Page 78 of The Devil We Crave
I obviously missed this part of the evening, since I was too busy being chased arounda dark bedroom by a masked psychopath with a knife at the time, but I’ve heard the campus gossip about how scandalous it was that the classy, popular Selene was spotted skinny dipping, or at least underwear-dipping, with a very naked Kirill.
“Hey bitches, I’m back! And I come bearing gifts.”
Wren sidles up to us with five shot glasses full of something neon pink.
Arianna, who’s also not much of a drinker, eyes the shots doubtfully. “I thought you went to pee?”
The Garrison might be basically a homemade bar set up in the stone ruins of a Revolutionary War fort, but this isKnightsblood. Which means everyone who goes here tends to come fromconsiderablemoney.
At some point in the last few decades, some especially big fan of The Garrison and its mission to let college kids drink and have fun paid to have fully functional restrooms installed, connected to the main campus plumbing.
I mean, who wants to pop squats in the woods all night?
“I did, and then I saw that someone had been nice enough to make vodka and pink lemonade shots, so I brought enough for the whole class,” Wren grins.
She and I really do need to have a conversation about her drinking. I mean, again,I get it. Walking in on Bryce like that really messed her up. But she needs to cool it, especially since addiction isn’t exactly an unknown guest in her family.
But that’s not a conversation for right now. So we do the shots, laughing and sputtering and then laughing some more.
My phone buzzes with a text. I’m still giggling at something Lucia said as I pull it out and glance at the screen.
Unknown
Be careful tonight, little prey. The woods are dark and full of terrors.
Instantly, the giggle in my throat dies. The smile drops from my face, and a slithering, warm sensation coils around my middle.
There’s only one person this could be.
I’m still trying to pull my heart back down out of my throat and figure out how to reply when another text comes through.
Unknown
But since we both know dark woods full of terrors are probably just foreplay for that deliciously fucked-up mind of yours, why don’t you step into the shadows and see what comes out to play.
My heart starts racing, my fingers twitching as they hover above the screen I’m gaping at.
Me
You’re wrong.
Unknown
About?
My throat works. Galina calls my name, yanking my attention from the phone for a second. When I glance back down, there’s another message from him.
Unknown
Are you saying I’m INcorrect about your fucked-up proclivities?
I bite down on my bottom lip as I type a reply.
Me
I already told you, I’m not who and what you think I am.
Unknown
