God of Malice (Legacy of Gods #1) by Rina Kent

Creigh, aka his unwilling shadow, stands a short distance away, both hands in his pockets.

“How did you guys manage to get into The King’s U?” Cecily asks.

“Anni is a doll and put in a word for us with the guards.” Remi’s tone turns dramatically hurt. “Since when do you party without me?”

“Since, uh, I don’t know, you party without us all the time?” Ava points a finger at his chest. “You don’t see us revoking friendship rights, do you?”

“I can’t believe this. So it’s my fault that you don’t come along when I ask?”

“Duh. In case you forgot, you end up ghosting us to shag anything in a skirt.”

“What the actual fuck, Ava? Of course I’d choose shagging over your mimosas and drunken rants about a certain psycho. Shagging is the whole point of these parties, not your unresolved feelings!”

“Screw you, your grace.”

“It’s actually your lordship, but I’ll take the upgrade in title.” He grins. “Now, who’s in the mood for an orgy?”

“Eww,” Ava, Cecily and I say in unison.

Creigh raises one hand.

Annika winces. “No clue what you guys find fun about this party. Can’t we get out of here? I’m game for anything Remi suggests.”

“Anni, honey.” Ava grabs her by the shoulder. “You should never, ever agree to Remi’s plans. He’ll leave you in an unknown place with unknown people and sod off to get his dick wet.”

“I did not leave you in an unknown place with unknown people!” Remi shouts. “I was kicked out of my own house by that fucker—”

Ava slams her palm on his mouth, making him shut up mid-sentence, then glares at him, but he waggles his brows.

Having been released from Ava’s hold, Annika grins and slides to Creigh’s side, then nudges his shoulder with hers. “Didn’t know you’d come. I would’ve picked a better dress.”

His expression remains blank. “Why?”

She rolls her eyes, then tugs on the tulle of her skirt. “Do you like this one?”

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.

“No?”

“No.”

He pauses, watching me with no change in his expression. “There’s this conundrum nature specialists face in the wild. Some animals return to the trap because they know they’ll find food, so they keep getting themselves live-trapped over and over and…” He steps closer. “Over.”