself above me like that. I would never want to outrank him.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are more important things to attend to.”

Adrian simply ended the conversation, turned around without further ado, and disappeared swiftly through the park toward the house.

What an asshole. He hadn’t just insulted me because of my background,no.He had put himself above me, doing everything he could to make me understand that he didn’t want me here. At least, now, I knew that I had been chasing an asshole the whole time, as I had done so many times in my life. Bayla had been right about me attracting these guys like shit attracts a bunch of flies.

“Don’t take it personally. Adrian has his moods sometimes. Especially when Nicolaj comes back, he completely loses his shit.”

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