I’d hate even more to admit it, so I keep my mouth shut.
“Ocean.” My friend whips around to stare at a guy I’m not familiar with, but the way she coyly smiles at him tells me she is. His gaze lingers on her lips as he places a tray of shots on the table. “You made it through,” he states, and she nods as she waves her hand at me. In that moment, I recall that Institutes Four, Seven, and Twelve didn’t make it. I feel bad for them, but their loss is currently my gain, and I have to remember that. I’m used to a dog-eat-dog world, and this is no different. Just because I seem to suddenly have space to feel emotions doesn’t mean I should.
“Elodie, this is Nathaniel. Nathaniel, Elodie.” I smile politely, and he does the same, but he barely takes his attention off our girl. “I know Nathaniel from the outside,” she adds, and I nod inunderstanding while gaping at the fact that I know nothing about her life outside The Vale, except that she committed the cardinal sin, just like me.
“Were you hurt?” he asks, and she tucks a loose blonde curl behind her ear.
“No, but my friend was,” she answers, and he plants his hand on her arm.
I look away, confused about why I’m paying so much attention, but they quickly draw me back in with a round of shots. Uncertainty rattles inside of me. She’s never mentioned this guy. Are we supposed to trust him? She seems to, eagerly taking a drink while handing me one too.
It’s on the tip of my tongue to decline when the door to The Hut opens and three familiar faces enter. I don’t think, I just clink my little glass against theirs and down the sweet liquor without care.
I’m going to need all the help I can get to handle the need inside of me tonight.
“To victories,” Nathaniel calls out, and I plaster a smile on my face, but I can’t bring myself to look away from the three men heading our way.
My mind goes blank as I take in every inch of them. Rion looks ridiculously good in a fitted white tee and a pair of black jeans, his hair messy, while Kael’s fair hair is swept back off his face, somehow deepening his tan as he wears an emerald greenbutton-up and a pair of pants. Thorne, however, the Institute Thirteen man of the hour, cuts through the crowd in a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the neckline open just enough to leave you intrigued.
I clench my thighs together, but the excitement brewing inside of me is halted as a set of blood-red nails drape over Kael’s shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. Following the slender arm to the owner, my veins run cold as a familiar wave of red hair greets me.
Willow.
Without tearing my eyes from them, I reach for another shot, ignoring Ocean and Nathaniel as I down it in one, my gaze narrowing on the scene before me. She rises on her tiptoes to bring her lips to his ear and I want to dart across the room and claw her damn hands off him. Somehow, I manage to remain rooted to the spot, desperate to hear what she’s saying, and it seems I’m not the only one. Thorne and Rion don’t move. They stay planted at his side.
It feels like a lifetime passes before she puts a little distance between them, but in reality, it was a handful of seconds at most. I wait with bated breath, ready for him to shove her away and carry on toward me, but to my horror, he leans towardRion, whispering in his ear for a moment before he takes a backward step.
Willow is right at his side as he retraces his steps toward the door, with her hand at his back, and just before they disappear into the night, she manages to peer over her shoulder at me, a knowing glint in her eyes.
What the hell?
Blindly reaching for another shot, I barely feel the burn as it goes down, taking a piece of me with it as I fight the emotions bubbling inside of me. I have no say in what he does. We’re not anything. Well, technically, he’s my guardian, but other than that, we’re nothing. Just how I want it. Just how I made it…
Until now.
Before I can do something completely stupid, Thorne and Rion appear at the table at the same time as Ocean places her hand on my arm.
“Hey, are you okay if I go and dance?” she asks, nodding toward Nathaniel, and I wave her off.
“Have fun,” I breathe, already regretting coming here, but she’s too high on desire to notice as she hurries toward the dance floor, with her palm pressed against his.
The moment she’s gone, I’m surrounded by the hot enemy.
“Petal, you look fucking stunning as always,” Rion breathes, taking his time to rake his eyes over every inch of me. “Doesn’t she, Thorne,” he adds, and I dip my chin, embarrassed as I feel the shadow fae’s eyes on me.
He hums in agreement, leaving me desperate for the floor to open up and swallow me whole. Instead of darting for the door like I should, I latch on to the tray of shots, spying a pink concoction among the empty glasses. Before I can think better of it, I bring it to my lips and swallow it down.
“Kael had something come up, but he made me promise to get you home safely,” Rion states as a bottle of water is placed before me, along with two bottles of beer for the guys. Thorne tips the guy while I blink between him and my water. When his gaze turns my way, he doesn’t say a damn word; he just reaches for the bottle and untwists the lid.
Fucker.
Luckily for him, I don’t want to be drunk and incoherent anyway, so I take it from his grasp, bypassing the manners I know I have somewhere, and turn my attention to the ridiculously hot wolf on my left.
“I can make my own way home,” I insist, and he rolls his eyes at me.
“I’m sure you can, Petal, but that doesn’t meanyou will. Not after you’ve been avoiding me, and definitely not after you were injured earlier.”
“Injured?” Thorne blurts, his bite cutting through the air, loud enough to be heard by the next table over, and I grimace.
