Wicked Games

by Wood, Vivian

My breath fogs up the window as I press my face close, watching the first snowflakes fall. It seems miraculous to me that the evening of the Winter Formal, snowflakes would begin to drift down from the sky. And yet, here they are. Big and fat and fluffy.

  It looks more and more like a winter wonderland outside every time I check. The idea is totally alien to me. In Oregon, it usually doesn’t snow until well after Christmas.

  I chew on my lower lip as I watch the snowflakes fall. I had a lot of invitations to the Winter Formal, some more formal than others. Max and Matthew both asked me before break. Wolf just assumed that I was going to go with him. He even pinned me by the front stairs of Rose House and kissed me like a true scoundrel, in the hope that I would fall on my knees and beg him to take me.

  In the end, though, I had to choose Max. Not just because he asked me first. Not just because I can still feel the kiss he gave me upon my lips.

  But most of all, I can’t give in to Wolf’s tactics. I refuse.

  So I’m going with Max as my date. It’s decided.

  I look up as Cass comes skipping into my room. “The weather is just perfect for the formal, don’t you think?”

  I turn around and eye her. Cass is wearing a sleek little kimono and her dark hair is bound in braids. She grins at me, waggling her brows.

  “Everything outside is going to be white!” she exclaims. “This winter formal is shaping up very well indeed.”

  “Oh yeah? Did you pick a date finally, then?”

  She laughs. “You bet. I decided on Cooper Mason.”

  I cant my head to the side. “Cooper Mason? What kind of name is that?”

  She rolls her eyes, sitting down on one of my oversized bean bag chairs. “He’s not one of the Skulls, but his family has the most adorable ski chalet just outside Saint Moritz in Switzerland. Believe me when I say that I will get us both a first class ticket to an amazing Christmas vacation. That is, assuming you will come with me.”

  I pause. With all the studying and the spending time with Max and Wolf at Rose House, I really haven’t honestly given much thought to Christmas. In the back of my mind, I guess I was just going to try to stay here and maybe get a part time job.

  Cass sees my hesitation and gives it no air to breathe. She waves her hand. “You have a passport, right?”

  I nod. “Yeah. Ella made me get one as soon as I turned eighteen.”

  “Great. You’re coming with me, then. That’s settled.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She rolls her eyes. “Girl, you are a hot commodity. The sooner you realize what that means, the sooner you can enjoy it. Speaking of, what are you wearing to the formal?”

  I make a face. “I’m not sure.”

  Cassandra beams. “How did I know you were going to say that? No worries though. I have three dresses for you to try on.”

  My eyes widen. “Oh, Cass… I don't know…”

  “Can’t hear you!” She puts her hands over her ears and gets up, heading out of the room. I follow her to her doorway with a frown. She reappears with three garment bags, handing them over. “I think the white one and the pink one are nice. The black is… mmm… more adult?”

  I accept the garment bags. “Thank you, Cass. Seriously. I was going to have to wear one of my casual dresses or something.”

  “Do me a favor? Don’t give those back to me. I’m running out of closet space and Gianni from Bloomingdale’s hasn’t even come by with the new spring stuff yet. Just keep them.”

  “Cass—”

  “Don’t start with me! Today is the first snowfall. A fresh beginning for all of us. And my dresses are now yours.” She winks before she shuts the door in my face.

  Sighing, I head back to my room, shutting the door behind me. I unsheathe all of the dresses, gasping at each one. The white one is absolutely, stunningly romantic: floral lace blooms from its delicate illusion neckline, through a fitted bodice, and into a frothy tulle skirt. It has a sheer back, lined with femme pearl buttons, and a soft blush lining to finish.

  The pink dress is simple and elegant. Swathed in floral soutache applique, its lightweight tulle body has spaghetti straps and a v-neckline.

  And the black dress practically screams I’m a movie star! Crafted from sleek, ultra-flattering crepe, the cap-sleeved dress has a plunging v-neckline and deep double front slits.

  There are not words for how amazed I am at being gifted these amazing dresses. Holding back my tears through sheer willpower alone, I eventually decide on the white dress. Trying it on, I’m shocked to see the angelic form in the mirror.

  Is that really me wearing this dress?

  I pile my hair on top of my head and put on makeup. Not too much, I just want my eyes to pop and my cheeks to look rosy. Before I overthink it too much, I grab my purse and head out of my bedroom to where the rest of the Thistles are waiting for their dates.

  “Oh my god!” Alice says when she sees me. She and Cass both look wide eyed at my fancy look. For my part, I am completely blown away by Cass’s red strapless gown and Alice’s black lace look.

  “Eat your heart out, Wolf Astor!” Cass says. “Jesus, that dress is amazing on you.”

  I blush. “Max is actually taking me to formal.”

  Alice and Cass both look a little surprised. Alice is the first to wade into that water, though.

  “I thought you and Wolf were an item.”

  My cheeks burn brighter. “No, not that I know of.”

  Cass slides Alice a look. I don’t know exactly what it means, but I don’t have time to say anything else.

  “Ladies!” calls Ms. Thomas, the house mother. “Everyone, let’s gather on the front steps for a group photo. Then your dates can come claim you and take you to the dance.”

  Joining the queue to get out the front door, I smile tightly at Alice and Cass. Where they got the idea that things with Wolf had become more serious I don’t know. But now I have this tight feeling in the pit of my stomach that I should have chosen Wolf.

  Am I the reason that things haven’t gotten off the ground between us?

  We line up, smiling as Ms. Thomas takes our photograph. All the while, my guts are churning.

  Then we are released. The boys from Rose House come over in a tidal wave of tuxedo jackets and cologne. I don’t see Wolf, but Max soon finds me, looking dark and dashing as ever.

  Smiling as Max guides me toward the limo, I try to relax. I tell myself that tonight will be fun, no matter what the outcome.

  But I am still very much on edge as I let Max tuck me into the sleek black car and carry me away to the formal.

  35

  Wolf

  The ballroom at the Grand looks how it always looks as the limos arrive—classy. Understated. Bathed in twinkle lights. One moment, I’m alone in front of the punch bowl. The next, Thorns and Thistles are filing in together, along with less familiar faces from campus. The Thorns and Thistles will stay at the Grand tonight. The others will be bussed back to campus.

  I pick up a glass of punch. Like everything we put together, it has the faint taste of blueberry wine—sweet enough to disguise any hint of the alcohol. It’s a dangerous game, and Carter and Ellis make a beeline for the table the moment they enter the room.

  “Good job decorating,” Carter says, slapping me on the back.

  “Fuck you.” I give him a half-grin. “Did you two abandon your dates?”

  “Some of the Thistles wanted to ride together in a limo.” Ellis rolls his eyes. “They’re abandoning tradition. And so are you.”

  “Me? I’m halfway through my first drink. You need to catch up.” I raise my glass to him in a mock salute.

  “You’re standing here alone at the table. Where’s your date, Wolf? Hmm?” Ellis raises his eyebrows. “Tell me you didn’t come here alone on account of Emily Danes.”

  “I came here alone because I’m an adult who can make his own decisions. No woman kicked me out of her limo tonight.”

  “You’re a real prize,” chimes in Cart
er. “Ah. Your latest obsession is here.” He nods toward the door, and I follow the direction of the nod without thinking.

  I don’t know why I’m expecting it to be someone other than Emily. Of course it’s Emily.

  She’s at the back of a crowd of Thistles in formalwear, all of them coming in on the arm of their tuxedo-clad date from Rose House. And Emily, like I knew she would be, is on Max’s arm.

  It’s not a surprise, not in the least, but a muscle in my jaw tenses and fires.

  “Oooh,” says Carter. “I was right. You are obsessed.”

  “Fuck off.” I take the nearest punch glass off the table and shove it into his hands. “Go find your own date.”

  Inside of two minutes, the ballroom is filled with people and the volume is rising. As always, a few of the women have come alone, or with friends, and they appear in their ball gowns next to my arm, wanting to murmur questions into my ear, wanting me to escort them to the punch bowl, wanting me to come dance…

  I go through the motions, but I’m hyper-aware of Emily. She wears a rose-colored dress. It’s fucking gorgeous but not flashy, and still, the color draws my eye to it. Every time I turn around, there she is—or an inch of her hem, or one of the spaghetti straps, or a glimpse of her dark hair. We’re like two planets in orbit, never coming near enough to touch but circling each other all night. I have another glass of punch, then a third, and I’m headed toward the table for a fourth when I realize I’m on a collision course.

  Max stands at the punch bowl, a glass in his hand, and Emily stands facing him, her hand on her hip. Skepticism is written loudly across her face. I’m drawn to it like a moth to a flame. This doesn’t look like the friendly banter they’re usually sucked into when they study together at Rose House. This looks like something else.

  “It’s not something you should get into without a full knowledge of the situation,” he’s saying as I move toward the edge of the crowd.

  “Nobody has full knowledge of the situation,” she argues. “That’s why I want to know what happened. Don’t you think there’s a strange lack of reporting on that night? Why was it so open and shut? College students don’t just fall down stairs and die.”

  Every one of her words is an arrow and my body flinches back on instinct. Asher. They’re talking about Asher.

  “It’s not...looked kindly on,” Max says. “You’re new here. You weren’t on campus when it happened, and—”

  “So what?”

  “So, I would hate for you to get a reputation for being nosy.”

  “Nosy?” Emily laughs. “You’re the one who goes around with a notebook all day, writing down things people say.”

  “That’s not the same.”

  “It’s similar enough.”

  “It’s—”

  Max cuts her off by leaning in for a kiss.

  I don’t see it coming until it’s happening right in front of my face, and neither does Emily. Her shoulders fly up around her ears.

  I’m on top of him before I know what I’m doing, taking his tux in my fists and wrenching him back.

  “What the hell, Wolf?”

  “That’s not what you do. Not to her. Do you understand?” My breath is heavy, labored.

  “Wolf!” Emily cries. “Wolf, it’s fine. It’s not the first time we’ve kissed. I—” I turn my head enough to see her covering her mouth with her hands. Damn it, it got the best of me, that awful, growing envy. I couldn’t fucking stand it, seeing his lips on hers. And worst of all, I don’t disagree. If Emily is digging into Campbell College dirt, it’s not a good thing for anybody.

  Except Asher, a voice in the back of my head whispers, taunting me.

  I push Max away from me, releasing his tux like his clothes were burning my hands. “You watch yourself.” I stab a finger toward him.

  “Wolf—” Emily pushes between us. “He wasn’t doing anything wrong. I was surprised, but he wasn’t doing anything wrong.”

  Except he was. And my body reacted to it before my mind could catch up. Max stares at me, eyes narrowed, and adjusts his coat. “I think you should take a walk, Wolf. Walk it off.”

  “Good fucking idea,” I spit at him, then turn on my heel and go.

  “Too much to drink,” I hear him tell Emily as I stalk away. “He’ll be okay.”

  “Will he?” she asks. And I don’t know the answer.

  36

  Emily

  My birthday falls on the first week that classes are back in session. There is a little snow on the ground, but nothing like I have just left. After the strain of finishing my first semester and the luxury of an ultra-indulgent, all expenses paid ski vacation in Saint Moritz, I am definitely ready to tackle school again. I’m not ready for my birthday though…

  I was dropped off at a hospital for the first time of many. It just so happened to be on my fifth birthday. And until Ella, my birthdays only seemed to get worse. I would always seem to get bad news or break my arm or…

  Well, I could make a list of things that happened to me on this day, and none of them were good. Ella and I made a big deal out of not celebrating on January 24th, which made it seem okay.

  But Ella is far away so I am learning to cope with my birthday on my own today. After an early happy not birthday phone call with Ella, I get dressed in a cute white dress and dark pink tights. I’m talking myself up about how today is going to be okay when there is a knock on my door.

  Walking over and opening it, I find Wolf leaning in my doorway. His blond hair falls across his forehead just so. His muscles in that snug navy tee shirt make me bite my lip. He is tall, golden, and oh so handsome. He has this look on his face like the cat who ate the canary.

  “Emily,” he says, his voice husky.

  God, how weak in the knees I am, just hearing him say my name. I lick my lips and cant my head.

  “Wolf.”

  He smirks. “I found out your secret.”

  My pulse instantly starts pounding. What secret is he talking about?

  I was under the impression that whatever secrets I have, I have already told him about. I mean, he doesn’t need to know how much I have been delving into the Skulls and Thorns history, but other than that…

  I don’t say anything, so he fills in for me. “I found out that it’s your birthday.”

  “Ohhh…” The look of relief on my face must be evident because he laughs at me, pushing his way into my room. As he brushes by me, I shiver.

  “I want to take you somewhere special,” he says, smirking again. That dimple flashes in his cheek, the one that seems to make me do whatever he wants. “Blow off class and come with me.”

  “Oh, I don’t know…” I say with a frown.

  Wolf reaches out and pulls me close, pressing his big body against mine. He’s so much larger than I am, he makes me feel petite. Somehow though he doesn’t make me feel like he is going to crush me. He tilts my head back, biting his lower lip.

  My eyes are drawn down to his mouth as he licks his lips. I swallow.

  He leans in, a half-breath away from my lips. “Come with me. I promise you’ll be glad you did.”

  Before I even realize what I’m doing, I breath my answer. “Okay.”

  He grabs my heavy green peacoat, shrugging into a coat of his own. Then he flashes me a grin, tugging me out of my room. We leave Thistle House, hopping in the cream-colored classic car he has parked just outside. I’m so enthralled with him, I don’t even make a sound as he drives away from campus and heads away from the city.

  Evidently the heater in the car doesn’t work. So he just puts his arm around me as we go, keeping me warm.

  Wolf drives me into a more heavily-wooded area. The barren trees crowd in more and more as we go. In the spring I imagine that it’s lush with greenery. Just now, though, it’s a little creepy despite the bright daylight. The road we are on soon turns from a highway to little more than a beaten path.

  When he pulls up outside of a little cabin, smoke pouring merrily out of its chimne
y, I shoot him a look. Other than the cabin, there is nothing around for miles and miles. Just trees, crowded close together.

  The cynical part of me is screaming about this being someplace you bring someone you plan to murder. But I just bite my lip and let Wolf lead me by the hand out of the car.

  I start to sweat. It has never occurred to me before this moment, but Wolf had as much opportunity as anyone to kill Asher. As he steers me up the steps of the cabin and opens the front door for me, I start to shake with fear. The front door swings open and it squeaks like a banshee wailing, giving me goosebumps.

  Before me, the inside of the cabin is poorly illuminated. I swallow a big lump that is suddenly in my throat.

  He gives me a gentle push, moving behind me to close to the door. I turn to him, to say something to him. Beg for my life or something.

  I’m going to be killed on my birthday, by the man I came here with willingly. I am so, so stupid.

  Then he reaches behind him, flipping on the lights in the cabin. To my complete surprise the cabin is decorated in blue and pink streamers and balloons. One one side, I see a table and chairs with a perfect pink cake. One the other side I see a bed with a Happy 19th Birthday banner hanging over it. In the middle, there is a roaring fireplace with a feast laid out on a plaid blanket before it.

  My hand goes to my mouth. I’ve never been quite so wrong or quite so surprised in my whole life.

  Behind me, Wolf is grinning. He tugs the coat off of my shoulders, setting it aside with his.

  “Are you surprised?” he asks.

  “I… I… yes?” I say, looking at him helplessly.

  Then he steps close to me, tipping my face up to his. He smiles down at me.

  “Happy birthday, Emily Danes.”

  He lowers his lips to my own. I push up on my tiptoes, meeting him halfway.

  For the longest moment after our lips meet, pressing against each other, I am utterly lost.

  37

  Emily