From the Ashes (The Darkwood Academy Series Book 1) by Lynn Rhys

Author:Lynn Rhys [Rhys, Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-08-15T18:30:00+00:00

eighteen

PHOENIX

We pull up to a stately looking house that sits extremely far back on the property. You can clearly see it from the street through the gate, but it’s so massive that it’s still giant hundreds of feet back. We pull around the driveway to an area, stopping and getting out. The valet takes Liz’s keys and drives away with her car.

A goddamn valet.

We saunter up to the red brick mansion, and I look up at the three-story behemoth and suddenly feel incredibly small. I take a deep breath and try to calm my nerves. I don’t want to be here.

“Come on! We have some drinking to do!” Liz pulls me through the front door, and my mouth drops.

This place is fucking insane. We walk through the front door into a foyer where the stair wraps up around above us. As I amble through, I look up and behind me to see other partygoers hanging out on the balcony above the front door. I then face forward and look above to find another balcony higher up looking down on the foyer.

We walk through a set of openings into an open area that most people are standing around socializing with each other. There’s a fireplace off to the right and no furniture to be seen. Three sets of French doors lead out to some sort of backyard area overlooking the ocean. The walls are painted a soft cool grey with very detailed crown molding at the top.

Whoever’s house this is, they are loaded. Like Scrooge McDuck loaded. Maybe they have a money pit they swim in?

Liz drags me to the corner of the room where a bar’s set up, and we each grab a cranberry and vodka. I wasn’t going to drink tonight, especially with what happened last time I did.

But when in Rome …

Plus, I think I’ll need a little liquid courage to get through the night. We both look around at the insanity before us, and I realize how out of place I am.

Liz is dressed in a shimmery silver bodycon dress. I’m honestly not sure how in the hell she got into it. It currently looks like it was painted on. She’s wearing silver stilettos that make my feet hurt watching her try to walk in them. But as I look around, every girl in this place is dressed almost the same.

Then there’s me.

I picked a much more conservative dress, it seems. The top is solid black. There are three-quarter sleeves on it, with a v-neck. The middle of the dress is tied together like a corset that connects the top and bottom of the dress, which is asymmetrical with a deep red and black plaid. So I wouldn’t feel the need to cut my feet off at the end of the night, I put on a pair of black fishnets and my Docs.

So basically, I don’t belong here.

“Loosen up, Phoenix. Try to have fun tonight.” Liz tips back her drink. Did she just pound it down? Well, I guess I’ll be the one driving home.

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