Page 25 of Virgin Sacrifice

He was so close to me that he was practically on top of me now, those stormy blue eyes bearing down on me.

“You really don’t know who left the heart for you, do you, you silly little puppy?” he said mockingly, running his finger down the length of my cheek.

“It’s a shame really . . .” Nixon went on tracing the lines of my face, the false softness returning to his voice. “. . . because Ali and I would like to have a word with whoever did it, and until we do, we’ll be having to keep a close eye on you.”

That was how I gained my first set of stalkers.

Chapter twelve

Luz

The campus sustained some serious damage during the storm, and almost a week later, Facilities was still clearing out the remaining tree limbs that had been brought down. The largest branches, many torn from the university’s namesake oak trees, blocked major pathways across the quad. The bold yellow caution tape wrapped around them made it feel like a crime had occurred.

Rumors were swirling about some girl who never made it back from her evening class the night of the storm. According to her roommates, Ainsley Phillimore, a sophomore fine arts major, had texted to let them know she was going to wait out the storm in the library. The next morning, her roommates realized she never came home. When she didn’t answer her phone, they went to the library looking for her. There, they found all of her belongings—backpack, water bottle, laptop—but no Ainsley.

As a result, tensions were high.

Meanwhile, I had my own problems. Blackwells were buzzing about me like flies.

True to their word, I had spotted at least one of the twins spying on me, eyes trained like a hawk, almost every day since they ambushed me during the thunderstorm. I was quickly discovering that the only thing worse than the sneaking suspicion of being watched was knowing for certain.

Walking through campus, I dodged my way around another branch covered in yellow tape and nearly collided with someone attempting to pass by in the opposite direction.

“Holy shit, Luz. You nearly took me out there,” Aaron exclaimed, rubbing his arm where he had crashed into the broken branch in his attempt to avoid me.

“Sorry,” I muttered, “Wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

His face softened, and he stepped around to the side of me and picked up his bag. “I’m the one that’s sorry, Luz. I forgot how much shit you’ve been dealing with lately.” He ruffled his hair before offering to take my bag. I raised my eyebrow at him and shook my head.

“Thought you were heading the other direction?” I said pointedly.

Aaron had become a friendly, if not bland, barnacle that stubbornly clung to my budding friendship with Autumn. It wasn’t that I actively disliked the guy, but I couldn’t figure out what he got out of hanging out with us, especially since he already seemed to have a large group of friends.

Sometimes I thought he and Autumn had a crush on each other, and sometimes they seemed more like awkward siblings together. I mostly tolerated his presence, but even I had to admit that he had been nothing but kind and supportive toward me since we’d met.

“Eh, I was just going to grab a bite to eat,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “I can do that anywhere on campus, and I don’t like the idea of you walking alone.”

I bit back a derisive snort.

It was barely half past four, and there was still plenty of light out on campus. But ever since the incident, Aaron had been trying to insist on walking Autumn and me to and from our evening classes. Until now, I had managed to dodge him, going so far as to withhold my schedule from him, but with the news of Ainsley’s disappearance, I suspected that he was only going to get worse.

“Fine,” I sighed. “I was going to head back to our dorm and meet up with Autumn for dinner. Do you want to join us?”

See, I was trying.

“Of course.” He beamed at me as we started walking toward Jackson College House. “I would never miss the chance for dinner with my two best girls.”

I gritted my teeth. This was the type of stuff Aaron said that drove me nuts. I wasn’t his “best” anything.

But instead of correcting him, I decided to play nice, slapping on a passive smile and remaining quiet for the rest of the walk. I could be polite for Autumn’s sake, but I drew the line at small talk.

“I mean it, it’s not safe for the two of you to be walking around campus after dark,” Aaron said through a mouth full of mac and cheese, and I wrinkled my nose as bits of pasta and béchamel sauce flew through the air.

Apparently, money couldn’t buy good manners.

Autumn caught the expression on my face and shot me a look to cut it out, as if I was the problem.

“Aaron,” I said with a soft smile, making her blanch. She already knew me well enough to know kindness was often my weapon of choice and that I wielded it viciously.

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