Craving Dragonflies Read online

  “Well, Willow. Give me the code and let me launch this prison break.”

  There was weary reluctance on her face, but she finally gave me the code.

  The classroom was dark except for the moonlight filtering in through the open windows. I used the slight illumination to navigate the room outfitted like a science lab. That made sense. I wound my way through the maze of high tables and ended up at a door in the back of the room and keyed in the code.

  “Here goes nothing.”

  20

  Willow

  * * *

  I couldn’t keep still. It took longer than I expected it to. Would we be caught? And why was he helping me? It didn’t make sense. Ashton...

  His name sounded regal and as beautiful as he was. Then he appeared with nothing in his hand. Wait—his hand was covering something. Where were the butterflies? Then again, my poor instructions had been to bring out anything alive.

  When he lifted one hand off the other, I jumped back, covering my mouth.

  “This was the only thing alive in there.”

  My hands tented over my gaping mouth.

  “We need to put it back,” I said gently.

  My breathing was a little ragged, but I tried to keep it under control.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I looked at the hairy creature that nearly covered his palm.

  “That’s a tarantula. A venomous tarantula.”

  He didn’t seem at all concerned. Though there had been no cases of human fatality from a bite, I couldn’t chance letting it free.

  Scared as I was, I held out my hand.

  “You want me to put it back?” he asked, sounding utterly calm.

  “I can. You’ve done enough. It was wrong of me to ask you to help me.”

  “You keep saying that, but I’m not complaining. I’ll put it back.”

  “Her, not it. And I’ll need to help you. Though she can’t kill you, it still could be really bad.” I stared at the docile creature. “Just don’t jostle her.”

  I re-entered the code and walked in. I wouldn’t leave him to do my dirty work. Plus, I didn’t want him to get bitten. So I stood in plain sight of the camera and lifted the cage lid completely so he could easily put his entire hand in.

  “Please be careful.”

  He nodded and slowly put his hand down. The spider didn’t move for a second, and then crawled off and over to the small tree branch in the habitat she called home. I exhaled and covered the cage.

  We said nothing and left. I’d given the room a cursory glance and didn’t see the butterflies the professor said would be there.

  Back out in the hall, I faced Ashton.

  “Thank you.”

  I lifted on my toes, bracing my hands on his shoulders so I could plant a kiss on his cheek. I felt him stiffen too late to stop myself. I quickly let go and wished for a hole to crawl into.

  “Thank you,” I said again.

  When he didn’t respond, I looked up and found stone in his gaze. I rubbed my arms, longing for warmth even though it wasn’t cold out.

  “I’m—I’m sorry. I—I shouldn’t have…” What shouldn’t I have done? “We should go—” Did that sound like an invitation? “I should go. Thank you again. And don’t worry, I won’t mention your name.”

  His brow shot up. “My name?”

  “I’m on camera. I’m sure they’ll question me. But it’s okay. We didn’t take anything.”

  I’d made the mistake of looking for it when I walked in. My face had been far too visible. His hadn’t been.

  “You don’t have to lie for me. I knew what I was getting into,” he said.

  I shook my head. “There is no way I would jeopardize your academic career for my crusade. Anyway, I should get back to my…”

  Date was the wrong word. More importantly, I didn’t want him to think I was on one. Why?

  “Your—?”

  “To the concert.”

  Stupid me had thought it was a good cover for me to slip out when Kent started talking to another guy. Clearly, I’d watched too many thrillers. I wasn’t a spy or good covert agent.

  Get moving, Willow. I willed myself to go, but my feet were super glued to the spot. His eyes held me with their long lashes. And why was it that guys had Maybelline eyelashes minus the makeup. It was totally unfair.

  Just as I managed to pivot around, he said my name.

  I swallowed before turning back around. He held something out to me.

  “My phone,” I said, practically lunging forward and swiping it from his hand. “Where did you find it?” I blinked. The answer was obvious. “Sorry, the frat house obviously. Thanks.”

  He nodded and finally I walked away. I wanted to hug him, but there was just something in his rigid posture that warned me I’d gone too far with the kiss. It had to be true then. He wasn’t into girls, not that I would have a chance with a guy like him.

  I tried to turn on my phone, but it was dead in the water. I shoved it into my back pocket and quickly walked across campus to where the outdoor concert was being held.

  The music still played, but the crowd had thinned some. How long had I been gone? Kent stood facing the stage alone drinking from a long neck.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “Where have you been?”

  I shrugged it off. “Getting into trouble. How about you? Things didn’t work out with that guy?”

  As he launched into a diatribe of words, I couldn’t get Ashton out of my head. Don’t be stupid, I berated myself again. But every time I thought of him, my stomach did summersaults.

  “Willow?”

  I glanced up. Kent stood there looking at me.

  “I’m sorry. Did you ask me a question?”

  He smiled. “I talk too much, huh?”

  I rubbed my arms, feeling a chill that wasn’t there.

  “No, it’s not you. I guess I’m tired.”

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Kind of. Are you mad?”

  “No, it’s cool. I had a good time.”

  “Yeah, it was fun.”

  I stared out the window for the short ride to my apartment. Kent kissed my cheek, and I stiffened wondering if Ashton had felt the same. It wasn’t that I hated it. It was because I was no longer attracted to Kent that way now that I knew there could never be an us.

  “Thanks again for dinner,” I said.

  “I’ll call you.” He laughed. “I guess I mean I’ll see you since you don’t have a phone.”

  Before I knew it, I pulled it out and waved it in front of me. “Actually, I found it.”

  “You did.”

  “Well, someone did and gave it to me.”

  “Cool. I’ll call you then.”

  I hopped out of the car, grateful when Celeste wasn’t at home. I took a shower and forced myself to stop obsessing over a certain boy. Why me? Why did I have to like a guy who was so off limits? I’d easily accepted Kent for who he was. Then again, Kent hadn’t looked at me like Ashton did. I couldn’t explain it. It was like he really cared about what I had to say. And no, Ashton hadn’t checked me out. I was being really dumb. I got in the shower and tried to forget about it.

  After I finished and dressed, I went into the living room to find Celeste staring at something red in her hand while tracing something gold on it with her finger.

  “What’s that?”

  She glanced up with a little jolt as if she hadn’t noticed me come in.

  “This is for you.”

  The envelope she held out to me felt like an omen the way her hand shook a little. I took it, but didn’t open it right away.

  “What is it?”

  The long lashes she’d added to her eyes fanned down as she looked away from me.

  “It’s an invitation.”

  It was clear she wasn’t happy about it. I still didn’t glance down at it, keeping my eyes on her.

  “From whom?” She shrugged and half-turned, but I wasn’t letting it go. “Celeste, what’s go
ing on? Where did you get this?”

  “It’s an invitation to a Sigma party, all right. A courier dropped it off.”

  “A courier?” I asked in confusion.

  She spun around. “A pledge all dressed up, okay.”

  A pledge. My brain was still a little foggy when I put the words pledge and Sigma together. That was when I glanced down. The envelope had a wax seal. The crest of the Sigma house was branded into it. I flipped the envelope over to see my name written in perfect calligraphy script.

  “Open it already.” Her words were no long timid. She sounded pissed with a dose of jealousy. ”Clearly, you’ve been invited to one of their exclusive parties.”

  I sat because nerves got the best of me.

  “We can go together,” I said as I slipped a fingernail under a corner of the wax.

  “It doesn’t work that way,” Celeste said sharply.

  “Then I won’t go. Sister solidarity and all that.”

  “Of course, you will.”

  Bitterness laced her every word, but there was determination behind it.

  “It’s just a dumb party,” I said.

  Her laugh came out half-choked. “The Sigmas are the future leaders of our world. If one of them invited you, it could be because they really like you or…?”

  I waited a beat, hoping she’d finish. “Or what?”

  “Or someone wants to bang you.”

  Her words weren’t a surprise, yet they stole my breath anyway.

  “Which is it?” I asked as if she had all the answers.

  “I don’t know. You tell me. Who have you been dating?”

  She hurled the question at me like an accusation. Yet my mind flickered back to Ashton and our night together. Had he sent this so I would have sex with him?

  “Well?” she pressed.

  My focus snapped back. “No one. You should know that.”

  “What about Kent?”

  “He’s gay,” I admitted.

  She reared back a step and narrowed her eyes.

  “How do you know?’ But she didn’t give me a chance for rebuttal. “He may have told you that to test you. I did some digging. The boy’s got mad cash. His family is swimming in it. And he seems to be at their parties a lot. He could be a member. Maybe he was feeling you out?”

  Where, why, and when had she investigated Kent? My mind was spinning with all the reasons.

  I shook my head vehemently. “No, I don’t think so.”

  “Think or know?” she asked.

  I took a moment, replayed his words in my head, and then stood my ground. “Know as much as anyone can know about a virtual stranger.” I took a longer pause, and in a quieter tone asked, “So, this is for a hookup?”

  She shrugged and pointed at my hand. “Open it and find out.”

  My hands shook harder as I tried to break the blood wax seal. It took me even longer to slide the thick parchment from the envelope.

  It looked more like a wedding invitation than one for a frat party. I read it out loud.

  “You’ve been cordially invited to the White Party, a night of firsts.”

  “White?” she asked.

  Funny she’d honed in on that and not the firsts thing. I held up a finger and read on, which included the date, tonight, and time, nine o’clock. “Everyone in attendance is to wear white clothing.”

  I glanced up at Celeste, searching for clues. She was more in the know than I was.

  She nodded to herself. “Makes sense. Every year they have a themed party in a specific color. Last year was blue, I think.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you know?”

  Her eyes were charged with brewing anger. “I’ve never been invited. And people who are don’t talk about what happens. I think it’s a rule.”

  I felt like a fish as my mouth puckered and unpuckered before I spoke again.

  “Okay, that’s not ominous or anything.”

  “You shouldn’t go,” she suggested.

  I glared up at her. “I thought you said I should go, and now I shouldn’t?”

  “Do they have a plus one?” I shook my head. “Then absolutely not. You have no idea what you’re walking into.”

  “Can’t you find out?”

  She had connections.

  Her eyes found her watch. “There isn’t enough time. Like I said, no one talks. If they do, they’ll get blackballed. To scour and find someone last minute when you need to find a white dress if you insist on going in the few hours we have is impossible. That’s why they don’t give you days to decide to keep things as quiet as possible.”

  Her withering stare bore into me. “So, what are you going to do?”

  Was it a bad thing if a guy wanted to hook up with me? I’d been invited, not Celeste. I hated to think of it as a win, but wasn’t it? And what if… what if Ashton had sent me that invite? I definitely didn’t think it was Kent no matter what Celeste said. Who else could it be? I thought back to the parties. There had been Trent that first night. I was surprised I remembered his name considering how drunk I’d been. Then there was the cute guy from Sawyer’s birthday party. It wasn’t like they could force me to do anything. I could always say no.

  “I’m going,” I announced.

  21

  Ashton

  * * *

  My name came out of her mouth like the crack of a whip. I shouldn’t have answered the phone. It had been a number I didn’t recognize, but the idea it could be one of my friends needing my help had been the deciding factor.

  “Ashton, at least man up and answer me.”

  It wasn’t fear that had me swallowing the bile that soured my stomach. I felt nothing for the woman who gave birth to me. It was the blinding prism light through the empty bottle of Louis XIII that was like a jackhammer in my head.

  “Mother.”

  Saying her name was like a knife to the temple in more ways than one.

  “You think you can do this to me?”

  Her shrill words were spoken like nails on a chalkboard.

  “It’s done,” I said, feeling the invisible frost on my tongue.

  “After all I’ve done for you.”

  Though it was the first time I laughed in what felt like months, there was no humor in it.

  “What? Treated me like a circus act. No more dog and pony show, Victoria.”

  “How dare you call me by my first name.”

  “When have you ever acted like a mother?”

  “Don’t be such a child, Ashton. I gave birth to you to have this life. I didn’t give up my perfect body to be treated like a common—”

  She’d wound up to the point of popping, I had to finish it for her.

  “Whore.”

  She let out a frustrated yell. “This will not be the end of me. And I will fight you every step of the way.”

  In the background, I heard, “Miss, you are required to leave.”

  A tiny smile curled the edges of my mouth. Oh, how the mighty had fallen. I imagined her searching the background to see if the neighbors were watching. Knowing her, the cops had to be called to make her leave. She could have avoided all that if she’d left with dignity.

  “That is my car.”

  I wasn’t sure whom she was talking to, but I answered anyway.

  “No, it’s mine. But you took that too and bought me a used Dodge Challenger.”

  It had been a rust bucket. Her excuse to her friends why I rode around in a ratty car was to teach me life lessons. It hadn’t bothered me. The car Dad had sent to us didn’t interest me anyway. It took time since allowance was scarce, but it had finally become the car it was today.

  “You didn’t even like the BMW.”

  “That’s not the point, is it? It was mine and you stole it like you stole my life.”

  She was quiet only a second.

  “So now you’re out to steal mine.”

  “No, Victoria, you own nothing. You’re lucky I’m letting you walk away with all the clothes and jewels you bought with my
trust fund.”

  “I earned that,” she blustered.

  If she thought yelling would make me change my mind, she was wrong.

  “You earned jail time. You’re lucky you’re not getting that.”

  “You think you can hold that over my head forever.”

  There was so much to say, but I was done.

  “I think this conversation is over. Goodbye, Victoria.”

  I cut off her rant by ending the call. I ignored every call back. What surprised me was that I didn’t block her number. Part of me claimed victory in each call I sent to voicemail. Truth was, there was some part of me that hoped she would have apologized. If she wasn’t a monster, there was no chance I was too.

  I found peace in a bottle. It was becoming more and more my go-to. I was well on my way to drunkville when I stumbled out of my room. The noise coming from downstairs made me roll my eyes, yet another party. It didn’t matter the day of the week.

  “You okay?”

  Bryant was coming out of his room and stood there as I caught my balance.

  “Yeah, fine.”

  “You know what tonight is?”

  I had no fucking clue. There was always a theme to give reason for a party. I shook my head.

  “Virgin night. Funny, right? Like, my key isn’t even in the basket. Is yours?”

  My glare was answer enough. He held up his hands to ward off any venomous reply.

  “Do you want to get out of here? I hear the Omegas are throwing a pool party,” he offered.

  What I wanted was to go back to the townhouse and get away from these assholes and any stupid girl crazy enough to accept the invite to this party. But I never got what I wanted.

  “Sure.”

  “I’ll drive,” Bryant offered.

  As we descended, it was clear that the all black I wore contrasted with this year’s theme color of white.

  Just before I hit the final stair, I spotted her.

  “Fuck,” I muttered.

  “What’s wrong?” Bryant asked, halfway out the door.

  I was several steps behind him and waved him on.

  “I’ve got to handle something real quick. I’ll meet you there.”