away, like I knew she would. She was terrified of running into the Nightfeld brothers.
To be fair, she had reason to be. There was a tension in my stomach that wouldn’t go away, and I was technically on the same side as them. If you put together Acubens and Arcturus, you’d maybe get one sane normal person. But taken separately, they were a creep with an obsession with my fake identity, and an asshole with a grudge against my fake identity. There were so many ways this could go wrong.
Still, there was no turning back. Aegis offered me his arm, I took it, and the door swung shut behind us.
#
The Night Gardens were located on the north end of campus, close enough to the dorms for a convenient walk, far enough to give it an air of seclusion. A pair of lion statues guarded the wrought iron gates, turning their rune-etched heads toward me and Aegis as we approached. I showed them the invitation, and they stepped aside, allowing us in.
The party was just getting started inside. I counted a dozen or so people in the open area in the front, standing and chatting amid platters of drinks and hors d'oeuvres. Floating lanterns drifted overhead, powered by the will-o’-the-wisps trapped inside the glass, casting wandering shadows. Live music thrummed through the air, mingling with the heady perfume of the night-blooming flowers that gave the Night Gardens their name. This early in the evening, the flowers were just beginning to bloom, pale petals shimmering like moons and stars amid vines and dark, glossy leaves.
Sure, the alcohol was flowing freely—mages didn’t care about puny mortal things like drinking ages—but it still seemed a lot more sedate than what I’d heard of college parties. I supposed that was a good thing. Being the Redbriar family’s dirty secret for most of my life meant that I’d never gone to a real party before; it was better not to start off with something too wild, especially since I had work to accomplish here.
I grabbed a tiny sandwich and a glass of champagne as I looked around for the Nightfeld brothers. Acubens was nowhere to be seen. Arcturus was standing at the center of it all, already deep in conversation with several other attendees. He was frowning, looking very severe and serious for somebody at a party.
I rolled my eyes. There was no way to get to him without drawing too much attention from everybody else. I might as well talk to other people while I waited for my chance.
“It would look suspicious if I didn’t go around and socialize, right?” I muttered to Aegis.
Reluctantly, he nodded. Permission granted from my goddamn chaperone.
To my annoyance, the first boy I approached cringed away, pretending not to see me. Between nervous gulps of his drink, he snuck glances in Arcturus's direction; clearly, he didn’t want to get caught talking to the enemy right under Arcturus's nose. Even the other Great Houses feared him the way they’d once feared Priam Redbriar.
Well, I wasn’t going to force someone to talk to me. I strolled deeper into the gardens, munching on my sandwich.
The next party-goer I ran across froze mid-step upon seeing me, and immediately turned onto a different path into the garden. I found the next three party-goers after that making out in an alcove, their noises only somewhat muffled by the greenery. While Great Houses practiced one-on-one arranged marriage, they didn’t have many rules about casual relationships. Maybe this party wasn’t that tame after all.
I was entering a clearing with a fountain when I heard someone call out my name. Well, Cly’s name. I turned, surprised. A girl I didn’t recognize waved and ran up to me.
“Don’t you remember me?” she said, beaming a little too widely. “I’m Lenora Hastings. It’s been years!”
“Oh,” I said, taking a sip of champagne to give me time to think. Hastings was the maiden name of Leda, Cly’s mother, and the girl’s blonde hair was the same shade as hers and Cly’s. Probably a cousin or something? Cly would know her better than I did. “It’s been a while, yeah. How have things been?”
“Oh, just wonderful!” Lenora smiled aggressively. “I’m a third year now, so I’m really getting into the swing of things this time around! I’d heard you were attending this year, but I’ve had so many things on my plate that I didn’t have a chance to say hi! You must let me make up for it in the future! Maybe