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Barbie
The House of Underworld set up their establishment between the business district and the Veil. It was on the south side of the campus, so at least it’d be a long walk for Queen Lilith to stroll to the House of Chaos.
Yet it offered me little comfort. My stomach felt queasy at the prospect of their reunion, even though Queen Lilith hadn’t made her appearance while her demon boys settled down.
Several demons had been in the same classes as me. They always stared at me, as if I were fresh meat and they wanted to take a big bite. Vampires stared at me all the time too, but they wouldn’t dare touch me. I was under the protection of the meanest chaos prince, and even though I was no longer in the House of Vampires, Louis had extended his command—anyone who drank from me would experience a brutal death. But he himself glued his hungry eyes to my neck every time he saw me.
I was always the monsters’ favorite.
I expelled the thoughts of demons, vampires, and monsters and looped my arm around Bea’s as we headed toward Clockwork. Bea was going to help me study for the midterm. She was a grade-A student. I was a grade-D. I didn’t feel too bad, since there was only B and C between A and D. But I didn’t want Killian to puff his mean, royal breath down my neck, so I needed to get a couple of Cs at least.
I surveyed the lime-colored building that curved around the campus street. Sy had first fucked the fae prince here, or more precisely, she’d gotten fucked while he pressed her against the brick wall of Clockwork.
Sy grinned at the memory, a dreamy look on her savagely beautiful face.
Has Rowan texted you yet?
He hasn’t brought any diamond as payment, I said sharply. I’m not giving you to him for free!
Sy pouted. She’d be brooding over it for a while, leaving me alone with my friend.
We strolled into the building of Clockwork. The study hall was enormous. Rows of desks stretched to the end of the hall, one-third of them already occupied. A dozen lanterns made of fae light hung above each desk, even though the afternoon sunlight was shining through the windows.
Bea led me toward a corner table where no one would notice us. Before we put our butts on the chairs, clamor broke out across the hall.
I looked on, but Bea tugged my sleeve. “It’s not our business. Let’s just lie low.”
“Okay. I’m in no shape to stir shit,” I agreed.
I sat down and pulled out a textbook titled The Origin of Magic.
“Move!” Bellona’s shout instantly caught my attention. “My friends and I want to sit here.”
I turned my head in the direction of her voice and stood up. “It’s Jinx! Bellona dude is bullying Jinx!”
Every house was divided into popular chicks, minions, outcasts, and geeks. Popular chicks were royals and nobles, like Medea, America, Dixie, and Cami. Minions were Fake Silver, Fake Silver’s fae boyfriend, small-eyed Javier, Bellona, and Imelda, among many others. I was the number one outcast, and Bea was both an outcast and a geek.
“But we were here first,” Jinx said. “We’re in the middle of studying.”
Jinx was a geek from my house. Seven other geeks from the House of Vampires, the House of Fae, and the House of Shifters shared a long desk, with Jinx near a window that provided a view of a line of blue jacaranda trees.
Bellona’s new friends were three giant demon students from the House of Underworld, and they wanted the seats that came with a beautiful view. As a new member of their house, Bellona was eager to impress them.
“You think my friends and I are inconveniencing you?” Bellona drawled.
Her demon friends sneered. They were itching for a fight and to make a statement in Shades Academy.
Medea perched on a long desk two rows away with her minions, drinking tea and looking on. Bellona had been her attack dog before Killian kicked the dog out, and she remained loyal to Medea. It was probably Medea who’d gotten her into the sixth house, since the princess of the House of Chaos had claimed a close tie to Queen Lilith.
“Look, we want no trouble,” said Drusilla.
Drusilla was a dhampir, half-vampire and half-human. Her kind’s social rank was lower than a pureblooded vampire. She’d once told me that powerful vampires could breed with humans in this realm, even though it was rare. In general, it was harder to even make a vampire, since magic had become so watered down in Mist of Cinder.
She hadn’t been impressed with me when I was Little Bob, and she’d joined Medea and America’s small army to beat me up in the Ring, her retribution to me for stabbing Prince Louis. She’d been in love with him, and I bet that he hadn’t shared with her or anyone else why I’d put a knife in his chest. He’d never looked at her with desire, instead had her bring him blondes to feed on and fuck. When I was in the House of Vampires, she’d been his love-sick assistant.
I wondered why she had jumped ship and now hung out with the geeks.
“Let us finish studying for the midterm, please,” Drusilla continued. She didn’t cower like the witch geeks or even the shifter geeks, who mostly shifted into smaller animals. “We won’t sit here again if you like this spot.”
