Page 32 of A Taste of Torment
“Yeah, I’m good,” I answer quickly and then wrack my brain for an excuse. I should be deliriously happy, right? Dating a prince they all think I actually like. Meanwhile, I’m wondering if he’ll drain my blood the moment I let him corner me. “All the whispers and stares have been getting under my skin.” There. That’s true and understandable.
I only have to waste another hour or so before I can excuse myself to hide away in my room and obsess over my sister’s journal some more. Fun.
“Yeah, people are so annoying,” Lola says with a tinkle. “Like, get over it already.”
“It’s only been a few days. People here live for drama, and you’re just the ‘it thing’ right now.”
I nod absently and flip another page. Once I saw that Liz had been using the journal our parents gifted us, I dug through my drawers and found my own. I’ll need somewhere to write my notes about my investigation, why not the forgotten purple leather monstrosity? It feels symbolic, somehow. My sister kept her secrets in her journal. I’m going to expose them in mine.
Her secrets put her in the grave, and my research will bring her to justice.
“Hey, I could use your help with something,” I blurt out to my new friends.
“Of course. Anything,” Janet says.
“I feel super out of sorts here. I don’t know much of anything about the Elite I sit with at lunch. Could you help me get the lay of the land? Spill the tea about the powerful people?”Did that sound casual enough?
Lola squeals. I blink back my surprise, and flinch as she flutters up into my face.
“You’re speaking Lola’s language.” Janet chuckles. Then, she reaches out and lifts her palm until she’s gently lifted Lola out of my face.
“Yeah, sorry. You said spill the tea, and I just couldn’t contain my excitement.” She tinkles again, purple sparks of magic fluttering down to the table.
“So, what do you want to know?” Janet asks, shutting her charms workbook and sliding it away.
“Uh, could you give me a rundown of the Elites I sit with? Oh! What do you know about Jarron’s inner circle? No one has really talked much about that.” I should know who else was on the list, right? I didn’t even pay attention to the names below mine. They could be anyone.
“Yes!” Janet says. “So, Stassi and Laithe are the two others on the list.”
“You bumped Manuela off,” Lola says excitedly.
“Manuela?” I think back to the scary witch from lunch. I liked her. She’s intimidating, but she didn’t give off ‘I’d like to kill you’ vibes like some of the others.
“Yep, she’s a badass witch with dryad blood.”
I blink. “Dryad? Really?”
Lola flutters her wings, and I’m guessing that means yes. I knew she was something more than witch, but I wouldn’t have guessed dryad. They’re incredibly rare.
“She’s dating a wolf shifter, but they’re really low key. I don’t know of any big drama involving her other than that. They’ve been on-off for a couple years.”
“Stassi,” I say, thinking through the other two names she said. “That’s the flirty wolf shifter?”
Lola nods. “Oh, yes! I love him. He’s so sweet.” Her cheeks glow purple. Is that a pixie blush? I resist the urge to grin at her.
Stassi is very complimentary. I suppose a lot of girls like that.
“He’s super funny too.”
He didn’t seem like the kind of person Jarron would want to spend time with, given how reserved he seems to be.
“Stassi has had several big romances; most have ended badly.”
I twist my lips. A shifter can’t bond to a human, promising them power. They can mate with humans, but not in the same way. The human stays a human.
“And the other one in his inner circle?”
“Laithe. He’s some sort of lesser demon. I don’t know the specific species, but he’s linked with Jarron magically.”
