Page 2 of Blood Oath
One month here. I can do that.
“Now, then, about your dorm room. You’ll be rooming with a lion shifter in the upper northeast wing. She’ll be?—“
“I requested a private dorm.”
“They’re all occupied at the moment. But that shouldn’t inconvenience you much, considering that the Seeking is in two weeks. At that time, so many legacies will be moving to the quintet apartments that I’m sure something will open up for you by then.” Then he tips his head. “Do you know what the Seeking is?”
Right. The Seeking. When the gods reveal which quintet a legacy is meant to belong with.
In other words, total bullshit.
I opt to ignore the question entirely, since I couldn’t care less about their precious Seeking. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll be done with Everbound quickly.
“I’ll pay extra for any private room.”
He sighs heavily. “Legacies may be in the minority compared to humans, Miss Oakley, but there are still enough attending this semester that we truly are out of private spaces. I’m afraid you’re quite stuck with this roommate for the time being—and the no-killing rule is especially strict about roommates. So play nice.”
Make me.
I learned long ago, in the most brutal ways possible, that playing nice with others is an excellent way to get killed. I would very literally rather spend the next two weeks enduring Chinese water torture than chumming it up with someone here, but telling that to him is of little use.
If I want my own space, I’ll just have to drive this new roommate of mine away. It’s just a matter of getting creative.
“Fine. Are we done?” I ask, standing.
He stands, too, but looks over my baggy clothing and leather-gloved hands with a wary expression.
“Before you leave, you should know how precarious your first few weeks here will likely be. I cannot stress enough just how different our world is from the human one you were raised in. Legacies are extremely competitive, Miss Oakley—especially after quintets rankings begin after the Seeking since that is when the no-killing rule is lifted. Here, it truly is survival of the fittest—or rather, the most powerful. We are descended from monsters, so you could say a thirst for bloodshed comes with the territory. So if one’s magic is on the weaker side, as it tends to be with atypical casters like you…”
Gibbons pauses, scratching one bushy brow. “Well, the highest-ranked legacies here will probably overlook you completely since they won’t perceive you as a threat. But the less powerful ones will see you as someone to best in order to secure their social standing. Just remember that legacies are far more monstrous than humans often realize. You will need to watch your back at all times, as we faculty members will not be able to protect you.”
“Forced to come here. Unlikely to survive. Got it.”
I grab the overstuffed envelope from his desk and leave the room without another word, ignoring how he calls out a final good luck after me. His office and several other faculty offices are in a small hallway branching off the massive entry hall of Everbound Castle. This entire place is a gothic maze, but I start in the general direction of the upper northeast wing, where he said my dorm would be.
The halls aren’t crowded since most legacies are in their classes, but there are still clusters of students here or there. I pass a couple of vampires sitting on a stone bench, latched onto one another’s necks as they moan and feed. Sirens with silky voices are giggling and gossiping in a group as they pass. They pay me no heed—no one does, because I keep my head down and slip through the crowd at just the right speed to blend in perfectly.
Finally, I turn down an empty corridor. All along the right is a row of tall vaulted windows overlooking Everbound Forest.
But I only make it a few steps before a door directly to my left bursts open, and a trio of completely naked people tumble out onto the floor. There’s one girl—a fae, judging by her pointed ears and luminescent purple hair—and two guys, one of whom has blood oozing down the side of his neck from two puncture marks. He doesn’t seem concerned about it staining the untied robe hanging around his shoulders.
The other man laughs uproariously, stands, brushes himself off, and returns to the dorm room…
Which is full of a raging orgy.
Choruses of moans and gasps fill the space. A handful of legacies down alcohol off to one side of the sensually lit room. Everyone present is nude and completely uninhibited. Near the doorway, a vampire sinks his teeth into the neck of what appears to be a succubus. She moans and bounces faster on the lap of another man.
It’s all a blur of tangled limbs, kissing, fucking, and…
Touching.
My breathing doesn’t feel steady, and that all-too-familiar prickle courses over my skin, my neck breaking out into a cold sweat.
“You new here, sweetheart?”
That draws my attention back to the guy with the bleeding neck standing in front of me. The fae girl has already rejoined the others, and when she shuts the door behind her, it leaves me alone in the hall with him. He doesn’t bother tying his robe, and he’s eyeing me with a carnal gleam in his eye, even though my clothes completely obscure what my body looks like.
“Very,” I reply. “Excuse me.”
