“Cool,” I murmured as I followed Javi in. A strange, dim light shone against the darkness and the smell of old paper and ash enveloped us. Shiloh bit her lip, her brow furrowed as we went. Regretting her decision to come along? I dismissed my own doubts, determined to have a good time.
18
“What took you so long?” Tyler shouted before we even made it to the boat.
Javi shrugged. “Had to sneak out the back tunnel before we could get to the portal.”
I shook off the nausea and stumbled on the sand. Shiloh threw out a hand to steady me. Tyler was dressed as Batman too, only he wore the superhero suit and mask.
Javi swore. “You said you were going as Tony Stark.”
Tyler grunted. “I changed my mind, dude. Chill out.”
“Chill out? I’m Bruce Wayne and now next to you, I look like a dipshit.”
I snorted. They were seniors and training to be GRIMMs on top of that. What was up with their childish obsession with superheroes?
Tyler’s eyebrow arched. “Shiloh? Shit, you look good.” His eyes traveled up and down.
Javi and I shot him a glare. Creep.
He turned to me, eyes lingering on my legs and chest for a little too long. “What are you?”
“Not the costume type.” I pushed by him.
A tall, bare chested Thor walked over to greet us with a wave. The two girls, Monica and Sofia, sat together huddled under a blanket on the bow of the boat. It was too dark to see their faces, but I got the suspicion they wouldn’t appreciate Shiloh stealing away all the attention.
Most of the popular girls that I’d known were notoriously territorial when it came to ‘their’ guys.
“Can we go already?” one of the girls whined.
“Ready to party?” Javi winked.
I shook my head. The idiot was going to ruin his chance with Shiloh already and the night had barely begun.
Tyler led us onto the dock and into the boat. I hadn’t been on a boat in a long time and it had been a small fishing boat, not a big ocean jet. How were we supposed to get to the island without being spotted? And the bigger question… how were we going to get home? I had little confidence in my cousin’s ability to steer the boat—especially after more than a few drinks.
Tyler opened a cooler and pulled out beers. Yeah, I didn’t trust any of them to get us back.
The sea air whipped around us, making me shiver. I grabbed a blanket from the seat and motioned for Shiloh to join me. We huddled under it together as the wind roared in our ears. Though my face was beginning to feel numb, I couldn’t help but smile. I’d probably regret going the next day, but in the moment, it was exhilarating.
It felt normal.
No talk about witches, or the academy, or shifters. I winced, feeling guilty. My father’s killer was still out there, and I hadn’t lifted a finger to help find him. Not that there was much I could do but going to a party at the headmaster’s house wasn’t going to help one bit.
There was still a lot to learn about my mother too. Biting my lip, I promised myself I’d do better. After the party, I’d buckle down and get serious. But for now…
I slammed my bottle against Shiloh’s and took a swig.
My ears still rang as we docked the boat. There were a couple other boats already there. Javi and Rhys tied ours up and we stepped out. I sucked in a breath, taking in the cool, salty, sea air. The waves were gentle as they crashed against the dock and shoreline. I looked back to see the coast, but the beach was too dark to see from where we were. Following the others, I stepped onto the soft sand. Monica stumbled, waving her arms frantically as she tried to keep from falling over when her heel stuck.
Past the sand, dark green beach reeds sprang up, outlining a glowing blue path that led uphill to a gigantic mansion. A spotlight shone against it, the colors changing from yellow to red.
“I thought this was supposed to be a secret party,” I murmured.
“There’s an invisible field around it. No one outside of here can see what we’re seeing,” Shiloh explained.
“Of course there is,” I grunted. “Uh. What is that?”
Javi glanced to the floating mass above us and shrugged. “Paradise Prison.”
I blinked at him. “A prison? Floating above the headmaster’s mansion and right offshore from the school?”
“Yeah.”
“Whose idea was that? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve seen and there’s a lot of stupid things around here.”
“I don’t know, Rose. Does it matter? Geez, can you lighten up for like one night?”
I rolled my eyes at him and fell silent.
Well, it was stupid. Let’s build a school underneath a prison full of felons.
The party was in full swing. Music blared from hidden speakers and a group of scantily clad mermaids and fairies ran across the lawn as guys dressed up as shifters chased after them.
“Isn’t that kind of messed up?” I turned to the others.
“What?” asked Shiloh.
“GRIMMs hunt and police these creatures and you dress up in costumes that depict them?”
Javi shrugged. “So? Everyone dresses up like supernatural creatures for Halloween.”
“I see what you mean. Like it’s making a mockery of them?” Shiloh spoke.
I nodded. Javi shot me a glare. As if it was my fault he came off as insensitive. The boy was naïve. Shiloh wasn’t one of the flirty, shallow girls he hung around with, and she wasn’t looking for someone in that clique.
The others scoffed and walked ahead, ready to indulge in whatever Brady supplied them. Javi stuck with us, offering Shiloh an arm up the stone walkway to the front door. The front porch was massive and lit up with strange floating orbs. I walked up to one and gasped as something moved inside it.
“Sprites,” Shiloh explained. She frowned and shook her head. “Using them as
