Page 69 of River of Deceit

Once River is gone, Blaze gives me another once over. “That bruise is gonna be nasty. We’ll have to patch you up later. But are you still hungry? We can go to the Greek restaurant. It’ll be quieter, and the food is definitely better there.”

I’m not even in any shape to argue, and I want out of the public eye. Everyone has gone back to their own tables, but they keep stealing glances in our direction. “Yeah,” I say. Usually, I’d argue about him buying me more food, but I really did work up an appetite from the fight.

“Yeah?” he asks suspiciously. “Who are you, and what have you done with Asch?”

I punch him lightly in the arm, wincing as my bruised knuckles brush against him. “Shut up,” I tell him, “before I change my mind.”

Blaze grins at me. “No way. You already said you’d do it. No take-backsies.”

“Take-backsies,” I repeat dubiously, only to shake my head. “Let’s go.”

I grab my bag and blazer, leaving the uneaten food on the table.

Anywhere has to be better than here right now.

14

PANDORA

Handle with care! This side up!

I clutch the box tightly against my chest, trying to suppress my grin while I wait for the elevator to open. I’m bouncing from leg to leg, and I’m tempted to press my ear to the box even though I know I won’t hear anything.

The door finally dings open.

Samantha is on the other side. She sneers as soon as she sees me.

I only grin wider. This is perfect. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to enjoy my delivery with Samantha in the suite.

“Hey, Sammy,” I say as I step into the elevator. “Have a great day at class or wherever you’re going.”

She huffs and lifts her nose as she walks out. I don’t bother to taunt her; I’m way too impatient right now. I hit the button for my floor.

“Almost there,” I tell the box.

I practically jog to my suite once on my floor. It’s dumb that I’m this excited, but Papa ended up being soslowin sending it to me.

Once I’m in my room, door safely locked, I take my knife to cut all the tape to finally reveal my prize.

In the middle of a bunch of packing paper is a medium sized bag. I lift it out and open it up to reveal a small, red-and-beige spotted snake. A blood python.

Myblood python. This is the daughter of my first snake. Papa had found a male blood python to pair her with, and the clutch hatched early in the summer. I picked out my favorite, and Papa watched over the baby snakes to make sure she thrived before he sent her to me.

I quickly send a text to Cry Me A, then get back to the snake.

Pandora

I’ve got something to show you.

“Hi there,” I say to the snake as I lift her out of the bag. She’s sluggish from the travel but perks up quickly. Papa must have been handling her a lot, because she doesn’t immediately start panicking. She does attempt to strike me, and I laugh and boop the top of her head once she pulls back again.

“What a cutie you are!” I carry her to the desk on the far wall, well out of sight of the door, where I’ve set up the snake enclosure. It had taken me an entire weekend to get everything right, and Samantha had side-eyed all the deliveries I was getting.

Besides the snake enclosure, I also got a mini freezer to store baby Echo’s food. Defrosting the food without Sam noticing will be a problem, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I’m not really worried about her tattling to the school administration. What would they do? Kick me out? Get on my Papa’s bad side?

Yeah, right.