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“Oh my god!” I shrieked in horror and dropped my suitcase as my gaze landed on the person in front of me. He didn’t seem fazed as he rolled his head to the side and smirked at me while holding a coke can in his hand.

“Oi, Tucker, Cain!” he shouted over his shoulder. “We got company!”

I panicked; I didn’t know what to do. Should I run? Should I cover my eyes? Scrap that; what I needed was for the ground to open and just swallow me whole.

The light streamed through the tall, narrow windows, creating long shadows that deceived my eyes as I focused on the naked guy.

He was attractive; at least there was that with his muscled and firm calves.

His skin was a warm brown, similar to the color of his eyes, except they looked lighter, as if they had a hint of green and blue.

Still, that didn’t excuse the current view and horror I’d been subjected to.

Slapping a hand over my eyes, I stumbled as I shuffled backwards. “I’m so sorry, I—”

“Woah, woah.” The naked guy abruptly wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me further into the room. “Where are you going? You just got here.” He pried my hand off from my face, and I hurried to push him away when I realized I was flush up against him.

My heart was pounding so fast I almost felt like collapsing right there on the floor. Which was a dangerous choice considering I would likely end up with my head on or near his dick.

“Did you just say company?” Another male popped out from another room inside the dorm. His eyes widened when he saw me and went straight to where we were. I thanked everything and everyone in the world that he was at least fully dressed.

“Are you here for Cain?” He waggled his blonde brows suggestively, the silver eyebrow piercing moving along.

I frowned, stammering for an answer. There was none. I think I was broken.

Naked guy scoffed. “Doubtful,” he said, turning his back to us and giving me a full view of his backside as he waltzed towards the leather sofa. “Cain never has anyone here. He’s not a rulebreaker, you dumb fuck.”

The blonde shrugged before grinning down at me. “Name’s Brandon, by the way,” he said, jerking his head behind him. “Over there is Silas.”

I blinked.

“So, what brings you into our dorm?”

“This is—” I croaked, “—this is my dorm?”

“No,” he drawled in confusion. “This is our dorm.” He pointed towards the golden numbers stamped on the door. “104. Warriors Sector.”

Warriors Sector... Oh god. “Right, clearly this was a mistake; I’ll just—”

“Put some clothes on, will you?”

A door creaked open, and the third roommate stepped into view.

My gaze shot to him, and I froze. His hair, dark brown with golden streaks from the firelight, looked deliberately tousled, like he couldn’t care less about his appearance.

But it wasn’t his looks that made my stomach twist—it was the way he carried himself, casual yet coiled, like he was waiting for an excuse to strike.

“But it’s so hot in here.” Silas groaned, running his hands through his shoulder-length curls.

“Why must you always deprive me of my needs?” That elicited a chuckle from the other guy, and the sound resonated deeply within me, causing me to squirm in an attempt to soothe myself.

It was deep, gravelly, with a hint of sarcasm.

I found my eyes glued to his every movement before he stopped beside Brandon and stared down at me. I suddenly felt so small. I was small, 5 ft to be precise, but this felt different, and I couldn’t explain it.

He looked at me with gunmetal eyes draped in shadows. Despite how beautiful he looked from the side, from the front, he was devastating. His sharp and defined jaw moved as he rolled his lips to the side, assessing the stranger in front of him.

My pulse flickered.

“Who’s this?” His voice was low and measured, like he already knew the answer but wanted to see if I’d squirm.

Brandon’s brows furrowed. “That’s what we’re trying to figure out. She has our dorm key.”

I glanced at said dorm key, which was still dangling from my fingers.

“Clearly, this was a mistake.” A terrible, terrible one I would amend immediately.

“I’ll just go—” Embarrassment flooded my chest as I turned toward the exit only to stop short at the sound of his voice.

“Hang on,” mystery roommate number three said.

I didn’t turn but could hear his footsteps nearing until he was behind me. “What’s your name?”

I contemplated a fake name. That was what I had been programmed to do when strangers asked me. It’s what Joe had desperately tried to drill into my head in case I ran into those maniac Celestial haters, but I was at a place where I couldn’t just do that.

Slowly and with unsteady feet, I twisted around. My gaze landed on his chest first, and I startled myself, thinking he was at least a good centimeter away from me. But no, he was a breadth away—close enough for me to smell an intoxicating blend of smoke and vanilla-laced cologne.

“Grace,” I answered quietly, forcing my eyes to look up at him. “Martin. Grace Martin.”

He continued to stare at me, but his expression gave no hint of what he was thinking except for the weight in his eyes, as if something always bothered him. “You’re the one who got accepted into the academy without being an Ascendant.”

I nodded shamefully. Word must have already gotten out before I even arrived.

His gaze narrowed. “Well, Grace, a little bit of advice since you’re new here.

” His voice almost carried a tone of sarcasm as he lowered his head to my height.

“You should probably walk back out the way you came from. You won’t last a day in here.

I highly doubt you would have even if you were one of us. ”

My brain seemed to replay those words in a painfully slow way. What I had thought to be remarkable about this person changed drastically.

He was an asshole.

Silas snickered from the sofa while Brandon raised his fist to his mouth to stifle a laugh.

Roommate number three just looked at me as if awaiting my reaction.

He likely wanted me to run out of here crying.

I was close to doing exactly that as my eyes burned with unshed tears.

And yet, I didn’t know what came over me as I raised my shin and kneed him in the groin with an extra amount of force.

Immediately, he doubled over with a groan right as the other two boys began howling with laughter.

“Asshole,” I spat before grabbing the handle of my suitcase and storming out of the room.

“Shit, man, are your dogs okay?”

More laughter filtered from their dorm.

“Stop calling them dogs!”

“She got you good, huh?”

“‘What do you think?”

“I’m thinking she has balls —ow, fuck—”

I wiped a stray tear before smiling to myself as their voices became muffled, and I made my way down the stairs.