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What on earth was he doing?
They turned from Jax, shouting, and pointing for Xander to leave. Swaggering and grinning smugly, he waved a dismissive hand and chugged from his can. When one of the cronies approached him, nose to nose, it really did look like Xander loosed a beer belch right in his face.
Jax looked relieved at his father’s departure. The tension in his shoulders released and he put on his helmet, running across the field to join his team. The game started shortly after.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Xander. As soon as the game was in play, he stood, did a theatrical bow, poured the popcorn over the seats, and strode back up the steps, clutching the beers.
Before I knew it, he was sitting back beside me, laughing to himself.
“What the hell was that?” I think I spoke for myself, Aaron, and Osric.
He waved a casual backhand. “Just a bit of fun and games, so Jax can go play his.” He held up the cans. “Fancy a cold one, my orchid?”
Osric
Why had I bothered coming to this party?
I walked up the front porch to Xander’s coven house—the one they owned near campus, primarily for social gatherings—and stepped aside at the doorway as three chattering wolf shifters, members of Jax’s pack, slurred booze-fueled bollocks and stumbled past me. One patted me on the shoulder, his whiskey-laced breath strong enough to knock over a horse, as he said, “Hey man, you’re that prince, right? Have an awesome time, man.”
I didn’t like uninvited touching, but I forced myself to respond. “Thank you.”
Meandering through the entrance hall, I walked into a sizeable main living space to find vamps and wolves getting on surprisingly well. Chugging beers and joking as they lounged on couches and chairs filling the huge area. There was even an arm-wrestling match happening on a monstrous dining table, members from both sides crowding around, laying down bets, chanting and table thumping, but with no aggression, no malice.
In the past day, Jax and Xander had agreed to a truce between their respective groups, deciding to combine resources and efforts in the hunt for the killer who’d recently been named by the press: Jack 2. His gruesome skill with a knife had claimed and carved up two more victims just the night before, after the game, both young college girls who’d been out at parties not dissimilar to this one. It was really something awful.
One of those parties had been at New Bellevue State and the other here at New Lincoln. Unless it was two different killers, he’d driven right from one to the other and made quite the statement: nowhere was safe. So far, there was no rhyme or reason to the killings, other than that they were all young women. Three had been on college campuses, two downtown. But I suspected the police were withholding information. And there might even be more killings we didn’t know about.
I hoped Xander had thought to add some extra security after Jack 2’s spree the night before. Even though this house was more mansion than college house—nothing like the other two houses Jack 2 had struck in, with its high ceilings, plush décor and internal terraces spread over several floors—Jack 2 didn’t seem like the discriminating sort. So far, I’d only seen a couple of cameras and two sober-looking coven members stationed at the front gates.
Where was Cecilia though?
I ventured to the patio doors and exited to sweeping green lawns, a basketball court, a swimming pool, and even a lake to one side. Near the lake’s closest bank was a vastly stocked cocktail bar—regular and blood brands—carved deep into the trunk of a Giant Sequoia tree, its bartenders hurriedly shaking, pouring and mixing, trying their best to slake the never-ending thirsts of all the breeds who’d turned up.
Clever design for a bar. Though the tree probably didn’t agree.
Why was I here again?
Oh, that’s right. Aaron had convinced me to come, mentioning he’d be here with Cecilia.
And where was she? I thought it would be best if I went and found her, a human amongst hundreds of paranormal partygoers. The human girl that three of the most powerful paranormals on campus couldn’t seem to keep away from.
Of course, I wouldn’t have known of how close they all were to her if I hadn’t been observing so keenly.
But, if I was being honest with myself, had I really been observingthem? Or just her?
Shit, I didn’t know.
Okay, who was I kidding, I did know. Maybe I was turning into a fool, my wits dulled by romantic inclinations, just like the others. I’d seen the effect Cecilia, or Ceci as they seemed to call her more and more, had on their behavior. They were beyond obsessed. Hopelessly devoted, one might have said.
I envied their freedom. I had no such privilege, bound by chains of duty. I believed in traditions and family, sure. But if it was my mother’s version of that, it could sink to the bottom of that bloody lake for all I cared.
I nudged my way to the patio’s small corner bar and ordered a double scotch with ice. I had to half-shout what brand I wanted as dance music from a DJ station bumped my ears and shoulders did the same against my body. Taking a gulp, enjoying the pleasant burn and peaty odor of finest Scottish whisky, I chuckled to myself.
Me, Osric, a Fae royal, a prince no less, heir to the kingdom, had chosen to hang out at a party hosted by vamps. My mother would have had an aneurysm. She always thought them a lower breed. Just one example of how stuck up she was. And the night before, I’d even been at a football game, sitting through the whole tedious thing without a clue about the rules of play. I’d endured it, as I was enduring this booze-guzzling rabble, for one reason only: Cecilia.
Okay, fine. I could admit it. Aaron hadn’t needed to do much convincing. And my earlier musings were just denial and me coming round to the simple fact I couldn’t stop thinking about her.
Not just that, she’d mesmerized me. I didn’t know how or why, I just knew what my heart did when I laid eyes on her or heard her soft voice. Basically, any time I got any sort of reminder about how wonderful and caring this little human girl was. My whole soul, my entire being lifted and I felt like there was hope in my life. That happiness was something I could attain.
