Chapter 66: The Plan

Aina

Aina didn’t want to look stupid or arouse any suspicion by talking about Roiner over and over again. She didn’t even trust herself to speak without gushing every time his name crossed her lips. So, forcing her mind off the maddeningly attractive vampire, she refocused on the immediate crisis.

"So..." Aina asked instead, leaning forward and resting her chin in her hands as her elbows propped up on the surface, "what would your plan be then? How are we going to get out of this so we don’t end up dead tonight?"

Ally cleared her throat loudly, sitting up straight and leaning across the small table with a conspiratorial glint in her eyes. "Okay, listen. The people you’ve made enemies out of... those crazy princes... they just want their fated mate, right?"

A fated mate who happens to be me, boy I should have never put on that damn dress and just have taken my beating like a champ.

Aina grimaced slightly as the word mates echoed in her ear again and again before nodding slowly. "Yeah."

"So," Ally smirked, "let’s just lead them on!" Aina blinked, completely lost. "I... I don’t get it." Ally leaned closer, her eyes glittering with excitement. "Were you in the room with that mysterious girl in the purple dress during the party like the princes say you were?"

Aina nodded slowly.

"Tell me the truth," Ally urged, her tone turning dead serious. "What do you know about the girl in the purple dress? Remember, Aina, we’re in this together now! I need every single thing you know about her."

Aina scratched her cheek, faking that she’s recalling something deep in her memory. "Well... I don’t know much about her at all. I just know she was wearing a bright purple dress. She had dark, curly hair, and she smelled strongly like jasmine. Oh, and she was not that talkative. I was only with her for like... thirty seconds, so I really can’t tell you much else."

Ally slammed her hand onto the table, a triumphant grin breaking across her face. "That’s enough! That’s more than enough!"

"It is?" Aina asked dubiously, lifting her brow, wondering how on earth a lie like that managed to fool Ally. "Yes! All we need to do is take their attention somewhere else entirely!" Ally explained frantically, waving her arms around. "We need to somehow divert their attention, you know what I’m saying? We make it seem like the girl in the purple dress is hiding somewhere deep in this forest, and that they just haven’t checked properly yet!"

Ally leaned back, ticking points off on her fingers with wild enthusiasm. "If we do that, we can get at least half of the school off our backs! so you’re not standing out as the only grand prize alone! I know if those princes get even a tiny whiff that the girl in the purple dress might be out here in this forest, I promise you, chances are they’re going to put half the academy searching the woods, and the other half will still be looking for you... which links to them looking for me!"

Aina listened, her brow furrowing deeply as Ally continued her energetic rant.

"They’ve been frantically looking for this girl in the purple dress for a long time," Ally said, her voice dropping into a intense whisper. "And if they catch whiff of her scent in the forest they will be looking in the forest with half the school so then the other half of the school will be tormenting us and that’s fine And then... in a month, during the big Academy Tournament, the princes will obviously have forgotten all about their little mate search, judging by how thoroughly self-absorbed they are! They won’t give a single damn about you anymore from that point on! And neither will the rest of the school!"

Ally leaned closer, nodding firmly. "Because right after the tournament, there’s always going to be someone new marked as the school’s new target... the new ’pig’. They do it every single year! It happened last year! And though my bullying still continued afterward, it was nowhere near as bad because there were fresh new targets around for everyone to pick on."

Ally reached across the table, grabbing Aina’s hands with desperate sincerity. "So, if we just survive the month, we will be fine! Everything will be fine! Well... maybe not completely fine for me, because I’m still a filthy rogue in and Sophia is never going to forgive me for what I did to her today. But as for you? When the month is over all the heat will fall right off you!"

Aina stared at Ally, her mind racing as she processed the absurd, chaotic scheme.

This doesn’t seem very smart at all, Aina thought internally, her inner voice screaming in absolute skepticism. There is no way on earth this is actually going to work. It sounds like an absolute trainwreck waiting to happen.

...But who am I to judge? Aina reasoned silently, looking into Ally’s earnest, hopeful eyes. I haven’t even been in this nightmare of an academy for more than a few weeks. I don’t know how these crazy rich shifters operate. Ally has survived here for over a year as a rogue. She knows how this school works far better than I do.

Aina let out a long, heavy breath, looking up at her new companion. "How sure are you that this is actually going to work, Ally?" Ally didn’t hesitate for a single second. She sat up straight, placing a hand over her heart. "I am one hundred percent sure it’s going to work!"

Aina stared at her for three long seconds before letting out a defeated sigh, a small, mischievous smile slowly spreading across her face. "Okay..." Aina whispered, leaning over the table. "If we’re really doing this... we’re going to need a lot of jasmine, a purple dress... and we may have to start a fire."