"The Academy Trap"

I shook my head and tucked the papers under an arm, then picked up my two bags. "I'll take it from here." 

Without looking back, I fumbled past the narrow doorway and let the glass door shut behind me with a bang.

With a nod to Chuck through the window, I headed down the corridor with strange violet wallpaper, glancing down at the key ring in my hand. 202.

I swung toward the carpeted steps and dragged my bags. I glanced back to see Chuck still standing outside, watching me through the glass door as l struggled, his hands folded over his chest. Bastard.

I straightened my back and followed the curve of the steps, my bags banging into my legs, but I kept going to show Chuck I had this. And I moved fast too, despite the strain in my arms.

Before careening around the next corner, l glanced back to find Chuck gone. Thank hell. I spun around the corner at the top of the stairs, hauling forward one of the beastly suitcases, the momentum sending it forward. Except someone emerged from the corner at the same moment, and the case slammed into their knees.

"Fuck!" A guy with the darkest hair grunted and reeled backward, arms flailing. He stumbled over his feet before his back hit the wall, and he gasped for air.

"Oh, shit!" I rushed over, arms outstretched, to help catch him. "I'm so sorry."

He was pulling down on his tee, which had ridden halfway up his stomach, and I reached over and helped him cover that ribbed, tight stomach. Damn, he had muscles.

But he smacked my hands away. 'What the hell are you carrying in there? A dead body?"

I stumbled back as he fixed his clothes. "Just clothes and shoes."

When I glanced up at him, he was sniffing the air, his nose creasing and giving me a death glare.

A rumble rolled in his chest as if he were detecting what I was. "Watch it, Vamp." He growled, and his eyes shifted to wolf ones- gray as the dirtiest clouds, and right then, I knew exactly who or what I was dealing with.

The hairs on my neck bristled.

Having him glare as if I were a speck on his shoes had me boiling with fury. Many races hated Vampires, but I'd never faced the racism firsthand.

Homeschooled remember? But the shifter in front of me grated on my nerves, and if there was one enemy Dad loathed above all others, the wolf packs gained that top spot.

"Ugh, Dogs belong outside!" I snapped, disgusted.

His lips curled, white canines bared. Was that meant to scare me? I snatched my bags from the ground, lifted my chin, and turned away from him in a fluster and walked straight into a pillar.

Pain flared through my brow. I stumbled backwards.

Who the fuck put that there?

The sharp crack of laughter flooded my ears. I decided right then that I loathed that fur ball.

Wealth is not defined by possessions. "You've got to be kidding, right?"

I stared at the key in my hand and then the number on the door.

Footsteps sounded behind me, and I whirled to find Principal Stone stepping up to the doorway. She gave the room a scan. "Is there a problem?"

I turned to the thick cobwebs crowding the corner of the room. "Only that." And then the inch thick dust along the windowsill, and stopped at the other bed jammed up against the wall on the other side of the

room. "And that."

I spun, eyeing the principal. "I wasn't told l'd be sharing. I don't share."

I stilled at the open door to a small bathroom and thanked the Ancients for small mercies.

At least I don't have to share.

She just held my gaze and smiled. "Don't worry, Ms. Livingstone. That bed has been unoccupied for the last year. I doubt you'll be sharing with anyone."

"And the...dirt?" I stifled my revulsion. "What will you do about that?"

"I won't be doing anything, Ms. Livingstone. This isn't the Hilton; we don't have maids here. But you're welcome to the mop and bucket in the cleaning closet at the end of the hall."

My damn eye twitched at the thought. A mop wouldn't be anywhere near enough. "I'll have to burn it."

"I beg your pardon?" Principal Stone took a step inside with her heels and tight pencil-straight skirt, clearly standing out in this room. I suspected her accommodation was glamorous compared to this dusty space that could easily be mistaken for a dingy motel room.

"Nothing," I muttered and gave her the perfect Livingstone smile, as fake as this entire set up.

This was no school for the elite.

This was a damn prison...and I just walked into it in my goddamn Gucci shoes. I stared at the tiny wardrobe against the wall...and when I say tiny...I mean tiny. It wouldn't even hold the contents of one of my suitcases.

I stepped closer as Principal Stone murmured, "It'll take a little getting used to, but give it time. I promise Betias Academy will feel like home in no time."

Footsteps echoed a second later. But I didn't bother to look over my shoulder to see her gone. I was too busy mentally preparing myself for the horror waiting within. My hand trembled as I reached for the handle. In my head, I counted down; three, two...one, and then yanked.

There were wire hangers.

Those are actual wire hangers. And the ugliest damn uniform I'd ever seen.

I gagged at the smell of moth balls and turned away from the vile thing, and then turned back, reaching up to unhook the hanger and pull the skirts and the shirts out into the open.

They still had the tags on the end, creases along the sides, and the skirt was almost long enough to touch my damn knees.

What the hell kind of place was this? A convent?

But the wardrobe was the icing on this cheap cotton polyester nightmare. There was no way in Hell I was putting my clothes in that. I stared at the suitcases near the doorway and took a step backwards until my calves hit the steel frame of the bed.

I'd made the wrong decision. A very wrong decision.

I wanted to take it back, to return home where Helene was waiting along with the other maids to clean and primp and fluff. My cell phone dug into my thigh as I moved and for a second, I wanted to reach down and grasp the damn thing.

One call was all it'd take, three tiny words...take...me...home...and I'd be whisked out of here, and on my way back to the parties and the panicked gazes, back to fake smiles and the empty conversations. Back to being a Livingstone.

But here, there was none of that.

I glanced at the corner of the room. Sure, there were cobwebs, but there was also potential. I could make friends here...apart from the foul mutt in the hallway outside. I bet they were just desperate for someone like me, someone with class and sophistication, someone who understood the intricacies of the many immortal races.

They were desperate for me...

I lifted the class schedule in my hand. My first class wasn't until 10 a.m. tomorrow. Mock Hunt?

What the Hell is that? Some kind of new Gelato? A shiver raced along my spine. I'd expected dance classes, training on party conversations, along with some etiquette on handling humans. Instead, I had classes on history, rituals, and combat. What the hell!

Maybe I'd been wrong to think the Academy would be easy and fun.

I looked back up to my room. It needed fixing, but I had plenty of time to get this cleaned up. I gave a nod and steeled my spine. I'd make this place my bitch within a week.

"Cleaning closet," I muttered. even saying the words, I felt dirty and scanned the hallway.

There was a door at the end of the hall. That had to be it. I scanned the closed doors of the rooms next to mine and strode toward the damn thing, before I reached out and grasped the handle.

The lock held with a thud. I could force it, shear the steel...and maybe break a nail in the process. I jerked my hand away at the thought and then turned. It didn't matter.

Within a week, they'd be giving me their room anyway, knock the wall down in the middle, and voila, l'd have a walk-in closet once more.