Chapter 1 Wrong Turn, Right Monster
~ Sera's POV ~
The crystal glass shattered against the floor.
I didn't blink as the amber Scotch spilled against the white marble tiles. My hand tightened around my phone as the screen lit up with my mother's face. Eleanor Vance strutted down a Milan runway in a silver dress, completely ignoring me like always.
The phone buzzed against my ear.
"The transfer cleared," Eleanor said, her voice smooth and cold over the speaker. "Five hundred thousand for Ravencrest Academy. I did this so you live like a princess, Sera. Do not embarrass me."
My jaw locked so hard, a muscle jumped under my cheekbone. "Is that all?"
"Use the guards at the gate. Goodbye."
The line clicked dead.
I let the phone slip from my fingers, watching it shatter against the marble.
I wanted out of this empty mansion. I wanted real danger.
I pulled up the Ravencrest Academy files on my screen. The elite school was a breeding ground for badasses, rich kids who wore sharp blazers by day and ran illegal betting rings, street fights, and syndicate turf wars by night. The students carried tats like killers in leather jackets and heavy boots.
My pulse spiked. This was exactly what I wanted.
I walked straight to my hidden wall safe and pulled out a heavy black leather jacket. I slid a slim black pocket blade into my boot holster, listening to the metal click shut with a sharp snap.
I bypassed the sleeping guards at the front gate without a word, stepping out into the dark night toward Ravencrest.
The heavy glass doors of the academy swung open, and I stepped straight into the noise.
Students in dark blazers crowded the marble hallway, but my eyes didn't waste time on them. Across the courtyard, four guys stood leaning against a matte-black muscle car.
They didn't blend in with the rest of the student body. They looked like a firing squad.
Heavy leather jackets, dark ink crawling up the side of a neck and wrapping around thick forearms, and an aura of absolute, terrifying ownership made every kid within twenty feet step out of their path.
The middle guy caught my attention instantly.
He stood taller than the rest, midnight-dark hair falling across a sharp, brutal forehead. A scar cut through his left eyebrow, and silver rings wrapped around his fingers as he tossed a set of heavy keys into the air.
He radiated a dangerous, effortless charisma that hit me right in the chest.
I didn't watch where my boots were taking me.
Bam.
My shoulder collided hard against his solid chest. I bounced back a step, the breath leaving my lungs in a sharp gasp.
"Watch it," I muttered quickly, my eyes snapping up to his face.
He didn't speak. He just stopped dead, his pitch-black eyes locking onto mine with a cold, heavy weight that made my pulse spike. No warning. No warmth. Just a look that promised pure trouble.
I didn't flinch. I held his gaze, lifting my hand slightly. "I'm Sera. And you?"
He didn't take my hand. He didn't even blink. He simply stepped around me like a ghost and kept walking.
"Move," a heavy voice barked from behind him.
Another guy slammed his shoulder against mine as he walked past, knocking me sideways.
Weirdo.
I spun around, keeping my footing, and watched the four of them walk away together. The bleach-blonde guy who had hit me flashed a mocking, predatory grin, trying to mask the fact that he hadn't expected me to just take it, while a sharp-jawed guy with cold eyes and a tall, heavy-set brute with dead silence fell into step beside the leader without looking back.
A hand yanked my arm hard, pulling me behind a stone pillar out of sight.
A girl with smudged eyeliner and bleached-blonde hair stared at me, her chest heaving, eyes wide with pure panic.
"You have a death wish," Julia hissed, her fingers digging into my jacket sleeve as she checked to make sure the four guys were gone. "I'm Julia. You're the new girl who skipped orientation. Big mistake."
I didn't lower my guard. "I don't need orientation."
Julia's eyes narrowed, her voice dropping to a rapid, terrified whisper. "If you want to survive till graduation, you need to know who owns this place."
My pulse hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, but my eyes stayed locked on the empty doorway where he had vanished. "I don't care who owns it. Who was he?"
Julia let out a shaky breath, staring at me like I was insane. "Dante Moretti."
She swallowed hard, her hand trembling against my jacket. "His family owns the city, and he owns this school. People who cross him don't just get expelled, Sera. They vanish."
Julia's fingernails dug deeper into my wrist. "If you want to survive here, you never look him in the eye again."
I stared down the empty hallway where the dark ink on his neck and forearms had vanished from sight.
I pushed through the oak doors and hit the lecture hall floor.
Silence slammed over the room. Students froze in their dark blazers as I tracked dead ahead, my eyes locked on the middle row.
Dante sat sprawling, silver rings tapping a steady beat against his desk, ink crawling up his neck. His enforcers flanked him, Jax with his sharp, ruthless smirk and Kian with dead stone eyes.
I didn't slow down. I dropped into the empty seat right beside Dante.
"Hey Dante, so we meet again," I whispered.
His head snapped. His chair shrieked against the floorboards as he surged up.
Clack.
Steel flashed. He slammed me against the desk, the blade pressing flat into my throat. A sharp rip of fire tore across my forearm as the edge bit deep. Warm blood bled down my sleeve, dripping onto the wood.
The room sucked in a collective breath.
Dante’s face was inches from mine, his voice dropping to an icy growl. "You've crossed the line. You don't talk to me. You're out of bounds."
"I don't play by your lines," I snapped back.
My palm smashed upward, driving his wrist off my neck. My boot hooked hard behind his ankle, and I whipped my hip into his ribs, slamming my weight straight into his chest.
He went down hard, the floor shuddering beneath us.
