Page 107 of Riot House
I am so fucking done with this. Riot House used to be a sanctuary for me, back when Dash, Pax and I became friends, but it’s been nothing more than a prison these past few months. “Yeah. Elodie’s my girlfriend. There. I fucking said it. And you two can either accept it with good grace and move the fuck on, or you can find yourselves rooms at the academy post haste. Act accordingly.”
I go to leave, but Dashiell grabs me by the arm. “You think it’s so easy to sever this friendship, Wren? It’s not. There’s a fucking army general in a coma on the other side of the world right now, because we agreed to do something that could get us all put away for the rest of our natural lives. If not executed in a fucking firing squad.”
“Is that supposed to be some sort of threat, Lord Lovett? Because I’ve done plenty for you that would result in the same outcome and then some.”
“And what about Mara?” Pax adds.
“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT MARA!” My vision’s blood-red. I swear to god, I’m gonna lose all self-control in a minute. I take a breath, reining in my fury. “Mara is not my problem. I didn’t hurt her. I did nothing to her. She’s long gone and there’s nothing any of us can do about it. So stop bringing her up.”
I’m out of the door and down the first flight of stairs when Pax calls after me. “You’d better hope that girl of yours doesn’t go out into the forest tonight, Jacobi. You know the rules. If she does, she’s fair fucking game!”
He’s looking for a reaction. I don’t give him one.
He won’t fuckingtouchElodie.
I jog down the stairs with my stupid wolf’s mask hanging from my hand, dreading the kind of trouble the rest of this night may bring.
44
ELODIE
The night airis cool and crisp. The trees rustle, whispering amongst themselves as I skirt along the edge of the forest, walking up the road back toward Wolf Hall. I lasted all of fifteen minutes at a Riot House party and now I need a shower. I feel dirty. I feel tricked and deceived, and I want my mother, but I can’t have her because she’s fucking dead.
“I can keep up with you, y’know,” Carina mutters behind me. “Doesn’t matter how fast you walk. I’m not going anywhere.”
“I really wish you would.”
“Elodie, come on, now. Please. You’re not being very fair.”
“FAIR?” I whip around, ready to take her head off. “You don’t get to pull the ‘you’re not being very fair’ card on me, Carina Mendoza. I thought you were my friend, and you’ve been hiding things and keeping secrets from me this entire time. You swore you were gonna take that journal to the cops. You didn’t even tell me anything about Mara in the first place. You said you weren’t gonna come here tonight. And, surprise surprise, what did you do?”
“You didn’t tell me you were seeing Wren,” she counters, her eyes hard as flint.
“Yeah. I know that was shitty, but I didn’t feel like Icouldtell you. There was no reason for you to keep me in the dark about Mara, though, was there?”
A loud whoop echoes amongst the trees, the sound half animal, half human. Both of us stop, peering into the pitch darkness, and the hairs prickle across the back of my neck. “Why would anyone run out there into the forest with no fucking lights,” I mutter. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
Carina sighs. “Cabin fever’s a very real thing, Elle. You’ve only been at the academy for a couple of months but try living here for a few years. You start to go a little stir crazy. You don’t get it. If you’re a student at Wolf Hall, the guys from Riot House are a big deal. They set the tone for the entire year. If you’re a guy, you wanna be them. If you’re a girl, you wanna date them. That’s the way it’s always been. So when they pull stupid shit like this, everyone’s always tripping over themselves to join in.”
“Is that what happened the night Mara disappeared? She was trying to join in whatever dumb game they were playing?”
Carina nods. “Yes.”
“So what? I’m supposed to just traipse right on in there and make a fool of myself like everyone else? Is that what they expect?”
“Pax and Dashiell, probably. Not Wren. I was talking to him before you showed up and he wanted you as far away from this thing as possible, Elle. It’s good that you’re going back to the academy, okay?”
Huh. Yeah, that’s right. Wren didn’t want me at the party. He wanted me as far away from this thing as humanly possible. Well, Wren’s going to have to learn that he isn’t always going to get what he wants with me. I set my jaw. “You know what, Carina? Maybe I will just join in this stupid game. That way there won’t be any more secrets. I’ll know if he sleeps with half the academy. I’ll know exactly what went on, and no one will be able to hide anything from me anymore!”
“Elodie! What the hell are you doi—wait! Elle, you can’tseeanything!”
I’ve already stepped off the road, though. I’m already walking into the woods, towards the excited cries and shouts of the other members of Wolf Hall Academy. Far be it from me to let them have all of the fun.
Cursing loudly, Carina comes crashing through the undergrowth after me. “This is nuts. What’s the point in any of this? Who cares what Wren does or doesn’t do?”
“Me. I do. He made me fall in love with him and nowIfucking care. It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Then just stop!” Carina cries, exasperated.
