Page 16 of Wicked Little Darling

It tookme twenty minutes to get back to my dorm. The campus was enormous and felt like a maze; it would be a while before I was able to comfortably find my way around.

I’d been placed in one of the dorms on the east side. My room was on the fifth floor at the very end of the hall, which meant there was an extra window looking out toward the sunrise. The person who’d been living here hadn’t picked the side with the extra window, which I was delighted to find.

When I got to my floor, there were a few students who’d left their doors open and were playing music. The air up here was stuffy and dry; it smelled a little mildewy, which was unexpectedfor such an expensive, prestigious school. Maybe I’d been placed in one of the shittier buildings? I didn’t care though. The smell of mildew was the norm where I came from, though I was sure some of these guys were more used to the smell of cleanliness and luxury. I bet they didn’t even know what mold smelled like.

I was halfway down the hall when I passed a room with an open door.

“Hey!” someone called, and then quieter, “Shut up, Trevor, that’s gotta be him.”

I turned as a tall, lanky guy leaned out of the room. “Hey, man, you sure you’re on the right floor?”

“What? Yeah, I’m on the fifth floor. Why?”

He shrugged, then smiled. “Just never seen you before. Oh, shit, wait wait wait. Don’t tell me you’re going to 508.” He snickered, and then another guy stepped out behind him, holding a bag of chips in one hand and digging into them with the other. This one was shorter and had neatly combed hair parted to the side. He gave me an appraising look, then stared hard at my birthmark.

What the hell did these assholes want?

“Yeah, I’m going to 508. Why?”

They both gave each other a look, then the taller one said, “Nah, nothing. You’ll be fine. Word of warning, though, the guy who’s in there is a little…” He scratched his head and looked up at the ceiling, like he was trying to find the right word.

“Crazy,” his friend finished, crunching on a mouthful of chips. “He’s fucking crazy. Like, spent time in the loony bin crazy. Good luck, dude.”

His friend nodded solemnly. “Yeah, his roommate left school because of him. Wasn’t even here for two weeks. Hope you last a little longer.”

Was this a joke? Some kind of prank they were pulling because I was new?

“Sure. Whatever,” I muttered, sidling past them.

One of them laughed, then said, “Wanna come to a party later? On Greek—” He cut off on a grunt, and I looked over my shoulder to see the other guy hissing at him as he pushed him into their room.

The door slammed, then loud laughter sounded behind it.

Two semesters. Just two more semesters, and then I’d be gone.

When I got to my room, I pulled the keycard from my pocket and unlocked my door. I hadn’t really unpacked yet, and the academy had left sheets, a blanket, and a few pillows on top of the bare mattress that I still had to put on.

I headed into the small bathroom, flipped on the light, and looked around the space.

Each room had its own private bathroom, which was amazing. But where was the laundry room? I’d have to ask another student. Ugh.

“It’s kinda small, right?”

I jumped at the sound of the deep, raspy voice right next to my ear, tripping back into a hard body. Two hands gripped my upper arms to steady me, and I ripped myself away from the person, whirling around to find myself face-to-face with Dakota fucking Voss.

4

I DIDN’T SIGN UP FOR THIS

REESE

Istared up at Dakota, my heart hammering in my chest as he watched me with a piercing intensity that made me feel like there were bugs crawling under my skin.

He held my gaze without blinking, and now that we weren’t beneath a cloudy sky, his eyes were cold and dark. They slid slowly down my body as he tilted his head, then flashed quickly back up to mine.

“How’s your leg?”

His voice was low and rough, like his vocal cords had been damaged somehow. Or was it just naturally like that?