Chapter 4 #2
Daphne sat at the vanity again, curling her hair while music drifted through her phone speaker. I winced, shook my head, and took a calming breath.
She’d changed out of her uniform into a pink sweater and a short, black skirt.
“Hey, you,” she greeted cheerfully, gazing at me in the mirror. “How was your first day?”
I smiled, a thousand questions about the Night Sons trying to climb their way up my throat, but I swallowed them down.
“It sucked,” I admitted honestly, stepping closer to the vanity to show Daphne my hair. “Some asshole cut my ponytail in class.” I ran my fingers through the jagged strands. “Do you have scissors by chance?”
Her face immediately paled, and she set the curling iron down.
“Shit,” she muttered. “I was worried that was you.” She opened the drawer, rummaged around, and handed me scissors.
“Thanks.” I stood behind her, trimming the uneven pieces while catching fallen strays in my free hand.
Enzo had taken more than I realized. At least a few inches.
My hair no longer brushed the middle of my back. Now, it fell a little past my shoulders.
“Is cutting girls’ hair a common practice here?” I asked, snipping another uneven lock. “Like some kind of hazing thing?”
Daphne chose her words carefully. “I wouldn’t say … common.”
“What would you say, then?” I discarded my hair in the trash.
“Enzo … he enjoys reactions.”
I snorted. “He’s a fucking weirdo.”
“Remember when I said to avoid the Marchettis?”
I nodded.
“He’s a Marchetti. And it seems you caught his attention.”
“I didn’t do anything to catch his attention!
” I shrieked, throwing my arms up and pacing behind her.
“I was minding my own business in class. He came in late, sat behind me, and”—I stopped my pacing to hold up my hair—“cut my ponytail out of nowhere, like he was bored and decided to play craft time.”
She returned to curling her hair, not saying a word, but I could tell she was holding back laughter at my craft time comment.
“Has he done that before?” I asked, already dreading her answer.
I thought back to what the guy at the library had told me.
The Night Sons. Clarissa. That stupid freaking window.
“Cut a girl’s hair?” Daphne cocked her head, thinking. “Not that I’m aware of.” Her shoulders slumped. “Look, just ignore him. Make Enzo think you’re not worth his time. If he cuts your hair again, don’t react.”
“If he cuts my hair again, I’m shaving those preppy-boy strands right off his demon head.”
She cracked a smile. “I’m serious. Even if he cuts your hair, your clothes, or, hell, burns down your family home, ignore him.”
My jaw dropped. “He burns down homes?”
“He did Clarissa’s, and I told her to tell him she’d hated that house and to thank him for it. You have to recognize their games and beat them at it.” She shrugged and went back to curling her hair.
“He burned down her home?”
At this point, I was positive Enzo was the one who had pushed Clarissa out the window. Hell, I was positive that he’d committed every crime in the Westchester area. It all seemed in his wheelhouse.
She flicked her curling wand in the air. “They had insurance, and he waited until the family dog was at the groomer.” She dropped the curling iron and grabbed a lip gloss tube.
I slumped on the edge of her bed, next to a pile of stuffed animals. “Some guy in the library said Enzo chose me as his Fawn.”
Daphne froze.
“What the hell is a Fawn, Daphne?”
“Well, Bambi was one,” she replied, trying to maintain her chipper tone.
I shot her an annoyed look.
Her silence was the answer I’d feared.
She didn’t hate the Night Sons like the guy from the library.
It seemed like she wanted to protect them more than anything.
Before I could keep questioning her, someone knocked on the door.
I frowned.
The person on the other side didn’t wait for us to respond. A tall red-haired girl slipped inside like she owned the room. She was gorgeous, like a supermodel.
The moment she came into full focus, my jaw dropped as I stuttered, “You’re—”
“Adelina Byron,” she said with a smile, like she was used to people reacting the way I just had. “Hi, Daphne’s new roomie, Blair.”
She knew my name.
If I wasn’t freaked out that I was someone’s human version of Bambi, I’d probably have been grinning like an idiot that the president’s daughter knew my name.
Adelina Byron was the most famous first daughter in modern history. I’d seen her face a thousand times online on the news, social media, and magazine covers. In person, she looked even prettier.
Glossy curls spilled over her shoulders in perfect waves, a few strands pulled away from her face and tied with white ribbons. Her outfit was nothing like the polished outfits you saw her wearing at political events.
The baby-blue crop top and pleated skirt didn’t match her public style.
“You ready, babe?” she asked Daphne, stealing the lip gloss from her.
Daphne shook her head. “Five minutes.”
Adelina uncapped the gloss, looking in the mirror as she smeared it over her lips. When she finished, she smacked her lips together and glanced over her shoulder at me. “Do you want to come with us, Blair?”
“Bad idea,” Daphne said quickly with a touch of nervousness. She fluffed her curls and unplugged the curling iron before gesturing toward my uneven ponytail. “Enzo gave her a haircut in class today.” She mimicked snipping with her fingers.
“Shit.” Adelina shot me an apologetic look. “I thought he was skipping that this year?”
“We had high hopes,” Daphne said with a sigh. “But apparently, my new roommate managed to change that.”
From the expressions on their faces, it was clear that my invite had been revoked.
Did that mean Enzo would be wherever they were going?
The guy at the library had said the Night Sons all came from powerful families. No one was more powerful than the president. Adelina’s older brother had to be close to Enzo’s age, and if she was here, I was positive he was too.
Is he also a Night Son?
Daphne stood and forced a smile in my direction. “We’ll be back soon. There’s a movie night in the commons. You should go and meet some of the girls.”
“Okay,” I said while nodding.
But I already knew I wasn’t doing that.
A deep instinct told me these two were my best chance at learning more about the Night Sons.
To learn about Enzo and make sure I didn’t end up a Fawn.
If I couldn’t join them, I’d follow them.