“We’re competing,” Barret replies with an easy smile, ruffling my blonde curls. “Are you happy to see us, Cheese Curd?”
Someone begins laughing behind me, but she quickly smothers the noise when Barret swivels his head in her direction. I place my hand on his arm to reclaim his attention.
“Of course,” I reply earnestly. When Cal’s feathers begin to ruffle—quite literally—I place a hand on his arm as well. We all have our vices, and Cal’s makes him a drama queen.
“She would be friends with the psycho monsters,” a cold voice retorts from behind me, and I spin on my heel, unsurprised to see the shit head from yesterday standing in line with the rest of us monsters. He’s wearing the customary red shirt, but it does little to dissipate the darkness that seems to cling to him like a second skin. With his tousled black hair, numerous piercings, and the tattoos that cover every available swath of skin, he’s a sight to behold. I might’ve even considered him sexy, if he wasn’t such a pompous jackass.
“What’s your problem?” I hiss, baring my fangs. When I take a step closer, all of my men spring into action. Vin and Mason step up to either side of me, while Jack and Frankie take up the rear. Even Cal and Barret look as if they’re charging into battle, fierce scowls on their faces.
The man continues to look at me, anger and rage simmering in his fathomless black eyes. They’re like twin abysses—one wrong move, and you could get lost in them forever.
“Don’t talk to me,” he says through gritted teeth. He clenches his jaw and stares pointedly over my head, almost as if my face physically pains him.
“Alex, leave the vampire whore alone,” Cheryl whines, slithering up to him like the lizard she is. She places her hand on his arm—as she just did with Vin—and like with him, Alex levels her with a frosty glare before storming away.
Silence engulfs the cemetery as I realize I’ve garnered the attention of the entire student body present.
“That was fun,” Mummy says dryly. “May I please proceed? I feel like I need to ask for your permission now, Violet. You have a tendency to disrupt me a lot.”
“Oh.” My cheeks aflame, I reach behind me to grab Cal’s and Barret’s hands, pulling them into line with me. “Carry on.”
Mummy’s eyes flash dangerously, but he turns back towards the assembled monsters with a haughty set to his chin.
“This morning, we’re going to play a game in preparation for the physical side of the Roaring.” He pauses, allowing his words to sink in and the excited murmurs to begin. Monster games? There’s nothing better. Except for maybe sex games. “Capture the Flag.”
Everyone begins to talk over each other, the anticipatory energy almost infectious. To Frankie, who is now standing on the opposite side of Cal, I ask, “Is it like the game we played before?”
“No. In this game, there are only two flags and two teams. Your goal is to guard your team’s flag as well as capture the other team’s.”
I focus on Mummy just as he begins describing the boundaries. “The Blue Team will have to protect the area from the academic hall to the houses. The Red Team will be hiding their flag from the academic hall, past the dorms, to the cafeteria. Are there any questions?”
When I raise my hand in the air timidly, he gives me a long, hard look that would make a lesser monster shit her pants. After a moment, he shakes his head with a scoff and focuses once more on the line of students.
“Since there are no questions…” Asshole. “Teams will be broken down the middle…here.” He pushes one werewolf to one side and her shifter friend to the other. Fortunately, this arrangement allows me to be on a team with all of my guys…and to have Cheryl and Alex on the team opposite me. I’m all for teamwork and everything, but not if it involves me making deals with the devil himself. Or herself, in this case.
“Blue Team!” He throws a bunch of hideous blue jerseys at us, and I awkwardly slip it over my head. It’s two sizes too large and smells like sweat and piss. What did the person do? Roll around in it while helicoptering his penis?
Mummy turns towards Cheryl and her bitch crew. “Red Team!”
“What are the rules?” a girl standing beside Cheryl inquires in faux innocence.
“No killing,” Mummy says bluntly. “Anything else is fair game. If it gets cut off, chances are, it’ll grow back.”
Cheryl tosses me a smug smile, as if she’s already envisioning all of the malevolent things she plans to do to me.
Note to self—stay far, far away from the she-bitch.
My eyes latch on Alex, who is rooted to the spot, eyes surveying me with an unwavering intensity. In those obsidian depths, I can see a banked fire just beneath the surface.
Also note to self—stay away from Shit Face.
Mummy hands the red flag to Cheryl and the blue flag to me.
Motherfucker. I imagine this is what it feels like to be a mother, to be forced to care about someone’s life more than your own.
Because I’ll be damned if I let Cheryl have my motherfucking flag baby.
“Cheryl will be the captain of the Red Team,” Mummy announces, and Cheryl practically preens, winking first at Vin and then Alex. It’s like she can’t decide what dick she wants, so she’s attempting to sample them all. “And Violet will be the captain of the Blue Team.”
Instead of the cheers I expected, my team immediately breaks into disheartened grumbles. Mason can’t help but shake his head in amusement.
“Everybody!” I motion for my team to gather around me. Half of the people I don’t recognize, but I can only pray they’re not anti-vampire fanatics. The last thing I need to be is stabbed in the back by my
