Page 17 of Virgin Sacrifice

“Listen, I know most girls just want to have fun dancing with their friends. You and Autumn should get out there, and I promise I won’t be weird; I’ll just stay near enough to keep an eye out and ward off any creepers that come your way.”

Autumn started tugging at my arm. “Come on, Luz. It’s a party. We have to dance.”

I searched Aaron’s face for any traces of deception or insincerity. That I couldn’t find any irritated me to no end.

Gritting my teeth, I begrudgingly mumbled, “Fine.” This made Autumn’s night and she gave a shimmy of joy before dragging me into the thick of the dancing crowd, Aaron trailing in our wake.

The music washed over us, and I gave in to the urge to move my hips along to the pulsing beat of the song.

Looking over, I found Aaron exactly where he promised, standing just behind Autumn and me, close enough that it probably looked like we were dancing with him but far enough that he wasn’t in my personal space.

He tossed me a wink when he caught me looking him over. It came across as more friendly than flirtatious, but I couldn’t stop wondering what he was getting out of this.

One song bled into another, and with Aaron continuing to keep his distance, I began to relax a bit, allowing myself to close my eyes and just feel the music and the energy of everyone around me. It was all too easy to lose myself in song after song, dancing my worries away.

Eventually, though, the night began to wear on me, and I tried in vain to get Autumn to come to the bathroom with me where hopefully I could convince her it was time to head back to the dorm.

“Not now, Luz, I’m having fun. Just one more dance!” she pleaded, giving me one of her signature pouts.

Darn it, she’s good.

“Here,” Aaron said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his iPhone, the latest edition, to hand to me. When I raised my eyebrows, he explained. “I know you don’t trust me, so take my phone as collateral. Go to the bathroom and I’ll look after your girl. You can trust that I’ll hang around to get my phone back, and I’ll have to trust that you’ll return for your friend instead of stealing my phone,” he said with a cheesy grin.

“A phone is hardly an even trade for a human,” I scoffed as Autumn pawed at my arm and encouraged me to leave.

“Go on, Luz. We’ll be fine. I, like, pinkie promise we won’t move from this spot.” She hiccupped again.

I didn’t know what the girl code was at this point. I thought we were supposed to want to go to the bathroom together. But maybe Autumn wanted to stay behind for a reason? Maybe she was into Aaron after all and wanted a moment alone with him?

Chewing on my lip, I mulled it over before relenting.

“Fine, but if either of you two moves so much as an inch from here I am holding you accountable, Croft,” I hissed, turning to flounce off through the crowd.

The line for the first-floor bathroom was excruciatingly long, and I liked to save my patience for when it counted the most. So instead of waiting, I made my way up the grand curving staircase that dominated the foyer. The top of the landing gave way to separate hallways, and I flipped a coin in my head before heading down the left side.

Most of the doors were closed, and it didn’t take a detective to discern what was going on behind them from the sounds leaking through. Near the end of the hallway, I reached a door that remained open, and when I couldn’t make out any signs of life, I peeked into the room.

A guy’s clothes were strewn all about the room, and there was more than one set of dirty dishes stacked up on the dresser and desk. Gross.

Pinching my nose, I stepped around the piles of dirty clothes and God knows what else before finding what I had been looking for. An en suite.

As disgusting as the room was, the bathroom was worse. I quickly said a prayer to the bathroom gods as I hovered over the toilet, relieving myself at lightning speed all while I grimaced and whined.

As quickly as I could, I was washing my hands and running out of the room and down the hallway like a bat out of hell. I didn’t stop until I’d made my way to the other side of the landing.

I wasn’t exactly a germaphobe, but Mami had been fastidiously neat due to her work and had ingrained the need for cleanliness and order in me. Shuddering, I forced myself to take a couple of deep cleansing breaths now that the air around me was no longer contaminated.

That was when I noticed one of the doors on this side of the hallway was open as well, a crack of light spilling out along with the hum of quiet conversation beneath music playing in the background.

A prickle ran up my spine, warning me to mind my own business, to turn around, and head back downstairs. And yet, the possibility of what I might overhear, the rush of seeing something I shouldn’t, was too tempting to ignore. So instead, I silently inched my way closer until I could make out the sound of distinctly masculine voices.

“. . . you can’t blame us for being curious. Surely, you’ve heard the rumors even if you haven’t already sampled the selection by now . . .” someone said, his voice dark and taunting.

“I’m not fucking stupid, Nix. I know better than to piss you guys off,” an arrogant voice scoffed in return.

“Then lose the fucking attitude, Andover,” the first man replied.

Needing to confirm my suspicions, I stepped closer, flinching when I brushed up against the door, causing it to creak open another inch. For a moment I stood there frozen, waiting with bated breath for someone to stomp over and catch me, but after a couple of harrowing moments, nothing happened.

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