Page 13 of A Dose of Agony
My lips curl up. “That sound good to you, Lola?”
She swallows, her eyes darker than usual. She nods firmly. This is such a strange situation for all of us.
“Never mind,” I call to Mrs. Bhatt. “Proceed.”
Mrs. Bhatt gives me one look that betrays her minor annoyance, but she nods to Corolla, the red pixie who continues her flight through the air. I notice a herd of pixies huddled together in the corner, high above the other beings heads.
The red pixie grabs a pen and delicately scrolls out my name on a framed parchment. Followed by Janet’s name. The crowd whispers frantically.
Then, Lola’s name. A crowd of pixies begins to buzz. I’m not certain what that means.
Finally, Thompson’s name is scrawled on the parchment, and a deep, short-lived howl rings out, followed by several growls of annoyance. A handsome Black shifter pushes forward through the crowd until he reaches us.
He gives me a first bump, his grin wide. “Thanks, buddy.”
I smile.
The rest of the strange ceremony wraps up quickly and is more of a blur than anything. Several people walk up and talk to me and my friends, offering congratulations.
“So, will you two be joining Elite Hall?” Stassi asks with a wiggle of his brows and a charming smile.
“No,” they both answer simultaneously.
“No?” he asks. “You could be the first pixie to ever be in Elite Hall!”
“I know.” Lola shrugs. “But I’d rather make a point. I’ve been treated badly by my own clan for not performing well enough on exams and that’s unfair. People in Minor Hall can be badass too.”
“Yeah, we can!” I hold up my fist.
Stassi’s expression of shock turns slowly to me. “You aren’t in Minor Hall anymore.”
My lips part, but I pause. I mean… I’m living there now, but I haven’t technically changed halls. I suppose that line is a little blurry.
“No, but we are,” Janet answers. “And we’re going to prove our worth without Elite Hall.”
We make our way back, my new inner circle around me as well as Jarron’s and several other Elite supernaturals I vaguely recognize. I almost feel like we have groupies all of a sudden.
I’m certain it will calm down shortly, but as of right now, people want to be seen with us. Three Minor Hall no ones.
Except, we’re not no ones anymore.
Lola, Janet, and I spend the whole rest of the day together in Elite Hall, with my guardian demon watching from the other side of the room.
We chat about everything that could change now. We exclaim about how insane it is. We also talk about the possible downsides, like that all of their future accomplishments could be attributed to just “knowing the right people.”
I have the same concern. What if I’m only ever remembered as the girlfriend of the demon prince? And not for the things I have done myself.
“Listen,” I tell them eventually, “if you ever don’t want to be on the list, just let me know.”
Janet purses her lips.
“No, we want to be on the list,” Lola says. “It’s badass.”
“Yeah,” Janet agrees. “We have some concerns, but the benefits are worth it, at least for now.”
“So long as you’re here, we should at least have access to the hall, right? We need to be able to hang out with you. This way we won’t need a specific invitation every time.”
I bite the inside of my lip. That’s fair.
