Page 111 of Slayer

Krista

I mean, this was what the money was for, right? This was why my mom left it to me.

I wrote her back right away.

Krista,

A lawyer to start my trust would be great. I look forward to seeing the properties over email. I won’t be able to see them in person.

Stella

My hands were actually shaking by the time I set my phone down.

I heard footsteps approach and glanced up to see Asher.

“Hey.” He sounded surprised to see me. He was holding a few books in his hands and glanced at the table I was at.

I released the breath I’d been holding and began to pack my stuff. “Hey, I was just leaving.”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” He set his books on my table. “We can share. I don’t bite.” He winked and my stomach did somersaults. Why was a well-timed wink from a good-looking guy the hottest thing ever?

“Nah, it’s cool. I was heading out to go find Harper and Luna and tell them I have a date for the masquerade ball,” I said, seeing if my news would have any effect on him.

His movements slowed, jaw clenching slightly, as he sat down and nodded slowly. “Oh, with who?”

“Greyson.” Again I watched his face for any sign of jealousy, but he was cool as a cucumber.

“Nice guy.” There was a tic in his jaw, a tightening to the way he held his book, but I could be imagining it.

“Yes, well, no one else asked me,” I said. “Are you going?” I was being super obvious, trying to hint everything I could, but Asher wasn’t taking the bait.

“Not my thing,” was all he said.

I sighed. Of course I would crush on the emotionally unavailable guy.

“Okay, well, see ya.” I hooked my bag over my shoulder and walked away. I didn’t have the mental or emotional capacity to pine for Asher anymore. I had bigger things to worry about. Like the fact that my dead mother, who might not be dead, had warned me to buy a bugout property, and the last woman to wear the mark that I now carried was murdered by her own people.

Screw dating. I needed to survive.

CHAPTER

EIGHTEEN

Luna was asked to the dance by Jax, and Harper was asked a few days later by a boy named Brett, and now that we all had dates, we’d had a blast going dress shopping. My only issue was hiding my shadow mark. I ended up finding a cute red dress with over-the-shoulder sleeves that covered it perfectly. It hugged my curves and had a completely open back, which was flattering.

Tonight was the dance, and it felt nice to be doing something normal.

“I can’t believe they have the dance two days before our hunter unit trials. Like are they trying to kill us?” Luna asked as I zipped up her black lace gothic dress, which she wore with my mother’s vintage black corset over top. She applied some dark purple lipstick and then laced up her boots, looking amazing as usual.

“Let’s not forget protection,” Harper said, and Luna and I both cocked our heads in her direction.

She was holding three stakes in her hands.

“Ohhh, that protection,” Luna said as we both burst into laughter.

We were all wearing thigh garters and slipped the stakes in perfectly. The attacks on the school had stopped, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t happen again at any moment, and I wasn’t about to take any chances.

It was Saturday night, and we had the dance, then Sunday we would do drills all day in preparation for Monday, which was our hunter unit trial. It involved a real-world vampire raid just like the one to get our marks. The professors would be watching our every move from beginning to end. This time, the assessment wouldn’t be set up for us. We’d have to track the vamps and everything. The Veil Stone Conclave would match us in our units, and then we’d all go out hunting together. I’d never been more nervous in all my life.