As I hand Nick his jacket back, I give him one last pep talk. “Okay, once we’re in there, you have to act annoyed with me behind my back.”
Nick shoots me a questioning look as he straightens his leather jacket. “Why?”
“Because this is a sacrificial ritual. They have to believe you’re only using me for my power and that you’d be willing to kill me, or they won’t go for it.”
Nick lets his eyes drop to my feet and slowly pulls them back up, smirking. “I can’t want you for your legs?”
I roll my eyes. “Of course that, too, or we won’t look sincere as a couple. Come on, we’ve got to sell this. It’s our only chance.”
“Okay, okay, I promise I’ll be the douchiest boyfriend ever.”
“Thank you.”
Nick laughs, shaking his head. “You ready, 007?”
I look at the house again and take a deep breath. “Yup. Let’s do this. Let’s go rush.”
One of the Alpha Gamma Delta girls is standing at the door, greeting guests. Her eyes light up as Nick and I arrive, but the look is for me and not Nick. I have to hold back a laugh at his soft snort. I guess he doesn’t get passed up by women often. “Hello!” the girl greets, taking my hand and shaking it with both of hers. She lets go quickly, so I only get the briefest thought from her. She’s so gorgeous. She looks fun. I hope she wants to rush. “I’m Stacia. Welcome to Alpha Gamma Delta. Are you thinking of rushing?”
“Considering it,” I lie as I pull my hand back. “I’m mostly curious about sorority life. I want to figure out if it’s for me before I decide to rush anywhere. Someone on campus told me about your mixer tonight. I hope you don’t mind that we came.”
“Oh, of course not! That’s what this party is for. To welcome any who are interested,” Stacia says. She’s got a nice attitude about her—very happy and friendly. I kind of like her. “Drinks are in the kitchen,” Stacia goes on, “and anyone wearing the Alpha Gamma Delta T-shirts are here to answer any questions you have or show you around. Please, come in and enjoy yourselves.”
I reach deep down inside me and pull up my best happy-go-lucky bubbly Nora. It’s not easy, and I know even though I like Stacia’s outgoingness, I’m 100 percent not sorority material. “Thanks! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Nora, and this is my boyfriend, Nick. We’ll be sure to talk to a few different people while we’re here. Thanks for having us. It looks like a great party.”
Nick slides me a glance once we’re finally in the door. I match his wry look. “Don’t even say a word.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Nick says. His laugh makes me think he’s lying. “So, should we hit up the kitchen for a drink and then do a lap? You can point people out to me, since you’re the only one who knows what any of them look like.”
“Sounds good, but just water for me. I don’t drink.”
Nick grins. “Well then, I guess I’ll have to drink for the both of us. Gotta blend in, right?”
“Don’t get slobbering drunk. We’re working tonight, remember?”
Nick shrugs. “My metabolism burns off alcohol too quickly for me to get drunk. I’ll be fine.”
I want to ask so badly what kind of underworlder he is, but he doesn’t offer, and Cecile confirmed my suspicion that it’s rude to ask, so I hold my tongue and let him lead me to the kitchen.
Once I have a bottled water and Nick has the customary red Solo cup in hand, we wander through the house. It’s huge and nice, though it’s not fancy like I would think a house this big would be. It’s very normal feeling, homey. Another point for the sorority. Who knew I’d like it?
“Bingo.” Seeing a familiar face, I nod my head in the right direction and murmur behind my water bottle. “Blondie with the muscles, at two o’clock. That’s the guy who took Shandra. The even bigger guy next to him with the sandy hair is the owner of the one and only banana boat hooptie.”
As Nick casually looks them over from behind his plastic cup, I add, “Look for a shorter redheaded guy. That’s Elijah. He seems to be the human in charge.”
“Excuse me,” says a voice behind us, clearly trying to get our attention. We both turn to find none other than Elijah standing right behind us. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but did I just hear you say you’re looking for a human in charge of a fraternity?”
I’m busted. But how to play it off? He obviously heard me, and he’s looking at me with dangerous suspicion. Hopefully he didn’t hear me mention Shandra by name. I’ll have to be more careful. For now, I may as well own it.
I pull out Bubbly Nora again and give the guy a huge smile while bouncing up and down a little. “Oh! You’re him, aren’t you? Are you Elijah?” I grip Nick’s arm, grateful for his long-sleeved leather jacket. “Oh, Nicky, I told you we’d find him!”
Nick grimaces at me. It could be because we got caught, or it could be the girly whine I throw into my words, or more likely, it could be that I called him Nicky. Either way, the grimace is perfect, because Elijah looks between us and his eyes narrow even further. “Yes, I’m Elijah. Is there something I can do for you?”
There’s more disdain in his voice than wariness. Condescending asshole. I want to tell him where he can shove his self-importance, but I have to keep up the act of the annoying underworlder. “Actually, there is.” I giggle. It almost kills me.
In a bold move, I take Elijah’s arm and drag him into the living room to snag a seat on an empty couch. “You see, my boyfriend Nicky wants to rush your frat, but we looked everywhere for information on you guys and couldn’t find anything.”
Elijah sits down with me but pulls his arm out of my grip, making me lose his thoughts. All I got from him on our short walk across the room was that he’s really irritated for several reasons. First, he thinks it’s a pity I’m so hot, because I’m super annoying. He doesn’t like that I know about underworlders—and I must, because I mentioned humans—and wants to know how I know about him and his brotherhood.
“Unfortunately,” he says, frowning at me with all the arrogance of Mr. Darcy, “joining our brotherhood is a private thing. It’s by personal invitation only, and all of our slots are full for the year.”
“Oh, bummer.” I pout for all I’m worth. “That’s a shame.” I duck in close to his ear and lower my voice. “Nicky was so excited when he learned there was an underworld fraternity.”
Elijah can’t help himself; he’s as drawn to me as any man. His hand falls to my thigh, half on my dress and half on my bare skin. I hate his touch, but I swallow back my revulsion and let him leave his hand there. “And how is it that you came to know about us?” he asks, sugar in his voice now instead of irritation.
His thoughts haven’t changed much; he still wants to know how I know who he is, but he’s a lot less annoyed with me. Now, instead, he keeps thinking about how beautiful I am, and he’s wondering how serious Nick and I are. We don’t seem to be that serious, because Nick hasn’t stopped me from talking to Elijah and sitting so closely to him, and Nick’s eyes keep drifting to other girls.
“Oh!” I say, laying my hand on top of his. “Well, that’s a funny story. I met your friend Xavier at Underworld the other night. He was with a friend of mine. He was cool, but he kept hitting on me. He kept trying to get me to come home with him even though I told him I had a boyfriend. I sort of had to glamour him a little to get him to back off.” I make an oops face and giggle conspiratorially.
Elijah perks up at this. “Glamour? You’re fey?”
I bite my lip and try to look nervous since underworlders aren’t supposed to talk about the underworld. Elijah begins rubbing small circles on my bare thigh with his thumb. “You can trust me, Nora. I myself am a sorcerer. I’ll keep your secrets.”
I pretend to consider it while I listen to his thoughts. He’s excited at the possibility that he’s found another underworlder, but he’s not sure he believes me. I seem human to him.