Forbidden Feast

Ch. 4: Your highness

Staring at his phone, Mathew read the thunderstorm warning as a threat. The storm puts a snag in his plans. Everything could unravel with just a little rain. He checked again, wondering if he should leave the party now or wait to find Elijah. He just got here, but Elijah was nowhere to be seen. The prince in him with the good manners told him to at least say hi and thank him for the invite.

Eardrum rupturing kind of loud, the music was almost all bass powerful enough to shake the lights and the walls. Absolutely everyone had a drink in their hand. Every activity was just a vehicle for more drinking and Mathew's water he was pretending to drink obviously made him stand out. He was stuck to the wall of the living room, spreading roots and flowering there.

Mathew's fingers twitched. He should just text Elijah and cancel. Say he got sick and was hanging off the bathroom toilet. Mathew already didn't want to go to a party Grant was throwing. If he wanted to hang out with Cain more, maybe a party with hundreds of drunk college students wasn't the best way to do it... not that he even should explore this crush.

Sighing, Mathew rubbed his forehead. This first week of school packed too much punch for Mathew to focus on finding out more about Beatrix and the school. At every turn, a distraction took away his focus.

The biggest distraction of them all, Jace burst into the living room. Already picking a fight, Jace pushed through the crowd and cornered Mathew by the window. He put his hands on his waist like a dad going into lecture mode. "I can't believe you were dumb enough to come to this party."

Mathew frowned. "Has anybody ever told you that you're a warm conversationalist? No? I'm not surprised." Deciding to ignore Jace, if he could, Mathew breezed by him on the way to the kitchen, which wasn't quieter, but at least didn't have Jace. That didn't stop the man from following Mathew. Spinning around, Mathew snapped, "You don't even start with a hi or hello."

"Hi, hello," Jace barked out. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I already told you," Mathew said, and rolled his eyes. People scattered around, grabbing drinks and food while a couple made out at the kitchen table. Mathew tried not to stare. "You don't have to waste your time worrying about me."

"You would tell somebody to get out of the way if a car was about to blast through them." Jace's glare could burn a hole in Mathew's chest. The look in his eyes was the gasoline that constantly burned Mathew's temper to a burnt crisp. The heat prickled his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

"You're dramatic," Mathew snapped and ripped his jacket off the hanger hard enough to snap the plastic. Mathew let out a frustrated sigh.

"That's Grant and his shitty friends."

Rolling his eyes, Mathew just grabbed his phone and figured what he was wearing would be good enough. Jace's big hand stopped him in his place. Jace was the barrier between him and the door. This close, Mathew's sparks were flying off him, hitting Jace and creating fireworks. In a few minutes, they'd burn this house down with everyone inside.

Jace said like he knew everything, and Mathew knew nothing. "I think you've been in the spotlight long enough. Maybe you should take a break this weekend."

"And whose fault is that—" Mathew stopped himself. He had never fought with someone like this before, and it was driving him even crazier that he felt annoyed with himself for getting worked up. "I don't even know why I'm having this argument with you."

Mathew side stepped to get around him, but Jace moved to stay in his way. "Fine. Go," he dared Mathew with that smug look again. "But I'm not going to be there to pull you out of the next closet. Get into trouble and get out of it yourself.'