After failing as a vampire hunter, 17-year-old Cleo is sent to an academy full of vampires as a false peace treaty. Her true objective is supposed to be finding the hidden heir to the dark world while befriending the current one, but the current hei...
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"What are you going to wear to the ball?"
I let my head fall back onto Adora's lap so I could stare at her from where I sat resting against her legs. "What?"
We were sitting by the lake, attempting to study, but getting easily distracted by whatever thoughts popped into our heads. The day was unusually warm for the end of November and a bunch of other students were loitering by the lakeshore. Behind us, I could hear San and Felix bickering about the right way to solve a math equation that was way out of my league.
Adora looked down back at me and raised her eyebrows. "You have to dress up, you know."
"Why? We're not actually attending the ball, are we?"
"We have to. Claude is the prince. Don't you think it'd be a little suspicious if he and the rest of us were missing the entire time?"
I frowned. I hadn't thought of that. I didn't think anyone would be lining up to dance with him since most of the students avoided him, but they probably would have an eye out for him. "I doubt my father would attack Claude with so many witnesses around."
"He wouldn't," Adora agreed. "But that's why we'll create an opening for your father during it."
"There's a lot of assumptions involved in this plan," I said, closing my book and sighing. "My father isn't stupid. He might think the risks are too high with so many students around. We can't be sure he'll show up."
"Well, we still have to plan like he will be. So, that also means you have to plan on what to wear."
"I don't own any dresses. They aren't very useful for training."
"I'll buy you one," Adora said eagerly. "What kind are you thinking of? Something long? Short? You have nice legs, maybe something short."
Nice legs? Was that a compliment? I thought about them, typically bruised, the muscle protruding. Were legs something people typically found attractive? It didn't make sense to me. "I don't really care for showing my legs."
"No? Then a long dress is good. They're very elegant. You should definitely show off your collarbones. It'll be sexy."
"My collarbones?" I repeated skeptically, furrowing my eyebrows. "Now you're saying bones are sexy?"
That didn't make any more sense than the legs thing. Was Adora thinking Claude's grandfather's bones around my neck had been sexy?
As if she could guess what I was thinking, she lightly batted the top of my head. "Not any bones, Cleo. Your collarbones are different. Just like hipbones. They're sexy. Don't you think so?"
I thought about it, grimacing a bit. Bones just didn't seem very sexy to me. "Um. Sure."
"Well, what do you like? Is there anything you think is attractive?"
