Page 33 of Sweet Ruin

Anna nodded. “Yeah, this party seems stuffy and boring anyway.”

“I really don’t expect you guys to.” I started to make my way back out to the main entertaining area, but as soon as I stepped out of the hallway, I stopped dead. Noah was standing right in front of me.

He was dressed in a fine navy suit that was offset by black lapels, and his eyes filled with surprise when he saw me. He glanced over his shoulder as though he was looking for someone, but then he focused on me and marched forward. He grabbed my arm and guided me back into the hallway, so I was once again hidden from the eyes of the rest of the party.

“What are you doing here?” It was the second time in a week he’d asked me that question. But this time when he growled the words, he seemed much more frantic and concerned than he had been when I’d barged into his room. Still, his tone made it clear that he didn’t want me here either.

I shook my arm free and took a step back from him. I knew Noah didn’t like me very much, but his apparent desperation to rid me from his presence right now was surprising.

“Leave her alone, Noah,” Cress said.

“Yeah, Noah, what the hell?” Anna agreed.

He ignored the two of them though, his eyes fixed on me. “You need to leave.”

Even though I agreed with him, I felt frozen to the spot. His voice was a little quiet, almost pained, and there was an unmistakable urgency in his tone.

“Now, Isobel,” he added when I didn’t move.

“This isn’t your house. You can’t just kick her out,” Anna said.

“I can, and I will,” Noah shot back. “She wasn’t invited.”

“Yeah, we just found out,” Cress said. “Why not?”

“Because she’s not wanted here.” Noah flashed his anxious eyes at his cousin and then back to me. “You have to go.”

“It’s fine,” I said to the girls. “I was going anyway. I shouldn’t have come in the first place.”

“We’re coming with you,” Cress said.

“Yeah, screw you, Noah,” Anna snapped.

We made our way back out of the hallway, and I hurried through the crowd of students. Many of them gave me confused looks, and I felt like it was as much due to the stunned and embarrassed look on my face as it was to do with the casual outfit I was wearing. Eventually, I found Wes standing close to the spot we’d left him, chatting with some of his friends.

Concern covered Wes’s face when he saw me rushing to him. “Isobel, what’s wrong?”

“Turns out we’re not invited to this party,” I said. “Let’s go.”

“Noah’s being a dick,” Anna added as she joined us. She was almost as flustered as me. “He’s kicking Isobel out.”

“He’s what?” Wes’s eyes narrowed, and his worried expression was replaced with a look of anger I hadn’t seen in him before.

“It’s nothing,” I said, shooting Anna a subtle glare. “We’re just not supposed to be here. I think we should go.”

I glanced over my shoulder and found Noah watching us through the crowd from the other side of the room. His jaw was tight, and his eyes were locked on us as though he was refusing to look away until he was sure we’d left.

Wes was staring right back at him. Judging by the tension in his shoulders, he looked like he was trying his best not to march across the room and confront Noah face-to-face.

“Wes, can you drive us home?” I asked softly. He was still having a stare down with Noah, and I gently touched his arm to pull him out of it. “Please?”

He glanced down at me and then slowly nodded. “Yeah, of course. Let’s get out of here.”

We walked back through the house, and although I relaxed slightly when I knew I was out of Noah’s view, being surrounded by the formally dressed adults in the front of the house did nothing to make me change my mind about leaving.

Wes opened the front door, standing back as he allowed Cress and Anna to walk through. I was about to go after them when I felt a prickling sensation against the back of my neck. Slowly, I glanced over my shoulder and found William Hastings glaring at me.

He was standing in the lounge area, surrounded by Luther’s guests. Someone was talking to him, but he didn’t seem to be listening. Instead, he was watching me with a look of pure loathing, which forced my stomach to dip and my heart to beat fast. I’d hoped to never see him again after the Halloween carnival, but here I was, only weeks later, being confronted by his hatred for me once again. He slowly lifted his drink to his lips, but he didn’t pull his eyes from me as he swallowed it down.

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