AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She readjusted it slightly. “It’ll do.” She linked arms with me. “Let’s go, bestie.”
I felt a pang of guilt. Cordelia, my first bestie, loved dressing up for stuff like this. But she was getting ready at Wolf House with some of Xavier’s pack members.
We took a carriage to arrive. The butler held up a gloved hand to let me into the cushioned interior, and the horses clop-clop-clopped their way along to Faery Castle, the upgraded version of Fae House.
We arrived fifteen minutes early. Fae, who were both tidy and punctual, frowned upon tardiness. Students stared and whispered at us as we passed. I was glad Gaksi paid off who knew who to get us this ride. We looked positively regal compared to the desperate hopefuls walking.
When the butler helped us out, a crowd had already gathered. Bouncers checked names, unafraid to haul out anyone uninvited.
“How embarrassing for them,” Aubrey mentioned to me.
“Yeah, for real.”
Fresh ivy lined the white bricks making up Faery Castle. Pastel spires ascended high into the sky, making me crane my neck to look up at them. They decorated the entrance with lightning bugs, darting to and fro high above the bouncers. It was ethereal and enchanting. Perfect for a masquerade ball.
Once we were let in, we were bombarded with waiters offering food.
“Wine?”
“Cheese?”
“Crackers?”
“They’re trying to make us fat,” Aubrey insisted, grabbing my hand. “It’s a trap. If you take the food, you won’t make it into the House.” She threw her head around, looking for our escape route.
“What?” I said, cheese in hand. “Why would they do that?”
“Because nobody likes a glutton! Come on, let’s go,” she insisted, tugging me along. I threw the cheese back on the tray before I left.
“Sorry!” I said.
I would miss that cheese. It looked like gouda, my favorite.
She pulled us past ancient-looking tapestries and hand-painted murals. Cherubs lined the ceiling, smiling through scene after scene of precious art. To the sides, iridescent crystals served as tables, where most of the upperclassmen sat and laughed with each other. Unhoused danced in the center, twirling under the shining chandeliers that swung to the tune of the music.
“Mingling time,” Aubrey announced. We started conversations with “important-looking” people that strode by. She introduced us to upperclassman after upperclassman, and I worried I wouldn’t be able to remember any of their names. Although with the predatory gaze some fae gave my dress, I was hoping they wouldn’t be able to remember me either.
I was shifting uncomfortably on my feet when a hum went through the room.
“See, look! Everyone who took the wine and food is dancing like an idiot!” Aubrey said.
In the middle of the dance floor, possessed freshmen contorted their bodies in crazy positions. Jerking, slapping, falling over. Twisted, painful movements, like puppets on a string. The lights above strobed in tune with their convulsive movements. Eerie.
Actives laughed hysterically around them. They mimed their movements, then fell over themselves in mockery.
“That could have been us,” Aubrey said. “We have to stay responsible so we don’t fall into mass hysteria. This entire night is one big test.”
Beyond them, a crowd gathered near the entrance. Newly set-out velvet ropes held them off, and their phone lights glimmered like spirits at a wake.
Aubrey elbowed me to pay attention. “Look, that’s Flora!”
It was acceptable for the leaders of the Houses to arrive fashionably late. After all, once housed, always housed. No lack of decorum could result in an expulsion. Sometimes I wondered if they came late just for the notoriety. Just to remind us they could do anything, anytime, and we’d still grovel and watch like peasants.
Flora arrived, dressed in diamonds, with the male Fae House leader, Fabian, on her side. I had never seen Fabian before, as he only recruited the males to Fae House, but I was stricken by how attractive he was. He had bronzed skin, earthy brown hair, and pointed ears that looked delicious enough to nibble on.
“Fabian’s cuter than I thought,” I told Aubrey.
“All fae are pretty,” Aubrey said. “Imagine how good we’d look with some light magic inside us.”
