Page 121 of Sorrow & Strangers

“Holy Drac, it does!” Alice gapes at me. “I have literally no one to share this news with.”

I stop walking and give her a reproachful look. “I will go home.”

“Please, you love me,” Alice says, nudging me playfully.

“You’re an asshole.” I roll my eyes but continue walking. The music booms, reverberating off the tree trunks, shaking the leaves. The beat leads us to a clearing, a different one from where the stranger and I usually meet. This space is packed with shifters in various states of inebriation.

“Whoa,” Alice says, looking like the cat who got the cream. “There are way more people here than I expected.”

I smirk at her. It’s my turn to give her shit. “Well . . . you have your pick of the litter tonight, Al.”

“Hey,” Alice says, glaring at me, “don’t put me in a box.” She looks back at the shifters, and I swear I see her eyes darken with lust. “Even if it’s the right one,” she says a little more quietly.

I laugh and tug her with me into the mess of people. Alice licks her lips more than once as she scans the clearing, carefully choosing her prey like any good predator.

“Alcohol,” she says, her nose crinkling in feigned disgust, but she’s not fooling anyone, much less me. “Lots of alcohol.”

We make our way to one of the makeshift tables that have been erected along the edges of the clearing, and Alice grabs two plastic cups full of beer. Neither of us likes beer, but I’m not sure we could expect anything else at a shifter party. They truly are all frat boys. Of course, there are female shifters, but none of them would be caught dead at a party like this. All the women here are of other species, and even the male shifters seem to enjoy that fact.

Alice and I take a sip, and I grimace.

“Fuck me. What is this—” I glance at Alice when she abruptly stops talking, and I notice she’s locked eyes with a handsome wolf shifter.

I sigh and look down at the pale yellow liquid in my cup. “I’d rather be at an incubi party. You get sexually harassed, but at least the liquor is good,” I quip.

“Good, yeah,” Alice says, her voice distracted as she flirts with the wolf shifter with nothing but her eyes. It’s so interesting to me that Alice always manages to pull shifters when both species have an unspoken rule about despising each other. Yet Alice can’t seem to help herself, and the shifters don’t even try to resist her, not that I can blame them. My best friend is completely stunning.

The shifter prowls toward us, smiling wolfishly. “A fae and a vamp duo. Don’t suppose you’re Alice and Summer?” he asks, his voice gently accented. His dark eyes briefly flit over me before they’re back on Alice.

Alice’s lips tilt into a half smile. “Actually, my name is Bert.”

I roll my eyes, but my lips twitch. It’s fun to watch her like this. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her practice the art of seduction, and her version is most certainly a predator ensnaring their prey. It’s not like what the stranger does with me. This is much less dangerous, much less intriguing. But maybe that is just me, because the shifter seems more than interested.

Another shifter approaches, clapping the wolf on the shoulder. This one is taller, less rugged, but very handsome. “I hope you’re not menacing these stunning females, Harris.”

Harris barely takes his eyes from Alice, and I chuckle behind my hand at how ridiculous he and Alice are. They should just bang already. I don’t even want to know what they’re wordlessly saying to each other.

“Now hold on a minute, you wouldn’t be the famous Disaster Duo, would you?” the newcomer asks.

“Guilty,” I say with a smile, wondering how we are going to rid ourselves of that name.

“Rick,” he says, pulling his hand from Harris’s shoulder and holding it out to me.

I look at his hand but don’t take it to shake. Alice and Harris suddenly walk away, and I watch them disappear into the crowd before looking back at Rick.

“I’m a third-year,” he adds.

“Cool. Clearly you know quite a bit about me,” I say.

Rick drops his hand and laughs softly. “Sorry, must be an occupational hazard for you.”

“You could say that.” I so wished never to be this person. I spent my whole life trying to be the person no one knew. Yet I was always the odd one out, the strange female who no one understood, and that made me noticeable to everyone.

Rick grimaces. “Didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I know that sucks.”

I shrug. “I should go find Alice. Nice to meet you, Rick.” He seems like a nice-enough guy, but the last thing I need is another guy added to the mix. Plus, I’m not sure I’m particularly into shifters.

“Nice to meet you, Summer.”