“You’ve never slept with a human?” I ask.
“Of course not. I only fuck vampires,” she says, as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world. I swallow, ignoring the jealousy twisting inside me. Aliz puts her hand on my shoulder, and I make the mistake of looking up at her. Her gaze is far too magnetic. “What’s wrong?” she asks, voice dropping to a whisper. “Want me to make an exception?”
I gawk at her, and Aliz’s lips part, knowing she said something she shouldn’t have.
“What—” I shove her hand away, my cheeks aflame. “What the fuck, Aliz?”
“I’m kidding,” she says, letting out an awkward laugh. “That came out wrong,” she adds, and I take a sharp breath, wishing I could carve the words back out of my eardrums. “Sometimes I don’t have a filter.”
“You don’t say.”
“What were we talking about?” Aliz’s voice is thin. “Elia?”
My heart’s beating too fast.
“Aye,” I say with an aggravated sigh. “I never imagined you two would fight over girls. Aren’t you an item?”
“Hell no,” Aliz says, and I fixate on the soft sound of our steps on the damp fallen leaves, ignoring the pleasure that runs through me when I hear her say that. “When I first came to Tynahine, I was obsessed with her. I mean, you’ve seen her, haven’t you?” I bite down my irritation, but nod, hoping she’ll change the subject. “But Elia ignored me completely until I turned twenty. I kept sneaking into her parties. She was furious with me, told me she hated the Astras with a vengeance, and…”
“And?”
Aliz’s cheeks darken, and she scratches the back of her neck. “The rest is a tale too explicit for your innocent ears, Cassie.”
“Sure,” I say. My chest stings. Aliz pursued her for three whole years. Elia was able to resist her. Meanwhile, I’ve known her for a month, and she’s already undone every thread of common sense that used to run through my body.
“Anyway! Elia said from the beginning that she wasn’t looking for a relationship. I was upset at first. But then I discovered that we could have much more fun without committing to each other.”
“And did it ever cross your mind that you were at a university, where most people come to study?”
“What about you?” she asks, ignoring my jab. “You and that blond girl have something going on, don’t you?”
“Julia?” I ask, shoving my cold hands into my pockets. The woods around us grow dense, and my eyes struggle to adapt to the new depth of darkness.
“Whatever her name is,” Aliz says. “I saw you both holding hands. It was adorable.”
An immature side of me wants to tell her that somethingisgoing on between us. I want her to think that I have options, and that she’s not the only vampire I’m interested in. But I can’t risk spreading a rumor that will affect Julia. Just as I think of a reply that will get under Aliz’s skin, I trip on a fallen branch.
Aliz catches me, pulling me back against her chest. “Sorry,” she says, her voice an inch softer. “I forgot that you can’t see in the dark.”
“Pesky human eyes,” I reply. She laughs. I wish I could bottle the sound. She still has an arm around me, but instead of letting go, she links her elbow with mine, keeping me at her side.
“I don’t want you to fall again,” she says. The woods are quiet. No one can see us. But I feel like I’m doing something unspeakable by not moving away. “This doesn’t bother you, does it?” she asks.
“What?”
“Being so close.”
“I hate it,” I say simply. Aliz laughs again, though this time there’s a darkness to the sound. She leans down, suddenly too close.
“I know you’re lying,” she whispers against my ear. “Aren’t you?”
“Sure I am,” I hiss, tugging myself free. What’s wrong with her tonight?
“C’mon,” Aliz says, throwing an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be cross with me, Cassie.”
“Stop annoying me, then,” I say.
“Annoying? Me?” she says. I wait for her to keep going, but instead she slows, staring through the branches at something I can’t see yet. I hear her swallow, all while the hand resting on my shoulder plays with the fabric of my coat, nervous. The path starts to clear, and the semblance of an old road splits the woods in half. In the distance, I hear the river, and straight ahead, looming through shadows, the decrepit palace I saw in my dreams.
