Page 5 of Devil on the Lake

I have to admit, it looks fantastic. Everyone’s having a great time whether they’re in costume or not. The guys who put this together—Dante, Phoenix, and their crew of deviants—pulled out all the stops. I’ve never been to a party with my classmates, but this is pretty fucking rad.

The bonfire marks the center of everything. Orange and yellow lights are strung in zigzags above everything. People are roasting marshmallows, drinking, dancing, and running around with sparklers. Someone dressed as Darth Vader is the DJ.

Dante appears at my back like my own personal inferno. I quickly move away from him and make a beeline for the bonfire. Squinting into it, I tilt my head at the small shapes I find glowing in the flames.

“Are those little skulls?”

“Charcoal ones! Aren’t they neat?” Luna Bishop turns away from a beefy football player named Chad and sidles up to me. “I’m sorry about the dolls. Please don’t think I’m awful, I feel terrible. I didn’t realize until after Dante, Lowell, and Easton picked them up from me and Ryder. I kind of get in the zone when I’m creating.”

I open and close my mouth. Luna isn’t exactly a friend, but she’s not a bitch to me like her bestie Eliana. Luna’s more about fixing crowns and self-love for all.

“It’s fine. They look good.”

“Want a drink?” Chad offers.

“I’ve got it covered.”

Once again Dante appears behind me, offering a drink over my shoulder like he’s my boyfriend. The move is weirdly…territorial. I peer at him from the corner of my eye, but his attention isn’t on me, it’s on Chad, a challenge in his expression. I don’t take the cup, crossing my arms instead.

Chad holds up his hands. “All good then. Drink up. This goofy shit is way more tolerable with a solid buzz.” His features scrunch. “Although, I guess you get off on all this Halloween shit.”

Dante laughs. Luna elbows Chad. He coughs, but doesn’t apologize.

“Totally,” I say airily and pat my purse. “Brought my favorite vibrator so I can sneak away and take the edge off. It’s vampire-themed.”

“Nasty little freak,” Dante mutters with a sharp grin before swigging from a bottle of whiskey.

Chad’s face goes slack. “That’s kinda hot.”

Before I can tell him he doesn’t have a chance in hell with me, Dante pulls me away. Once again I experience the strange sense of possessiveness from him. I test it by heading for the other side of the bonfire. He stays close, making it clear I’m not here by myself. I don’t get what he’s up to.

“You want this or not?” He wiggles the cup and some Coke sloshes over the rim. He licks it from his knuckles. “I didn’t spike it, if that’s what’s got your pitch black panties in a twist. Just rum.”

“No thanks. I’d rather not be under any influence around you. It won’t make you more tolerable.”

His amber eyes harden and a muscle jumps in his jaw. His features are accentuated by the skull face paint.

“Suit yourself.”

He downs my drink and chases it with another swig of liquor from the bottle. I watch, transfixed by the bob of his throat. A drop leaks from the corner of his full lips and I track it as it rolls down his bare chest.

“You came.”

The voice startles me out of my trance. Ugh, I can’t believe I was checking out Dante. What is wrong with me? No freaking way would I ever go for that jerk.

“You,” Dante says with a frown.

“Daniel,” I supply when it’s clear Dante forgot his name.

Seriously? We’ve gone to school with him for years. He’s a junior that sits next to me in my poetry class. He’s a little intense and likes to stare, but he writes wicked poems. Again, the perfect reminder that Dante’s a self-absorbed dickhead.

“My sister is here. Our dad encouraged me to get out of the house, too.” He jerks his chin toward Eliana dancing with her friends by the fire. “He thinks I spend too much time alone.”

Dante’s frown deepens and he shifts closer to me. There he goes with that possessive thing again. I inch away as subtly as I can, but he follows. Daniel’s gaze bounces between us and twists his fingers in his shirt sleeves. They’re wrinkled as if he’s been doing it a lot.

Lowell, Dante’s other best friend and partner in homework-stealing crime, is nearby. He can’t keep his eyes off Eliana. He’s not the only one—his friends Ryder and Easton are also fixated on her. The three of them are inseparable. If they all like her, they’d probably have no problem sharing her between them. Uneasiness moves through me at the look on Lowell’s face and I turn away.

“Are you here by yourself?” I ask.

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