Brittney’s dance moves faltered at the sight of her serpent boy.

Venus looked quite dashing, as always, in a suspiciously fitted sage-green turtleneck beneath a charcoal-grey jacket, paired with black joggers. There really should have been a rule against serpents looking that good. It felt like false advertising for a species everyone kept warning her about.

His eyes found hers across the crowd. Venus mouthed something to her, but between the music and the bodies moving between them, Brittney couldn’t make out most of it. She only caught one word.

Come.

“What are you looking at?”

Trisha turned to see what—or rather, who—had Brittney so fixated. Unfortunately, by then Venus was partially obscured by the crowd, and all Trisha saw were two beast couples kissing and grinding shamelessly against each other on the dance floor.

“Seriously?” She smacked Brittney’s arm and gave her a reprimanding look. “Can you stop that? Quit staring at people making out like some creep.”

Brittney had never felt so wrongly accused in her life.

She was not staring at them. Unfortunately, defending herself would mean explaining exactly who she had been staring at, and when Brittney glanced past Trisha again, Venus had already disappeared into the crowd like the creeping serpent he was.

So she covered with a smile instead.

“It’s public. I can’t help where my eyes go.”

She went right back to dancing, doing her best to appear casual enough not to arouse Trisha’s suspicion.

Somewhere along the way, Valerie and Variant had found a couple of males to dance with, and their attention was no longer entirely focused on the humans.

Perfect.

“You know what?” Brittney said after another minute. “I think I need some air.”

“What?” Trisha stared at her.

“I just want to look around, Trisha. Calm your tits.”

“Then I’m coming with you,” Trisha insisted. “You heard what Variant and Valerie said. We can’t separate. We need to stay somewhere they can see us. This place is dangerous.”

“Oh, come on.” Brittney deliberately waved off her concern. “It’s a party, and I’m going to have fun without being babysat. You should too.”

“Of course I know it’s a party, but—”

“Then have fun.”

At the same time she spoke, Brittney reached blindly for the nearest male and grabbed him without bothering to check who he was or even which House he belonged to.

“Keep my friend company.”

That was all the warning either of them received before Brittney shoved him toward Trisha. They stumbled into each other, Trisha catching herself against his chest while the stranger steadied her by the arms.

“Excuse me!” Trisha snapped, immediately sidestepping her newly assigned date to go after Brittney.

Except Brittney was already gone.

“Ugh, that little bitch—” She could strangle her.

“Excuse me?”

The male voice came from behind her.

“What?!” Trisha snapped as she turned, only to stop short.

She hadn’t bothered looking at the man when Brittney practically threw him into her arms. Now that she did, she found herself momentarily speechless.

His face was painted, obscuring enough of his features that she couldn’t decide exactly what he looked like beneath it, but there was no hiding those striking amber eyes. Red curls fell loosely over his forehead, and unlike most of the males around them, he was wearing a sweatshirt. It did little to conceal the definition of the body underneath, but it made him stand out among a crowd where apparently half the male population had collectively decided shirts were unnecessary.

Trisha had seen enough bare chests tonight to last her a lifetime. Everywhere she looked, some beast was flexing his pecs while equally shameless females ogled him. At this point, she was beginning to wonder whether she’d accidentally walked into a mating party.

The stranger, however, felt oddly out of place. And as much as the more adventurous part of her was suddenly tempted to come out and play, safety came first.

Trisha narrowed her eyes. “Who are you?”

“Luther.”

The answer came without hesitation.

There was something strangely polished about him. Trisha couldn’t put her finger on what exactly gave her that impression, and perhaps she was reading too much into a man she’d known for all of thirty seconds.

“What House are you from?” she asked.

Luther’s amber eyes gleamed with amusement.

“You haven’t even offered me your name yet, pretty human.”

“Your House?” Trisha insisted.

Even she was mildly surprised by her own audacity. More surprising was the fact that a beast was actually allowing a human he’d just met to interrogate him instead of telling her to mind her business.

Which only made her more curious. If she could figure out which House he belonged to, perhaps she’d have somewhere to start with him.

Luther studied her for a moment before answering.

“I’m an outsider.”

“Excuse me?” Trisha wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly.

“I don’t belong here.” A slight pause. “Yet.”

That explained it.

“You’re not a student here.”

He shook his head.

Trisha regarded him for another second before it clicked. “So, in other words… you’re a party crasher?”

Luther narrowed his eyes slightly. “And what are you going to do about it? Expose me?”

“That depends on your intentions. Did you sneak in here to cause mayhem, or did you just want to have a good time without an invitation?”

“I came to have fun and forget how messed up this world is for a little while.”

There was something about the way he said it that made Trisha believe him.

“In that case, your secret is safe with me.”

They both laughed.

“So,” Luther said, “do I finally get to know your name, pretty human?”

“Trisha.” She hesitated before giving him the rest. “Trisha Thorne.”

“That’s quite a remarkable name.” His gaze lingered on her. “So, Trisha Thorne, would you honor me with a dance?”

Trisha stared at him before a disbelieving laugh escaped her. “That’s ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous, Trisha?”

“I need to go after that knuckleheaded Brittney, not dance with some beast shifter I don’t know.”

“But Brittney specifically told me to keep you company.” Luther’s lips curved slightly. “I’m only doing my job. Can you blame me?”

Trisha’s mouth opened, then closed again.

The audacity.

She glanced toward the crowd, wondering what the fuck was going through Brittney’s head right now. Then again, Brittney was the one who had grabbed a complete stranger and shoved him at her before disappearing. Whatever happened next was entirely on her.

“Fine,” Trisha reluctantly agreed. “Just one dance. Nothing else.”

Luther’s lips curved to the side.

“Anything you say, Trisha Thorne.”