I grab the nearest thing to me and launch it across the room, watching with dismay as the glass smashes into pieces and scatters across the floor.
“Better?” Annabel lifts a brow, hardly surprised by my little outburst.
My lips purse as I stare at her, my body vibrating with anger. I will be better when this nightmare is over. When Quinctus realizes they made a mistake, that I’m not the girl for Cade after all.
Because there is no other explanation.
It’s a mistake.
It has to be.
The next day is as unbearable as the last. Cade is extra clingy, holding my hand in a vise-like grip as we move around campus. The pendant sits heavy against my chest. I almost didn’t wear it, but if I want to appease him, to buy myself some time, I know I need to play ball.
“I like this.” He skims the hem of my skirt, his fingers brushing the backs of my thighs.
“I didn’t wear it for you,” I reply.
Ashton snorts, grumbling something about ‘needing to break me in.’ I cast him a dark look, but he only glares back.
I like him least out of the Electi. He’s too close to Cade, too much of a bad influence. Not to mention, he’s Brook’s older brother. I’ve heard the stories about Ashton Moore. The threesomes at parties, the fights, the girls running from his room with tears streaming down their faces and bruises on their bodies.
Ashton is dangerous, and he’s Cade’s closest friend. He’s also not officially an Electi, which affords him a certain amount of freedom where his actions are concerned.
“No?” Cade whispers against the soft skin of my neck. “Then who did you wear it for?”
My spine goes rigid, but I force myself to relax. Now is not the time to be thinking about Bexley and how his piercing blue eyes follow me around campus whenever we cross paths.
After that afternoon in my dorm room, he’s mostly kept his distance. But I feel him, watching. Waiting. He needs to stay away—for his benefit, and mine. But I can’t deny a tiny piece of me likes feeling him there, in the shadows. Like a guardian angel watching over me.
Except… something tells me he isn’t an angel at all.
A shiver zips up my spine and Cade tenses. “What is it, babe? What’s wrong?” He brushes the hair from my face and grips my chin, forcing me to look at him.
We’re sitting outside in the quad. Brandon and Sasha are arguing over something. Ashton is practically fucking a girl I don’t recognize on the bench. And Channing is busy texting someone. I don’t know where Tim is. Probably off with Fawn. I’ve only met her a couple of times, but she doesn’t seem to like Cade either.
Maybe we could be friends. Although, she seems happy with Tim, in love. Whereas I can’t ever imagine falling for a guy so conceited, arrogant, and cruel as Cade.
“Have you told her yet?” Ashton pipes up.
“Ash,” Cade warns in that low growl of his.
“Oh, shit. You didn’t? Shit’s about to get interesting.”
“Tell me what?” I glance at Ashton, narrowing my eyes, and then back at Cade.
“Nothing, babe. Just the party tonight.”
“Party? You didn’t say anything about a party.”
“It’s the new moon, Mia.” Ashton grins, but it isn’t friendly. It’s dark and full of wicked intent. “We always party on the new moon.”
“Stop being a dick, Ash,” Sasha chides. “It’ll be fun, Mia. We can hang out.”
“It’ll be fun, Mia,” Brandon mimics, and she claps him around the ear. “Bitch, what was that for?”
“Quit being an ass.”
“I’m beginning to think they should let girls into the—” Channing presses his lips together, swallowing whatever he was about to say.
The two of them—Sasha and Channing—share a heated look, and I frown. Is something going on there? I can’t imagine Cade or Brandon would appreciate Channing macking on Sasha. She’s an heir, yes, but it’s not the same for her as it is for her male counterparts. She’ll never have a line of guys waiting to become her prosapia. Instead, she’ll be matched with someone of Phillip Cargill’s approval.
I heard my parents talking once, and apparently Sasha should get some say in who she settles down with, but women don’t exactly hold the power in Gravestone. Men do, with their old traditions and chauvinistic ways.
“Hey Cade, guys,” Brook’s voice is like a bucket of ice-cold water, and I turn to meet her smug stare.
“Brookie, sister, long time no see.” Ashton leans in to kiss her cheek. “I was beginning to think you didn’t love me anymore.”
“Oh, Ash, don’t be ridiculous. You know I love you, I just didn’t want Cade’s latest toy to feel intimidated.”
A ripple of tension goes through the air as Brook locks her narrowed gaze on me. Cade’s hand remains firmly on my hip, but he doesn’t intervene. He just sits there, waiting to see how I’ll react, no doubt.
Bastard.
“Hello, Brook,” I say, hoping she’ll disappear back into whatever hole she crawled out of.
“Mila.”
“It’s Mia.”
Someone snickers, Ashton probably. But I don’t look, because I don’t want Brook to think I’m scared of her, even if my stomach is a tight knot of nerves.
“Oops, my bad,” she shoots me a saccharine smile, “I guess that’s what happens when you’re completely and utterly average. People forget your name. They forget you.”
“Brook, play nice,” Cade drawls, pulling me back into his chest.
“Whatever.” She lets out an indignant huff. “I only came to ask if the party is still on tonight.”
“You know it is.” Cade stiffens, and I wonder what has him so on edge.
“It’s going to be one hell of a night.” Ashton whistles between his teeth. “Don’t be a stranger, Sis. We should all hang out. Show Mia a good time.”
The air crackles again, and I realize I’m the only person on
