Page 22 of Wolf Trial

“Pass.” My shoes sunk into the carpet as I crossed to the first bookcase, reading the brass plate: history. That might come in handy if I ever dared to learn more about this world and its inhabitants.

“I’ll be in the common room if you need me,” Rogue said, managing to make the simple offer sound like a proposition. “And Sadie?”

I half-turned towards her.

“This place won’t kill you unless you let it,” she said, the soft quietness of her voice making me blink. It sounded genuine, more real than anything she’d said before.

“I’ll try to remember that,” I murmured, glancing over her shoulder when the door creaked open and a tall, curvy woman with pale skin and red hair shouldered it aside and entered with a stack of books.

Her hair was a shade darker than Rogue’s and put up in a bun with a pencil through it, her fingernails short, lips bitten red and chapped, and her clothes were a completely different style—a grey, oversized shirt and leather trousers that looked well-worn, with heavy boots as opposed to the slinky dress Rogue wore that hugged every curve—but there was no questioning they were related.

“Tawny,” she said when she spotted Rogue, a smile overtaking her face. “What are you doing here?”

“I am the guardian of this library,” Rogue replied with sly amusement, taking half the stack of books before the other redhead dropped them. I watched from beside the history bookcase like a creeper, curious at the shift in Rogue’s demeanour from smooth seductress to soft-eyed sister.

“When you remember,” the other woman quipped, setting down her burden on the nearest table and catching sight of me. “You’re new.”

“Yep. Freshly kidnapped and not yet broken,” I said proudly, blinking when Rogue snorted. Loudly.

“Deface any of the books in this library, and I can change that in a heartbeat,” she said so casually it took me a moment to realise it was a threat.

“Serendipity,” Rogue chided, though her laughter ruined the effect somewhat.

“Don’t call me that,” Serendipity hissed.

“You called me Tawny,” Rogue fired back.

“Well, you’re the one who used to sneak into the owlery to sleep with the birds.”

My chest tightened as I watched them bicker, and it took me a moment to sort through the emotion, to place it as jealousy. Longing. If Dad ever had any more kids, he’d done so after he left me behind, so I was as good as an only child. Only, but never lonely child, I used to joke with Gran.4

I pretended to be studying the case of history books, far from engrossed in the subject of ancient vampire warfare. I was more interested in the owlery Serendipity—or whatever she liked to be called—had mentioned. While they were busy talking, I quietly slipped away, grateful when the door didn’t creak.

Yes, I was running away from my emotions. No, I wasn’t going to admit that to anyone.5

I managed to find my way out of the House of Sun wing without getting lost—I was fucking nailing this academy shit—and even headed in the right direction. But it was still pitch black outside, and only the light of a single moon reached this side of the academy at this time of early evening—how had so much time passed just wandering around Lunova Academy?

I didn’t recognise any of the tapestries on the wall, or the corridors branching off from the next crossroads, but I’d come too far in this direction to turn back. Besides, this warren of hallways had to feed out into the foyer at some point, so I kept walking, wishing I’d grabbed a snack from Sun’s dining room.

I groaned when the corridor ended in another right-angle turn, sick to the death of these hairpin turns. I was half convinced I was walking one of those water puzzles you gave to little kids that looked like a maze. Somewhere, a god was controlling my dumbass movements with brightly coloured buttons.

I sighed when the turn revealed yet another corridor lined in closed doorways, tapestries, and dour paintings, this time of a woman wielding an axe in various poses of triumph. A previous student, presumably.

Footsteps echoed from the end of the hall, and relief made my steps quicken. Thank fuck, a person. I could ask them to point me in the direction of the foyer. This place was a labyrinth and I swore it was bigger on the inside.

My relief got a kick to the lady parts, a knife to the chest, a noose around the neck, and a guillotine blade through the back of the neck when the footsteps resolved into three familiar figures. Sleek leather pants, boxy jackets. Three figures, the central one taller than the others.

For fuck’s sake, I mentally hissed when the Brown Jacket Brigade sauntered into view. Oona’s face lit up like all her Christmases had come at once.6

Reverie gave her girls a wide, fanged grin. “Well, look who it is.”

“I’m not in the mood,” I warned, refusing to slow my pace, to show fear. I’d known bullies like these for years; I wasn’t afraid.

“Oooh,” the freckled, curly-haired second-in-command said.

“No, sweetie,” I corrected, “your name is Oona. With a na. I’m sure you’ll get it right with enough practice.”

Her expression darkened, eyes full of murder. Not the smartest idea to piss off a gang of probably-vampires, but if I didn’t stand up to them now, they’d think they could walk all over me. I’d never survive a place like this if my peers thought I was slim pickings.