Page 34 of Underworld
“Nothing.” Olivia waved me over to the wardrobe. “You need to get dressed. As cute as you look in yesterday’s clothing, even with the wrinkles, you probably want to make a better impression.”
“Control freak,” I muttered.
“You know you love me.” Olivia blew me a kiss and turned to the wardrobe, hauling it open.
“Those wings are going to pose a problem,” Olivia said after pulling out three different tops and held them up.
Remembering my free-fall out the window, I muttered, “You just noticed?”
Yuri snickered. Olivia sighed. “I guess theyaremore problematic for you. But I was talking about clothing. Example…”
She held up a purple sweater that would have looked cute, if I could have gotten it on.
The weight of my wings felt even more acute than before and I groaned. “Yeah, there’s no way I’ll ever wear a sweater again.”
“All right.” Olivia closed the doors to her wardrobe. “It’s time to get serious.”
I had no idea what she meant and watched in bemusement as she made her way over to her own wardrobe. “Um, Olivia…? There’s nothing of yours that will…”
“Hey!” Yuri cut in as my voice trailed off, because the halter top Olivia pulled out was definitely not something Olivia would have worn.
Olivia waved a hand dismissively at Yuri. “You never wear these, even though you buy them from the Earth shipments all the time.”
“Fine.” Yuri scowled as her gaze flicked over me. “Although, I think it’s totally your color, anyway.”
Olivia managed to shove me into the bathroom and ordered me to shower and change. Wedging into the stall proved difficult with wings. At least the water rolled off of my feathers, preventing them from being waterlogged. When I dried, I appreciated that they remained soft and dry.
After dressing in the outfit Olivia had provided—a high-waisted skirt and revealing halter—I felt more like myself. Iwaspart-succubus and dressing cute never bothered me. Instead, it made me feel more alive.
Checking myself out in the mirror, I perked up.
The ruching on the sides of the skirt added an odd sort of elegance, maybe, but in a bad-ass sort of way.
Actually, everything about my image looked bad-ass. Including the dark wings flaring out from my back.
“Not bad,” I murmured, unable to keep from grinning. Today was going to be one hell of a test, but now I felt more than prepared to face it.
And my mates? Well, they’d better be prepared to faceme.
Chapter 9
I felt like some zoo animal on display as I walked along the molten paths to get to my first class. I still wasn’t used to how it made my feet burn, but given my lineage, it wasn’t unpleasant.
All the stares I was getting? Yeah. That was definitely unpleasant.
Everybodyseemed to be staring at me—or, rather, at my wings.
The last time I’d walked to one of my classes, the students had either ignored me or given me the side-eye. I’d earned a reputation as a dud, and then as one of Hendrik’s pets.
Now the demonic cat was out of the bad.
As I glanced around the winding streets trying to orientate myself, my gaze locked with another girl’s and she froze, eyes widening as a look of panic skittered over her face.
I tried smiling. She wasn’t scared ofme, was she?
“Hi.”
She bobbed her head and jerked her gaze away, moving off at a fast clip that turned into a run after just a couple of paces.
