“The only appearancesyoumake are in my nightmares,” I said, coating each word with venom. My revulsion only seemed to increase his amusement. Wanting more than anything to wipe the ribald smirk off his stupid face, I continued, “Fanged beasts and monsters, that kind of thing.” I made a face. “You fit right in.”
Casimir chuckled. “You keep telling yourself that, Farrow.”
Prick,I thought, sliding the book into my bag and glaring up at him pointedly. “Can I go now?”
“Just—be careful with that book, Farrow,” he warned.
Some strained emotion flared behind his eyes. A restless foreboding about the edges. Like there was something else he wasn’t telling me.
I forced a laugh. “What’s it going to do, bite me?”
“It might,” he said with a sly smile. “And no, you can’t go yet. Perhaps I forgot to mention it,” he gave a careless wave of his hand, “but I invited Bryce to join us for our study session.”
I stared at him. “What are you talking about? Why?”
“Before you jump to conclusions, her family is in possession of something we need. A certain magical object.”
“A magical object,” I repeated dully. “And you’re going to ask her for it?”
“Of course not. We’re going to steal it.”
We?
“Steal what, exactly?” I blustered.
“A valuable piece of jewelry.” At the look on my face, he clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “You and I are working together, remember? No backing out now.”
“I—”
My protestations were interrupted by the sound of the door creaking on its hinges as Bryce Yu-Ri entered the room.
12
“Hi,” Bryce breathed, her silky black hair swishing behind her.
I choked in surprise, barely managing to cover the sound with a feeble cough. I was certain that Casimir observed my discomposure and marked it with rakish amusement.
Bryce’s dark eyes swam with desire as she took in Casimir’s appearance, lingering on his sculpted chest and across the crown of onyx curls that fell elegantly over his forehead. I couldn’t blame her for the way she greedily memorized each detail, but it irritated me all the same.
Casimir inclined his head to her in greeting. “Bryce,” he said.
She beamed at him, revealing a perfect set of dainty white teeth. Gods, had she even brought along any books to this supposed study session? From the way her gaze darted between the pair of us, I wondered if she had expected to be alone with Casimir.Maybe—oh, gods—maybe he’d only invited me as a buffer to protect himself from Bryce’s advances.
Bryce’s gaze fell upon me, her nose wrinkling slightly in distaste at my casual clothes, and I was uncomfortably aware of the old jeans and faded sweatshirt I wore beneath my brown leather jacket. She appraised me as a vulture might survey a picked-over carcass, as though she might, by sight alone, unearth what qualities I possessed that could possibly have led someone like Casimir to befriend someone like me. My cheeks began to grow warm under her scrutiny.
Despite the heat fanning out across my face, I forced myself to meet her assessing gaze and attempted to appear as though her evaluation did not affect me in the slightest. Seeing Bryce again brought up unfortunate memories of that summer evening I’d fled the crowded pub, and all of the humiliation that had accompanied it. In all the chaos of the past week, I’d forgotten that Bryce and Casimir had supposedly met during his new student orientation.
Bryce placed her bag down on the table and offered me a demure smile that did not reach her eyes. “I didn’t know you’d be joining us, Arden,” she said sweetly.
“Yeah, it seems a lot of things were left out of the schedule tonight,” I replied, shooting Casimir a death glare.
He remained obscenely unbothered as he eyed the pair of us.
“Listen, I wanted to ask if you’d like to come to my party next Friday?” Bryce batted her lashes at Casimir, and my insides twisted with unease.
Oh, no. She was inviting him to a Gilded Circle party?
Reluctantly, she turned back to me. “I would love it if you came, too, Arden.” Her soft smile did nothing to alleviate the saccharine taste of the lie.