He says nothing, continuing to focus on Remi bickering with both Cecily and Ava as usual.
Seeming oblivious to the way Creighton blatantly ignored her, Annika continues, “I didn’t know you like orgies.”
“I don’t,” he says, still not looking at her.
“You just raised your hand when Remi suggested it.”
“He paid me to.”
“Oh, so you don’t like them. Ha. And here I was thinking about getting your attention somehow.”
He finally tilts his head in her direction. “Why?”
Her smile widens now that he’s looking at her. “Because I’m totally going to get you out of your shell since Remi is obviously failing. I wonder if he keeps a list of all the methods he tried so that I can maybe shrink the endless options I have in mind.”
“You talk too much.” Creigh simply turns and leaves.
Annika’s shoulders hunch, but she soon perks up. “I really should get out of here before Jer sees me. Or at least hide.”
I suppress a smile while watching them, but it slowly disappears when I catch a glimpse of Gareth heading upstairs.
It’s a knee-jerk reaction, but I slip from between the others and sneak up behind him.
Since there are so many people and so much chaos around, I manage to blend in seamlessly.
When I reach upstairs, however, an ominous feeling slowly creeps up my spine. I squash it and stay on Gareth’s tail as he slips away unnoticed.
He has a silent presence that’s almost nonexistent when he’s surrounded by godlike presences like Jeremy, Killian, and Nikolai.
However, when he’s on his own, he seems…menacing. Somewhat unpredictable. But then again, one can’t expect Killian’s only brother to be completely normal.
The deeper he goes into the hall, the fewer people there are. He takes a turn and I follow, but in just a fraction of a second, I realize something about the people standing near the walls.
They’re different.
While downstairs is filled with uni students, the age is drastically older now.
They also have mean, angular features and stare at me with threatening poses.
In an instant, I feel myself surrounded by those creepy bunny guards from the initiation. And it’s no less creepy now that they don’t have the masks on.
“Looking for something?”
I startle as a hand falls on my shoulder. I whirl around to find Gareth staring down at me.
How…
I search the path ahead of me. I could’ve sworn I saw him take that turn. How did he show up behind me?
Is there a secret path around here?
“Uh, no,” I say in response to his question, doing my best to school my reaction.
“Being lost once might be a coincidence, but twice is pushing it. So how about you tell me why you were following me.”
I don’t miss how the guards start to step toward me from all sides, circling me like a group of predators pouncing on their prey.
“It’s not that I was following you,” I’m thankful my voice sounds normal enough.