Page 55 of A University of Betrayal

When I found out who was running for student council alongside Vivienna Westcode, Grace Blair, and Jenny Bexley, I almost choked on my last-minute chicken sandwich.

Nash’s guys and I had just driven to campus in our Jeeps, and they had encouraged me to finally register before the lists closed in a week and the candidates with enough nominations were announced.

But I hadn’t expectedthis.

Paralyzed, I stared at the piece of paper on the pinboard in front of me.

I had lost my appetite.

“He can’t be serious…”

Whispering girls spotted me, hurriedly stepped back from the pinboard and scurried out of the office with flushed cheeks and phones drawn out. Only I remained standing like a stone pillar in front of the board with the thousand flyers and felt like I was in the wrong movie.

No matter how long I stared, his name above mine didn’t disappear.

Miles DeLoughrey.

“There must be a mistake here,” I began, shaking my head, finally managing to take my eyes off the sheet to look at the secretary in her forties, who had already risen to look at me from her counter. “This guy would never...”

“The charming young man with the black felt coat?” she interrupted me, her cheeks taking on the same color as the girls’. “He registered a few hours ago and already has eighty-five votes in the nomination.” My jaw dropped. “Do you know him personally?”

“God,no!” I gasped in horror and stared at the board in bewilderment.

The sandwich slipped out of my hands into the garbage can next to the pinboard and I had nothing left to hold on to in order not to freak out.

The first shock of the semester had been that the Ruisangors had shown up at Vanderwood uninvited; the second, that an unidentifiable body had been found in their overgrown woodland on our territory border; and – as if to top that – the third, that their clan had created a bloodbath in the witches’ territory, which had now become our problem as well.

The fact that I had spotted this DeLoughrey clown two weeks ago in the introductory lecture for law didn’t make it any better. I would have thought the menacing black-haired guy with the death stare was a law student, but according to Nash, the guy was majoring ineconomicsand minoring ininformation systems.His platinum blond friend majored inmolecular biologyandeconomicsand this arrogant specimen here...lawandeconomics.

All three Ruisangors were a thorn in my side, a potential threat to the pack and the human inhabitants of this town, butthisonereekedof trouble.

Miles DeLoughrey.

I struggled to decide if I should memorize his name so I wouldn’t forget who my enemy was on this campus, or if I should erase that name from my mind as quickly as possible before it got stuck there and disgusted me unnecessarily.

My pride won, and I stormed out of the secretary’s office, rushed down the filling corridor to one of the side exits and looked around the crowded campus.

I spotted Miles with two brunettes flirting with him. He was leaning casually against his matte gray Lamborghini. Black chino trousers, a black shirt that he had unbuttoned far too generously and a tailored felt coat. In addition, he had chin-length, dark brown hair, the brown eyes of a dangerous hunter, and a prominent jawline. His hands were shoved in his trouser pockets.

The guy who had wanted to fight with my brother and who – as I had heard from Nash – acted like he owned this place. Someone whoobviouslydidn’t know his limits.

When I realized that he had parked his ridiculous sports car right next to my Jeep, anger welled up inside me.

How could he be so brazen?And anyway!How could this arrogant bloodsucker sign up for this election campaign!

As if he had read my loud thoughts of hatred, his head turned in my direction.

Something inside me faltered, and I froze into a pillar of salt when our eyes met.

Until now, I had avoided the gaze of our family enemies, leaving the power battles to Nash.

It made me all the more uncomfortable to feel this murderer’s gaze on me now because it wasn’t like when some guys stared at me and Nash felt the need to tell them tofuck off,no.This Ruisangor looked at me like we were on a battlefield, and he was sure he was going to win.

I wasn’t afraid of him, even if he was one of them. It was almost ridiculous that he thought he could compete against me. Here... in my family’s territory.

The right corner of the arrogant DeLoughrey guy’s mouth twitched upward. That was the moment I knew why he had put his name on the campaign list.He wanted to see us bleed.

I pressed my lips together.