Page 65 of Cruel Saints (Lochkelvin Academy)

22

Idon’t know if it’s the whisky, but the world becomes a blur of shapes and sensations not long after consuming it. When the gremlins laugh, it’s as though I’m in the jungle and monkeys are hooting above my head. Everything becomes animal-like and strange, as though the Hallowe’en party is actually a carnival of animals, and I don’t quite know who I am anymore.

I stare at the thick gray fur on Rory’s head, the ears so lifelike that again I have to wonder… If I reached out and touched them, how soft would they be? I don’t want to know. There’s a hungry gleam in his eyes that suits his wolf form all too well as he stares me down.

Finlay’s gaze isn’t quite as focused on me. It shifts from Danny to Li to Rory to the brazier to the bottle and back again. But this jolting, keen attention also suits him, I think dazedly, as I take in the bright amber of his ears and his long bushy red tail. He almost looks like Danny, only Danny is cute. With his sharp canines, Finlay looks downrightlethal.

Li stares at him, unimpressed. “Are you a fucking furry?”

“I’m afox,” Finlay declares with a swish of his big bushy tail, “and a fantastic one at that.”

That may be true, but he isn’t anywhere near as fantastic as Luke. He’s not even in the same universe — no one is. A fox seems soboringcompared to what Luke’s wearing.

He’s dressed in a deep blue velvet suit that’s strewn with emerald sequins. A high gold collar emphasizes the proud tilt of his chin. His hands are encased in blue gloves. At his back, an array of large colorful peacock feathers are fanned out in a semi-circle.

I raise an eyebrow at the chiefs, feeling overwhelmed. “What kind of bastardized version of Aesop’s Fables are we in right now?”

Danny’s gawping at Luke. “But you didn’t have this last year.” He scratches the back of his head with a paw, gazing at the three of them.

“I evolved,” Luke tells Danny in a haughty tone, ignoring me.

“What were you last year?” Li asks, sounding catty. “A pigeon?”

Luke ignores her, but for some reason Li’s remark strikes me as absolutely hilarious. Rory’s eyes slide to me and my laughter stops.

“No, he was a… what do you call it? The red bird on the royal crest.”

“The reddove,” Luke says in that same haughty tone, like he’s worthy of so much more than these basic questions. “The red dove from my family’s crest.”

“Oh, yeah,” I say with a nod. “Because every family has their own crest, right?”

Rory’s eyeing me with amusement and I really don’t like it. “How much did you give her to drink?”

The question’s for Li but he’s staring at me. For some reason I open my mouth and say, “Not enough to block out your stupid fat head.”

With the flicker of a grin, Rory leans his mouth down closer to me. His teeth are long and glittering, and I can’t tell if it’s part of his costume or not. I give my head a shake. “I like it. It’s like you actually have some personality in that saintly little mind of yours. It’s just buried under a dozen layers of self-righteous bullshit.”

I note that Rory’s eyes are a sickly shade of yellow. Contacts or black magic devilry? I’m so fed up with themlookingat me.

“Becca wassupposedto be a rabbit and be the other half of the crest,” Luke continues in an irritated voice, like he thinks everyone should be foaming at the mouth to hear more about his grand costume plans, “but apparently the school thought differently.”

“Aye, the girls have all come as mythical creatures.” Finlay’s mouth slides into a smirk as he glances at me. “Well, most o’ them. It figures the girls would be mythical when they have near-mythical status at Lochkelvin.”

“Can you go and be mythical elsewhere now?” I snap, wondering if my reactions are as out of line as I feel like they might be deep down. “Li and I were discussing important things before you came along.”

But the guys keep staring at me like I’m somehow entertaining, and Li looks utterly bemused. Danny tugs at my arm with his soft paw, trying to pull me away from the group. Rory switches his attention to him instead.

“I’m not sure squirrels do it for her, tufty.”

“I mean, of all the nut puns oot there…” Finlay sounds disappointed.

Luke cocks his head to the side, his magnificent tail billowing in the breeze. “He can rescue the lamb later and spend all the alone time he wants with her.”

“That won’t be happening.” Rory’s voice is cold and commanding in a way that makes goosebumps rise across my arms. What the hell? I’m standing right next to the brazier. I peel back the black sleeve of my body suit and stare at the little hairs on my arm standing on end.

Danny positions himself in front of me in an instant, shielding me from the three of them. “She isnotgoing out there.”

He’s nodding in the direction of the dark forest ahead of us. I blink. “Go outthere? Why?”

---