Page 14 of Revenant

“He was just standing there,” I say nonchalantly, though I can’t deny he looked…intense tonight. But I keep that comment to myself. This friendship is new. The last thing I want to do is create tension over something as trivial as a guy.

“Exactly!” she exclaims, as if that proves her point. “Do you know how hot you have to be to make adjusting cufflinks look like foreplay?”

I choke on my drink, and Moriah beams, clearly proud of herself. “And Pryce? Oh my god. The way he looks at you? That smirk would have a nun on her knees.” I gape blatantly at her, trying to process how she has absolutely no filter. “If he doesn’t end up finding us later, I’m hunting them down myself. He wants you.”

“He was just being nice,” I insist.

“Nice?” She snorts. “P-a-lease. They’re temptation with teeth. They don’t do nice. That was interest, babes.”

Taking another drink, I roll my eyes, letting the alcohol burn on the way down. It’s enough to distract me. I’ve never been great at making friends…they’ve always felt temporary. And somehow, in just a couple days, it’s been easier than it ever was anywhere else.

I didn’t grow up in one place for long. After my parents died, I went to live with my aunt Tessa. She didn’t hate me—I don’t think—she just didn’t want me, which somehow felt worse. Sometimes I think it would be easier if she hated me, at least there would be a reason she was never around. But I was a responsibility she never asked for. I became an unwanted obligation she simply tolerated for eight years.

She sold Veilcrest as my best possible option, painting it into this picture of adventure and opportunity to make unforgettable memories. But I know all she really wanted was distance.

I take another sip and watch the fire, noting an odd absence of smoke. Something about it tugs at me like déjà vu, a familiarity of a place I’ve never been but can’t seem to shake.

Draining the rest of my drink, I let out a long exhale, needing to let go of this weight before it pulls me under and ruins the rest of my night.

Moriah’s voice breaks through my self-loathing fog. I feel awful. I wasn’t listening to a damn thing she said. “Sorry, can you repeat that last part?” I ask, praying whatever it was will help me place the rest of the conversation.

“You better get used to it, because now that he has you in his sights, I don’t think he’ll ever let you go.” Or maybe the monsters haunting my mind will make him run for the hills.

6: Alicent

I’m way out of my element.

Moriah and I shamelessly drained another four beers.

Each.

What do they say? Beer before liquor, never sicker? Well, that’s about to be us tenfold tomorrow. But right now, neither of us seems to care.

The music washes over me, gliding over my skin like a lover, and I lean into it. My arms rise above my head, hips swaying with the beat as one song fades into the next. Normally, there would be no way in hell you would find me at a party, dancing, no less. But right now, there’s enough alcohol flowing through my veins to make me give zero fucks. If there’s an embarrassing video of me that pops up on socials tomorrow, so be it.

Someone bumps into me from behind just as I bring the SOLO cup to my lips. Moriah’s hand lashes out to keep me from eating dirt, but the damage is already done. My drink spills down my chest, soaking my shirt as I jerk forward. “Perfect,” I mumble, annoyance grating my tone.

Snickering sounds behind me. “Don’t worry, it made your outfit ten times better.” That voice sobers me right up. Sort of. Turning around, it’s no surprise to see Naomi—the girl Eryx humiliated at lunch for being obsessed with Bastian—flanked by two little minions who confirm she’s the Regina George of my new real-life nightmare.

Everything happens so fast. One minute I’m standing there, fight or flight warring in my head, and the next? I’m swiping Moriah’s cup out of her hand. “In that case, it looks like yours could use some help too.” Her arms fling out wide, disgust twisting on her face as the liquid makes its mark. Naomi’s chest heaves with shock, stunned that I would even dare to do such a thing.

Honestly, so am I.

Whatever concoction Moriah was drinking slams smack dab in the middle of Naomi’s white blouse. Who the hell wears white to a bonfire? In the forest? Her night was doomed before it even began.

“Oh, you’re going to pay for that,” she sneers, pulling her white shirt away from her chest, but it’s too late. Anyone who was looking already got an eyeful.

“Well, consider us even.” Turning on my heels, I grab Moriah’s wrist and haul her away. Weaving in and out of the crowd, some heads turn, gazes linger longer than I’d like, but I ignore it all. Once we reach the other side of the fire, Moriah’s face is still stuck in bewilderment.

“That...” She pauses for dramatic effect. “...is going down in Veilcrest history. Did you see the look on Lacey’s and Sloane’s faces?”

I laugh. “I think we’ve had too much to drink.”

Ignoring me, she grabs both my shoulders. “Nobody ever, ever stands up to Naomi Abbott and her group of gremlins. Her family has bankrolled this school for generations.”

“The old Alicent would’ve taken it on the chin and walked away,” I tell her, but the truth is messier. The old Alicent wouldn’t even have worked up the nerve to come out tonight in the first place.

But truthfully, the old me would’ve run home with her tail tucked between her legs, afraid of confrontation. “But I told myself I would be different when I came here. And I guess that means swimming with the sharks instead of bleeding with the fishes.”