Page 56 of Moon Kissed

“We did it,” Edric said. “We destroyed Volana’s assignment.”

Raza blinked owlishly at them. “Excuse me? You’re confessing?”

“That’s right.” Once again, Edric spoke to her but looked at me. “Detention, right?”

“I’m afraid so. Both of you. Tonight.”

Edric and Orion shared determined looks with each other, and hateful looks at Mason.

I just shook my head, hiding a grin as I took my seat.

Men are too easy.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE I HAVEto go to detention with you too,” Nia raged in between angrily reading.

I never knew someone could read angrily until meeting Nia. Didn’t know someone could bitch so much to the wrong person either.

“Trust me, I’d love to put some space between this twosome too.” We rounded the corner for the detention hall, catching sight of Orion’s back just as he slipped inside. “Look on the bright side, you can chill out and get homework done.”

“How is that the bright side? What kind of lonely, desperate nerd do you think I am? I’ll have you know I had a date tonight. A date I had to cancelbecause of you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tip: dates don’t go for that whiny thing, so it’s a good thing you’re getting that all out now before you see them again.”

“Fuck you.”

I laughed. Nia wasn’t used to being afraid of people, so she bounced quick between defiance and suppliance. It really was funny. Like what I imagined it was like having a haughty cat who spurned your affection, but still ate, bathed, and shat by your allowance.

“Just stop getting detention,” Nia said. “Some of us have a social life that doesn’t include sitting around in an empty classroom half the night.”

“Tell me about it,” I mumbled.

I had names to be checking off my list, and a project in the woods that needed checking of its own. Instead, I’d be spending another night in detention with Orion gagging us on his cigarette smoke to keep playing his role of being the disinterested bad boy who “doesn’t care” that everyone he knows and loves rejected him... or is a serial killer.

Meanwhile, strong, silent, judgmental Edric will sit on top of his high horse, smirking down at me like torturing me into blackmail made him better than me.

Still like those jerks?I thought at my wolf.

It wasn’t true words that came back at me because wolves didn’t speak. It was more like my wolf tapped into my primal subconscious, or that she was my primal subconscious, and she didn’t have to speak because her voice was already a part of me.

Therefore, with her being me, and me being me, and me knowing myself, her reply was,Don’t need to like someone to want to fuck their brains out.

Oh yes, all parts of me were a hot mess.

“Look,” Nia said, “let’s just do our homework, keep our heads down, and maybe Raza will let us out”—we stepped into detention hall—“early.”

“Or,” I sang, taking in the scene before me. “She’ll put us all in detention for the rest of forever.”

Party.

That was the only word for what my eyes were seeing. Instead of the three guys I was expecting to be in this room, there were about seventeen guys and twelve girls, and they were all getting themselves comfortable passing out bottles, putting desks together for a card game, arguing in the corner about how to set up the music, and glaring at me fit to explode my head.

The last one was Badr, who was standing huddled up with Orion, Edric, Paxton, and Nyx. They weren’t all supposed to be here. What were they all doing here!

Ava scoffed between swigs of whiskey. Naturally, she wore a muddied-up me on her chest. “Aww, you’re worried about more detention, widdle baby? I didn’t take you for a weak-ass pussy who’s afraid of a little punishment, Volana.”

“And you’re ugly,” I replied, breezing past.

“Hey— I’m not— Your pathetic comebacks don’t bother me!” She sounded pretty bothered to me. “I’m not the one eating mud in my granny panties! If anyone’s ugly, it’s you! You—”

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