Page 29 of Twisting Beauty

Then I froze.

Metal morgue benches were laid out in rows under the gloom, the air sharp with the scent of decay and antiseptic. Glass cases lined the walls filled with preserved human remains floating in jars of yellowed fluid.

Welcome to Ravenwood.

9

LIATH

Istepped into my first lecture, dread pooling in my stomach.

Neurobiology. I had tried studying Rua’s notes last night, but concepts swam in my head like a foreign language.

Come on. I’d studied psychology. Surely there were similar concepts in both. I could do this. I could pass as a second-year medical student, right?

The lecture hall opened around me in a steep, dark sweep of wood paneling and tiered desks, the curved rows rising one above the next, the collection of perfumes and chalk dust creating a clash of notes in my head that just tightened my chest further.

I froze for a moment at the front, feeling like I was already on trial.

I wanted to sit at the back, to blend into the shadows and survive this ordeal with my cover intact.

But Lorcan had already claimed the back row with his three friends sprawled around him and a cluster of pretty girls gathered close, all polished hair and brittle laughter. They looked less like students and more like a court, and he sat at the center of it.

Lorcan locked eyes with me across the room, his mouth curving in a sneer that felt like a blade drawn across my skin. His expression invited me and mocked me in the same breath, daring me to approach, daring me to turn away, proving I knew exactly how little I belonged in his circle of beautiful predators.

He didn’t look away. Didn’t blink. He sat back deeper in his seat, one arm slung over the row behind him like a king settling onto his throne, while the fingers of his other hand tapped against the desk in a slow, deliberate rhythm that carried through the room and lodged under my skin. Each measured tap felt directed at me, like he had already started counting down to whatever cruel thing he meant to do next.

I took a seat near the wall. Distance was the only defense I had left. Invisibility was the closest thing to safety in a place like Ravenwood.

A familiar girl stared at me from across the hall, her freckled face framed by frizzy red hair.

Rua’s memories handed me her name at once. Emer. A previous project partner.

I smiled and lifted a hand in a reflexive wave that belonged to me, not to Rua.

Emer recoiled. Her chair scraped backward against the floor, the sound sharp as breaking glass, and her fingers twitched toward her throat.

Then the rest of Rua’s memory flared like a match struck in darkness.

A public screaming match. Rua chanting Latin at her in front of a crowd. Threats of a hex spoken with enough conviction to make Emer go white and back away.

Christ. Don’t wave at her. I dropped my hand too late, the damage already done. I sank into my seat, forcing my shoulders in and my chin down.

Please God let me survive this hour without drawing any more attention to myself than I already had.

“Alright, settle.”

The professor, Dr. O’Sullivan, stood at the front. He had the clipped precision of a man who liked rules more than people, all neat posture, narrowed eyes, and permanent disappointment.

His gaze swept the room before settling on me.

“Back with us, Miss Lasair. Lucky us.” His tone dripped with restrained contempt, like he’d hoped I wouldn’t return, like my presence was a burden he’d been forced to accept.

A few students chuckled, the sound cruel and sharp. One cough rang out too harsh to be real. The air grew dense with anticipation, thick enough to choke on.

By now everyone in the lecture hall was staring at me, including Lorcan and all his friends, their attention pressing against my skin like hands I couldn’t escape.

I sank farther into my seat. So much for keeping my head down.