by S. I. Hayes
“Nothing that isn’t already circulating. It’s not my fault you guys kept it from her. She saw my face and asked what actually happened. I wasn’t gonna go and lie to her.”
“Fuck!” I snarled. “Now how am I supposed to fix that! Keegan is waiting on us.” I didn’t want to tell him that Ryane had essentially broken up with him through me. I liked my head not throbbing.
“She’s riding the synthetic wave. She’ll be fine in a few hours. You know how it can be... Wait, no you don’t, do you?” He shot me a grin. “She was pissed when it went in, so it’s gonna get sticky, nothing our Lord can’t handle.” He grabbed his bag. “Gage, it was good seeing you. Sig, good luck with all that, but maybe you should be putting blame on the man with the plans.” He walked away. I wanted to pummel him, but he was oddly right. This was really Keegan’s fault. If he hadn’t gone off the deep end and then not told her about it, we wouldn’t be in this predicament. I hated that Greisen could be so insightful. The fucker.
“Come on Gage, we’ve got a Vampire Lord to see.”
“Um, actually you have, I’ve got a class.”
Great, I was on my own. I looked around and a few eyes were on me. Some people were whispering, seemed they thought I was dating Ryane. Great, now that rumor was going to move through the Deviant Class. I snorted and headed out of the cafeteria and back toward the Quad where Keegan would be as soon as he finished his meeting with Dean Baker. They had gotten the police report about the incident and wanted to go over it apparently.
“BABY? PLEASE OPEN THE door.” Keegan was standing outside Ryane’s townhouse, trying desperately to get her to let him in. Telling him what happened had set him off in a run to find her. The GPS in her phone showed her here at the townhouse, although she had yet to respond to his pleas. I sat on the steps, picking at my nails while he banged on the door for the fourth time.
“If you break it in she’ll really be pissed,” I mumbled as he dropped to the ground, sitting against the flat of the door.
“What the Hell am I supposed to say to her, Sig? It was needed. You know that.”
I nodded. “Sure it was, Boss. The brutal assault and hospitalization of three men for Greisen Calder was needed.”
“Uggh!” He bashed his head against the door several times. “Ryane!”
The door moved and Keegan scrambled up to his feet. “Baby?” We were looking at Tawny through the chained opening of the door.
“No, sorry, but your Baby, is not taking visits from liars right now.”
“Open the fucking door woman.” Keegan demanded, making a step to push it further. I grabbed him by the arm.
“We should go.” I looked inside, seeing Ryane in Collette’s arms. That wasn’t a good situation, but we were not going to get anywhere like this. Not right now.
“No, I gotta...” He dropped his head as Tawny whispered.
“Just give her some space. Her head is all over the place right now.”
He sighed, his jaw tightening. “Just tell her I love her.”
“She knows babe.” Tawny closed the door.
I grabbed Keegan by the shoulder and pulled him from the stoop. I knew how he felt. Not having Ryane around would be strange. She’d become a fixture, but perhaps space was a good idea. When was the last time she’d been alone? Keegan was a constant since they had gotten together. Hell, so was I. She used to be independent, now she was always with or doing something for us.
“Let’s just go back to Sam’s. She’ll be easier to talk to once she calms down.”
“We’ve never had a fight before, and she’s not even actually fighting with me! How do I fix it if she won’t even see me?”
“Hell if I know Boss, but not honoring her wishes doesn’t seem like the right road.”
He let out a flustered moan as we got into the truck and made to leave. I hesitated before pulling off and looked back at the windows. Ryane watched from the living room. Her hands were across her chest, eyes puffy from crying. She reached out, touching the glass and nodded, seeing me watching her. I nodded back and pulled away. At least that was a sign she still cared, which was a start.
Chapter 38 Ryane
I THINK I SORTA LOVED Tawny Abrams. Collette, I didn’t trust as far as I could throw her, but Tawny, she was the best girl. She was working for me in between looking for a place to do her clinicals to get her degree in Psychology. After Keegan and Sig left, it was her professional opinion that we drain the liquor cabinet at Phi Beta Delta. I was happy to go along with that, Collette leading the way. I’ve been pretty buzzed ever since. Missed the last three days’ worth of classes too. Keegan must be pissed by now. Frankly, I didn’t care. I was collecting the roses he kept sending though. They were pretty and smelled so good, I couldn’t toss them. Even though Collette said I should. She didn’t understand, sure I was pissed, but I still loved Keegan, nothing would change that. Keeping the roses showed I cared, even if I refused to answer his texts. I did send an unhappy face to Sig. I couldn’t let him go on thinking I was mad at something he didn’t really do.
“You gonna go to the Meet and Greet tonight?” Tawny chuckled as I rolled over in the bed, clutching the covers to pull myself across it toward the bottle of bourbon on the floor.
“No. I don’t wanna run into them,” I mumbled, my face inhibited by the sheets.
“Oh, phooey. You’re the Deviant Class Representative. You need to show a presence. Besides, fuck them. We go, look hot, and have a great fucking time. Those two losers can suck my clit.”
I laughed, rolling over with the bottle to my lips, spilling it all over. “Shit!” I hopped up trying not to take a liquor bath.
“You need a shower, girl. You smell like a brewery.” She leaned in close to me, licking up my collar bone. “But you taste mighty fine,” she purred, running her hand up my thigh.
“Hmm, what would I have done without you around?” I let my head fall forward as I grabbed her by the head, my teeth finding her throat. She gasped as I started to drink, her arms wrapping around me.
“You’d starve.” Her fingers slid up into my hair, she tasted like flowers smell. Sweet and sour, every inch of her that I had licked so far was like being in a candy shop. It wasn’t like being with Kimmy. Tawny knew how to nudge me in the right direction, her body suggested things and I was happy to oblige, in return she shared her intoxicating tonic and played me like a fiddle. I felt a twinge of guilt at first, but I also knew that I need to be satiated or I’d lose my mind. Keegan would either understand or he wouldn’t and really, I didn’t much care at this point.
She pushed me off slightly, letting me know it was enough and I closed the wound with a long, leisurely trail of my tongue against her ebony flesh. “Your control is getting much better.” She ran her index finger down my blood stained lips. “Red is definitely your color.” Her lips were full and soft as she sought to part mine with her tongue. The kiss was deep, blood filled and then she was off the bed and headed for my closet.
“Now then what are you going to wear tonight? It’s gotta be hot, especially if you plan on teasing and forgiving that lunkhead.” She smiled, looking back at me as I fell forward on the bed.
“Who says I’m going to forgive him? I’m still super pissed over it all.”
“Honey, I’m not stupid. I may be a great fuck, but I ain’t got the parts you really want. You love him, he fucked up. You need to talk to him, he’s suffered enough, I think.” She spun around, pulling out a spaghetti strapped white slip of a dress. I’d bought it on a whim but was too afraid of the high hem to ever actually wear it. The tags were still on it, for Christ’s sake. “This will do nicely, I think. It’ll remind him of everything he’s risking by being a dumbass.”
“I couldn’t.”
“You can, and you are. Now, let’s get you in the shower, and I’ll run back to the dorm to grab a few things. Oh! Tonight is gonna be so much fun!” She grabbed and ushered me toward my bathroom. “I’ll let myself out.”
“I- Okay.”
It was all I could say as it seemed arguing with her wouldn’t get me anywhere.
Chapter 39 Sig
“THREE DAYS SIG. I feel like I’m going out of my mind. She hasn’t returned any of my calls or texts. She can’t actually be calling us off can she?”
Keegan was a hot mess, not being with Ryane was tearing him up something awful. I missed her too, but this was bad. She had let me off easy, she wasn’t talking to me, but I had gotten an emoji text. I think she was avoiding me simply for my proximity to Keegan. Samuel’s back yard looked like a bomb had gone off, Keegan’s initial rage at her ignoring him had sent him over and he’d torn up the scaffolds and targets that I had been building for her training with me. He damn near killed Gage on the field at rugby practice too. Fortunately, the pup had been paying attention and tucked it in before he got hit, minimizing the damage. He had a mild concussion and a sprained wrist, but would be okay. I should have known that this was going to happen. He was so blood deep with her that I think he was going through some kind of withdrawals.
“I think that you did exactly what a guilt ridden person should do. Yet, I also think you don’t have anything to be guilty over, which makes it difficult to say where her head is. All I know is I gotta go to this Meet and Greet tonight, and you do too. They will be expecting you.”
“Aww, to fuck all with that. I’m not in the partying mood.”
“You know you gave us these jobs and thanks to you I had to arrange this whole thing alone, it wasn’t easy either. I had to clear out the hall, redecorate, get food, booze, music and lighting. Least you can do is suck it up enough to show your face, besides, she’ll probably be there,” I suggested, picking up his left over ham sandwich that almost hit the floor as he waved his hands. “Word is she’s been hanging out with Tawny Abrams, and that girl never misses a party.”
“Remind me who that is again.” He pushed his hair behind his ears, paying more attention to me now that the idea of seeing Ryane was in his head.
“Tawny Abrams, she’s a Deviant Class senior, something of a socialite, but with a sordid reputation, has a penchant for topping people until they like it then leaves them broken and a few pints low. She likes to be in control and runs with Greisen and Collette from time to time.”
“So she’s a half-blood then?”
“And that’s all you got out of my plethora of info was it?” I shook my head with an annoyed laugh. “No, actually, she is Kara Abrams’ daughter, Kara is on the Senate with Leonas Calder and your father.”
Keegan nodded, standing up. “Do you really think she’ll get Ryane to the mixer?”
“If anyone was going to, I’d say it would be her, since they seem to be all chummy now.” I didn’t want to tell him that Gage was pretty sure she was fucking Ryane, simply because I didn’t think Ryane would do that to the man, although Gage made a point of telling me that Tawny had been staying in the townhouse.
I shrugged, bagging up the rest of the garbage Keegan had let settle around his space. He’d been playing her records on repeat and I was now well versed in songs like Strange Days, Peace Frog and The Crystal Ship. That Jim Morrison guy was obviously very high most of the time, but you had to hand it to him, he had a way with words, he had the heart of a poet. “You should go pull yourself together. If you’re going to see her, you should at least have on a clean shirt.”
He sniffed himself and made a face. “Probably a shower too, ya think?”
“Probably.”
Chapter 40 AELLA
“I CAN’T WEAR THIS,” I moaned, looking in the mirror at myself. Collette had come storming in, demanding that I go to the Meet and Greet at Alabaster Hall with her, since Greisen had decided he wasn’t making an appearance. She refused to go alone even when I told her I had to study.
“Bullshit. You are rocking that top, it looks so hot, especially since it shows off that back of yours.”
“I don’t want to show this off! It’s a marker of shame, don’t you get that?”
“It’s not like anyone knows that it’s anything more than a hardcore piercing, shit girl. I’m thinking of getting one just because it looks so fucking sexy on you.”
The binding on my back looked like a corset laced through the rings in my flesh. The ties were imbued with magic to keep my wings from unfurling. Anytime I tried, I was racked with pain and became incapacitated. I had tried just after we returned to the states and learned what a mistake it was. I stared hard at it in the mirror with an unhappy look on my face. The binds couldn’t be cut until the terms of the curse were fulfilled. My heart and my mind needed to be on the same page. I don’t know that it will ever happen. “Do you really think no one will know what it really is?”
“No way, and if they do, they won’t be dumb enough to say anything to you anyhow. You run with me, sweetie.” She fussed with the tie at my lower back on the shirt, and pushed my hair over my bare shoulders to my front. “Let’s just go, get liquored up and flirt with all the boys, but go home with none.”
I thought about Siegfried and a smile whispered across my face, Collette saw it and leaned into me.
“You got someone in mind, honey?” She squeezed my shoulders firmly.
“Well, sorta... Do you think the Deviant Class President and his Guardians will be there tonight?”
Collette squealed excitedly. “You like Sig! Don’t you?”
“I don’t know him to like him, but I know I like to look at him.”
“Oh honey, you gotta do more than look! But you gotta work to get a piece of that! So many girls have tried, but they all fail. He doesn’t show any interest. I figure he’s probably gay.”
“I don’t think so; I mean; I didn’t get that vibe. When I first met him, he was staring at my tits.”
“Well, that’s promising, good luck with it. I’m in full support of getting him laid, he’s so serious when I deal with him.”
I laughed nervously. “I wasn’t thinking about doing that! I just wanna...” I stopped, I wasn’t sure what I really wanted, but I knew that I wanted his attention.
“Well, this will get his blood pumping, if it doesn’t, then the boy is certainly batting for the other team.” She kissed my cheek and slapped me on the ass. “Let’s go get you some Dragon booty!”
“I don’t think I’m at all opposed to that.” I laughed nervously as the excitement mounted in my stomach and I followed her out of the dorm room and down the hall. If I was going to pursue this guy, I needed to be all in, as my sister would say. I couldn’t half ass it. Tonight was gonna be the night I met Siegfried Rembrandt.
WHEN WE ARRIVED AT Alabaster Hall the party was already spilling out into the lane. I could hear the music blaring and over the doors was a huge banner that read ‘Welcome Freshman! Women Drink Free All Night’’ I hesitated as we approached, but Collette pushed me on.
“C’mon girl. This is the place.” She looked around with a grin. “I gotta hand it to Sig, he did a damn good job.”
“He set this all up?” I couldn’t help but sound impressed.
“Oh yeah, it’s part of the job. I’d have gone with a bit more color for flair, but what the Hell, right?” She threaded her arm into mine, clasping my hand. “We’re gonna have fun tonight. You are gonna have fun, you got me? And as for Sig...” She trailed off as we entered and his voice cut through the music. I looked ahead, the room was so different. The seats had been cleared out and the bright lights for the daytime were replaced by black and red lighting, giving the place a sensual and chaotic feel. On the stage stood Siegfried with a microphone in his hand.
“Hello Deviant Class!” My heart jumped, he looked good enough to eat in a black button down dress shirt that hugged his lean frame, tucked down into black boot cut jeans. His honey colored hair was spiked up and he had just a bit of five o’clock shadow running along his perfectly set jaw.
“Welcome to the first mixer of the year! I hope I’ve done you justice! You’ll find the food in abundance and the liquor top shelf! There’s a beer pon
g competition along the wall and a bean toss for shots among other games to help you loosen those lips and hips! Ladies, don’t forget it’s all about you, because tonight, it’s all on me!”
Some random girl jumped up on the stage, wrapping her arms around Siegfried. He smiled and chuckled into the mic. “Easy, honey, when I said drinks were on me, I didn’t mean literally!” He held her at arm’s length. “What’s your name, beautiful?”
“Rachel!” she squealed, jumping up and down.
“Rachel... You’ve got a lot of energy, are you rushing Phi Beta Delta?”
“Yeah!” Her voice was grating and too perky as she kept jumping up and down.
“You hear that PBD Deviants?” He put up his hand, looking out over the crowd. “We got you another cheerleader! Come fetch her and get her a drink!”
Hoots and hollers filled the room, mostly female and all with their eyes on him. I felt a burn in my chest and a surge of anger as my eyes narrowed and I tensed up, watching as he helped to ease the girl off the stage. Collette must have felt my mounting rage because she squeezed my hand.
“You good honey? Spot what you were looking for?” she teased, giving me a tug toward one of the bars. “Or do you need some liquid courage first?”
“Yes, please, before I rip some girls head off.”
Collette laughed. “He’s playing to the crowd, nothing harmful in that. He’s hot, it’s his job.”
“Yeah, well, she’s a slut.”
“Roar... You need to loosen it up a tick. We’re gonna need a lot of booze.”
I laughed as I looked back at the stage, seeing Siegfried was gone. I was going to need all the help I could get if I was going to get his attention. I certainly wasn’t going to throw myself at him like that girl. I needed a plan.