Chapter Twenty-nine
Audrey
“ T here she is,” Diana yells as I step onto the porch of the house she and Celeste have been sharing with two other girls for the last few months.
“Here I am,” I agree with a grin.
I can’t believe that all three of us made it all the way through the six-month program. Tomorrow, we have our finals, and then we’ll be reapers. It’s crazy how fast the last six months have gone—especially since meeting my mates. It always seems like there’s not enough time in the day.
“I can’t believe you managed to tear yourself away from those mates of yours.” Celeste sticks her tongue out at me but continues grinning. “I figured they’d convince you to stay home with them.”
Sighing, I throw myself into the chair between my two besties and accept the drink Diana offers.
“Honestly, it took entirely too long for me to convince them to not follow me here. They’re all a little obsessed,” I call out, hearing a scoff from the treeline. “I fucking knew it! Go home Brenden. You’ll be fine without me for one freaking night.”
Now that his cover is blown, he steps out of the trees. He smirks at me, completely unrepentant. “Do I really have to leave? I’ll stay in the trees.”
“Wow. You weren’t kidding.” Celeste laughs, pushing to her feet. “Go home, Brenden. Your crazy is showing.”
Something flashes across his face, there and gone again in a mere second. “I love my mate and worry about her. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to make sure she’s safe.”
I don’t bother fighting my smile and blow him a kiss. “You forget that your mate is a badass and can take care of herself. Go home and pout with Wraith and Donovan.”
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” he scoffs. “The two of them are fucking like bunnies as we speak to distract themselves. They’re both hot as hell, but they definitely don’t want me intruding. I already asked.”
Laughter bursts from me. “Of course you did. I told you that you should make some friends outside of my mates, didn’t I? Go home, Brenden. Or anywhere that isn’t here. Please?”
“Fine,” he says with a heavy sigh. “Have fun, ladies. I’ll be back to get my girl at midnight and not a moment later.”
The three of us watch him zoom off, shaking our heads. I love Brenden, but he definitely has some psychopath tendencies—which isn’t usually a problem.
“Now that we’re alone, catch us up on what’s going on in your life,” Diana demands.
I shrug. “Not much. Working with my magic. Fucking my mates. You know, the usual.”
We laugh together.
“What about Professor Novak? Are the two of you still in a silent war?” Celeste asks, leaning toward me as she waits for me to spill the tea.
“Yup.” I pop my p as I shake my head. After last month’s blow up, Professor Novak hasn’t so much as looked in my direction, let alone spoken to me.
It’s what I wanted, but whenever I think about it, I get pissed off. He’s the one who wronged me, and he thinks he just gets to ignore me? He’s supposed to be attempting to get back into my good graces—not that it would do any good. There’s no way in hell I’m forgiving him.
At least it’s no longer causing issues with me and Brenden. He seems to prefer that we ignore one another. He hadn’t gotten onto me in class or talked at me all sternly since that day. Is it sad that I kind of miss it?
Instead, he’s turned all of his attention on trying to convince me to tell Wraith and Donovan about my plans for vengeance against Michael. Part of me doesn’t want to tell them because I know it’s going to cause a fight, but the other part knows this isn’t something I can keep from them. I need to tell them, and I need to tell them soon. I probably already should’ve.
I’ll do it after I pass my final, I decide—just another day or two, depending on what time my final is.
Feeling good about my decision, I grin at my friends, continuing to answer Celeste’s question. “It’s not really a war anymore. More like a truce, maybe? No bombs being lobbed at each other. It’s not like we’ll have much to do with one another once we graduate, is there?”
“I guess not.” Celeste shrugs. “I was kind of hoping he would end up being one of your mates.”
“I’m sorry. What?” I jerk my head toward her, shocked.
She giggles. “You should see your face right now. He’s hot. You’re hot. Plus, there could be a hate fuck, I love those.”
Diana sighs. “You’ll have to ignore her. She met someone.”
“You did what? I want to hear all about them! Give me all the deets.”
“It’s still new,” she says hesitantly. “He’s one of the fifth-months. He’s hot and fucks like a sex god.”
I snort, laughter spilling out of me so I sound like a maniac. “I’m glad you have your priorities right.”
“Look, I promised myself I wouldn’t try for anything serious with anyone until I graduated. He’s not safe. He might have made it this far, but he still has another month. There’s still a chance he won’t make the cut.”
My amusement falls away because I know she’s right. There are only twelve of us left from the day we arrived. From one thousand to twelve in just six short months. It’s crazy to think that the three of us have all made it this far. We lost so many of our suitemates so early, but somehow, all three of us managed to hold on. There’s always a chance we can fail our finals, but I’ve only heard of it happening once in the six months I’ve been here.
“Yeah, that makes sense. Not everyone can be mated to the guy who runs the school.” The corner of my mouth twitches at Diana calling me out.
I’d like to think I’d still have passed even if I was mated to Wraith, but I guess I’ll never know. And I’m okay with that. He’s my mate, and I belong at his side.
“Now that Diana called me out, it’s my turn to call her out. She also met someone. She’s been seeing another girl in the class a day behind us.” Celeste has a big grin on her face as she wiggles her eyebrows at Diana. “And the girl? She has a boyfriend from her class that wants to boink Diana too.”
I grin as I face my blonde friend, her face nearly as red as a tomato. “Oh my god! Are you going to become a throuple?”
She shrugs, ducking her head. “I don’t know. The three of us are supposed to go on a date after they graduate to feel one another out. Then he’s supposed to take me out to make sure it’s not just Melody linking us together. I’m definitely not against the idea.”
“I’m so happy for both of you,” I squeal, setting my drink down so I can reach for both of them, pulling them into a hug. “Even if it doesn’t work out, you’re starting to plan for the rest of your life.”
“Afterlife,” Diana corrects.
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, okay. Your afterlife. Either way, it’s nice to see you start planning. We can work on planning double dates!” I make a face. “Actually, what would it be called if I have three guys and Diana has two lovers? Does that still make it a double date, even though there’s more people?”
“Seriously? This is what you want to talk about?” Celeste jumps to her feet. “We’re going to go inside and get drunk off our asses. Palome and Heidi are staying with friends tonight, so we have the place to ourselves. We can turn up the music and pretend we’re at a dance club.”
“At least until midnight when Audrey turns into a pumpkin,” Diana adds as she pulls me to my feet.
I allow the two of them to pull me inside the house as I laugh. “Look, finals start at 8:00, and Professor Freeman is in charge of the finals. She despises me, the petty bitch. I wouldn’t put it past her to have me scheduled as early as possible. I’d prefer not to be completely hungover and exhausted if that’s the case.”
“That’s valid,” Celeste offers before ducking into the kitchen. She comes back with a pitcher of something red. “We made a spiked punch. Let’s get this party started.”
She pours each of us a glass, and when I take my first sip, I almost spit it out. Coughing, I lift a hand to my chest. “Damn, that’s strong.”
“We’ll get drunk fast. When the pitcher is gone, we’ll go back to drinking non-alcoholic drinks so none of us are too fucked up.”
“Smart thinking.” I lift the drink to my lips once more before chugging it down. I make a face once it’s gone, but I can feel the effects almost immediately. Something tells me the second one will go down much easier.
Diana turns on the music and we use their living room as our dance floor. Time flies by, and before I know it, there’s a knock at the door.
“Come in,” Celeste slurs.
The door opens to reveal Brenden, and I sigh. “I guess that means it’s time to go home. Girls, this was an amazing night. Go to bed and get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow!”
I attempt to take a step toward Brenden but immediately lose my balance. I giggle as he swoops in, catching me before I can hit the floor. “My hero.”
“You’re drunk as a skunk,” he says, affection in his tone. “Looks like I’m carrying you home.”
“Eep,” I cry out as the world tilts around me. It takes me a moment to realize it’s because Brenden has lifted me into his arms. “Oh, yes. This is the best way to travel. No vamp speed, please. I don’t think my stomach can handle it.”
Brenden chuckles. “No worries, firecracker. I’ve got you. Why don’t you take a nap while I walk us home?”
Hmmm... a nap sounds amazing. Laying my head on his shoulder, I close my eyes. The movement of Brenden’s body beneath me quickly lulls me to sleep.
My last thought before it takes me completely is that I really hope I don’t fail my final.