Quinn woke to plain daylight, angry and confused. Her head felt heavy from the lack of good sleep and loss of appetite.
After yesterday's incident with Dravon in the library, she felt overwhelmed and emotionally drained. His dominance was overpowering and even in her sleep, she was haunted by his thoughts, his sexy smile and his passionate lovemaking. He wanted her to completely obey him, no question asked. She heaved a long sigh. He knew everything about him was addictive and she needed him. Using her weakness to his advantage was no big deal for him.
"Oh, God,' she groaned, and rolled out of bed, clutching her pounding temples while she staggered, half naked into her baby pink bathroom.
'Oh, God,' she groaned again in horror when she saw her reflection in the mirror. Her long layered hair was a mess, her brown eyes looked tired and puffy with her face which lacked glow today.
But it was her infinity tattoo on her neck that drew and held her attention. She hadn't realised yesterday. . .
Quinn stared at them for a long moment before shuddering fuzzily.
Suddenly, the full horror of what she'd recently feared hit her, and she sank down on the side of the bath, her head dropping down between her knees as the nausea rose from her stomach. For a few seconds, the room spun, but the moment passed. Her infinity tattoo was fading. Was it the result of distancing herself from Dravon? That must be it or she was just being paranoid. He never told her about the consequences of breaking the coven rules.
Quinn braced herself with hands on knees and slowly lifted her head.
Quinn stood up abruptly and walked over to the shower, snapping on the water and standing there testing till it was hot enough. Stepping into the steaming spray, she shut her eyes and turned her face upwards, closing her mind to everything but the steady beating of its cleansing, reviving heat for a couple of blissful seconds.
She had to face the coven members in high school. There won't be any way to avoid them. And by this moment, Dravon must have informed them of her total obedience to Byron and neglecting them.
She sighed deeply at the thought.
***
"Have you heard the news?" Jade asked Ash, a frown visible on her face. It was half past eight in the morning and most of the students seemed in no hurry to attend their classes. Ash leaned against his locker, glanced briefly at Jade and took a bite of his red apple with a careless shrug. "What news?"Ash asked indolently as he chewed loudly.
Jade turned him around, kept her gaze in the hallway and pointed at three newcomers. "That news."
Ash and Jade watched a girl accompanied by two tall guys walking in the long crowded hallway, all eyes on them.
"Who the hell are they?" he asked. "I don't know," Jade replied.
Ash shook his head. "Remind me your use of being the principal's daughter again?" he pointed out sharply. "What do you mean? You're a typical cynic Ash," Jade snapped at him. "It's your call to keep a tab on newcomers. But again, you seem too oblivious and lightheaded to make use of your father's position to our advantage."
"Will you quit reminding me of my father's status every day?" she taunted.
"Get used to it, Jade," he said in a dry tone, threw his apple in a nearby bin and walked arrogantly away in the direction of these three strangers.
Jade turned her attention to her father who got out of his office abruptly and frowned at her. She gave him a confused look when he looked where Ash was headed.
"Ash Williams," he called out loud to make everyone aware of his presence. Ash threw him a backwards look, his brows raised sardonically. All the students immediately rushed to their respective classes. Fred and Jade joined Ash and they all watched the three strangers threw a mocking sideways glance at them as they marched lazily.
The girl found the principal's office and beckoned the guys to follow her inside. One guy went in with her but the taller one glanced back at Ash and momentarily kept his gaze on Jade, smirked and walked in.
"Who are they daddy? Were you expecting them?" Jade inquired with mere impatience. "I don't like them, especially the last guy who went in," Ash said between clenched teeth.
"Attend your class both of you. I will make the introductions once the formalities are over."
Jade grabbed Ash's arm in a haste and ushered them in English classroom. The teacher ignored them and continued lecturing. They found Jason who chose to occupy a seat far from Lisa. Shade was sure to be late and Quinn was nowhere in sight.
Scarlett frowned when she witnessed Jade's arm still resting on Ash's one. Then she gave her a mean look.
A forlorn Lisa waved when Ash grinned at her. Jason just gave them a brief nod and resumed to take notes. Ash took a seat beside Jason and Jade took a seat behind Scarlett, leaving Lisa alone. Shade joined them shortly. After a while, Quinn entered, her expression fathomless. She quickly took a seat without bothering to glance at the elites.
The grumpy old teacher with glasses gave a brief nod when he saw the Mr. Moore enter the class, the girl next to him and the two guys right behind them. Fred whispered something in the teacher's ears and hurriedly left without a backward glance.
The teacher whose job it was to present the three mysterious newcomers stepped forward. The girl handed him a piece of paper, whereupon the teacher, after giving the girl a highly curious look, assumed a suitably formal expression and announced in a loud, very grim voice, "Students, please welcome Rowena, Liam and Cian, the teacher cleared his throat, "Blackwell."
Heads twisted, mostly to stare first at teacher -he was the one who said 'Blackwell', after all -then at the three strangers. One selected group, however, stared straight at Liam, then Cian and Rowena.
Rowena winked at Shade, a slow smile on her lips. Jade and Jason turned to Shade who gave Rowena an infuriating look which made Jade uneasy. But Rowena didn't even blink. She looked straight at him like a smitten kitten.
Quinn caught Cian's intense gaze which was glued on her. His eyes swept on her body, resting on her breasts, then her long legs.
Quinn gazed sideways at Jade with a nervous smile. Jade who barely hid her frustration sent her a mental message. "Girl, what the hell?" Quinn frowned. "I don't know."
Cian, the one with a black hoodie which hid his strong muscular chest, black ripped denims to cover his athletic legs and white sneakers slowly walked, then threw his white backpack on the floor and occupied the empty seat next to Quinn.
With a smug smile on his sand colored face, he ran his hand through his blond hair which was trimmed in an undercut style. That style suited his square-shaped face perfectly.
Quinn realized how foolish she looked staring at him like that. But she couldn't look away when his beautiful forest green eyes held her gaze.
Ash glared at her and she quickly regained her composure. God, she must be insane to stare at this guy when she already had Dravon in her life.
The teacher clearly didn't even care whether the students were taking notes of his lecture or not.
The other guy, Liam examined the class with his dark hazel eyes. He lazily strolled to Lisa's side, slumped on a seat and stretched his legs. Having gotten rid of his black leather jacket, the girls glanced sideways at him, admiring his broad shoulders and tall athletic figure.
The most insane thing then happened.
Rowena chose to sit next to Shade. Her hazelnut eyes held mischief and her plum colored lips twitched. Her skimpy black dress was way too short for her petite figure and barely reached her thighs.
Shade took his things in a hurry and without thinking twice, sat near Scarlett who gasped loudly.
The bell rang then and Shade dashed out as fast as he could. Scarlett followed along the rest of the students but Liam, Cian and Rowena were in no hurry to leave the class.
After giving herself a vigorous mental shake, Quinn hurried back to her locker, where she quickly took her books, hooked a pair of gold and pearl drops through her earlobes, then bolted back to an empty corner near the staircase where the coven members were waiting for her.
Ash and Shade watched her thoroughly. Lisa and Jason joined them.
Whatever Shade was going to say was cut off by the sudden bits of argument they heard. The lab door was reefed open and Jade ran out, looking scarlet red and angry.
"You'll never guess what's happened," Jade said on a high pitch tone. "I've just received a call from Dravon. Apparently our darling Quinn never wanted to call him in the first place because for some unknown reason, she doesn't want to talk to him after she selfishly left his mansion."
Lisa looked like she was ready to faint and Jason's face was unreadable.
"I knew about this," Shade and Ash announced together.
"Great. Just great. Now everyone is hiding secrets," Jade snapped.
"Where's Dravon now? Does he know three strangers are claiming to be of the Blackwell lineage?" Jason inquired.
Just then, Fred Moore stepped out of his office, his face grim. His eyes searched the crowd and settled on them. He beckoned them to join him. They took their time in doing so.
"Jade, your idea of masquerade ball has been approved. It will be held next Friday evening," Fred Moore said matter of factly. "Really dad? I'm surprised you said yes," she gushed with joy.
"After hearing how much this school needs a break from Quinn, I had no option but to say yes." Jade made a face but managed to smile.
"You have exactly two weeks to transform that old gymnasium in a beautiful ball."
"Wait that old gymnasium, that's lame. It's been closed for four years after that drastic fire incident," Ash added and shook his head. "I'm so out of this."
"Of course you will. You've always been a slacker since childhood," Jade complained. They glared at each other for several seconds.
Someone cleared his throat. "I'm sure Quinn will be thrilled to help. She really loves playing the benevolent role."
All heads turned to see Byron Richards standing in a three piece navy suit, a wicked smile on his lips. Quinn looked aghast with the cleaning idea and Byron seemed pleased by her reaction.
Her blood pressure started to rise. "Please don't go down that road, dad." Byron looked amused. "You mean the I'm too princess like to do chores road?"
"Now is the chance to change that." He paused. "Do it, my dear darling daughter," he mocked. That rang a bell for Quinn to remain quiet and obey him.
"Jade, don't you think we have more pressing issues than organising a stupid masquerade ball?" Jason voiced. "This is important to me Jason. I want a change of atmosphere," she replied stubbornly.
"Of course you do," Jason muttered.
Cian, Liam and Rowena joined in too.
"Great. We were missing only them," Ash remarked sarcastically. Liam smiled at Lisa who shyly lowered her gaze. Jason's grey eyes missed nothing as he momentarily rested his gaze on Lisa.
"I doubt my siblings are ready for benevolence but I personally will make sure Quinn doesn't do all the hardwork alone," Cian said. Rowena watched Shade intently. "We'll be happy to join in obviously," she said.
Byron raised his eyebrows sardonically. "Who would have thought boys would willingly help you dust over the place," he grunted. Ash rolled his eyes and Shade scoffed at that remark.
Quinn tried hard to hide her embarrassment.
Then for the second time, heads turned along the hallway.
"Oh look, that's Dravon coming," a random blonde pointed towards the front door. Quinn poked in the direction of the door.
Dravon, dressed in ripped black jeans and a white shirt which moulded around his strong muscles strode casually in the corridor full of students. Upon spotting them standing, he deliberately slowed his steps to make sure all attention rested entirely on him.
At that moment, not just Quinn but even the rest of the group kept their gaze fixed on him.
It was quite a show to see the mixture of expressions.
Byron's face was expressionless. Liam's face drained of color. Rowena flashed a coy smile. Cian was intrigued by Dravon's presence. Jason, Lisa and Shade seemed relieved that finally he was here with them. Jade and Ash who were mad at each other now seemed annoyed by Dravon for gracing us with his presence whenever he chose to.
When Quinn saw Dravon's mouth pull back into a wickedly smug smile, a prickle of alarm shivered down her spine.
Her heart lurched as she watched him walk towards her. God, but he was gorgeous. Gorgeous and all hers. For now, anyway. Adrenaline shot through her veins, accompanied by the heat of a desire so strong that she wasn't sure she would be able to stand up.
"Since we have a mixture of lazy and eager volunteers, I'm just gonna have to make sure the hardwork is being done properly," Dravon announced as he stood next to Quinn. "I'm glad you're supervising. It's an improvement. You rarely participate in any activity of Rossmore High School," Fred informed.
"This is outrageously ridiculous," Byron scoffed. "He can't supervise. I won't allow it." Dravon grinned mischievously and hugged Quinn. Byron become more aghast.
Fred shook his head. "With all due respect Mr. Richards, Dravon Blackwell is the richest heir of the founder of this town," he repeated what he had said in his office. "And I happen to be the owner of multiple hotels. So make it happen," Byron argued.
"I won't come across Dravon's way because of you, Mr. Richards." He heaved a sigh and went on. "You're our guest for some days but I've got to stay in my hometown. My job is more precious to me than your order," he repeated again with the hope Byron would understand.
"This is beyond absurd. Why is everyone under his control in this town?" Byron asked.
Dravon smirked. "You seriously need to listen to Mr. Moore." He stepped further to Byron. "Back out of my way while you still have a choice."
"You have no idea what can happen in Blue Haven. It's a small town. Incidents happen. People can also disappear overnight for no reason and never be found again," Ash added.
"There's a lot of missing persons in this town, Mr. Richards. Go ask the sheriff if you're still hesitant," Lisa said. "Are you threatening me?" Byron asked. "Just informing you," Jason said.
"You win for now Dravon. But remember Quinn is now just a pawn in my hands now and I will destroy all her happiness."
The corners of Dravon's mouth tilted up into a sardonic smile. "You honestly believe that?"
He smiled. "I do like to prove you wrong."
"We'll see about that," Byron challenged and left.
"It's settled then. Dravon will keep an eye on you all." He watched his daughter. "Jade, I expect the best organised masquerade ball from you. Don't let me down," Fred said and walked away from them.
Cian, Rowena and Liam lined up in front of Dravon. "Hello cousin," they voiced out together.
"Cousin?" Shade and Ash repeated faintly. They looked like they were about to barf. Dravon looked displeased. Jade and Jason frowned, Lisa looked confused and Quinn sensed an edge of increased stiffness in the air.
Tension filled the hallway, so thick it was suffocating.
"Won't you give us a welcoming hug cousin?" Cian asked, his forest green eyes instantly changed to red. Rowena and Liam's eyes also flashed red.
Quinn only had to look at Dravon's pale face to realize these three meant trouble. Big trouble.