“I’m sorry about your ID card. We can get a replacement so you don’t have to worry about getting inside the buildings today.”
“Thanks. I guess I’ll have to.” I shrugged.
She nodded. “This way and then, if we have time, I’ll show around the dorm.”
“Okay. Thanks.”
I followed her deeper into the building, my eyes growing wide as I looked around. The room was filled with maroon and brown furniture all placed at odd random spaces in front of a giant fireplace.
“This is the back room.” She waved her hand at the sofas and recliners. “We don’t really use it much, but sometimes students like to come down and play music by the fire or sit and read.” She shrugged.
“Cool,” I answered when I realized she wasn’t going to say more on the subject.
The walls were covered with gold framed portraits of wouldn’t you know it—dragons. The whole ambience reminded me of old money. Like a private gentleman’s club they had way back in the day. I almost expected to smell cigars and to come face to face with the Dos Equis guy.
“We can take the stairs or the elevator.” She nodded toward the staircase. “Our dorm is on the third floor.”
“Elevator sounds good to me.”
She smiled and pushed the button. Her blue eyes shone from behind her glasses; they were gold framed today and made her look much older than I assumed she was. That combined with her white shirt and dark slacks made her look more like a librarian than a monster hunter. I flushed as I realized I was still staring at her. Staring and judging her. Though she didn’t say anything, I was sure she’d measured me up just the same. Thick makeup. Nose ring. Gelled hair. Leather jacket and my new giant rose and thorn medallion. I couldn’t be the only one at the school with a gothic-punk inspired fashion sense, but since I hadn’t seen anyone else with similar taste, maybe I was.
When the elevator dinged, I was happy to get off that awkward ride.
10
I paused and waited for her lead. Shiloh led me down a hall where voices drifted from behind closed doors. My head whipped back and forth as we passed through. The smell of fresh coffee wafted from one of the rooms, making me sigh.
“Did they tell you that you’re staying with me? We’re going to be roommates.” Her soft voice interrupted my thoughts.
I turned to her. “No. They didn’t tell me that. Just that I would be staying on campus and my tía is coming later with my things to help me unpack.”
She smiled. “You’re going to love it here. I was so surprised they let you transfer this late.”
My nose crinkled. Late? It was only October. Not that late. When did their school year start? Not wanting to give anything of my past away, I just smiled and nodded. Let her think I was happy to be there.
Shiloh led me past the closed doors and to the end of the hallway. “This is our floor monitor, Molly. We’re lucky to have her. She’s one of the nice ones.”
I covered a yawn and waited outside the closed door as she knocked. Paper rustled on the other side and someone cursed.
My eyebrow arched.
Shiloh pretended not to hear it. “You’ll like her.”
“Come in. Door’s open.”
Shiloh went in first. It was a little office with a huge desk and giant chair, and in the chair sat a dark-skinned girl wearing a similar uniform, but a strange blue symbol printed on the shoulder of her shirt. Her curly hair was piled high and spilling out of her messy bun, at odds with her otherwise neat and clean appearance.
“Molly, this is Rose. Javi’s cousin. She’s my new roommate.”
Molly’s sharp eyes narrowed on me. “Yes, I heard about you.”
I cleared my throat. “Hopefully good things.”
Her eyebrow arched. “Is there something else I should know?”
“Uh… no?”
She frowned. Clearly, unimpressed.
Shiloh stepped in to save me. “We need a new ID card for her.”
Molly’s frown deepened. “Lost it? On your first day?”
I sighed. I was gonna kill Javi later.
“I left it in the car and my cousin drove off with it.”
She grunted and I wasn’t sure what that meant. Rising to her feet, she straightened her white shirt and eyed me with interest. Barely taller than me, she was still intimidating. I could feel the weight of her stare and instinctively pulled myself up to full height.
“I’ll give you a replacement. But don’t lose this one.”
Shiloh smiled encouragingly at me. “Molly is an upper-class student. This is her last year at GRIMM.”
Molly scanned a blank card at a table behind her desk and sighed. “Yeah, if I pass my final training and test.” She shook her head, bun tumbling back and forth as she did.
“I’m so ready. So done with these stupid local missions they keep putting me on. It’s been nothing but shifters lately.”
I gaped at her. “Missions? But aren’t you a student… like us?”
She gave me an odd look. “No. I’m an upper-class student. Is this your first GRIMM school?”
There was more than one? My face flamed. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say and at that point it was hopeless. She’d see right through me.
“You a senior?”
I nodded. That much was still true, wasn’t it?
“Oh. Wow. They let you transfer so late. This is… going to be a lot for you. Your old school was an ordinaire school?”
I nodded again. At least I knew one thing. Ordinaire was their term for mundane humans.
Shiloh’s eyes widened. “I had no idea!”
Heat rushed through me at their stares. What if they started asking questions? I glanced at my bracelet. Would it even let me tell them anything?
“Okay. Okay. That’s all right. You’ll get it.” Molly tapped her lip. “So after you’re done with basic training, which is basically like high school with a ton
