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However, devils could still be summoned. It was less thematic than a puff of smoke and flames. In reality, it was more like a strong pull toward something—like uprooting your entire life to become a senior year transfer at the first university to house monsters and humans side by side.
As I neared the bonfire, the more I felt it, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint where the urge was pulling me. I was definitely getting closer, though. Creelin U was only so big.
The bonfire was crawling by the time I got there, everyone with a drink in hand--Boowery Beer, shots of various colors being passed around. I accepted a small plastic shot of blood red Vampire Vodka, raising a skeptical brow until I was assured that no actual blood product was involved.
Nothing wrong with that; just wasn’t my thing.
I winced, letting the sickly-sweet liquid burn its way down my throat as a reminder of why I didn’t drink often.
As I tossed the plastic shot glass into the trash, I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Luc, right?”
I turned toward the voice, and found myself deep in conversation with a stunning phoenix, all crimson feathers and a raspy voice that briefly made me consider leaving with them. They were stunning, yes, but very clearly not the one I was here for.
The moon crept higher in the sky, and the phoenixes in attendance took turns tending to the large bonfire in the middle. A low hum of conversation vibrated the air around us. I scanned the other students—humans, baby-faced freshmen that looked like they’d crossed through the wardrobe into Narnia. I wondered if they’d ever even been away from home before.
I lingered in the tree line, far from the crackling and popping fire, if for no other reason than the woods called to me. Throughout the night, that feeling got stronger, the one that meant that something was about to make sense.
Various students came up to me, both human and monster. Everybody was curious about the senior year transfer. “Change of pace,” I explained more than once. Others got, “I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.”
All the while, I was scanning the growing crowd around me, searching, waiting for something to explain the twist in my gut.
The school may have been in its second year allowing humans, but you could always separate those unfamiliar with the monster world. There was a certain level of apprehension in their eyes, even though they wore a smile on their mouths. With each new creature that crossed their path, their eyes widened, their pulse would race. Who could blame them? After all, stories were one thing, but coming face to face with monsters straight out of fairytales was another.
Some supernatural beings might say the same about encountering humans.
And there was one particular human that wore nerves on his face like a mask.
He was precious, all bright-eyed and rosy-cheeked. He sat close to the fire, arms tight around him like his baggy hoodie wasn’t doing an adequate job at keeping him warm. Soft, chestnut curls tickled his eyebrows, framing sparkling green eyes and a smattering of freckles across his cheeks.
He had that naivety in his eyes, the one that meant attending a university was his first voyage into adulthood. I wondered if he’d ever been on his own, if all of this was new to him.
His eyes told me that much. He studied the setting around him with a juvenile kind of astonishment, like it would vanish if he even so much as blinked.
He talked with a couple—an ogre and another person I knew to be the sole human in a family of house cat shifters.
He smiled, a dimple popping in his left cheek, and warmth simmered through my veins. I shifted my position, taking a single step out of the tree line to get a closer look. The movement caught his attention, and his head slowly rotated in my direction. He bypassed me at first. I leaned back against a tree trunk, crossing my arms over my chest. The tension in my muscles eased, and my wings relaxed against the tree, tail dropping to the ground. It was the first time in two days that I felt anything other than anxiety.
Our eyes met, and the wash of color over his cheeks brightened, nearly erasing the freckles scattered there.
He swallowed hard, Adam’s apple visibly bobbing even from a distance. Then his mouth fell open on a soft gasp.
He saw me—he was seeing me.
My lips curled into an involuntary smile, my heart kicked into gear.
Him.
Chapter 3
TATE
“Tate!”
I jolted awake fighting the web of blankets around my legs and tumbling right to the floor.
What the hell was happening?
My alarm screeched loudly from my nightstand and that coupled with the pounding on my door brought me back to my senses and reminded me of where I was: Creelin U.
