Page 9 of Blood & Betrayals

I shake my head. “You look hot.”

I glance at myself in the mirror once more, tilting my head as I assess my outfit.

“You should wear this with it.” Alice holds out a leather jacket that must have cost thousands. It is buttery smooth and supple, the color not rubbing off under my thumb.

“This thing must be worth everything I own and more.” When I arrived at Avalon, my bank account was automaticallyconverted to digital credits I could access from my phone. But since I’d barely had a balance, my credits were also low. It is a struggle I am pretty sure Alice does not share. I was lucky even to have a SIM card that allowed me to access the runic network before I got here.

Alice covers my mouth. “Shh, you’re my roommate, and I’ve decided you’re stuck with me, so I get to give you things. Deal with it.”

I huff behind her hand, and she lowers it. She forces the jacket into my hands, and I pull the leather on and look in the mirror again. I shouldn’t accept this.

“You look like such a sexy badass,” Alice says, drinking some tequila straight from the bottle. Okay, she might be wealthy, but Alice is still definitely my kind of person.

We take two more shots of tequila each before stumbling out of the dorm, bringing the bottle of tequila with us, and heading in the general direction of the Morningstar House.

4

Summer

Itake another deep drink of tequila as we walk across campus, and I loosen up with every mouthful. We pass multiple parties on the path from the dorms to the separate houses for various student organizations, several of which are homes to students, but Alice insists that the one at the Morningstar House is the one to be at and thatanyone who is anyone is going there. Whatever that means. Somehow, she already has some kind of insider knowledge about the campus. It must be whatever app keeps alerting on her phone, but I don’t recognize the symbol. It’s a rune in the shape of anN. Weird. It must be some special thing.

Students spill out of the ancient stone buildings. Some are snapping photos of each other, several on loud calls to their parents, and even more to their friends. The darker it gets, the more the giant dome that surrounds the campus becomes visible, but only in flashes of light. The university is ancient, and the knowledge it contains has the potential to create some of the most powerful beings across the realms and the most deadly of villains. At every graduation, a student contributes tothe magical force field that protects the school, making up the arching shield.

It is one of the main reasons I accepted the offer to Avalon University. The protection it offers is the stuff of legends and too tempting to pass up.

By the time we make it across the campus, it becomes clear what Alice meant. The music from the Morningstar House can be heard from half a mile away. It’s not even late, but all signs point to this party lasting all night. The front garden is littered with people dancing and playing beer pong. The house is bathed in darkness, but bright lights flash through the windows in time to the steady beat of the music. Alice takes my hand and pulls me through the fray of people scattered on the front lawn and into the heart of the party. The house is warm, and the place is a mess of wandering hands and tongues, writhing, sticky bodies plastered to each other. Discarded cups and beer bottles cover every available surface, and several groups of people sit around smoking out of some strange ball-shaped pipe that releases a pink smoke on inhale. From their relaxed postures and smiles, I figure it must be some kind of drug.

Holy fuck. It looks like immortals party infinitely harder than mortals. I don’t catch all the arcane beings that are present, but thankfully, I can tell there are no fae. A little of the lingering tension slips from my shoulders.

“This is insane!” Alice shouts over the music, still pulling me through the crowd even as bodies slam and push into us. Alice doesn’t stop, and soon, people are jumping out of her way. We finally make it to the makeshift bar in the dining room, and Alice grabs two red cups full of unidentified liquid and clinks hers to mine. “Here’s to fucking shit up!”

“Let’s fucking do this.” I down the drink and slam the cup down.

Alice picks up an unlabeled bottle and sniffs it. “What is this?”

A blond man lounging against the wall smirks at Alice, even as the siren pressed against him nibbles at his ear. A stray flash of light catches on the gold band around his wrist, the halo marking him as an angel. I have never been this close to one of the Heavenly Host before, yet nothing about this guy seems angelic. From a quick glance around the party, it is easy to find the golden halos of his kind, and not a single one inspires any thought of purity. Almost all are drinking or doing drugs. Several are in intimate embraces, one entwined in a group of seven other bodies. I thought angels were the heralds of chastity and innocence.

“It’s Eden Mist. Careful, it’s strong,” the angel says, his voice carrying over the music. The siren darts her tongue into his ear, making him shiver and his eyelids flutter closed.

Alice takes a deep drink and coughs. “Holy fuck!” she gasps out from a throat that sounds scalded.

The angel chuckles and focuses back on the siren, leaving Alice and me to hand the bottle back and forth. The first few swallows are tough, but eventually, we get used to the unique burn as it slides down our throats. It warms my chest and makes me feel almost weightless.

“That guy is staring at you, Summer,” Alice says slyly into the lip of the bottle, using her eyes to direct me.

Following her gaze, I expect to see more of that morbid curiosity I’d experienced on campus as everyone tries to figure out what I am and what makes me different from other fae. Instead, my eyes collide with a pair of dark blue ones that sparkle with an entirely different kind of interest. Even if he wasn’t wearing his halo, this guy screamsangelic. His masculine beauty appeals to everything female in me. He towers over everyone here, and his form is filled out with easy muscle. Withhis tawny skin and wavy blond hair, his entire body practically glows.

This man is almost too perfect to look at, and I am not the only one to notice. He is surrounded by a throng of admirers trying to get his attention, but his eyes are on me. He tilts his head, obviously trying to put a name to the face.

Good luck with that, angel boy.

“Go get him.” Alice nudges me, and I give her a wicked smile. Angel boy thinks all it will take is a single look, and I’ll hurry over to him and beg for his attention? Not a chance.

“Absolutely not. Let’s dance.”

Alice laughs, her eyes sparkling. She pulls me back through to the living room, finding a space for us in the center of the mass of people. I let the music slide through me, and my body instinctively sways to the rhythm. The beat reverberates through my bones, the music flowing around me like the wind. Someone must have woven a spell into the speaker, but I don’t care about that right now.

Alice spins me out, and I laugh as we dance. Maybe it is the alcohol, but I feel like I have known this little vampire forever. A shifter comes up behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him. Her eyes darken, and I prepare to move away to give them some semblance of privacy. Strong hands grip my hips, fingers digging in only slightly, but enough that I know it’s an intentional hold and not just one that creepy men do when they’re trying to move past you. I glance over my shoulder at him and mask a smug smirk when I see my staring angel. A lock of his golden hair falls into his eyes, the wave in it making it look like a half curl.

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