EXCERPT
Henley finished her drink off just as she spotted Nick for
the first time all evening. He had entered the kitchen from the backyard,
laughing along with several of his friends while they refilled their cups. Not
a single one of them looked her way, and she thought it was probably for the
best that they didn’t catch her staring.
She was too far away to hear what they were discussing, but
she watched out of the corner of her eye and waited for an opportunity to
approach Nick. When his buddies began to disperse, most of them returning to
the backyard, Henley saw her chance.
However, after only two steps in Nick’s direction, she lost
her nerve. Instead, she turned and pretended to look at an insanely boring
painting on the wall of a table with a bowl of fruit on it.
“Pathetic.”
“What?” Henley jerked her head to the side when she heard
the voice. A shadow in the hallway behind her moved forward and Victor Cursey
emerged.
He was tall and dressed in black pants, shirt, and jacket.
He seemed to blend into the dark hall behind him as he leaned against the wall
and crossed his arms. There was a wickedly sinful smirk on his face that made
Henley want to blush. She did her best to suppress the urge.
“I saw that sad attempt,” he said, nodding toward the
kitchen where Nick was still lingering. “You didn’t even make it out of the
living room.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Victor’s knowing grin proved otherwise. “If you say so. But
he’ll never notice you. You should know that by now. The prince isn’t the type
to be drawn to girls like you.” He paused and looked her over from head to toe.
“No matter how attractive you are.”
Henley couldn’t stop the shiver she felt under Victor’s
intense gaze. When he swept his eyes over her, he seemed to almost be…absorbing her. Every hair on her body
stood at attention. On one hand, she felt violated by his gaze and wanted to
slap him for it. On the other hand, she secretly enjoyed the attention.
“Why do you call him that? Prince?”
“Well, that should be easy to decipher. Nicholas Grayson is
Cyper City royalty, in every way that counts, isn’t he? Son of the city’s white
knight and best at everything he does. Sounds like a fairytale Prince Charming
to me.”
“You must read some pretty shitty fairytales, Victor.”
This drew a genuine smile from his face. “You know my name?”
“I know everyone’s name.” Henley was clearly bluffing, but
it seemed like a good retort at the time. She wasn’t sure why she was even
talking to this boy, but she couldn’t make herself walk away. “And if you hate
the prince so much, why come to his party?”
“Oh, that’s an easy one. I have to work, after all.”
Henley wanted to ask him what he meant by that but she saw
movement out of the corner of her eye and noticed that the prince in question
was walking toward her. She froze. But Nick immediately turned down a different
hallway, leading away from her. A second later, he was gone from view.
Victor chuckled beside her, then held his hand up and
dangled a vial of bright yellow liquid in front of her face. “Want to talk to
the prince? This will give you the nerve to do it.”
“What in the hell is that?” Henley stepped away from him,
studying the vial with the same scrutiny she would give a giant tarantula.
“Just something to take the edge off. You can call
it…courage in a bottle.”
“That’s a vial, not a bottle.”
He rolled his eyes but held the container steady. “Last
chance, beautiful. You want it or not?”
“How much?” Henley couldn’t believe those words had just
left her lips. She had never once considered using drugs. Sure, she had snuck a
drink or two, but this was something that could lead to dire consequences,
addiction…even death. Yet, the longer she stared at the sparkling liquid, the
faster her worry began to fade. This was just a one-time deal. Surely, she
could survive one hit. People did drugs at parties all of the time, right?
“For you?” Victor lowered the vial and placed it into
Henley’s hand. “It’s on the house.” He leaned closer and whispered into her
ear, “But when you grow tired of the prince, you should come find me. I’ll show
you a much better time and I won’t ever
ignore you.”
Henley closed her eyes as he spoke. His voice was smooth and
low, and sent a chill down her spine. She felt herself sway off-balance and her
eyes flew open to find the hallway empty. Victor was gone, but the vial of courage was still in her hand. Before
she could convince herself otherwise, she pulled the stopper out and gulped the
contents down.
