Page 127 of Sorrow & Strangers

“But also he was in your bed.”

Right, I should probably have a reaction to that. Alice doesn’t know how bad it’s been, but how did he get into my room without breaking the oath? There must be a loophole in the wording of the blood oath that I missed, or . . . Fuck, what if when I told him to destroy my pussy he took it as an invitation, meaning he could enter my bedroom.

Fuck drunk Summer. Fuck her. She’s a stupid slut.

“Right, weird,” I finally say. “I’m going back to bed. The floor is unbelievably uncomfortable. I don’t know how you can lie here.”

“I spent like twenty years sleeping in a coffin. This is luxurious compared to that,” she says. “Plus, I can’t move. My legs don’t work. They feel like they are made of jelly.”

Not sure I can make it back to my room without help, I just crawl into her bed and pull her blanket around me. I hear Alice shifting around on the floor, and then the scrape of claws and a faint, gentle growl. When I glance over the edge, Alice is curled up on the area rug with the monitor lizard. I sigh heavily and turn to my other side.

“The lizard has to go,” I grumble.

“Shhh, she doesn’t mean it, Steve. She’s just cranky that she was drugged and slutty with an alpha, a berserker, and her stalker. It’s okay.”

I grumble again about how Steve will be rehomed or released, but I don’t think Alice hears me because she doesn’t respond.

“My fangs feel tainted. I can still taste that shifter’s blood.”

“My body feels tainted.” The worst part is that I don’t actually remember if it was. Though I’m pretty sure.

Alice snorts. “You just banged an alpha. We’ve all been there.” She pauses for a moment. “I mean, not me, but others probably. But hey, at least he didn’t pee on you! Small victories.”

Alice and I drift off again, and when I wake up a few hours later, Alice is in bed with me. My phone pings, and I flinch, the sound having become my least favorite.

Unknown

How are you feeling, princess?

I groan but type out a reply.

Summer

Just leave me to die in peace.

Unknown

So you don’t want a cure?

I frown. Surely if there were a cure, the headmaster would have sent it.

Summer

I’ve already had one.

Unknown

Yet you’re still suffering.

I narrow my eyes, wondering if this is some sort of trick.

Summer

Leave it on the porch.

A small bottle appears on the bedside table next to me, and I am more than frustrated with myself for not making the rules stricter. I pick up the vial and pull the black cork from it, cautiously sniffing the clear liquid. It smells like roses and grapefruit. I take one careful swallow, partly to see if he’s drugging me and partly to save some for Alice if he isn’t.

Unknown