Page 29 of Made in Malice

“Wrong, all of this is my problem. You think these people are just a bunch of rich fucks, but you’re in more danger here than in that shitty little apartment, and before you get all teenage angst on me, this isn’t just about you. There’s a lot more at play here than you understand.”

The teenage comment stings. He’s saying I’m immature, but I don’t let on that it bothers me. “Then tell me, why all the secrets?”

Alden rolls his lips in as if he’s actually stopping himself from speaking, then he shakes his head briefly. “I doubt you would believe me, and I don’t know you well enough to predict how you would react. It could have the opposite effect.”

“How about you let me decide for myself since I am an adult?”

Alden watches my face for a long second, but when he finally speaks, I know he’s decided to keep me in the dark because he doesn’t give me any useful details. “The founders have enemies, anyone with the kind of power and money they have does. If you’re going to go off the island, let someone know and stay away from the Morningstars.”

“You act like I’m hunting him down,” I retort.

“Maybe not yet.”

“What the heck does that mean?”

“Figure it out,” he snaps.

“Got it,” I reply flatly.

“If you’re as smart as you think, you’ll listen to me and keep your head down.”

“Are we done here?” I start to step back toward the side of the car. There’s a petty part of me that would love nothing more than to leave his butt here and make him walk back, but that would be about as immature as he accused me of being.

Alden just shakes his head as if I’m such a disappointment and too dumb to deal with. It makes me want to defend myself, but there’s no point, so I don’t.

When he pulls the door closed after getting in, he’s at least careful not to slam it this time. I do a three-point turn, so I don’t end up on the grass, and head back to the main house. I’m the one to break the silence when I ask, “Do you know if I should park back here? Rory never said.”

“I run security, not the garage,” he replies, and my shoulders tighten with his reproach. That will be the last time I speak to him unnecessarily.

Nova

The scratches on my arms are still red and scabbed in a few small spots, so I find another long-sleeved shirt to pair with black shorts left by Tabby. I have a feeling my wardrobe is going to shift to include a lot of the things she brought, but it would be silly to wear jeans when it’s almost eighty degrees outside when I don’t have to.

My legs are pale and are made to look even more so by the dark fabric of the shorts, and the small scabs on my knees are still present, but I’m tired of sweating my butt off, and everyone probably knows the story now anyway.

The house is quiet when I leave with enough time to grab a coffee and maybe a muffin or something from the Union if I think my stomach can handle it.

When the gate opens at the end of the drive, I breathe a sigh of relief that the neighbor isn’t around, then I make a quick turn so I can get out of here before he shows up. What Alden doesn’t seem to understand is that I would much rather just keep my head down and not be bothered, but I’m not going to stand by and let someone try to intimidate me. I’m sure he’ll get tired of screwing with me soon enough anyway.

When I walk down the long corridor from the back entrance, I feel like people are staring, but it’s just my head messing with me, because when I actually take a chance and glance around, no one is paying me any attention.

While I’m in line for coffee, I recall the map I studied of the school last night, but now that I’m in the building, I feel all turned around, like I might go to the wrong wing. Once I finally have my drink, I glance at the plaques on the walls to make sure I’m heading in the right direction as I speed walk to my first class. My stomach does a nasty flip when I realize not only are the doors closed, but there’s no one else around. I know I’m not technically late, but I’m cutting it pretty close.

Easing the door open, I keep my eyes lowered as I enter the room. Without looking at anyone directly, I assess the layout. The room isn’t overly large, but it’s sloped, with three sections of long tables descending evenly down it. The section in the middle is the largest, having four chairs positioned behind the tables, while the two side sections each have two chairs.

I take a seat at the empty two-person table in the very back row of the left side of the room and rush to get my laptop open, if only to have something to hide behind while I get situated.

My relief of finding an empty table so conveniently near the rear of the room is short-lived, however, when the girl in front of me turns around and levels me with a look of sheer disdain. I pretend not to notice the way her eyes narrow or her nose crinkles as if I smell bad, but her words are impossible to disregard, even though she’s talking to the girl next to her. “She’s supposed to be an Umbra, but it looks like she just rolled out of bed.”

“Anya.” The other girl darts her eyes over to me, not bothering to hide her smile, before focusing on her friend. “She’s off-limits.”

“He said we can’t touch her,” Anya reminds her friend with a malicious sneer still aimed at me.

I lean forward and keep my words soft, so the other people around us won’t be able to hear. “I bet it took you all morning to come up with this little act. Maybe even half of last night.” I lean back into my seat and let my face relax into a mask of indifference, then add, “How does it feel knowing you’ll never once cross my mind when I dominated your thoughts before you ever met me?”

Anya’s top lip lifts as if she’s about to snarl something at me, but the teacher in the center of the room speaks, and I avert my eyes to her, proving my words to Anya and her friend. I spend the next ninety minutes dutifully acting as if they don’t even exist.

Being in the back row offers the bonus of a quick exit, which I take full advantage of. I take my mostly full coffee with me and drop it into a trash container just outside the room. I have a few hours to kill between classes, and the library isn’t an option unless I want to sit at one of the shared tables on the main floor, and that sounds pretty damn close to torture right now.

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