The Ravens (The Ravens #1) - Kass Morgan Page 0,43
seeping in through the windows for Scarlett to see, all too terribly, what was happening.
Something crept up her hands where she gripped the bowl.
With a shout, she dropped it, and oozing liquid splashed from it, staining her carpet. It looked dark and bloody, like viscera. As she watched, it spread, leeching into the carpet, staining the walls, her hands, her arms.
With it came a horrible, icy feeling. It gripped her wrists, burrowed deep in her veins. As much as it scared her, Scarlett recognized this feeling. She’d brushed up against it before, though never this fiercely. It went deeper than anger, deeper than hatred.
This was loathing. Pure and simple.
“What is that?” Vivi asked, her voice a mixture of wonder and fear.
Scarlett gasped and pushed back against the magic, breaking its hold. The illusion shattered. At once, the lights flickered on overhead. The cold sensation melted away, and Scarlett trembled in its wake. The bloody stains on her carpet and hands vanished too, leaving only clear spring water soaking her floor. And there was Vivi in the doorway, apparently having seen it all.
“Are you all right?” Vivi took a step closer, brow furrowing with concern. “Do you need me to get help?”
“I’m fine,” Scarlett rasped, her voice low in her throat, almost a growl. She coughed, shook her head as if to clear it. She shouldn’t have been so impatient. She should have waited for Vivi to be out of the house before she tried the spell. This was the second time Vivi had seen something she shouldn’t have. And this time it could have been avoided. She wouldn’t make that mistake again. She turned away. “Go. Get ready,” Scarlett commanded.
“Scarlett—”
When she turned around, she found Vivi still lingering, a worried look on her face. For some reason, that infuriated Scarlett more than anything else. Maybe because Vivi’s expression edged just a little too close to pity. “I said go!”
Chapter Thirteen
Vivi
PiKa House looked exactly how Vivi had always imagined a frat house would look. The exterior was a stately red brick with thick white columns and Greek letters stamped prominently above the portico. There was a green, spray-painted bench on the lawn, a half-crushed Ping-Pong ball in the grass, and what looked like a pair of boxers tangled in the bushes that lined the front of the house. The air wafting through the open door smelled faintly of stale beer and boy, and music pulsed through the windows.
Vivi took a deep breath and steeled herself. She had now officially been to one party, but this was the first one with actual college boys. The mixer was for four of the most prominent frats and sororities: Psi Delta Lambda, Kappa Rho Nu, Theta Omega Xi, and PiKa, which Vivi had learned was Mason’s fraternity. The thought of seeing him again made her stomach twist with a combination of excitement and lingering shame. Had he been able to tell that she’d been doing her pathetic best to flirt with him? Was that why he’d acted so strange and hurried off once Scarlett arrived? For a moment, the thought of crossing the threshold of PiKa House felt more daunting than performing magic for the first time—if she couldn’t manage a conversation with one boy without embarrassing herself, what would she do with a whole houseful of them?
Yet, while this was her first coed party, it was also her first time walking into a room with all of Kappa at her back. The second Vivi stepped inside with her new sisters, she understood what real power felt like. The whole party went quiet and every pair of eyes in the room swiveled to them. But it wasn’t the angry, mistrustful stares Vivi was used to receiving as the perpetual new girl. People looked at them with desire. Like they’d give anything to be them.
Scarlett had gone MIA during the party prep, so before leaving Kappa House, Mei had pulled Vivi into her room and surveyed her critically. “Is it hopeless?” Vivi asked nervously, glancing down at the outfit she’d chosen after consulting with Ariana. “Work your magic—give me whatever I need.”
Mei smiled. “It’s not that dire. Trust me.”
Vivi gave her a skeptical look. “Sure, as long as I don’t stand next to you at any point tonight.”
Mei closed her eyes and her elaborate makeup and hairstyle melted away, leaving her still beautiful but barefaced and unglamoured. “This is the skin I was born in,” she said, then reached out to touch Vivi’s arm. “This is