Page 24 of The Villain We Tempt

“Trevor—”

“Thereyou are!”

I’m suddenly physically yanked away from him by a strong hand on my shoulder. I whirl, and I’m surprised to find myself face to face with a dark-haired girl about my height with icy blue eyes.

“I thought we were meeting up outside!” she beams cheerfully at me.

I frown and have just started to open my mouth when she subtly winks at me. Then she glances past me at Trevor.

“Sorry dude, I’m stealing my girl. Later.”

Without another word, she pulls me after her down the hall. When we’re a few yards away, I glance back just in time to see a scowling Trevor huff into the classroom. She spots it too, and immediately lets go of me.

“Sorry. You looked like you needed rescuing.”

I exhale and turn back to her. “Oh my God, you have no idea.Thank you.”

She’s wearing the same blue and black tartan uniform as me and everyone else on campus. But she’s also got her black hair in twin braids held back with silver skull-shaped clips. She’s also wearing atonof eyeshadow, and lipstick that’s such a dark red it’s almost black.

Suddenly, I realize who she is.

“Oh! Bella, right?”

We’ve never officially met, but I know of Bella Drakos, who’s a cousin of Achilles as well as the Kildare brothers.

She dips her chin. “The same. Galina, yeah?”

“That’s me!” I say what feels a bit too cheerfully for Bella’s Wednesday Addams goth vibe. But she grins back.

“This is Social Psychology of Deception, yeah?” She nods past me at the door to the classroom outside which Trevor just accosted me.

I nod my head. “Yeah. Are you…?” We’re a few weeks into the semester and I’ve never seen her in class before.

“I finally declared a Psychology major,” she shrugs. “I’m going to be playing catchup on a bunch of shit, but…oh well.”

I smile. “I'm happy to share my notes from the first few weeks,” I laugh. “It’s the least I can do as a thanks for rescuing me.”

She rolls her eyes. “I hope that wasn’t your boyfriend or anything. Honestly, he looked like a fucking creep.”

I make a sour face. “Definitelynot my boyfriend.”

“Bella.”

We both turn to the deep voice coming from the classroom doorway. I feel a little flush of heat creep into my cheeks when I see Lochlan Kildare glaring at us.

“Try not to be late on your first day?” he grunts at her.

It’s annoying how hot he is. I’ve never been attracted to the jock, “alpha dog” type, which Lochlan is basically the poster-boy for. Butugh. That jawline, those eyes and broad shoulders…

“Same goes for you, Nikitin.” He nods that infuriatingly perfect chin at me. “Tardiness can and will result in points off final grades.”

Bella glances at her cousin with a confused look. “What the fuck are you doing here, Lochie?”

He glowers at her. “It'sLochlan,” he mutters. Then he grins widely. “Surprise, cuz. I’m the TA for your new class.”

Bella groans. “You’re shitting me.”

“Unfortunately, he's not,” I mutter under my breath.