“We’re in a public bar,” she snaps at him. “Maybe you should go home and be a dud there.”
He threads his fingers through one of the crimson streaks in Lucy’s raven locks. “If I leave, I’m taking my girlfriend with me.”
Aurora frowns, then returns her attention to Lucy. “Comeon, Luce. This is the spring semester of our senior year. It’s supposed to be fun.”
Lucy’s blue eyes dance as she tosses her cousin—by blood, since their dads are brothers—a look. Her fingers tap a constant rhythm on the table, always in motion. “You’ve been using that line since we were freshmen.”
“And for almost four years, I’ve suffered through your endless rejections.” Aurora leans against me, throwing a hand against her forehead. “Nelly, drink with me.Please.”
I make a face. “Not sure you’re helping your case with that atrocious nickname.”
“No one invitedmeto set anything on fire,” she says, pouting. “Haven’t I earned the right to regression here?”
“Jesus, all right,fine.” I slide from the booth and grab Quincy’s arm, dragging her out with me. “A round of Kamikazes coming up.”
We make our way to the bar at the other side of the room, which is not nearly as packed as I’d expect a college dive to be right before the start of the semester. Maybe it’s the bitter cold outside, though, keeping students away tonight.
Lethe’s is practically a ghost town, so I put in our order and lean my elbows against the counter, aware of my sister’s sharp stare boring holes into the back of my head.
“You okay?” she mutters eventually, the sound barely audible over the tawdry country tune playing through the loud speakers. “I know you weren’t exactly on board with what went down tonight.”
“Setting fire to the dean’s house before I’ve officially started school didn’t seem like a great idea is all.”
Two hours ago, we watched the dean’s house go up in flames while he was trapped on the second floor.
We didn’t stay to see if he got out. Instead, I changed into a slinky dress and coat, then came here with them.
Quincy folds her forearms on the counter beside me. “If we waited any longer, we risked him not getting the message.”
The messagebeing that my siblings are aware of the role he played in the deaths of several students last semester. Not to mention Lucy and our cousin Foxe’s near-death experiences at the same time.
Lucy and Foxe were kidnapped and dragged to the caves with their friend, who was killed in front of them. Foxe was tortured, and the only reason Lucy got out with some minor injuries was because one of the kidnappers had a last-minute change of heart.
Those events were stoked by a conspiracy steeped in traditions, founding families, and a supposed curse alleging that the Anderson bloodline will eventually cause the downfall of the university and, by extension, Fury Hill itself.
But the bloodshed and agony only shook the community for a few days before the dean and the school’s board of trustees had swept everything under the rug again.
Somehow my siblings convinced our parents they’d be okay at Avernia for one more semester, even though it’s clear the towndoes not want us here. They put our family on a pedestal and fear us at the same time, a dichotomy I’m now being forced to endure alongside them.
“School will be a good change of scenery for you,”my mother had said.
I’d only floated the idea to get her off my back when I was living at home again. It was a way to get my parents to believe I wasn’t completely caving to my depressive state, though it was obvious the drastic shift in my life was taking its toll.
Still, considering what happened the last time I visited, I was surprised either of my parents were on board.
They trust Quincy, though, and feel we’re stronger as a unified front. The power of three or whatever.
I wonder if they realize that’s the exact principle that makes us a target.
Casting a sideways glance at my sister, I watch as she adjusts the gold rings stacked along her fingers.
“Arson just feels like a pretty robust statement,” I tell her.
“If you’re worried about being found out, don’t be.”
“Because we covered our tracks?”
Asher appears at my other side, signaling for a water. There’s an indentation in his nostril from where his nose ring was pressed against it. “Because the dean isn’t going to say anything. He’s a spineless fucking jellyfish.”
