Page 70 of Blood Oath
The temptation to glean what I can about my keeper from her private space is far too potent, and I open the door.
It’s minimalistic and extremely tidy. Some might see it as unwelcoming or not cozy, but I can easily picture Maven in this space.
My attention drifts to the minor light spells steadily warming several pots of indoor plants, all thriving and luscious, on her desk. I still have yet to see my little atypical caster actually cast, but I still smile at the thought of it and move closer, eyes sweeping over everything else.
Black curtains. Black sheets and blankets. Not a single display of decorations, pictures, or even our House banner to be found. The only colors come from the green plants and the blood-red dreamcatcher I wove for her hanging by her door. It fills me with gratification that she’s using it despite the fight she put up.
Running my fingers over her dresser, I give in to my curiosity and pull out the top drawer. The only thing in here is gloves…and a notebook.
I shouldn’t open it.
Oh, please.
As if you would stop your snooping now.
The voices are right. I’m already too far gone, too desperate to figure out my keeper.
Gingerly opening the notebook, I flip through several blank pages before finding any writing. Maven’s script is a tidy, beautiful swirl of ink, but it takes me a moment of staring for the words to make sense because…what the fuck?
Make Them Hate Me
-Bore them to tears. (Easy. Just be yourself.)
-Be mean. (Again, easy.)
-Ignore them.
-Figure out how to be clingy and high maintenance.
-Annoy them. (Too time-consuming.)
-Act like a bitch at every chance.
-Play head games. (Use Everett to make the other three jealous. See if Sierra’s plan to seduce them worked, and if so, rip her apart limb by fucking limb pretend to be heartbroken. If all else fails, try to stomach kissing Coach Gallagher to see if that finally pisses them off enough.)
-Figure out how to prey on their curses. (Step One: Figure out what their curses even are.)
After reading the list and then incredulously reading it one more time, it finally sinks in.
Gods above.
All along, Maven has been trying to make us hate her.
She tried rejecting us, and now she wants to lose us. She really thinks we would ever give her up and appeal to the gods for a different keeper. Whether it’s because of her involvement with the anti-legacy movement or some other reason I can’t fathom, she is trying to make us hate her.
And the way she’s been going about it, all these tactics and mind games, even going so far as to contemplate preying on our curses, has just been…
Diabolical. She’s utterly vicious.
Fuck me.
A smile curls my lips, and my heart begins to pound. She intended to make us hate her, but now that I know she’s possibly as cutthroat as I am, she’s never getting rid of me.
“Game on, my vicious little minx.”
21
CRYPT
