Page 15 of Monster's Obsession

“Often, yes. It enhances both experiences, I can assure you.”

He gave me a once-over that made me question his insistence that he didn’t like my blood, but then he said, “If you’re ever interested in trying it, I have a friend who claims he really does enjoy drinking from demons.”

“I’m good,” I said quickly.

“So, tonight? Liverpool?”

I could use the distraction. Otherwise, I’d lie in bed all evening and think about Daruka, and that would undoubtedly lead to some poor, not well thought out decisions.

At least this was a poor decision I’d made a hundred times before, and I’d only ever been caught once.

“I’m in.”

CHAPTER6

The uniform sucked.

The skirt and blazer were made of wool, for fuck’s sake. Of course, it was February, and as it turned out, it was even colder here in the middle of some sea between England and Ireland than it was in Maryland, USA, so I supposed, for the moment, it was tolerable. But what the hell were we supposed to do in freaking May?

Hell, maybe I wouldn’t even be here by then.

Hopefully.

Since I’d now missed dinner anyway, I quickly shed the dreaded uniform and replaced it with my leggings and hoodie, and then I headed out to explore. I had thirty-six hours before I had to report to my first class, and I wanted to figure out how to get to each one before then.

No way was I going to look like the new kid, helplessly wandering the halls, having no clue where to go next and desperately afraid of the tardy bell going off before I figured out which classroom I was supposed to be in.

I had no idea if there even was a tardy bell in this place, and this was college, not high school—or the supernaturals’ equivalent to it, anyway—but it didn’t matter. My pride was still at stake.

Speaking of stakes, was it just me, or were the only people out and about at this hour vampires? I’d passed three of them since leaving my dorm room.

I’d presumed no one would be wandering the halls at this late hour; that’s why I’d waited so long to take my tour. Or if they were out—such as my roomie, who had returned for maybe ten minutes after dinner and I hadn’t seen her since—they weren’t wandering the halls.

Except the vampires. There went another one. Was there a convention or something? Although, let’s be real. Vampires slept during daylight hours. So vampire students wandering the halls at one in the morning probably wasn’t all that odd.

I’d already scoped out my own floor. There was a staircase at the far end, on the boys’ side. It took me down to the kitchen, which wasn’t bustling with activity at this hour, but there was a student observing while a kobold explained how to baste some sort of heavenly smelling roast that he’d pulled out of a contraption that billowed smoke as he removed it.

Well, hell. I’d signed up for cooking class because I’d figured it would be an easy A. Plus, Mrs. Caldwell had said I’d get a say in what entrées were served each day.

I hadn’t counted on having to do kitchen duty in the middle of the night.

Quietly tiptoeing past them, I slipped into the dining hall. It was cavernous, row upon row of long, narrow wooden tables filling the space.

I headed toward the other end of the room. It was so clean in here, you could probably eat off the floor. I sure hoped the kobolds were responsible for keeping this room spick and span; I couldn’t imagine any students who would have the ability or desire to clean it to this standard after each meal.

I was just about to slip through the door into the entry hall when I heard voices whispering on the other side.

“Who else is coming?” someone asked.

“Oden. He’s the last one. Oh, here he comes.”

“Oden,” someone called out and was immediately shushed by a bunch of others. Were these the vampires I’d passed in the halls? Why were they gathering here?

Carefully and quietly, I inched the door open enough to peer through the crack. Sure enough, vampires. I was curious, but not enough to draw attention to myself. I was about to close the door and retrace my steps, but something caught my eye.

Black leather. Long, black hair. Tattoos.

Wings.

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