Chapter 4 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

KIA

Eden Falls was one of those places where you walked in with expectations you thought you'd already figured out, and then, given how everything else that night had taken you by surprise, you braced yourself to be surprised again. Bunch of rich kids showing off their powers in the hallway. Or maybe this would be the one thing that didn't surprise me. Maybe beneath all the supernatural nonsense, the academy would still feel like a regular school.

Nope.

I didn't expect the first thing through the doors to be a massive wolf charging straight at me, only for it to skid to a stop the second Rhys stepped out beside me before taking off in the opposite direction. Everyone else seemed to give me the same wide berth the moment they noticed who I was standing next to.

I hated it.

For someone who'd spent her whole life on the outside looking in, walking into somewhere new and getting the exact same treatment dredged up memories I didn't want surfacing right now. I turned toward Rhys, who'd already started down the hall, and did my best to ignore the sideways glances following us.

"Are we still in Seattle?" I asked, matching his stride.

"We're not anywhere on the human map."

He said it so plainly that I almost laughed... until my brain actually processed what he'd said. I stopped walking.

"What?"

He stopped too, his shoulders dropping in what looked like a long, put-upon sigh, then turned to face me. "Can we save the questions for later and get you enrolled first?"

"Enrolled?" My eyebrows shot up. "I'm not enrolling anywhere. I already got into UW. Why would I trade that for a school in a town that looks like it's one minute away from doomsday?"

A muscle ticked in his jaw. "You have an academy pass. That's usually a pretty good indication you're supposed to be here."

"Well, I'm rejecting it."

I closed the distance between us and lowered my voice, trying to stay calm even though I could already feel my heartbeat picking up.

"My dad was murdered a few hours ago. I found a weird card in his study, it opened a portal, and somehow I ended up here. I'm not looking for a new school. I'm looking for answers. You seem to know this place, so if you know why a human somehow ended up with an academy pass, I'd really appreciate you telling me."

He looked at me for a moment before answering. "Isn't it obvious?"

I stared blankly.

"Your dad was a student here."

My mouth opened. Then closed again.

"That's..." I stopped myself.

A few minutes ago I'd watched him grow fangs and bite me like it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Maybe ‘impossible’ wasn't a word I could use anymore.

"People don't come to Eden Falls asking questions," Rhys continued. "Half the students here would kill for information they can use against someone else. The other half would lie just to see how long it takes you to figure it out. If you want answers about your father's murder, your best chance is staying here long enough to find them yourself."

He hesitated.

"And you can't leave Willowbrook without permission."

My chest tightened. I took a step back.

No.

No, no, no.

I couldn't be trapped here.

Not after Dad's death. Not after finally getting into UW. Not after everything I'd planned for my life.

My breathing turned shallow. The corridor blurred around the edges as students walked past in streaks of color. The walls suddenly felt too close. I couldn't get enough air.

A warm hand cupped my cheek.

"Hey."

I blinked. Rhys stood directly in front of me, blue eyes fixed on mine.

"Breathe." He took a slow breath in. "Like this." Then let it out.

I copied him before I even realized I was doing it. Again. And again. Little by little, the pressure crushing my chest eased until my lungs finally remembered how to work.

"There you go," he said quietly.

When my breathing returned to normal, I looked up at him. "Thanks."

He didn't answer. He just stood there looking at me for a second too long before blinking and stepping back, dropping his hand like he'd only just realized it was still touching my face.

"I don't think I can do this," I admitted.

A bell rang somewhere above us. I jumped so hard I nearly collided with him again. Rhys caught me by the shoulders out of reflex before immediately creating space between us. His expression stayed perfectly blank.

"Let's be honest," he said. "You won't survive a day here."

My stomach sank.

"But..." That single word stopped me from spiraling. "I can keep you alive."

Hope flickered inside my chest.

"In return," he continued, "you'll do exactly what I tell you. I'll help you investigate your father's murder, but the moment you stop listening to me, you're on your own."

He held out his hand. "Deal?"

I looked at his outstretched hand, then up at his face. "Do I have a choice?"

"Not if you want to keep living."

I let out a slow sigh before placing my hand in his. The moment our palms met, I felt a sharp sting.

"Ow."

I pulled my hand back instinctively. A tiny cut stretched across my hand where his thumbnail had grazed my skin. Rhys's gaze dropped to the bead of blood. Then he caught my wrist in one hand, brushed his thumb over the cut with the other, and raised it to his lips, licking the blood away.

I stared at him.

"...Did you just lick my blood?"

His eyes met mine. He seemed to realize what he'd done, released my wrist without a word, and simply turned away.

"Come."

I blinked, still staring after him.

"Are you coming or not?"

Muttering something under my breath about insane vampires, I hurried after him.

He led me through a set of double doors into an office that looked more like a study than a headmistress's quarters, shelves lined with old books, a fire crackling somewhere I couldn't see the source of. Two guys sat across from a woman at the desk, both of them looking like they'd just walked out of a brawl, knuckles split, one with a bruise blooming under his eye.

They looked up when we entered, gazes sliding over me slow and assessing, the kind of look that made my skin crawl. The second they registered Rhys behind me, both of them dipped their heads slightly before scrambling out of their seats and out the door without a word.

"Sit," Rhys said, and I did, lowering myself into the chair they'd left behind while he stayed standing beside me.

"She landed near the northern gate," he told the woman behind the desk. "She has an approved pass."

The woman smiled, warm in a way that didn't quite match the office around her. Her face was ethereal, her skin almost luminous, her pale, blonde hair pulled back into a sleek bun. She looked like she belonged on a runway, not in a school like this.

"Welcome to Eden Falls. I'm Principal Darcy." She held her hand out. "May I see the pass?"

I handed it over. Her brows knit together as she studied it. "There's no bloodline listed."

"We weren't sure yet," Rhys said, voice even. "She's from the other side of the borders."

Something shifted in the principal's expression. "The borders. Is she—"

She didn't finish the question.

"She is," Rhys said. "But since she landed at the northern gate, she has to be House Peoria."

The principal made a small gesture over the card and handed it back to me. When I looked down, the bloodline space that had been empty now read Peoria in the same neat lettering as the rest. I glanced up at Rhys, and his face gave away absolutely nothing. I just smiled and said nothing at all.

"I'll have her moved to the Peoria dormitory, then," the principal said.

"About that." Rhys's expression didn't change. "She arrived without a verified bloodline. If the Peorias find out, they'll see her as weak before she even has a chance to prove herself. They don't forgive weakness. I'd rather she stay in my dorm until she understands this place well enough to survive on her own. Then I'll move her into House Peoria."

The principal's mouth curved, clearly entertained by something neither of us was in on. "That's going to start a rumor, Mr. Wilde."

"I'm counting on it."

The principal scribbled something onto a parchment before handing it to Rhys.

"I'd appreciate it if she survived her first week."

"I'll see what I can do."

She waved a hand, amused, and that was apparently all the permission he needed.

He didn't explain anything on the walk to his dorm, and I was too busy trying to process everything that had happened over the last few hours to demand answers. The dorm itself was nothing like I expected. It felt more like an apartment than a dormitory, with dark wood floors, low lighting, and two other guys lounging in the common area when we walked in. One looked up with an easy grin that seemed entirely too pleased with itself. The other barely spared me a glance before returning to the book in his hands.

"Where's the guest room?" I asked, looking around for a door that might lead somewhere that wasn't shared space.

"There isn't one."

Rhys didn't even look at me as he started up a short staircase that spiraled toward a loft I could've sworn hadn't been there before. He held the bedroom door open, and the moment I stepped inside, it was like the view of the living room vanished.

"You're sleeping in my room," he said. "On the floor."

I spun to face him, crossing my arms over my chest. "Excuse me? You could've just put me in your house so I'd stay in the girls' dorm instead of making me share a room with you."

"There are three houses." He shrugged off his blazer and tossed it over a chair before sitting on the edge of the king-size bed. "House Wilde, the vampires, are born with sapphire-blue eyes. Without them, you're obviously an imposter. House Rothstein, the werewolves, have the build and the ears. You have neither. Peoria was the only house you could pass as without anyone asking questions."

"What about my house?" I asked quietly. "You know... the one you freaked out over earlier."

Rhys met my gaze. For the first time since we'd met, something in his expression softened.

"Your house doesn't exist anymore."