Chapter 34 DANGER
LIlian pov
“Exactly—that’s what I wanted to hear, you dumbass!”
Jonah rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. Smart boy. I didn’t have the energy to start dragging out his nonsense today.
We boarded a cab to this ridiculous party Mia insisted on. A party we were not invited to, by the way. But Mia being Mia? She acted like invitations were optional, like the universe itself was supposed to open doors for her chaotic ass.
The cab smelled like someone’s sadness and cheap air freshener. Jonah kept fiddling with his sleeves, looking nervous for no reason, and I kept staring out the window because the last thing I wanted was to accidentally look hungry. Hungry hungry. The kind that never ends well.
When we arrived, I blinked twice when I saw the party arena man.
The “party arena” was actually someone’s house. Someone rich. Rich enough that just walking past their gate made me consider picking up witchcraft as a side hustle. Maybe sacrifice a toenail and become wealthy overnight. Because the mortgage on that house? Mad.
We walked in, and the air punched me in the face loud music, too many humans crammed into one space, and heat so thick it felt like the walls were sweating.
Before I could catch a breath, Mia started waving at us like she’d grown three extra arms.
“Over here!” she screamed, bouncing like someone who’d just won a lifetime supply of oxygen or maybe discovered caffeine for the first time.
I pushed Jonah forward a little bit hard.
He was walking like a lost puppy with eyes everywhere, mouth slightly open, like he’d never seen a party before, which was a and annoying. And honestly? Dangerous. The longer I stayed here in the suffocating air, the more my hunger tried to wake up. I prayed silently that I wouldn’t get the sudden urge to feed because killing someone at a party is not good for my academic career. Or any career, really.
I plastered on a polite smile whenever necessary and stationed myself at one corner of the living room, trying to breathe through the mixture of perfume, sweat, and someone’s terrible cologne.
God, this place was too hot.
Mia was busy giggling with her crush like a human-sized squirrel in love. Jonah, meanwhile, had disappeared probably sweet-talking some innocent cheerleader with his stupid charming smile and angel eyes. His version of “helping at a party,” apparently.
I took a sip of my drink and looked around. Good. No one was paying attention to me. Time to go grab something more… consumable. Preferably fruit juice. Preferably something cold.
I stepped away from the crowd, moving slowly at first, then quicker once I realized the coast was clear. I headed into what I assumed was the kitchen. Rich people kitchens always looked bigger than my entire apartment.
I opened the fridge and smiled.
Bingo.
Rows of drinks. Colorful, cold, and untouched. Time to steal some healthy fruit options no one would miss them.
Just as I grabbed an apple juice and raised it to my lips—
“What are you doing?”
I nearly dropped the bottle. I spun around so fast my neck almost cracked.
Lucy.
Pheww. That was so close, If it had been someone else, I might've had to lie or hypnotize or run. But Lucy? She was too… calm. Too harmless-looking. Too new.
She smiled at me, which was weird because nothing about me opening a stranger’s fridge seemed funny. I shrugged and took a sip of the juice.
“Just taking an apple juice.”
She walked over and sat beside me at the kitchen counter like we were besties already. “I didn’t know you’d come to the party. I’m surprised you’re here.”
I gave her a side-eye. “I should be the one surprised. You’re new and you’re already hitting school parties? That’s… bold.”
She giggled, stood up, and grabbed her own drink. “Since we’re stealing drinks, why don’t we do it together, hmm?”
That actually made me crack up. A clean, honest laugh.
She sat beside me again, and I studied her properly this time. Soft brown eyes. Smooth hair. Quiet presence. Not the type that screams trouble yet something about her felt like a hidden page in a book. Something folded and tucked away.
“So,” I said, sipping my juice, “are you new in town or did you just switch schools?”
She leaned back, getting comfortable. “We practically live here. Born and raised.”
She glanced at me as if checking my reaction. I nodded for her to continue.
“I switched schools because I was accused of something in my old school.” Her voice dropped a little. “I thought I had it under control, but it kind of… didn’t go how I expected.”
“Do you wanna share it or…?”
She shook her head immediately. “Nah. I don’t want to talk about it. It’s an old trauma and I don’t want to open it again.”
Fair enough. I knew that tone too well. The tone of someone who wasn’t lying—just hurting.
I nodded and got up. “Do you wanna go outside and breathe properly, hmm?”
She stood and followed me out the back door onto the patio. The night air was way better—cool, quiet, no sweaty humans bumping into me like bumper cars.
“You don’t like parties, huh?” Lucy said. “I’ve been watching since you came in.”
“It’s not my kind of shit,” I replied. “I mind my business. But since Mia is literally the scarecrow of our friend group, she dragged us here.”
Lucy burst out laughing and nudged me lightly. “Yeah, that’s your best buddy. Where is she, by the way?”
“Probably somewhere talking with her crush.”
“So you don’t have a crush?” she asked, wiggling her brows like an idiot.
“Nope. I’m not interested in stuff like that. Career first. That’s my priority.”
She opened her mouth to say something else, but my phone began ringing.
Thank God, perfect distraction.
I held up a hand. “Excuse me, let me take this call real quick.”
I stepped a few meters away, the night suddenly too quiet.
“Hello?”
A breathless voice answered.
“Lilian… ”
Seraphine.
My heart rate spiked instantly. The panic in her voice wasn’t normal not even close.
“Hey what’s it? C’mon, talk to me. Seraphine!”
“I got shot by this motherfucker, can you come get me?”
What?
Shot?
My hand instantly tightened around my phone.
“Sure,where are you right now?”
“At the place where you had your first hunt,” she breathed, voice trembling, weakening. “Please be fast, the silver bullet is draining me!”