Page 3 of The Villain We Tempt

My head snaps around to follow Lucia’s stricken look. I startle slightly when I see a tall, broad-shouldered figure stalking the perimeter of the loud house party.

…Wearing aScreammask.

“Causethat’snot the least bit creepy,” Lucia mutters, the corners of her mouth turning down.

Wren makes a face. “Guess someone took the ‘masked’ part of ‘masked ball theme’ a little too literally.”

Like us, everyone at the raging Kingsward Hall party is wearing a plain black Venetian mask that covers the top half of the face.

Well, everyone except the tall, creepy guy cosplaying a horror movie.

Arianna snickers. “Ladies, be nice. No making fun of Galina’s future husband.”

They all burst out laughing as I roll my eyes and flip them off.

Wren, Yelena, Lucia and I have known each other our whole lives. My dad and their moms danced professionally together in the Zakharova Ballet in the city, and our fathers are best friends who’ve also known each other forever. They’re like the sisters I never had or the cousins I don’t really see that much.

…Thanks, family drama.

Arianna and I met last year as freshmen here at Knightsblood when we were assigned as roommates. Despite how it might look to an outsider, given how often we needle each other, she’s my best friend in the world. We both pledged the Ouroboros Society at last year's Initiation Trials, and we’re now suitemates.

Lucia is the baby of our group, given that this is her freshman year while the rest of us are sophomores. She’s Arianna’s cousin but she’s already made it clear that she’ll be pledging The Order later this semester instead of Ouroboros.

There are four student clubs here at Knightsblood, the infamous mafia university perched on the cliffs above the Long Island Sound: The Order, Ouroboros Society, Para Bellum, and The Reckless. Officially, they're student-run organizations that existin a gray area where the college both acknowledges them and also takes a completely hands-off approach to them.

Unofficially, they're the reason you come to Knightsblood.

Halfway through the year, the clubs hold “Initiation Trials” where freshmen can pledge a club. Sometimes a student is outright recruited to one of them. I mean, it’s no accident who ends up where in a school full of mafia heirs.

The Ouroboros Society tends to attract information brokers and hackers. Once pledges get to their sophomore year, they can, if they wish, move out of the dorms and into The Atheneum, the Gothic former campus library turned Ouroboros housing. That's where Ari and I live.

Wren and Yelena are both in The Order, which pulls in the strategists, planners, and future puppet masters. They’re also suitemates at the—in my humble opinion—ultra-creepy and totally haunted Morvaine Manor, which sits halfway into the woods,waytoo close to the old graveyard for my liking.

There’s also The Reckless, who are exactly what they sound like: thrill-seekers and adrenaline junkies who treat common sense like a communicable disease. They live in The Spire, an ancient, crumbling old stone watchtower jutting up from the ocean on a jagged rock set off from the main cliffs.

Lastly there's Para Bellum, whose membership includes the future kings, queens, dons,pakhans, and heads of major crime families, cartels, syndicates, and organizations from every corner of the world. In keeping with their “royal” nature, Para Bellum members live at Kingsward Hall: a sprawling, gorgeous, gothic and Romanesque-style mansion. As if the outside wasn’t castle-like enough, it boasts interiors showing various battlesand scenes from mythology painted in French Baroque style across the vaulted ceilings.

Kingsward Hall is alsotheplace to be on campus tonight, due to Para Bellum throwing their first official party of the semester. So here we are, all dolled up and looking hot with our mandatory black Venetian masks and the crown stamps from the front door freshly inked on the backs of our hands.

“Hey…” Lucia frowns and glances past me. “Where did Yelena go?”

“Saw someone from one of her classes.” Wren shrugs and knocks back the rest of her drink.

Arianna sighs heavily. “She better not have pulled another Irish goodbye and dipped.I’msticking it out, and I hate things like this.”

One of the catering staff—Para Bellum doesn’t exactly shy away from reminding everyone else how “lordly” and regal they are—walks past with a tray of what look like Jell-O shots.

Wren grins widely and plucks two off the tray before immediately downing both of them. Ari and I exchange a look, but we don’t say anything.

Real talk: Wren’s drinking has gotten a little much lately. But she also recently broke up with herGod-awfulboyfriend, Bryce, when she walked in on him literally mid-thrust with another girl.

Ick and good fucking riddance, if you ask me.

“Come on,” Wren laughs. “Lena wouldn’t justleavelike that. Wejustgot here.”

Ari cocks a brow. “I thinkthis semester’sversion of Yelena would.” She frowns and looks at Wren, Lena’s best friend. “Anything about that you can share?”

Wren shrugs. “I would if I could. Something’s definitely been up since right before the semester started. I’ve asked, but…” She lifts her shoulders again. “Let’s talk about something else. I don’t want to gossip.”